The subtle art of not seeking perfection

I have been making music since 2018. I am still a beginner, but if there is one thing experience taught me is that it’s hard to find your genre and stick at it.

Some producers focus on one niche genre while others attempt to improve at many of them.

It depends on what you want to do.

If you want to become an independent artist or work with a label, you should focus on one genre to stand out. If you want to work with singers, for example, the more genres you’re good at, the better.

The first beat I’ve ever made was a kind of attempt to imitate NCS artists like Elektronomia, Electro-light, Ahxello, Jim Yosef, etc. Of course, my beat was far and far away from the music they make. It was just a bunch of sounds put all together without proper logic.

Until a few days ago, I’ve been “jumping” between what I thought was Future Bass, House, and Tropical House. The results were a mess, of course.

I’ve been spending tons of time building and destroying. Instead of practicing, I wasted time removing all the content, plugins, tracks, thinking I wasn’t strong on it.

Then I started all over again, without improving.

I was the prey of perfectionism, stuck in a non-sense loop of fear and anxiety. If you, dear reader, would like to become a music producer, please, don’t chase perfection.

What you think are flaws can make you stand out.

Now I produce Lo-fi Hip-Hop beats. I’m happy with that. I stopped chasing perfection and began focusing on developing my style.

I spend more time on Ableton Live instead of watching tutorials or endless lists of free plugins.

I stopped having that fear of doing what I like, that fear that made me think: “If I post this now, everyone will say that even I don’t know what I’m doing” or “No no no, this track is a mess, I’m a dumb let’s take it down!” etc.

It takes time to find your genre. You have to practice a lot and experiment with many genres you like. You’ll miss the target, but don’t stop doing what you love. Don’t waste time online, looking for plugins, tutorials, and always new sounds or presets. Instead, focus all your energy on mastering your DAW, its stock plugins, and developing your sound.

Most important thing, share your music.