It’s September 2023 now, and I had two months to get caught up on all the albums I had yet to finish. I recently went through my music production files and found several albums that are almost ready to release, yet I still haven’t released them. I found an orchestral percussion album, a string quintet album, a woodwind quartet album, and a synth album that needs a few more tracks before releasing. All these albums were composed and nearly ready to be released years ago, some even four years ago, yet they sit on my computer’s hard drive. Leaving projects unfinished can be a real problem, and I feel it’s one many other people also deal with.
There are several reasons why leaving projects unfinished can be problematic, such as trying to remember your process, dealing with software updates, and losing the feel of that special something you were trying to achieve in the first place with your album. Although many more problems can arise, these were the first that came to my mind as these are the issues I’m currently dealing with.
If a long enough time has passed since you last worked on your recording, you may run into issues if you had a different process when you started recording your album and now. Remembering the song structure and routing of tracks in the DAW could be a problem.
There is nothing like returning to a project you’re excited about finishing and realizing the software you initially used has changed or is no longer available. Updated software can be a big problem, especially if you’re using plugin instruments and effects that no longer exist.
As an artist, you often have a specific frame of mind when making a recording. Perhaps you composed at a particular time when you felt a certain way or were dealing with a specific situation. Those feelings, emotions or passion for a particular subject or thing can be hard to regain if you’ve left a project for too long. It can be hard to rekindle that same enthusiasm to match the energy or mood of the existing track.
I had two months to complete all of my albums, and in that time, I was so busy with teaching I accomplished nothing regarding my recordings. Hopefully, in the months ahead, I can relive the past and see if I can finish my albums before the new year. I hope you had a fun summer, and if you’re one of my students, I look forward to seeing you in the Fall.
