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I dont say that to over-sell what youre about to read. I dont say it to get your
hopes up.
You see, theres a problem in the world of electronic music production. People
think they dont have enough time for music production.
But for most it isnt. For most, they think theyre busy when theyre really not.
Or theyre under the impression that theyneed 4+ hours per day to become a
good producer.
If this is you, I dont blame you. Whether youre truly busy and only have 60
minutes per day to make music, or youre not really busy and spend most of
your free time distractedthis is the article for you.
A few months ago I posted a tip to Facebook (or Instagram, I cant remember)
about maximizing your time spent producing.
It wasnt about optimizing production sessions with little hacks and systems
and trying to make the process overwhelmingly ecient. I actually think thats
a bad idea (see above quote).
It was instead about adjusting your schedule to make more time for music
production.
Those who ask such questions and rail against the suggestion to spend more
time in the studio will often say something like
I understand the importance of this if youre trying to build a career out of music,
or if youre a professional. But what if its just a hobby?
Before we get into the meat of the article, I want to address this point. Because
for you, music production might be a hobby, and you might be wondering why
on earth you need to maximise your time spent producing.
Heres a simple test: next time you watch TV for more than two hours straight,
ask yourself afterwards how you feel.
Do you feel like youve achieved something? Do you feel like that two hours
was a good investment of your time?
Its good for us, as humans, to spend more time doing creative things. And the
I need to relax therefore I need to watch TV argument doesnt really work
(unless your job truly requires you to work 16 hours a day at high-intensity,
but then you wouldnt be reading this).
One of the chief things which my typical man has to learn is that the mental
faculties are capable of a continuous hard activity; they do not tire like an arm
or a leg. All they want is changenot rest, except in sleep. Arnold Bennett
In particular, I must mention the guiding work behind this article. The book
that led me to write it. Its called Deep Work (http://amzn.to/1Pfqnta) by Cal
Newport, and youll see his ideas pop-up throughout this article.
Heres my friend Budi Voogt talking about the concept in more detail.
Why you dont need to make music for 8 hours a day to become a pro
How to pack more into less (without sacricing craftsmanship)
Why you need to develop intense concentration (and how to do it)
How to minimize distractions, block out time, and make more music
The unsexy truth about creative work
A quick note
This article is fairly comprehensive, but what it doesnt do is give you a big
picture view of workow and creativity.
(https://edmprod.leadpages.co/leadbox/1468c5073f72a2%3A13634110db46dc
/5683257223938048/)
Note:If you feel like you desperately need the book now, feel free to grab the
current version (http://getworkowbook.com). All existing customers will get free
updates for life.
We have a problemand the odd thing is we not only know about it, were
celebrating it. The asset were overvaluing now is the notion of doing it all,
having it all, achieving it all; what Jim Collins calls the undisciplined pursuit of
more.
This exists in the music world: you have a handful of successful producers
telling the media how they spent 12 hours each day in the studio, and how
they credit that to their success (read more aboutThe Narrative Fallacy
(http://ryanholiday.net/the-narrative-fallacy/))
Dont get me wrong, you do need to work hard in order to get to where you
want to be,regardless of what that goal looks like (again, hobbyists and
want-to-be professionals will dier in this regard). But blindly working for 12
hours a day because its what everyone does is misguided.
One issue with the long hours in the studio meme being over-praised is that
everyone who doesnt have the luxury to log such hourseveryone who has a
job or is a studentfeels like theyre screwed.
And I dont blame them. If 12-hour days are what artists are crediting to their
success, then it makes sense to feel like youre never going to make it.
The reason its easy is because youre not fully engaging your mental muscles.
Youre not giving yourself a workout, so you never get tired.
You also dont get much done. Or maybe you do, but its taken you 12 hours.
Anders Ericsson, the guy who came up with the theory of deliberate practice,
wrote a paper (http://projects.ict.usc.edu/itw/gel
/EricssonDeliberatePracticePR93.PDF) in 1993 titled The Role of Deliberate
Practice in the Acquisition of Expert Performance.
Ericsson notes that for a novice, somewhere around an hour a day of intense
concentration seems to be a limit, while for experts this number can expand to as
many as four hoursbut rarely more.
One of the studies cited catalogs the practice habits of elite violin players training
at Berlins Universitt der Knste. The elite players averaged around three and a
half hours per day in a state of deliberate practice, usually separated into two
distinct periods.
Are these elite violin players spending 12 hours a day deliberately practicing?
No.
Why?
You can excel at your craft even if you have a full-time job, as 12 hours per
day isnt necessary.
Deliberate practice and intense concentration is hard and is something
that needs to be trained.
And if you dospend 12 hours a day in the studio, take time to reect and ask
yourself how much of it is distraction-free, high-intensity work.
Not all production work requires this type of concentration. Preparing your
project le for mixdown, setting up routing, and performing menial but
necessary tasks do not require deep focus.
And you dont necessarily need to work in a state of focus to nish music. This
is made evident by the many producers who have Facebook open on another
screen or their phones constantly buzzing throughout a session.
But just because something is possible, it doesnt mean its ideal. We know that
being distracted aects our ability to be creative, and we know that we can
get more done in 2 hours of highly-focused work than we can during 46 hours
of broken, distracted work.
The alternative
The alternative to focused workwork that will ultimately propel you forward
and help you make the most gainsis distracted work. Something Newport
calls shallow work.
Music production does not t this denition. It is, for the most part, a
cognitively demanding task, that isnt logistical.
The true alternative is treating something that should be focused work (deep
work) as shallow work. This is a waste of time.
A lot of people who read this will not make any changes to how they work.
Some will laugh at what Im suggesting. Others will agree with it, make an
attempt to stay focused, and then relapse to old unproductive habits.
Why?
If youre in this age group, youve grown up with the internet. The norm is to
be distracted. Its part of life.
And thats why the idea of focused work is not sexy. It might seem brilliant
when youre reading about it like you are now, but when you actually sit down
to start, its hard.
So why do it?Because itssatisfying. Not only will you nish more music
(http://getworkowbook.com), youll also enjoy the process of making music
much more than you would if distracted. Youll be more present.
Lets say you commit to a 90-minute focused production session. You set a goal
(to nish the structure for your track), set thetimer, and get started.
Whats wrong with checking your phone during the next 90 minutes? After all,
it only takes a few seconds to click the home button, light up the screen and
check to see if anything important has happened, right?
Well, those few seconds result in much more than a few seconds of diused
concentration and thats in a best case scenario.
What if you got an unpleasant message from someone you dont like? Do you
think the rest of your production session will go well?
In the best case scenario as in, you only have one or two notications that
arent urgent, youre still going to incur the cost of task-switching also known
asattention residue (http://nymag.com/scienceofus/2016/01/attention-residue-
is-ruining-your-concentration.html).
This simply means that youll be thinking about that notication for several
minutes after knowing about it, and this aects your concentration.
After all, if you care about your craft, you should care about getting better at it.
And theres no better way to improve than increasing the time you spend in a
state of deliberate practice.
When producing:
Turn your phone OFF and put it in a place where you wont be tempted to
turn it back on.
Turn your internet connection OFF. You dont need it.
Put a Do Not Disturb sign on your door if you live with other people.
Handle any loose ends (phone calls, message replies) before starting a
session.
Clear your workspace. Physical items can be distracting.
2. Start small
If youre new to the idea of intense concentration/deep work, then you might
be tempted to launch into four hours of non-stop focused music production.
If you do this, youll probably fail. I say that from a sympathetic standpoint
because Ive tried this many times myself.
Start small. Try to spend one hour per day focused on music production. If you
nd it exceptionally hard to do this, start even smaller (15 or 30 minutes).
Adding structure to your production sessions is helpful, and one easy way to
add structure is to use a time limit.
I like to use a timer in tandem with blocking out time in my calendar. This does
a few things:
This doesnt mean you should quit your job and produce full time. Thats not
realistic unless you have a long-term vision and strategy (its certainly
achieveable, and if thats what you want to do, then I encourage you to do so).
What it does mean is that you should focus on nothing else but whats
essential. Aside from work, family, friends, your health, and any other hobbies
you may have whats essential is making music.
Not trying to market yourself. Not trying to build your social media prole. Not
spending time downloading new plugins.
These things are helpful in isolation, but they are not things that will make you
a better producer. They wont move the needle.
You should, but if youre short on time, the best way to increase your chances
of future success is to hone your craft.
So, next time you nd yourself asking whether its worth using that new social
media platform, remember that the only way to make leaps and bounds is
through concentrated eort on your craft.
If this stu interests you, then I encourage you to read more on it. This article
is really just an overview.
Finally, if you found this article helpful, please share it with anyone you
think needs to read it.
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/5683257223938048/)
Sam Matla
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Mike Power
Sam this article is the best I have ever come across on music productivity.
This strikes a massive chord with me, I have been around many producers that have given
me
the age old lecture, you have to devote 12 hours a day ect, names I wont mention, but they
are highly successful. It drilled that belief into my head. I ended up spending around 3-4
hours a day on music
but could not finish a track in 18 months. Until I changed my ways, by spending 1 to 1 and a
half hours a day of dedicated focused practice, I was able to finish a track within 3 weeks.
I found the more spare time you have, the more time you can possibly procrastinate.
That's in my experience of course.
It is all about focused practice and blocking out time to get the work done, as you've
mentioned.
Cristbal Berner
"The more spare time you have, the more time you can possibly procrastinate."
This happens to me a lot, I think one solution is to be 100% committed to your
Calendar and use it effectively, writing and scheduling what you are going to do in
your free times, to avoid procrastinating them.
Mike Power
For sure, commitment and integrating good habits, I usually have alerts set
on my phone for my scheduled days. But even then there is always
distractions somewhere along the the line at times. Discipline and focus I
feel I need to improve on.
Maybe I should schedule guilt free procrastination time ;)
Sam Matla
People feel like it's "wrong" to schedule out their free time, but it actually
makes a lot of sense. Good comment.
Sam Matla
Totally agree re: having spare time. The busier you are, the more you get done.
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