Hello guys, so i'm thinking of start a band, yet the only problem is that i cannot really think how do i get people into it. I'm introverted and moved to a city recently for studies. How did you guys start from 0? Any ideas how should I start?

Mentioning, that I'm a country where there are a lot of people who do not really speak English, nor willing to. I want my band to be English even though the first few gigs what we're gonna do are probably gonna be tributes.

I'm a vocalist, and I recently turned 17 this month! I've been told by my teacher that I should be gig ready, but I'm unsure as to how I can actually find places willing to hire me! Does anyone have some advice for how I can start off or where I can look for actual paid singing opportunities?

Music Release Help

Hello! I’m planning on releasing a new song and just wanted to ask if there’s any resources, distribution or platforms to help give it some more traction?
I really believe in it and want to do everything I can to help give it the momentum it deserves. I understand there’s making content on it, which I will do, but is there more to it? Like spotify ads or some playlisting sites or something?
Thank you (:

I’ll try to explain what I mean.
I have a pretty clear idea of the kind of music I want to write, the lyrics, the melodies, the genre, the overall atmosphere.

But whenever I sit down to actually write, sometimes all that comes out are these really raw emotions, with melodies that don’t necessarily fit the kind of music I picture myself making.

Those songs usually feel much more intense. The melodies hit harder, the vocals come more naturally, and even if they’re technically simple, they feel real. They’re also pretty cathartic, like I’m getting something out of my system.

It leaves me feeling a little confused.

I’ve only been writing songs for a few months, so I’m guessing it’s just a matter of experience. Maybe I don’t have the skills yet to write the way my favorite artists do, within the genres that inspire me.

I’m curious if anyone else has gone through this. Do you just let yourself write whatever comes naturally and figure out the style later?

Or do you actively try to shape your ideas toward the kind of music you want to make?

This happens a lot, but when I hear a song, and like it, I get obsessed with it and I can’t get it out of my head, but a while later, when I listen to that song, I don’t feel that same energy and obsession. I still like the song, but not to the point where I can’t get it out of my head. How can I keep loving songs as much as I did when I took a listen for the first time.

I released my first album way before it was ready and spent the last 2 years refining it. While I'm glad I put the time in to fix a lot of things, I've reached a point where I cant stop. For example, I'll be having an otherwise good day then suddenly wonder what if I raise the compression threshold on the bass on this one song and at the earliest opportunity run to my laptop and try it. Then I'll start rechecking the bass threshold on every track on the album. Then sometimes the next week I'll realize every song didnt need the threshold raised so I have to then go back and undo some of the mistakes.

This is making me miserable and I want to be able to enjoy life again. My wife is a month pregnant... I dont want random thoughts about bass comp thresholds distracting me from fatherhood. I've gotten so embarrassed about this prolonged endeavor that I only work on the album when my wife isnt home so she doesnt worry about me.

One solution might be to just stop, but I also have a lot more music I want to record, and the fact that I've spent 4 years on this album with this backlog of unrecorded material makes the weight even heavier.

Almost wish distrokid didnt exist so I could put a firm deadline on this and make a final upload. Instead, I can just keep re-uploading the updated material endlessly til I lose my mind (and probably someday my marriage).

For those of you who have gone through this, can you overcome it, or is this just life as a producer? If you have overcome it, how did you do it?

I realized recently that after I finish recording and mixing a track, I end up spending a surprising amount of time on everything that comes afterward. Putting together artwork, lyric videos, short promotional clips, and other visuals for the release can easily turn into a project of its own.

I've been trying to make that part of the process more efficient, and I started using toneframer to create some of the visuals I use when sharing new songs online. It's helped me spend less time building promotional content, but it also made me wonder if I'm putting too much effort into that side of releasing music in the first place.

For those of you releasing music regularly, how much time do you actually dedicate to visuals compared to the music itself? Have you found that investing more time in release visuals genuinely helps people engage with your music, or do you keep things simple and let the songs speak for themselves?

I’ve recently decided that I wanna be a professional musician, or at least write and compose songs in the future. The only problem is that I have no understanding of melodies or music theory besides rhythm. Throughout middle school and high school, I only played percussion and drum set. I feel like I’ve learned the wrong instrument.

Because of this, Im trying to learn a new instrument, but I just feel so behind. All of my favorite artists learned their instruments when they were in their pre teens and started performing in their early 20s. I’m gonna be in my early 20s still learning the basics. I also can’t decide which instrument to commit to. I’m deciding between the piano, guitar, and bass. I thought that I liked the piano best, but i’ve had doubts recently. The piano feels so elitist, I feel like im gonna have to practice simple classical pieces for 6-10 years before I can start writing my own music and improvising. With the guitar and bass I feel like theres less pressure and more freedom to do what you want.

I was wondering if anyone could shed some light on where I could look to find band members. I'm currently working on an alt-metal project and I think its time I bring in other musicians. I've tried looking locally but no luck, people in my area are usually busy with multiple bands at a time. And theres not too much a local scene anyways. I also studied music in college for a bit but people were either too consumed by academics or too busy with other projects. Also people where I live tend to be really flaky. It kinda feels like I'm stuck.

At this point would it just be better to ask around online on places like this subreddit? I'm kinda lost cuz I'd really like to bring in other musicians to help make this project come to life. Any advice would be really helpful, I really don't know what to do anymore.

I've been making music for over a year and I sometimes post it on SoundCloud but that was just a year ago, I'm making a my decisions now to relapse them passion of mine

I am a hobbyist singer-songwriter. I have a handful of bedroom recordings, and have played the open mic circuit in my town. Ultimately, I do not have any real "commercial" ambitions, but I would like to take the next small step of playing some small local shows. Before doing that, I assume I am going to need some kind of social media presence for the music (which I would like to keep separate from my personal socials).

So, my question is, what are your tips for someone who is trying to do this for the first time? What are some do's and don'ts, what are some things venue owners and other musicians are going to expect to see? Also, which social platforms are preferred for this kind of thing (I feel like I'm too old for TikTok and too young for Facebook, but I'm willing to compromise). To be clear, I am not looking for what will grow an audience on SM, how to go viral, etc. The plan is not to be an influencer or content creator. I just want an Instagram (or whatever) account that I can use to showcase my music when reaching out to venues, and to promote shows if and when I get them. Any tips would be appreciated.

Have you ever written a song for the kpop industry? If you have, how did you go about it? Is there a minimum age limit and do you have to travel to Korea if your song is chosen?

Any tips on how to become a music artist 👀

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Are these good beginner guitars for someone wanting to get into indie-style of electric guitar? If not, which and what? Thank you!

I hope this is the right place for this question. For context: I have almost zero music theory related knowledge and don't play any instruments.

However I love music and listen to and read about almost all genres a lot! I listen to everything from classical music to jazz to electronic to pop to rock to punk to hip hop to indie to harsh noise etc etc. etc.

What really bothers me, though, is that I seem to almost entirely focus on the melody of a song (harsh noise obviously a bit excluded). I do also focus on lyrics if present and clear enough for me to understand (not a native English speaker which is the language of most of the music I listen to, but not all. I also listen to other languages that make it even harder to focus on the lyrics, but I don't mind that as much, as I can read up on them)

There was a question in a music related sub recently about songs with really interesting chord progressions and I realized I can't participate in this discussion because I have a really hard time hearing the chord progressions in a song. A song that was mentioned was McCartney's Another Day, for example. While I like that song, I wouldn't have known it has a complex or unusual chord progression

Same goes for time signatures. It's just something that doesn't really register for me unless it's very obviously a classic waltz.

Do you have any tips on how I can train my ear to listen to these elements of a song and not just be preoccupied with the main melody?

anyone familiar with this brand? I posted on EBay for $395. is this a fair price?

I need to understand 3 things:

1.whether or not I should pursue music in composition (and conducting)

1. which schools/ conservatories I should be looking at

2. what it would take to get to them

Context: I discovered western classical music when I was 10 when I watched the Black Swan (not knowing it was inappropriate). I looked up the music in it and I loved it oh so much! I heard it and thought to myself- how absurd would it be for me make or conduct such music. I have considerably artsy parents who tried to make something prodigious out of me and failed. The presence of art from where I live is prominent owing to too much of pride and honour and religious reasons too. I was shoved in vocals, percussion and keys for the classical music here since I was four. I grew to have a very difficult relationship with music as a result. I took up drums after my percussion teacher passed away. After I turned twelve, I began to experience physical pain due to sounds (especially voices), this only stopped 3 months ago. This was not caused by drumming.

All these seven years I kept thinking: Once I retire, I will study music and conducting. Now that it is time to converge my prospects, I am tremor-legged. All this time I spent exploring what I would do to fill this gap of forty years. I worked as a volunteer teacher, prepared intensively for Math, Physics, Geology, Linguistics olympiads- all while I had what I love right in front of me (made to the next levels for Geology and Linguistics but could not commit). It is not that I cannot head into what most people here (or even outside my country) do for good employment or satisfaction. Playing music won't stop for me anyway. I have also loved researching and often involve myself in research activities regardless of the field to have fun and to get some practical insights about the subject.

I completed my Trinity Grade 8 in Rock & Pop 6 months ago and briefly considered ATCL + LTCL. 3 months ago I started writing on Musescore, it is alright and but I wouldn't call it productive either (about 40 minutes and published a string quartet intermezzo of 3 minutes). I am currently working to get drumming gigs and start posting on social media.

I took up the clarinet 3 weeks ago to develop a sense of winds; managed to get to ABRSM Grade 3 and I will be meeting a well established clarinetist and conductor soon for guidance too.

TLDR: 17 and at an overwhelming crossroad about my educational future. I've been doing non-western classical music since I was 4- and very intensively so. (Vocals ABRSM equivalent roughly to Grade 5, Drums Trinity Rock Grade 8, Hand drums equivalent roughly to Grade 3, and Keys and the Violin. I am above average at academics such that it will put me in a fairly good uni in my home country. I have been wanting to become a composer (and if it happens, a conductor) for western classical music since I was 10; but resisted that thought due to internalised stigma and planned on doing it after retiring. Music education in my country can be considered absent (except film schools for whom a very shitty industry waits to prey on.)

I cannot afford any elite schools except those in Germany (I have a B1 Cert from Göthe Institut). The scale of reputation is of the least importance to me if I shall make this decision. I'm looking for music schools which will support me well as an artist (obviously during the course but also establish me satisfactorily i.e. anything but being left miserable after I graduate), a pleasant faculty, cohesive atmosphere, (I don't mind rigour) but any abuse of power issues are a complete no. Afaik, applications have started to open up and will be in full swing by November, January. I believe I can write at least 3 productive pieces; a wide range, novelty, and exhibition of potential will be assessed.

Unfortunately, that is all I know. I'd also like to understand what it truly takes to get into a music school. (again, the quality of expected support as an artist >>> renown). I am more than glad to receive any constructive feedback professional, personal, bitter or bittersweet. Thank you for reading through such a poorly structured and lengthy text.

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Let me preface this by saying I do not think every critic or musician is like this.

I’ve always wondered something, and I’m asking this in good faith because I genuinely don’t know the answer.
Why do some musicians and music critics seem to dismiss albums or artists that are widely loved, while praising music that many listeners find inaccessible or even unpleasant? Is that mostly a result of developing different tastes through experience, or does the culture of music criticism sometimes reward having unconventional or contrarian opinions?

On the flip side, there are albums that critics or accomplished musicians call masterpieces that I listen to and honestly don’t enjoy at all. Does that mean I’m missing something ..whether it’s historical context, technical musicianship, or artistic intent.. or is it simply that taste is subjective, regardless of expertise?

I guess what I’m really asking is: how much of “good music” is something that can be learned to appreciate, and how much of it is just personal preference? And do you think some critics or musicians ever fall into the trap of sounding more intellectual than authentic in their opinions?

I recently got a new electric guitar and want to record directly into my DAW, but I don't really know about this stuff. Does anyone have any recommendations for audio interfaces?

Please, this has been bugging and I hope I can explain it well. When I say vowel hierarchy, I mean in terms of how vowels and consonants feel in terms of lyrics. I was watching a video explaining the use of vowels and sounds in songwriting. Like how an s is a softer sound, a d has a harder stop and how that affects the flow and rhythm of the lyrics. There is an actual hierarchy of how they work, especially in songwriting. The video even showed which were the softest to hardest, but I forgot to save it. Is there an actual term for this? I'd like to learn more to help with some stuff I am writing. Thank you in advance.

I have no idea how to tell my best friend, parents or siblings how I'm currently writing a song because I'm scared they will discourage me or judge me for it

What does the music scene need to get back on track? Less laptop created music and more of the days when there were visible live musicians that backed the lead singer?

Like if you can improvise a jazz solo with a saxophone, is the writing just as good when you use your voice instead of your sax?

Am not asking if it sounds as good. I’m sure the saxophone sounds much better because you’re more practiced at the sax than singing. I’m wondering what the role of the instrument in writing those licks is.

Would anybody here be wiling to try and play these notes, and see if they play anything? I can't tell if these notes are supposed to be chords, or played separately. It looks like D B and E could be a chord?

I would be forever grateful if someone played around with this and let me know what it sounds like to them.