r/WeAreTheMusicMakers

Hi all — I’ve been getting into jazz guitar and experimenting with my own voicings and substitutions. I’ve learned there are tons of approaches, but I’m looking for resources where experienced players explain their thought process in real time.

Ideally, videos of someone going through tunes from the Real Book, reharmonizing/substituting chords, adding passing chords, embellishing voicings, etc., while explaining why they’re making those choices. I haven’t been able to find that perfect channel, and I’m starting to think it doesn’t exist.

Any recommendations?

I’m trying to build a more consistent release system where each single has a focused visual/social rollout, but doesn’t swallow the prep time for the next track.

The rough idea is 2 weeks pre-release + 2 weeks post-release, while quietly preparing the next one in the background.

Has anyone here tried a monthly or near-monthly release schedule? What actually helped you stay consistent without burning out or making every campaign feel rushed?

So I've been working through this one piece for about two weeks now and honestly thought I'd pretty much nailed it down. I've been recording my practice sessions the whole time just to track progress, wasn't really expecting to find anything wild in them.

Then last week I sat down and actually transcribed one of my recordings back into notation, just to see what I'd actually played versus what was on the page. And that's when I caught it, a half step wrong note I'd been hitting in the exact same bar every single run through. The second I saw it written out I could hear it clear as day, but somehow it had slipped past me on every listen back before that.

And this got me thinking way beyond just fixing the one note. There's a real gap between what I think I'm playing and what I'm actually playing, and there's no way I would've caught this from just listening. Seeing it on paper made it impossible to ignore anymore. Anyone else done something like this?

Probably been asked a billion times before, but I was just wondering if there is any modern examples of sources to learn how to fully construct a song from scratch, and learn how to create melodies . I don’t mind if this post gets taken down, as long as I’m redirected to a proper source. Thank you!

So basically I like writing music. I’ve always had a knack for Melodies and writing catchy or emotional stuff. My dream was to add lyrics to all my songs and just make a band. I’ve been trying this for over 6-7 years, to learn how to sing well, write good lyrics etc but it’s just so damn hard and I often run into problems with my voice and throat and my lyrics just aren’t getting much better either. I feel like I’m probably trying too hard or something and sometimes I just think oh how nice it would be to just focus on composing the music and do just that.
So right now I’m in one of those phases and I’m wondering what would actually be a viable path to take just writing music?
I mean the obvious would be finding someone to set lyrics to my Melodie’s and let them sing but I haven’t come across anyone where this has seemed “obvious”.
Being in an instrumental band feels kinda “wrong”, I’m a big fan of vocals and good lyrics in songs.
I guess the other obvious routes would be scoring soundtracks or fiverr or something.
My production skills are low, enough to make a crappy demo but nowhere near anything else.
Productions just never been interesting to me.

Unfortunately life has proven to me that I don't belong anywhere and that I have to do everything myself. Kind of like a 'Finch' movie reality.

I am self diagnosed with a bit of autism, so that is what keeps me away from most people (I tend to push away b4 they even realize it).

Especially in the future, it looks like the whole band thing will narrow down to most 1-people bands whether they like it or not.

There is fun into creating music all by yourself.....however.......dreams are always dreams 😄

I'd like to try out some of the AI assisted songwriting apps. Does anyone know, if you upload an idea, does it become the property of that company? I know that AI has flat out given away intellectual property. If I upload a chorus, and someone is looking for a chorus, is AI just going to send them my idea? How much control do I have versus what that AI platform has? My Google searches are giving me very vague information. Does anybody know? Does anybody have more refined Google search for me? Thanks much.

Put A TON of effort in a DIY sensibility into making a music video, and just like releasing music, it's just always pulling teeth to get eyes and ears on your art. Any promo thats helped? Any answers appreciated in advance :)

I am working on a project but I am not sure if Im thinking correct- regarding the content.

all storytelling songs are made in first person perspective. since they are stories I also add sound effects.

what are your opinion regarding storytelling music? do soundeffects ruin the music or is it ok to use in music making? where is the limit between storytelling and pure music?

hello.

i have been writing and polishing the lyrics of my debut EP since April this year, and plan to go into the studio August 2026 until December 2026 or January 2027. i would like some advice, since i've once recorded a song before, but that was terrible. and i would release 2 singles and the EP out of nowhere without the pre-release of any loose singles not with the EP. my bff's father has a studio which i can probably record in, but i'm really seeking advice because i don't know very much about the making of music.
i appreciate all the people who read this and react to it. thank u!

edit:
here's my schedule:
May 2026 - July 2026, Writing & Polishing
August 2026 - December 2026 or January 2027, Recording
January 2027 - March 2027, Photoshoot & Filming
[release date], Release of the EP

another edit:
PEOPLE! gimme a break! i'm just a starter, okay? i'm new to it. last time in that studio from my bff's father, we didn't actually use the instruments there! we just used things on a app on the monitors. u all are crushing my dream, do u want to do that? HUH?!
stop crushing my dreams, that has been done enough. now i see what kind of monsters are actually on reddit. not all of u, some of u have been very supportive and actually believed in me. but those bitches who don't and say it like that? FUCK OFF.

another edit (more about the project):
the project: an EP of 5 to max 6 songs.
genre: Pop
what makes the songs: vocals, beats, specific sounds, tough = lower vocals, sad = higher vocals.
inluences/inspiration: Madison Beer, Tate McRae and Olivia Rodrigo.
doing day one: working with the producer on the beats and recording some parts.

hi all, just getting into hyperpop/edm production and im wondering where everyone learns automation and the different effects you can automate.

i know u can have a filter and fade it out but is there a book or a long youtube video that goes in depth on like,

delay automation, reverb automation, phaser automation ,eq automation, etc..

I'm a producer, songwriter, and singer. My vocal range is around three octaves, and I feel like I'm trying to shove it in people's faces in every song (it feels like it's starting to ruin the song's soul and feeling). I'm looking for different perspectives to overcome this, and also, when I'm writing melodies in my head, I feel like I can't break out of a certain pattern. I'm trying to overcome this barrier. Help!

If you’re like me, you’ve got a ton of sample packs, sound kits etc on your computer. But you don’t use every single sound in every single kit. Not even close.

Is there a way of identifying files that have NOT been used in ANY of our Ableton projects? I’d like to know so that I can free up storage space by deleting sounds that I have never used. Now if a sound file has been used in one or more projects, obviously I’d want to keep it… whether that means it was dragged directly onto an audio channel, or loaded into a plugin such as Serato Sample.

Does anything like this exist?

I’ve been trying to figure out how to make the second chorus of a song I’m working on more interesting. Do you have any go to tricks you use for your second chorus?

Have been playing guitar for a while and now piano for the last 3 years. I am composing with my teacher, but somehow when I learn the rythm of how I want to play I can't seem to play with the metronome when reading. For example when playing on the left hand arpeggio and having to do crochets with the right hand, I tend to accelerate.

Metronome just becomes a distraction.

Any tips out there?

Hey everyone!

So here’s the situation, my boyfriend is an aspiring musician. He plays electric guitar and wants to record and produce music. He’s got a phenomenal ear for it, the only problem is that he doesn’t have a laptop or an interface or anything (this guys has like 6 guitars though lmao)
His birthday is coming up and I want to get him an interface and a laptop.
His best mate said to get the Scarlett solo interface so I had a look at that and I’ve found a few different places with it (djcity, brisound, mannys, dicksmith, etc) they all have bundle packs with headphones and a mic and some with cables some without (do I need to get cables? He has some for his amp and guitar, would these be beneficial?)
I see there’s a 4th gen and then there’s like 2i2 and 4i4 versions, which would be best to get him?
He’s also said he wants an Apple laptop or an Apple air, would this laptop work best or is there something better that would be more beneficial for him?

Idk anything about all this but I want to learn and get him the very best I can (that’s like somewhat affordable) so any advice is deeply appreciated!!

Hello everyone,

So I sent 3 tracks to a label.

They replied very positively saying they really liked the tracks, that they fit the label well, and that they wanted to do an EP with me.
They also said they would later tell me the release date etc.

The feedback they gave was:

• bass was a bit too loud/heavy
• they wanted the tracks to be around 6 minutes instead of 4

I replied saying no problem, I would fix everything and send updated versions that same week.

3 days later I sent the final versions back.
They replied asking me to enable downloads on SoundCloud.
I did it immediately, they said “thanks, we’ll contact you”.

Now it has been 2 weeks with complete silence.

What worries me is:

• the SoundCloud links still have literally 0 plays
• so it looks like they didn’t even listen to the updated versions yet

From your experience, what does this usually mean with labels?

Is this normal and they’re just busy / slow, or is this usually a bad sign and they probably lost interest?

Trying to understand how common this is in electronic music labels.
Thanks,