Ten Thousand Hours.
It’s a daunting number. I’m referring to the 10000 Hour Rule coined by Malcolm Gladwell that states: “It takes at least 10000 hours of practice to become world class at anything”. Ever since I’ve heard of this rule that number became seared in the back of my mind. Always there, always intimidating.
Ever since I heard “Das Boot” by U96 when I was 9 years old, I’ve been fascinated with electronic music. Then I was introduced to KLF and my love for all genres of electronic music had a solid foundation. Over the years my tastes in music varied slightly (metal phase, indie rock phase, hip-hop phase etc.) where one style or genre of music would dominate my playlists. Electronic music is the only one I never went through a “phase” with, simply because I always loved it evenly.
In January of 2013 I finally decided to try my hand in electronic music production. Keep in mind, at the time of this decision I had zero knowledge of music theory and lack ability to play any instrument. “Lacked ability”? What the hell am I talking about? I couldn’t play a chord on anything if my life depended on it. Nevertheless, here I was, about to make a strong attempt at failing miserably.
I got a DAW (Digital Audio Workstation) and started messing around within it. It was like sitting a dog in front of a computer and expecting him to design a website. I wasn’t discouraged though. I bought a few books on music theory and production. Started watching tutorials religiously and practicing a lot: 10-12 hour days were kind of the norm. A month or so into it I finished my first song. I named it Degrees and posted it on Soundcloud. I was and still am very proud of it despite it’s quality (or lack thereof).
As you can hear undoubtedly, my ear wasn’t anywhere near tuned to mix down a track properly. I had no idea how to sidechain right. There’s a myriad of problems with the track. Still… I was so happy and proud. I loved every second of making that track and 2500 hours or so later (very rough estimate) I still get that feeling every time I finish one.
This is my newest original track.
It’s actually only the second Dubstep track I ever produced. Point is that everything worth doing is worth the time and effort invested into doing it right. Find something that makes you happy and give it all you got. That’s my advice to anyone.
Until next time.
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