Evaluating Your Own Stuff - The Worst!

Black Plaid said:
If you are listening to your past or current work, and it's not up to where you want to be, that's a good thing, it means you are discerning enough to advance your craft. Your best work is ahead of you, that's exciting!
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Just before you posted this I was working on the preceding post! When I posted it I saw your post, and obviously, we're thinking alike here.
 
I have many friends who have been in the music industry for many decades like you László, and most of them don't even want to hear their released material. They don't mind playing it, but they don't want to listen to it. It truly baffles me as I love listening to most of my released and even some half finished material. Although there are some "bad dogs" in my portfolio, I have resigned to leave them as is because I am human, and I can always do better, of which they are a reminder.

Now in you position, you certainly should only have the very best on the website that (potential) clients can see. That does not mean you have to scrap it from hard drives as you are well aware. And as we know, the cost of storage these days is never an impediment, so I say keep those fish bowls of compositions to draw ideas or clips from down the road. Yes, I know, you already stated that stuff has been axed, but this is the way I would look at it none the less.

I think what this comes down to is, are you doing the music for your own fun and entertainment (with other listeners a secondary consideration) or are you doing it as a business (with others being the primary consideration). The rules are different best I can discern and what one presents is best dictated by that qualification ;~))

Your work is always very visual for me, eliciting images with each measure and telling stories with musical sound waves! Thanks for sharing what you do and being an inspiration for what is possible ;~))
 
For me, I just hate rehashing material.

The first “real” band I joined when I was 17 already had a record deal and an EP out when I joined. I absolutely loved their material and was a fan before I got to join.

We then reworked and took all the life outta those songs, it was like they just couldn’t move past that batch of songs.

I was in that band for something like 4 years until I bailed out of frustration, went to see them open for one of my favorite bands of the time, had all new members besides the singer and guitarist, and had reworked the songs again!

The first real great sideman gig I got was kinda the same way. I spent 3 years playing shows with them and watching them try to finish writing a few songs that really just were not happening.

Ever since then I’ve been kinda traumatized to rehashing stuff. If it’s not working after a couple tries I have to move on for my sanity.
 
Les/László,

The major difference in being the strictest juror of own products (art and everything of intellectual and artisan property) is, if you make it for a living or just for fun (or personal purposes).

Perfection seeking could be present in both fields, but in terms of customer relation/convincing customer there is another drive.

Your published pieces of music are complex composed/arranged soundscapes - regardless there is hidden from our ears material you would predominately delete.
As long as admireable results occur, don't think about too much about worst approaches.
 
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Moondog Wily said:
I have many friends who have been in the music industry for many decades like you László, and most of them don't even want to hear their released material. They don't mind playing it, but they don't want to listen to it. It truly baffles me as I love listening to most of my released and even some half finished material. Although there are some "bad dogs" in my portfolio, I have resigned to leave them as is because I am human, and I can always do better, of which they are a reminder.

Now in you position, you certainly should only have the very best on the website that (potential) clients can see. That does not mean you have to scrap it from hard drives as you are well aware. And as we know, the cost of storage these days is never an impediment, so I say keep those fish bowls of compositions to draw ideas or clips from down the road. Yes, I know, you already stated that stuff has been axed, but this is the way I would look at it none the less.

I think what this comes down to is, are you doing the music for your own fun and entertainment (with other listeners a secondary consideration) or are you doing it as a business (with others being the primary consideration). The rules are different best I can discern and what one presents is best dictated by that qualification ;~))

Your work is always very visual for me, eliciting images with each measure and telling stories with musical sound waves! Thanks for sharing what you do and being an inspiration for what is possible ;~))
Click to expand...
Super-positive thoughts, but I have learned after 33 years as a professional composer...

Never polish a turd!

It's always gonna be a turd, even if it's very shiny.

It's better to start with a clean sheet of paper and come up with a better idea. Therefore, no need to save or revisit them. Flush the damn toilet!

I have a very large archive of old ad pieces I'm obliged to keep as it is, and it's difficult enough to sort through those when asked to revisit a successful project.

I realize there are people who think every idea they have is a gem just waiting to be polished. In most cases, that's wishful thinking. Most ideas people have, including very creative people, are not great ideas. Find the great ideas, and produce them. Don't save the crap. The stink only gets worse with time. ;)
 
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László said:
Super-positive thoughts, but I have learned after 33 years as a professional composer...

Never polish a turd!

It's always gonna be a turd, even if it's very shiny.

It's better to start with a clean sheet of paper and come up with a better idea. Therefore, no need to save or revisit them. Flush the damn toilet!

I have a very large archive of old ad pieces I'm obliged to keep as it is, and it's difficult enough to sort through those when asked to revisit a successful project.

I realize there are people who think every idea they have is a gem just waiting to be polished. In most cases, that's wishful thinking. Most ideas people have, including very creative people, are not great ideas. Find the great ideas, and produce them. Don't save the crap. The stink only gets worse with time. ;)
Click to expand...
All good and understood! Turds do however make great fertilizer, which is kind of what I was inferring they should be used for ;~)) But I hear ya', there is more to be created so focusing on what you may see as turds is not the best use of time!! Now if we could all have that extra sense to know what is a turd and what others may see as pure gold (similar to what Prina has queried), we might be rich (well, some of you might, not me)!!!
 
Prina said:
What's the best way to distinguish gems from wishful thinking?
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There's no way to predict how others will react to one's work, and everyone has their own tastes. Since the only thing I can control is my own reaction to a work, I revisit my pieces, and ruthlessly ask myself:

Can I do better than this?

If the answer is that I can do better, the thing to do is scrap the work, and create something better!

Out of the more than 40 orchestral pieces on my website I think only three are the best I can do. The rest either have unrealized potential that I need to work on, or in the vast majority of cases, are turds that are better flushed.

Never fall in love with one of your own turds, there's no mileage in it, and being with it makes you smell bad.

At present I'm going through my posted works, reworking the pieces with potential, and flushing the dreck. And there's more dreck than anything else.

Kerflooosh! Gurgle urgle urgle urgle galook!

Don't anyone walk in there for a little while, it kinda stinks now that I've done my business! 🤣
 
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László said:
There's no way to predict how others will react to one's work, and everyone has their own tastes. Since the only thing I can control is my own reaction to a work, I revisit my pieces, and ruthlessly ask myself:

Can I do better than this?
Click to expand...
Sounds like great advice.

Of course, for some of us the dilemma may be that it's a turd but we still can't do better. :cool:
 
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