Here are 3 things to jumpstart your music-making!

1 - Monthly Music Mission

I'm very excited to announce the next chapter in my Music Production Club: The Monthly Music Mission.

The mission is to complete a song every month.

As part of the Music Production Club, members will receive sounds, samples, presets, and instruments to help get tracks started, and the support of our amazing community to help finish their songs.

This month, I've created a special Ableton Live Pack featuring a collection of field recordings, instruments, and convolution reverbs I made during my trip to Spain last month. My wife and I visited old castles and churches (many of which were filming locations for the Game of Thrones series), and I recorded lots of interesting sounds along the way.

Making music is hard. Having a community of supportive, like-minded people is one the best things you can do to help you create more music. Imagine what you might create!

Join the Music Production Podcast and Accept the Monthly Music Mission!

2 - I'm a Guest on the ProducerHead Podcast

The tables have been turned! Instead of hosting, I am appearing as a guest on the ProducerHead Podcast with Toru. It's the first of two episodes. We listen to 3 songs that have recently had an impact on me and some of the lessons we music makers can learn from them. We get into the philosophical aspects of music production and ways we can overcome the mental struggles of making music!

Listen to my conversation with Toru on the ProducerHead Podcast

3 - "I am an old man and have known a great many troubles, most of which never happened" - Mark Twain

I normally like to get the 3 Things email out earlier in the week, but this week has been especially busy. I've returned to my job as a high school English teacher. As usual, the last few weeks of summer vacation have been filled with a looming anxiety and dread about going back. My imagination has had plenty of time to develop all kinds of worst case scenarios about the return to work. But actually going back isn't so bad. In fact, it's mostly good. It's good to be back on a normal schedule, it's nice to see people again, and there's an optimism about what my students and I will go through together.

It always reminds me of the Mark Twain quote above. So during those last few weeks, instead of ruminating about the end of vacation and going back to work, I remind myself: dreading going back to work is worse than going back to work.

Most of our suffering happens in our minds.

It's the same with making music. If we allow our imaginations, they will come up with horrifying fantasies that prevent us from finishing music and sharing it with the world. We imagine embarrassments, shame, and humiliation. But the truth is it's never that bad. And most of the time, it's quite the opposite. Our fears melt away in the face of the feeling of accomplishment.

And those negative feelings are a sign that what we are doing is important to us. They are even there to protect us. But usually they are blown way out of proportion.

So next time you are questioning yourself and your music, remember It will almost never be as bad as you imagined. Share your work proudly and use the satisfaction it brings to start the next project!

Thanks for reading!

Best,

Brian Funk

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