It's a great tool for me. I had some initial success, with my first two entries ending at #22 and #34 in April. I thought, Great!! What I'm doing is working!!

This month I entered those same two songs and five others. One is at #220 and the rest are between 300 and 700 with very little movement, including the one that finished #22 in April (which, truth be told, has now dropped to about #1000).

What makes it a great tool, is that it gives you a good reality check. In my case, it forced me to come to terms with the half-assed aspects of my recordings. There have been lots of takes that were "close enough". There have been arrangements that when all was said and done, just didn't have any "sparkle." There is MIDI that is just -slightly- out of sync.

This really came to the forefront when I started judging other people's work. The "home productions" have a lot more errors, arrangement issues, pitch problems, etc. when compared to (what sound like) "studio productions." I think that what I'm hearing is not the difference between home production and professional studio production per se, but the difference in where people are setting the bar for themselves.

So, what made me think that if I can hear "close enough" in other people's songs, no one would notice that in mine?

While the fundamental appeal of the song itself is a major factor, the importance of a well-executed production cannot be understated. It's been said many times before, but I'm finally seeing where that bar is set as far as my own work is concerned.

Thanks, OurStage!


Last edited by emdub123; 07/24/08 02:05 PM.