old tracks youve made

What do you normally do with em? Iv got quite a few what were good ideas just abit badly produced at  the time, but now my productions better I just cant be arsed with them anymore

I always prefer to be working on new stufff

Exactly what im like, i have loads of old stuff!

I now have over 20 DATs with 2hrs on each of material from 1988!

The only time i went back to a tune is when it was called up for remix or it was a tune i knew would work so i kept it alive by bringing it up-to-date....a bit like a tune i finally got released 'Give me a Reason', a tune i always had faith in from the very first version back in 1995.

Melodies make hits, especially if it doesnt have any vocals.

Keep the badly produced stuff as a reminder and a marker on your progress in production.

ive only been producing a year but its amazing to listen what im doing now to back then. i think working on new stuff is better than trying to make older stuff better, have much better ideas with new stuff.

If a song isnt finished within a week, it nevers gets finished.

a WEEK! Fuk me!

dont you mean a day or within a few hours!?

God, if it aint happening after a day or two i wouldnt bother and just throw it as it obviousley aint working!

I remember getting a few artists who hired our studio back in brum and speant nearly two weeks on something that sounded shite cuz it was 'over' produced....

No good polishing a turd eh?

which is wat im thinking of doin to this cunt of a track im workin on but i cant bring myself to do it fucking fuck!!!!for some reason i can not get n e thing to sit with this bassline i have, it seems in key, it deffo is with my perc n kick but its doing my head in!!!

Dont let it get to you!

Like i used to do, i knew i had two new tracks for every one i dumped.

If the feel aint happening you will end up with something you wished you dumped!

a second pair of ears usualy helped when i had a mental block or something wasnt happening

when i work with people i usually play what they hum to me, same with a melody in my head etc...

If you find it aint coming out the way its in ya head then drop it, move on....

you will thank me for it in the long run

yep..im with ya simon, im done with it, jus had a crack at it and its not gunna happen!!

ah, but now you will come up with two more new tracks...

Always worth keeping everything you do because one day you might be working on a new tune and think that a part you used in a tune that didn't work out would fit perfectly in this new tune, whether it's just a percussion line, a particular synth sound or whatever. I always keep older stuff so I can refer back to it if needed.

I have everything on DAT that i ever did......(shame i didng keep the cassettes too but i lost them ) and often listen to them to spark of new ideas, but never need to call them up again as i would just replay them......keeps me from rusting up

I should elaborate... if the song is going well after a few hours... then it will make it to a few days, if its not finished within the week (completely! mastered, eq'd etc etc), then its not getting done...

everyone to their own mate!

Its just that i'd be bored after a day

One day is my max....if it dont happen then i ditch it.

Unless i have a vocalist on it then i spend an extra day on the vocals since 'vocal' engineering isnt my strongpoint! in fact i hate it!

Most of my time is spent going through sample after sample... so it usually takes me a while to get it done. It usually really depends on my mood I think... some days, sound after sound just fits perfectly, other days, im looking and looking and getting no-where... some songs have lasted 15 mins max. I dont re-use old sounds ive made tho, so every time i want a kick, i make one from various sample kicks, etc etc. Ive been a relativly slow producer as well... its usually only after work and most of the time, its only 2-3 days max per week.

i hav about 30 tracks i made on acid pro bak a few years ago. filth mainly. theyre playable in clubs tho i jus hav the crazy tools now cubase. am gona do a mix with em all and post it!

Are you still producing Parkesy?  Have you made any hard house/NRG tunes recently?

Still learning mate!

I moved from a Hardware setup to a software one and evaluating/learning it.

As its a hobby i dont put too much time into it (it dont pay the bills) so its a slow process.

These days i seem to put more time into watching the soaps on TV than actually making tracks!

ONe day though...one day! I will never loose the ability to play or use a PC......if anything i will get better wit time. I still love fast paced melodic dance and always will since its in my blood, i dont care much for house or anything R&B/Hiphop since it doesnt seemto have the same effect as a good hard fat bouncy happy melodic anthem!

I love classical (great for ideas withing the breakdowns as i practice big chords) and love chillout. Melodies are the key to my sounds though.

When hard trance first came out i thought id died an gone to heaven but that soon dwindled as it became overused amd 'samey'.

At the moment im listening to 1994-1996 stuff to keep the juices flowing as this seems the era where there was great diverse quality tracks....unlike today!

and before i get the posts saying 'get down to london etc and hear some of whats going down' i still have my music contacts and hear a lot of new material........very little gets my attention though due to it sounding similar.

Honestly, Im dyin here..

WTF?

always keep everything you can mate. after all there could be some anthems in amongst that lot

Do your write tunes in a linear fashion Si?

 

I can't personally imagine being able to make a whole tune in a couple of hours.  I'm more like a sculpter.   Chisel out the rough ideas and then spend days filling in detail and rearranging the subtleties until everything seems 'right'.

 

I'd personally like to hear you go back and have another go at all those tunes Si and release some stuff influenced from that era but with modern production values.

ive started going back to my old ones with like ya said "good ideas" but production is shite. and workin on some of em

silly.

ive got plenty of old tracks ive done.

the fact i never finish anything means that most become old hahahhahahahahaha.