# Have You Ever Wondered...



## david henman (Feb 3, 2006)

...if you would be a fan of your own music.

those of us who create music obviously do so from the standpoint of trying to create music that WE want to hear. or, at least, we _think_ that is what we are doing. because, i think, most of us are fans first, artists/musicians second.

and, of course, there is no way of knowing, for sure, unless we were to come down with a case of amnesia.

still, i often wonder, would i go out and buy my own music? would i pay to see me perform? 

would i be a fan?

-dh


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## lbrown1 (Mar 22, 2007)

I have often wondered if a band listens to their own stuff......I listen to the recordings from my band often - but they're not originals - so not the same thing


but - I mean - does James Hetfield put Metallica CD's in his car when he's driving? - I would if I were him....but I obviously don't have the right perspective to answer that properly


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## Guest (Jul 28, 2009)

I rate my own music highly in iTunes and it shows up in my shuffle playlists. So yea, I'm my own fan. 



david henman said:


> still, i often wonder, would i go out and buy my own music?


Yes.



> would i pay to see me perform?


No. But I don't think I have a particularly engaging stage presence.


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## 4345567 (Jun 26, 2008)

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## fretboard (May 31, 2006)

I'm a huge fan of my own stuff - while I'm writing it and working it out. By the time I've got it completed, I need for it to stay away for a few months or so anyway before I can go back to it and enjoy it.

I write all my own stuff and record all of it on my own as well, so by the time it's gone from a cool riff to a cool chord progression to a cool complete tune with drums and bass and a dozen guitar tracks - I'm sick and tired of it and don't want it around for a while.

I do love them when I go back and listen to them a week or a month or whatever after "I'm done" with it - but for me it takes time to want to listen to them after putting them together piece by piece by piece.


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## Luke98 (Mar 4, 2007)

lbrown1 said:


> but - I mean - does James Hetfield put Metallica CD's in his car when he's driving? - I would if I were him....but I obviously don't have the right perspective to answer that properly


At Cliff Burton's funeral they had Orion playing.


I'd say I would, because I have to enjoy the sound coming out to enjoy to continue playing it.


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## Mooh (Mar 7, 2007)

I listen to myself when I perform and when I record so I rarely take the time to listen to myself other times, there's way too much other music to allow for that kind of self-interest.

Peace, Mooh.


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## david henman (Feb 3, 2006)

Mooh said:


> I listen to myself when I perform and when I record so I rarely take the time to listen to myself other times, there's way too much other music to allow for that kind of self-interest. Peace, Mooh.


...i'm thinking from the point of view of: if you weren't you.

so to speak.

like the other guys here, once a recording is finished, i rarely, if ever, listen to it again.

-dh


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## fretless (Jul 3, 2009)

I like to listen to some of my music, some tracks I can't stand. 
But to tell the truth, what motivates me to compose and record is to create something I want to hear, so when I can't stand a track of mine, I definitly see it as a failure..


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## shoretyus (Jan 6, 2007)

Yes I would be a fan, as I write for me... 


as far as listening to ME ... I think it's universal that by the time you are _done _ that you have hit the edge of how many times you can listen to a song.


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## Mooh (Mar 7, 2007)

david henman said:


> ...i'm thinking from the point of view of: if you weren't you.
> 
> so to speak.
> 
> ...


It's just about the most abstract and hypothetical question. So I'll answer it the best I can. 

Maybe.

If I wasn't me I wouldn't think like me so I wouldn't know what I'd like if I wasn't me. Methinks.

Peace, Mooh.


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## cheezyridr (Jun 8, 2009)

no.

i dream soundtracks and arrangements that i would never buy, even though they sound kinda cool. they're just not what i listen to. 
songs play in my head constantly. most of them are not my style.


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## 4345567 (Jun 26, 2008)

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## jimihendrix (Jun 27, 2009)

would a chef consume something they had prepared...???...

would an artist view a portrait that they had painted...???...

would an architect walk through a building they designed...???...


of course they would...!!!


i get a personal satisfaction when i write/record/play something that i came up with...i'm always amazed at how i managed to create SOMETHING out of NOTHING...especially being totally self taught...without an ounce of proper theory and/or technique...like sinatra sez..."i did it my way"...


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## 4345567 (Jun 26, 2008)

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## xuthal (May 15, 2007)

I dont know about you guys but it seems when i record a song that i really like i listen to it a few times,then for some reason(drop off in vocals or the vocals themselves) it makes me cringe.Friends seem to like it though so i just put it online and let it be.I played a demo for a friend a few days ago and he was really impressed with it.I didnt think it was too special though,guess im my own worst critic which doesnt hurt sometimes:smile:


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## jimihendrix (Jun 27, 2009)

nkjanssen said:


> Sure, but in all honesty, if someone else had written/recorded/played that exact song instead of you, would you spend your own money to buy it? If so, I congratulate you. You've reached a stage in your writing that I havn't reached yet.


i'd probably sue the bugger for copyright infringement...ha ha ha...

to mis-quote a famous line..."i have miles to go before i sleep"...the songs i write seem "catchy" to me...i don't intentionally set out to write a tune that will be a certified flop...otherwise...i try to approximate the style/sound of my favourite commercial bands...just short of ripping someone off...i guess you could call it a tribute...

for example...i'll write a song "a la pink floyd" or "a la lynyrd skynyrd"...using similar chords/scales/vocal inflections/subject matter...only i'd personalize them with my own experiences...

see/hear if you can spot some of my influences here...

http://www.reverbnation.com/evenstone

p.s. - i suck...but i'm still proud...ha ha ha...


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## Mooh (Mar 7, 2007)

Yes, highly recommended.

Peace, Mooh.


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## Luke98 (Mar 4, 2007)

Would another way to sum up the question of this thread be, 
Does the music you make reflect the music you enjoy?


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## Spikezone (Feb 2, 2006)

shoretyus said:


> as far as listening to ME ... I think it's universal that by the time you are _done _ that you have hit the edge of how many times you can listen to a song.



I kind of have to disagree with that. When I write a song (usually on acoustic), then start recording it, I never know where it's going to end up. Once it has drums, bass, electric guitar(s), a couple layers of vocals, I am usually so happy to hear it completed and filled out that I enjoy driving around and listening to it for quite a while. Of course, the thing is that my songs are always in styles I like and have subject matter that I can relate to, so it's a no-brainer to say that I would like them, and I would guess it might be the same for a lot of the rest of you. It takes well-developed songwriting skills to get beyond that and purposely write songs that other people can relate to, unless you're one of the lucky ones that can intuitively pick up on ways of presenting ideas that a larger cross-section of listeners can relate to. I haven't achieved that state of Zen yet unfortunately.

As for the question of would I listen to the song and be a fan if it was somebody else's, well, I think that's an impossible question to answer, at least for me, because I get attached to songs as I am writing them, so I like them from the personal attachment perspective and can't imagine what kind of impression they would have on me from any other perspective. I don't know if that makes any sense or not...it's always a big challenge to get others to hear the songs and give an honest opinion of them, because of course, my wife and daughters always like them, but they're emotionally bound too.

-Mikey


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## snacker (Jun 26, 2008)

ya, i dig my own stuff....

after i'm done recording a studio album, i never want to hear it again, but i always record gigs and enjoy listening to them (we do a LOT of improv, so it's always fresh)

i have wondered what the audience thinks when we get into our really wacky improv sections


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## david henman (Feb 3, 2006)

snacker said:


> i have wondered what the audience thinks when we get into our really wacky improv sections


...i've discovered that if you go off into the twilight zone when the mood strikes, its a special treat for the audience.

if you do it all night long, not so much.

-dh


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## david henman (Feb 3, 2006)

Luke98 said:


> Would another way to sum up the question of this thread be,
> Does the music you make reflect the music you enjoy?


...not neccessarily. i enjoy bluegrass, classical, extreme metal and rap/hiphop, but that's not the music i make.

the question really is, i think:

does the music you make reflect the music you want to hear?

-dh


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## Spikezone (Feb 2, 2006)

Here we go again...I just finished recording a song I wrote, and I love it and have been listening to it a lot while driving. Maybe because I didn't have to spend too much time programing the drums and adding bass, two guitars, a lead vocal and some backups I didn't get bored of it. I love the way it ended up and like spending some time enjoying how it turned out. Curiously enough, it's called 'Lost An Hour Again', and it's about how if you 'waste' some time here and there doing things you like, it's not wasted time at all, but just might lengthen your life in the long run-it was inspired by something Rick Fines said to us in a workshop we took with him.
-Mikey


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## zontar (Oct 25, 2007)

Not that long ago I came across a cassette of some demos done years ago--over a number of years with various other musicians, and a couple I did on my own (except for the drums.)

I enjoyed listening to them--on a nostalgia level, and some of it made me cringe (mistakes, some songs where I recorded my guitar direct and the tone is awful, etc.)

But overall I enjoyed listening to it, and most of the songs, I think at least, are good songs.

One of them was written by another guitar player, and I played bass on the demo. I had never actually played the guitar part, but I was inspired to figure it out, so I did. (I'd also forgotten the bass part over the years--that was easier to figure out.) I've been playing it a lot ever since.

So I think I would be a fan of my own music, and that of others I've played with.


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## zontar (Oct 25, 2007)

david henman said:


> ...i've discovered that if you go off into the twilight zone when the mood strikes, its a special treat for the audience.
> 
> if you do it all night long, not so much.
> 
> -dh


I've been on both sides of that one.
Especially in jams, especially jams at parties.


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## Powdered Toast Man (Apr 6, 2006)

I make music that I want to hear - that's the whole reason I started playing and writing in the first place. If I don't like something I've written, I stop playing it. If I can't buy in to what I'm doing, then how can I ask anyone else to?


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## Spikezone (Feb 2, 2006)

Powdered Toast Man said:


> I make music that I want to hear - that's the whole reason I started playing and writing in the first place. If I don't like something I've written, I stop playing it. If I can't buy in to what I'm doing, then how can I ask anyone else to?


Well said.
-Mikey


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## 4345567 (Jun 26, 2008)

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## zontar (Oct 25, 2007)

nkjanssen said:


> Don't take this the wrong way, but you guys are either all much better songwriters than I am or you're much less critical of your own work than I am of mine.


Not necessarily--could just be a matter of taste.


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## Spikezone (Feb 2, 2006)

I don't think I'm all that great of a songwriter, but I'm working on it. All I was getting at is that I am excited enough to get my songs done in a complete and listenable form that I like to listen to them once they are done. I don't perform them (or any other songs for that matter) anywhere, except for my family, but now that I have recorded some of them I can pass some CDs around to friends to try to get some unbiased feedback, if there is such a thing. If I could figure out how to get them posted on MySpace I might even be trying to subject some of you to listening to them as well for another opinion. LOL!
-Mikey


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## zontar (Oct 25, 2007)

Keep writing them and recording them--it can be rewarding even if very few people hear them.

I'm glad some songs I did were only heard by a handful, but some of them deserve a wider audience, but that's life.

There are still some in me, and after I get a new computer I may finally get around to getting an interface and some good software and recording some stuff.


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