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Damn.
I'm so close to finishing my second album. I burnt a copy of a close to finished 12 track album, and realize I have a few minor things to fix, and 2 tracks which I need to redo completely. Up to this point I made very good progress, but as always, it's the last tiny bit where the inspiration vanishes.
I tried 2 completely new versions of one of the remaining tracks, and they're crap, and now I have no interest in continuing.
Does this happen to everyone, in the final stages? Any tips to pull me through?
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05/10/07
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hecanjog
This happens to me without fail. I haven't figured out a good way to push through it, but putting things aside for a bit can help - or the opposite, forcing yourself to do some sort of mundane edit to a track can somtimes get you sucked back in before you know it. Good luck, looking forward to this one!
05/10/07
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naw
as a label mate I can tell you that is that is why it took me 3 years 4 months to follow up green nights orange days with city saturate... I kept starting over again and again... dont get frustrated just keep plugging away...
05/10/07
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hecanjog
Also: this doesn't quite fall in line with what you're talking about, but a comp professor of mine had a nice little system he worked out to keep himself motivated to work every day. He'd always save one last idea for the next time he picked up his piece - I suppose it's an art to know which idea will be your last idea, but if he was working for a few hours on something, he'd save the very last step for tomorrow. For him, inevitably picking up with that last step the next day would suck him back into the process enough that he'd push forward until he could save another last step for the next day. Just a way to get kick-started.
05/10/07
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Fah
well, you don't HAVE to include those two tracks that needed to be redone.
- just remove them from the current release
- bring out your finished product
- revise those two tracks THEN (cause then you'd have more motivation)
- include those two tracks as bonus tracks
people love bonus tracks
edited: May 10 2007
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adcBicycle
Thanks so much everyone. For the ideas and for the positive encouragement. I can honestly say I'm 10 times more motivated after reading all this.
D.sleep- completely agree, the fun stuff is such a small percentage of the recording... and rarely occurs at the end.
Ignatius/Analog- that's what I'm doing now, sitting on it, and yeah, it does help, just feels unproductive. And, I'm (unfortunately) starting to move away from critics these days. For one I generally already know anything a critic tells me, just need to find it in my own mind. And I find that if I put to much emphasis on some one else's ears, their subtle reactions can throw me in a completely wrong direction.
hecanjog - I love that idea of your professor's. It so true that's it's easier to come back to something when you have an idea in mind. And once you're back into it, it's easy to stay motivated. I'm going to try this.
Fah - the problem is that like my last album, it's all one continuous track, and these are in the middle of the album.
05/10/07
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mixedtape
seriously, hecanjog, that is a fantastic idea! of course that would drive me insane at first, but i bet it works!
05/10/07
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claudia
i am turning into a big fan of ripping a lot of work out, just compositing bunches of takes, recording everything to cd, getting a few drafts, then literally taking a few weeks away from it, go to another project, then come back, i made the mistake i think of killing myself to get something done before then going back and thinking shit man, i should've cut this, shortened this, etc etc etc
w/ time, this shit makes sense, just so long as we stay on task, but breaks are key i think, i am sure you will get it done in no time and be really happy w/ the results, no worries, you can do it!!!
05/10/07
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adcBicycle
fer, sure, claudia.
Breaks are the number one way to remove the bias. Completely agree.
But too long a break can be inefficient because you forget what you were doing.
05/10/07
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claudia
word, that is what i am experiementing w/, for instance, you have 5-7 tracks "done", you give them time to breathe, but you have to say "on this date" i have to be done, no changing after that date
i just never before realized how time helps most issues come to the for front, that and just listening to the work w/ a friend in the room, certain parts end up just screaming to be cut w/o the person having to say anything, makes me laugh
05/10/07
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ignatius
i'm stoked you are doing this album in same format as your last one.. one long track! that's awesome and makes for a great listen. i love not knowing when a track ends or where the next one begins. it's great.
05/10/07
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j_chot
my method works really well. I promise.
05/10/07
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ignatius
j_chot.. your method sounds like a recipe for a BM. i can see how the uppers will work for you though. too much caffeine sometimes totally breaks my train of thought and i can't focus.
05/10/07
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mlbot
Uppers are what you give kids with ADHD to make 'em concentrate.
Just sayin'.
05/10/07
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Roshi
Everyone has had some good advice. I'm trying to finish up an EP and here is the path that I've taken:
*Made a list of everything that needs to be done
*Decided on order of importance
*tried to do each step in order of importance
*accepted the fact that finishing takes longer than I thought (six months or so!)
*almost done (just 1 track to fix)
It's the test of a true artist to execute and finish their ideas with aplomb. Just work when you're excited and you will finish.
Otherwise, get a deadline and have someone kick your ass. 
05/10/07
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adcBicycle
claudia, maybe I'll get a manequin to sit in the room with me while I mix.
Yeah, I get your method j-chot. I agree that having this time when your totally fed, and awake and aware is necessary. A little caffeine is good I think... but I've found out the hard way that drugs don't work for me when recording, and now I have years, and years of material which is pure crap.
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