5 (Stupid) Tricks To Be A Better Musician

Howdy! Today I want to talk about being a degenerate, useless, lazy musician...the right way.

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[mariorruiz]

Dude, I really don’t say this lightly, you are one of my YouTube faves. I value authenticity and you’re doing a great job here. Keep blessing us with your vids.

[kirkweed]

I’m a 67 year old guy with a degree in Music Theory/Comp from Cal. St. Fullerton. I learned to write music before there were daws or you tube or sample libraries or internet or personal computers. The only electronic music i had ever heard was “Switched On Bach”.
We had to write everything in our heads before we could get it down on paper. The only technology we had that the masters (Bach, Beethoven, etc) didn’t have was a pencil with an eraser. The production was done by someone else (the performers). Our focus was the foundation you talk about. We learned the difference between Creativity (the ability to stare into the dark and hear the music) and Craft (the ability to share it with someone else). Thanks for this great video. You hit the nail on the head.

[DerekPower]

For the lazy amongst us ;) =]

0:00 (ain't nobody got time for that) INTRO
1:14 STOP MAKING MUSIC
2:22 STEAL IDEAS
3:33 STOP PRACTICING
4:57 PRODUCE LESS
7:40 JUST PLAY THE DAMN SONG
9:35 OUTRO (or "That's all got for today; go away now")

[NJOverclocked]

It’s my lucky day. Lazy habits are the only kind I have!

[At.mos.fEarProduktionz]

I’ve been fortunate enough to make music while I’m working. I work from home and I do customer service. In between calls I start my process of findings sounds and as the day goes on I work on my track little by little. By the end of my shift I have the idea of the track and by the end of the day I have the bulk of the song done. It’s been working for me for about 2 and a half years. 😎👍🏽

[KawaiiSteez]

Stop making music is such a cheat code. The intentionality behind creating is crazy. For "practicing" I think sometimes my "practice" is sitting down with an idea and learning to flesh it out to make it into something real but your so right. the application of your skills is the best. All of these tips are dope and reaffirming for what I like to do! I like the added context as well

[spudmcqueen]

Leaving the faders and mix alone when you're making a new song is such a good tip. It really is all about sound selection and whether all the pieces fit together or not rather than trying to force them together from the get go.

[timtsistinas]

What you said about using old school techniques and simpler mixing is so true. I see so much crap on social media with people getting into insane minutia with mixing when I keep saying "if your arranging and songwriting is good, mixing is a breeze".

[AlexKurilovMusic]

"At least now you'll have something to show for it" is such a relatable motto. It really helps when I feel down and discouraged.

[seryozha_evil]

You have no idea how much I like this genre of videos you make. Also you have no idea how much I actually needed to hear these tips. Thanks a lot!

[eddywinter]

So true! As someone who has spent DAYS re-recording and mastering a track I really struggled when some Muso-colleagues of mine set me a challenge of writing and recording a song in a week, with the proviso that the recording (which was shared with my peers) was a "One and Done" take. It really forces you to get creative in the moment, and rely less on goldplating/polishing whatever dull-crap you over-engineered. Thanks for this timely reminder - it's better to play/record 'something' rather than angst over what you 'might' do and how you 'could' do it. 🙂

[dontmindme]

This is why I'm still subscribed to this channel. You just accurately portray what its like to make music.

Even as a guy who has 5 or so videos on thier musician youtube account and countless unfinished tracks, i still relate to the guy whos doing this for a living.

Excellent video, I'm glad I've stuck around.

[johndav_iD]

7:24 is SUCH a GEM 💯 I try to get peers of mine to understand this when I critique them because they only seem to like something when it's produced to pristine quality when the song itself would not be NEARLY as good without production. The true test of a great song is if it still holds weight without the bells & whistles.

[Grump-wmtp]

Some great insights VT. I enjoy your little rants and home-truths. Here's mine: I remember the absolute thrill when I purchased for an obscene amount of money, my first multitrack cassette tape deck (Tascam 244) - yep, FOUR tracks!! each one individually recordable, and you could "bounce" three tracks into one to get awesome multi-layered things happening. And then, shortly after that, another obscenely priced drum machine (Roland TR707) sent me into nirvana as I learnt the art of programming beat by beat the patterns and fills I desired, and then carefully backing them up to tape. Finally, a couple of years later, the same thrills when I bought my first synth (Ensoniq ESQ1) at an equally obscene price, and the buzz of creating new sounds to complement the massive 40-slot onboard patch library, and carefully backing the new ones up to say obscene, because in my country, you pay up to three times the price than you would in the USA).
It's 2024: I choose from any number of absolutely mind-blowing DAW's and synth/drum plugins, but the thrill and buzz is absent: seemingly infinite tracks, infinite effects, infinite patches. The creative urge is still there, but the ratio of tool-tinkering to playing music back in the day in now reversed. What I mean is, once I had my "tools" set up, and figured out how get music out of them, I just switched them on and started making music. Today, half my available "music" time might be filled up with PC problems, updates of software, compatibility issues, authorisation (thanks iLok), insane download/install programs that almost every vendor feels compelled to use, checking out recommendations, trying a different reverb plugin because the last one just went weird for a certain setting, useless hours fine-tuning 100 tracks when I've only got 5 instruments, "housekeeping" all those plugins and unused tracks, backups, etc, etc, etc, not to mention software glitches and crashes. The technology is amazing, but it can also kill productivity, and now, with AI, probably can kill creativity. I used to smirk at seeing some guitar legend on stage who had to change guitars at every song, and thinking "why the photon can't he just use one?" But I realise, given how I do music these days, I do the same.

[Pasta]

I just love your videos. They are so filled with art, and good information on top of that. Just know your work is loved and respected, and appreciated by a lot of people! ❤

[AugustoRevelloPanama]

I'm fairly new to music production and your channel as well, and I gotta say you have the best balance of motivation/inspiration and reality checks of the online music production community and you have my ever lasting thanks for that.
Due to my 9 to 5 and commute times, I can barely put in one or two hours of work into my music every day. Listening to your videos during working hours at the office has played a huge part on reminding me why I keep pushing to try and create music when I get home, and just wanted to share that with you. Never stop creating, man. You're awesome.

[williamschumacher]

Thank you mustache man. Billy Schu here. 40 plus years of recording, my go to is still to play live to my tracks. allows me to be "in the pocket". My down fall is having unlimited tracks to keep adding parts.

[blu_scuro]

The beginning of video is just describing all of our lives… All the crazy multitasking, video, marketing, leaning, practicing… all that on top of having another regular job that pays the bills - and in the end no rewards haha oh well

[horizontalblanking]

As a “gentleman of a certain age” …I remember the dawn of the computer based sequencer, and its metamorphosis into today’s DAW. I’m way happier to do my music today because of the ease at which I can do it. Side note: your first time editing TAPE is frightening.

But what I do like is that my “old timey” experience has made me better with today’s tools. Yes… all options are open and endless track counts await me. But being able to (mostly) play all my parts live, and get my ideas down efficiently is something I love… and I think is missing for some. Unfortunate.

The quote that always stuck in my head was from a person I worked with who worked at a major music equipment company: “If your music takes more than 16 tracks… I don’t know if I want to hear it.”

This has stuck with me and helps keep me on track. I’m going to go yell at some clouds now.

[clipsngiggles]

this video is incredible man, literally every point you made resonated with me so much, ive been producing for years, never released a song. have had a really rough few years, and have finally picked it up again and am going to give it my all. youve inspired me to just DO IT and not sit around waiting for it to happen. so thank you <3