Sorry for the German word in the title but I don't know an English expression besides "having become blind to shortcomings in processes".
So I work a lot with Caustic and obviously when I build a cue from scratch, I listen to it A LOT. So come the point when I decide that the track is "finished" I heard it so often that I am no longer sure if I just like it because I heard it so often or because it is really, you know, alright.
Same with pop-songs on the radio. You hear it the first time, it's kinda new but nothing else. Probably bordering on rubbish. Then, after mainstream radio has force fed you with the same annoying piece of garbage for a while, you seem to kind of like it. At least you remember it and some weird thing goes on in your brain which makes you think that it may be a good song.
Don't know if I made my point but I'd love to hear from fellow Caustacians if you can relate to what I've written and what we can do to avoid these cases of "Betriebsblindheit" while sculpting our artworks.
Thanks a lot. Best, Markus
BTW: CAUSTIC 3.1 RULEZ. Obviously.
I do two things. And some times a third. The first is to take a break for a couple of days some times and then listen to it again. The second is to use different types of speakers. Like some times with headphones and some times hooking my tablet up to my full sound system with sub woofer. The third is to have some one whom you feel has similar music interests as your self have a listen. Preferably some one who can give constructive criticism without offending you.
DF
For me, yes I will listen to it about 4 dozen times before I will be satisfied to push it out into the world. But also I try to listen on different sources..... headphones, studio speakers, car speakers, etc....
But sometimes I will get too picky and spend hours trying to "get that one thing right"
Finding that balance between perfection and sanity can be a tricky beast.
cool, thanks for the quick responses.
the different speaker approach is definitely a good idea.
for asking somebody... I got a nice anecdote there.
this is why the wife is definitely out of the loop. I already tested her. Usually I play my tracks to her and she (mainstream radio station listener) comes up with stuff like "sounds weird", "are there some missing notes?", etc. you got the point.
So I devised a test. I composed the crappiest 2-chord, generic melody and drums-tune and asked here what she thought about it. She said she liked it. Obviously she failed the test and her voice is not as strong any more when it comes to judging my stuff. Still I want to know her opinion and I'm far from the illusion that my stuff is particularly good, I just know in the back of my head that she likes some things in music which I don't.
Best, Markus
Ya my wife failed that test too. We have so many things in common except music lol. Oh well cant have everything.
DF
That amuses me, as I'm currently composing an EDM track for my wife; as mentioned before our 10-year anniversary is next week Friday (5/30). EDM is totally not my jam, but I've been listening to a fair bit of it in order to suss what its characteristics are (beyond my shallow surface perceptions).
Saturday the 31st I'll report back on how she liked it (as well as post the finished track).
I understand having a partner who's not on the same page with you musically, is what I mean to say.
Just my two bits on repeated listening. I recently read a book called Guitar Zero, a very fascinating book on, among other things, how the brain "hears" music. One thing it talks about is that repetition does increase how much a person likes a song. I also know from playing guitar that if I make a mistake consistently enough it'll start to sound "right" to my ears. I find in the case of guitar its vital to record myself. As far as caustic tracks, I find using headphones really helps.
As an aside, I highly recommend guitar zero for any musician, especially those like me who started later in life with no natural talent at all. Its a very encouraging read written by a psychologist who decided as an experiment to try to learn guitar late in life.
sounds cool!
haha that was funny :) My wife never asks to hear my stuff. Although my 3 year old dances to it, neither knowing it was written by me.
https://soundcloud.com/barking_mad