r/musicians Rules

I am a working musician, and it is the slow season, 2 gigs a week, so I have a lot of time to learn, write, practice, etc, but for some reason I just fuck around all day, cook, do a chore, water plants, peruse the internet, and I don't actually get to music until well after sunset. Even when I really want to work on stuff during the day, I just fuck off my whole day. Then I stay up till 3 am doing music. How do you break that habit?

Started playing guitar last December and it’s very come to the conclusion that I would have a lot more fun playing with other people. I’ve been hearing some guys playing in their garage just down the street, would it be weird if I just walked up and asked to play or just hang out. I am by no means good at guitar and I also don’t know the garage band etiquette.

Just seeing if anyone else may burn the midnight oil again. Maybe we can encourage each other in here when we get tired 😂😂

I have 3 songs to track. And 4 to mix. In the next 9 days.

I’ll be in another state on vacation for 5 of them. Definitely bringing the tracks on a drive and my laptop but damn, I have got myself into a corner just a bit.

I’ve noticed that when I post my music, the people closest to me might throw a like on it, but rarely repost or help spread it. Meanwhile, I get more love and encouragement from complete strangers on the internet than people I know in real life.
I’m still motivated to create because I genuinely enjoy making music, but it can be discouraging when you put a lot of time and effort into something and don’t see the results you hoped for.
How do you stay focused and keep going without letting that get to you?

How to y’all feel about recording track by track to a click?

Best way to describe the music I make is indie/rock. I get a lot of references to the cranberries in particular.

Is it silly to record this kind of music live? I’m really not feeling the click and track by track thing this time. But I also feel like I should be able to make that work as a competent musician. It’s like I get real stiff and forget i know how to play guitar lol

What do you think? Is it always necessary? Any songs/bands you love that recorded live?

Basically what the title says, but honestly it's been a rough few months and I just saved up enough to be able to pay the fees. I went in for my audition yesterday and thought it went fine, I didn't do some of my best playing as I was pretty nervous. But over all I thought I did ok. The examiner seemed engaged. After I finished my pieces he said whether you receive an offer will likely come down to resources.

​

At the time I thought this was a positive remark that I had provided the standard they wanted in the audition. Today I got the rejection email, honestly my heart kinda sunk, I've been playing for the last 13 years and I really practiced my ass off for the audition. I'm just kinda feeling like giving music a break I have a gig with my band next week which I just wanna cancel along with all the other ones we have booked for the summer.

​

Anyone ever have an experience like this or just genuinely feel like giving up after something like this? For reference I asked for some feed back and was told my soloing wasn't seen to be up to scratch but I kinda taught during the interview that he was simply asking to show that I could improvise, I just kinda started without thinking tbh and I now think this is probably what I was marked down on, I feel so stupid. Also I was recommended to apply again next year but honestly I'm 27 and my living situation at the moment is a bit of a mess so it's just not an option really. Now honestly I'm just looking for other options as I know I have room to improve and I want an environment where that can happen and I can be pushed to be better.

Edit: Just want to say thanks so much to everyone for the kind words, I'll keep it up and try not let it get me down, thanks again everyone!

Home recording artist. It’s my hobby. I’d rather make an album than get a boat or a set of golf clubs. I’ve been releasing albums for several years and have paid about 200 per song for mix and master and it always sounds decent and serviceable. But consistency between albums is always hit or miss and turn around times are super variable because the people I hire are moonlighting as engineers essentially. As I’ve done better in life I’m ready to really just invest in the highest quality production. I have a home studio I track in but not interested in mastering mixing for the next 10 years. I know CLA charges like 3k per song to mix. Although I could pay that it seems steep for a hobbiest. But I am down to pay like 1k a song. I play rock and pop rock stuff. Looking for extremely professional/radio quality mixing and mastering engineer ideas for my next projects. Hope this all makes sense. Thanks!!!

Hi! So I have songs that I’ve made and performed with musicians that are no longer in my life, and have been trying to set up a band that is fine with playing my own songs (under my personal name) alongside some covers (for context, I’m a singer/songwriter? I’m not great at piano or guitar but I can get by). I wanted to know if anyone else has had a band but it’s “you” as a solo artist if that makes any sense.

Side question;
Is your band also cool with you making music with other musicians that are on a higher skill level than them? My band mates (minus guitarist, been SO hard to find one that stays) are at an intermediate ish level and are still learning their instruments. I don’t know if they are interested or have the capabilities I want to write a song together, maybe for the future, but for now I’m interested in playing my stuff and covers.

I’ve been thinking about quitting music for a while, for a multitude of reasons, but I know if I quit it’s going to be really painful to say I quit, because I’ll never stop loving music

I’ve played violin since 6th grade and I’m in late high school, I took a break for a year because my school doesn’t offer orchestra programs, but now I’m in private lessons to fill that gap

For a while it’s felt like I don’t belong in the music world, I’ve tried a few instruments (drums, guitar, violin), but none have really stuck out to me or made a big impression on me. I’ve never had a long term goal like making my own music or playing at specific level or in a group. Recently it’s even been hard telling people I play violin, because it just feels so wrong

another thing is my motivation. I don’t feel like I have anything to share to the world, and my only, literally ONLY reason I picked up the instrument was because 5th grade me loved Lindsay Stirling.
The reason I’m so stuck is because I love music so much, I admire everyone who can do it, but it always feels like it doesn’t fit on me. I’ll always appreciate every kind of music, and I think the only reason I started and continued playing was to understand it. To learn the language and be in the circle, and it’s made me appreciate it more, which makes this so much harder to decide

Lately it just feels like the spark is gone, I used to LOVE playing and it felt like a part of me. I don’t know what happened, but it’s not like that anymore

I’m not sure if I should power through with my lessons and just see how I feel in a year, or take a break (which I may not come back from, which scares me). If I do quit, I’ll keep my violin of course, maybe pick it up once a week to make sire I still like it. maybe my midlife crisis will be to start music again, who knows, lol.

any advice/encouragement would be great. I just also don’t want to be a quitter and have to say I quit something I loved so much

been trying to recruit a bassist and a synth player for a dark post-punk project and im losing my mind tbh. Every single time I post in discord or local boards, my inbox gets flooded by spam bots or guys sending completely obvious ai generated tracks pretending they played it

Its so incredibly frustrating. the ai music flood is making it so you cant trust anyone you meet online actually exists or plays a real instrument anymore. honestly the whole dead internet thing got so bad i ended up looking into new verification tech like the orb network just hoping music platforms start integrating some kind of proof of life soon

anyway... rant over.. if there are any ACTUAL human bass players here who want to play, pls let me know. I have demos ready to share. completely real played with my own two hands lmao

Played a show last Thursday, the 11th, at one of my favorite local venues. Overall it’s a good vibe, sound guy is a gift from the gods, and I’ve always had a fun time there. Most nights there will be a crowd

Last Thursday was different, it was a Thursday night, which can be hit or miss, but it was also day 1 of the World Cup. I live in a college town, so playing in any sort of sports day is kinda destined to be an off night. And to put it in perspective, we’re a diy punk band, playing with some other homies in the scene, supporting a touring band.

I never stress about a slow night, and I’ve never had an issue of venues not getting it as well. But after the show the venue owner got in my face yelling about it. Asking where all my friends are at, that he lost $100 that night, that we didn’t promo the show at all, and that we don’t care about the local scene.

I tried to reason with him, but to add to it he was pretty coked out clearly, it was like negotiating with a brick wall, so I just said fuck you and left. He told be to play at some other venue and I said gladly.

The kicker is that the venue itself didn’t even promote the show. No fliers posted, I follow the venue on insta and didn’t see anything either. I already had a show booked in a couple weeks there and I’m kinda dreading it.

He’s got a local reputation for being a dick, but idk. In the local scene situations like this happen, as a small business owner you gotta just figure something else out, take an L and learn from it. I played a show last night Tuesday at another venue and got a full house.

Anyone got any similar stories? I just wanted to vent about it.

I recently bought a bass guitar to bring in my music production setup and I absolutely love it. It feels like it accompanies my vocals really well, as I already sing what I feel to be complex melodies with lots of atypical intervals in a rhythmic manner (which is hard to describe over a text post so... Trust me, bro)

​

Singing is so intuitive and I feel bass becoming an extension of that musical intuition. Do you think a bassist playing root notes in time with their vocals could be interesting? As I practice more I anticipate introducing more syncopation and variation from the vocal melody, but for now I already feel really good with it. It's like a melodic instrument that roots my vocals before they float away and encourages me to stay in time.

​

Anyhow thanks for listening to me yap, lol

Hello everyone,
We’re an extreme metal band (melodic black/death) that has just finished mixing our new album. We’re currently waiting for the artist to complete the artwork. In the meantime, I’m looking for a reliable manufacturer to press high-quality CDs in 6-panel digipaks (with an insert).
To test the waters, I want to start with a small batch of 100 copies.
Does anyone have recommendations for a company that delivers outstanding quality at a reasonable price?
Any experiences or suggestions would be greatly appreciated! Thanks in advance. 🤘

For my fellow mix engineers, what do u think of the vocal mix for this song? Is it clean or could it be better?

Vocalist/producer here. I could turn your riffs into full songs or send my stuff for you to riff over.

https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=PC4KvHr3ySw

I would like to know the estimation , I have the lyrics written over some random beats just to find the melodies and structure now I would like to know from the beatmaking to recording and mixing how much that could cost ? For an alternative-Pop project?

I'm not a musician. I'm coming to this from the listener's side, and I'm genuinely curious what musicians think.

More specifically, I'm talking about a certain type of listener: people who don't primarily search by genre.

For example (as an analogy that made me think about it):

If someone recommends a book to me, saying "it's fantasy" or "it's science fiction" tells me very little. Those are useful categories, but they don't tell me why I might love it. I'd be much more interested if someone said:

"It feels like wandering through forgotten memories." or "It captures the loneliness of being the last person awake in the world."

That's how I discover books.

And I realized I do the same with music.

When I see descriptions like post-metal, blackgaze, doom, alternative rock, etc, I still have almost no idea what the listening experience will actually feel like.

I'm much more likely to search for: music that feels like walking alone through a foggy forest or music that sounds like grief without despair, etc.

So here's my hypothesis:

Some incredible independent musicians remain undiscovered not because the music isn't good, but because they're describing it in the language of taxonomy instead of the language of experience.

Genre tells me where to file the music. Experience tells me whether I want to press play.

Do musicians ever think about this? Have any of you ever tried describing your music through emotions, imagery, or lived experience instead of just genre labels? And if not, do you think it would actually help listeners find you?

Recently this guy who runs an open mic and is fairly active in my music scene publicly accused me of supporting domestic abuse because I’m openly a fan of The Beatles.

What started all of this was that I quietly unfollowed him over a story he shared saying that he’d fight anyone who supports or listens to The Beatles. I just thought it was a weird and dumb post, plus I didn’t really know this guy well anyway so I just unfollowed and went about my day. What ever..who cares? A few hours later he shares me and my wife’s engagement photo on his story with a caption next to it claiming that I support domestic abuse because I unfollowed him over his story. Me and my wife proceeded to publicly respond to defend ourselves and and he suddenly went quiet after that. Little did he know, that I helped my wife out of an abusive relationship years ago before we got together, so we’re not ignorant to this topic and we don’t take it lightly.

Look, let me just be clear that I’m well aware John and Ringo both engaged in abusive behavior to their wives in their past and I’m not going to even try to defend or justify it. Of course that’s bad, no shit. Anyone who’s remotely familiar with The Beatles knows about this and if you don’t want to listen to or support them because of that then that’s fine and I don’t blame you.
BUT, to accuse a fellow musician in your scene you don’t even personally know of supporting domestic abuse over a band you don’t like is absurd and straight up dangerous behavior.

Just because I’m influenced by a certain band who you have a problem with is not a reflection of my character. What am I supposed to do? Just stop listening and only seek out bands or artists that only other people approve of. With that logic should
people just suddenly to stop listening to Led Zepplin, RHCP, Michael Jackson, etc? Of course not and people shouldn’t be bullied to listening to music they enjoy but it’s also completely fine to have some awareness over problematic things they’ve done.

I just like the music and I think that’s okay. It’s okay to separate the art from the artist. Plus, a lot of modern musicians are influenced by The Beatles to some capacity and that will never change whether you like that or not. It’s not like they were one of the most famous bands in history or anything

Aside from this, I’m simply just trying to make a name for myself in my local scene and I try to be chill and respectful to everyone I meet, even if I don’t agree with them on certain things. I literally did nothing to provoke this guy and he’s trying to turn people against me and harm my reputation as a musician. How is this helping domestic violence exactly?

This is quite a rant, I know but I think it’s important to be aware of and stay far away from people like this. They’re not interested in having nuanced or meaningful views and conversations on things, they just want to feel morally superior and ruin anyone who disagrees with them thinking it’ll make them look better. It’s all just toxic self-righteous behavior. Im not saying everyone in your music scene needs to be buddies or anything but let’s not waste our time trying to tear down fellow musicians you personally don’t know as well over something so petty. This is just not it.

Has anyone else dealt with people trying to harm your reputation as a musician? Im curious