I Can't Finish My Music

I know the feeling.

 

Lots of started projects, little musical ideas, 16-bar loops that you can’t seem to move away from, or a track that just isn’t sounding as good as the first time you heard it. Eventually it ends up in the unfinished music folder… or worse, the rubbish bin.

 

This is a common issue amongst producers and musicians alike, so don’t beat yourself up. You’re not alone. There are plenty of creative and practical ways to move away from that “beginner” feeling and start developing more of a finisher mindset.

 

I thought I’d expand on this topic and share some ideas and insights, because if you’re not finishing what you started, it can sometimes feel like there’s little to no outcome from the time you spent on it.

 

But do you think that’s really true?

 

I’d argue that none of that time is wasted. The process is what it’s all about.

 

It reminds me of a documentary I once watched about Tibetan monks creating sand mandalas. They spend hours carefully crafting intricate images on the floor out of coloured sand. The detail and craftsmanship are incredible. But the part that really stuck with me was what happened after they finished.

 

They wiped it away.

 

The whole practice focuses on the process rather than the outcome. The finished piece isn’t the point, the act of creating it is.

 

Now, I can almost hear you saying, “What’s that got to do with finishing music?”

 

Well, the takeaway is that the process, even if you don’t finish everything you make, is still time spent learning and being creative. You’re still building the muscle. You’re still training your brain and your ears to get better at what you do.

 

Stick with me, because I’m about to show you what the practice of these monks has to do with actually finishing music, and there’s a good bit of practical insight here that you can start using right away.

 

So what if finishing was just another part of that process?

 

What if it didn’t matter if it was any good?

 

What if you simply called something finished, didn’t get too precious about it, and moved on, even if it’s imperfect? Especially if it’s imperfect.

 

I think what happens for a lot of producers is that once we move beyond figuring out the basics and start getting a grip on what we’re doing, we realise the rabbit hole runs far deeper than we first thought.

 

And that’s where perfectionism can creep in.

 

We steer away from calling something “finished” because we’re still learning… but the truth is, we are always learning. There isn’t a point where we arrive and say, “Right, I know everything now and I’m completely happy with everything I make.”

 

There’s a saying I’ve always liked: when you think you know everything, you realise you know nothing at all.

 

So the process is ongoing. Perfection is unattainable. We’re always learning.

 

Which raises the question, what’s really stopping you from finishing music?

 

Sometimes it’s simply over-listening. What once sounded amazing now feels a bit “meh”. That excitement you felt at the start has faded, and you’re left with a faint murmur of what it once was.

 

This is a tricky one.

 

One thing that can really help is working quickly and avoiding the temptation to keep replaying the same idea just for the sake of it. When you have a great musical idea, it’s tempting to rinse it on repeat because it sounds so good. But every time you hit spacebar, your brain gets a little more used to it, and eventually, it starts to feel boring.

 

So, try working with momentum. Press play with purpose.

 

You’ll still hear it plenty while you’re building the track anyway. Momentum helps carry you toward the finish line.

 

Tea breaks help as well. Listening to other music you enjoy can be a great reset. It can also double as a reference check to see if you’re heading in the right direction.

 

If you’re not referencing other tracks during the writing and mixing stages, and in electronic music those two things are very closely linked, then I’d strongly encourage you to start.

 

I’ve been making music for over 25 years and I still reference tracks all the time.

 

There’s a wealth of information in the music you already love. Instead of just listening, try analysing it. Do some critical listening.

 

But that’s a big topic for another day.

 

Back to our ears and the monks. 

 

Working quickly helps, but what if something is taking far too long? How long is too long? Does it matter how long it takes if the process is what it's all about? Well, yes and no. 

 

Often we start checking in with ourselves, trying to decide whether the idea simply isn’t good anymore, which can actually be a sign that it was good and you’ve just heard it too many times, or whether it genuinely isn’t working.

 

Sometimes the best thing you can do is step away.

 

Leave it for a few weeks and come back with fresh ears. It’s amazing what a bit of distance can do. You might find it was good all along, you just needed a break.

 

On the other hand, if there was never a moment where your toes were tapping, you were humming along, or dancing around the room… then maybe the idea just isn’t that strong.

 

And that’s okay too.

 

So with that in mind, it becomes a little easier to tell.

 

But what about when you come back to something weeks later and it’s… alright. Not great. Not your best work. Still a half-baked track without a proper beginning, middle, and end.

 

Maybe the ideas don’t quite gel together.

 

This is where that monk analogy comes back in again.

 

If the process is the important part, then being less precious about the outcome can remove a lot of the anxiety around finishing something.

 

Do you know who gets to decide when something is finished?

 

You.

 

Especially when you’re still getting to grips with music production. Staying stuck on one track, working on it day and night for weeks, will only frustrate you.

 

There’s no one-size-fits-all approach to making music. Every project brings a different set of challenges. So focusing all your energy on making one track perfect can actually slow down your progress in the bigger picture.

 

Each tune teaches you something different.

 

Calling something finished, even if it’s not perfect...esspecially when it's not perfect. lets you move on. And when you do that enough times, finishing stops feeling like some big mystery or final boss.

 

It just becomes another part of what you do. It's simply a small part of a larger process. 

 

And with time and practice, your finished work will improve.

 

Keep your old work. Bounce everything down, even if it’s just to listen back to years later and see how far you’ve come. You might even find inspiration in something that was lost to you many moons ago.

 

Trust the process, and enjoy the process :)

 

⸻

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If you’re interested in exploring more production ideas, techniques and the thinking behind them, I go deeper into topics like this in my guide Essential Mix Insights.