What do you do with a failed tune?

AndyPlankton

@jwmmakerofmusic said:
I have many tracks I thought were awesome when I made them 12+ years ago. I listened back to all those “classics”, and they fell into three categories....

A. Lack of production skills, but really damn great solid ideas.

B. Lackluster melody and chord progression.

C. Spastic shit.

Category A is pretty self-explanatory, and these tracks can be fixed with an update. Category B is almost the same as A. The only difference is changing a couple of notes, applying inversion or retrograde to a musical phrase, or even changing one or two chords can fix the remake.

Category C is far trickier. I used to come up with very embarrassing lyrics, or I’d shout the track title over the melody and beats (ala Brooklyn Bounce, Sash, etc), or would use a “hamster voice” like Scooter. Ah, my embarrassing teenage years.

My point for Category C is that even amongst the rubble, you can always mine a few good gems. I currently lifted the lead trance melody from one of these tracks, and I’m repurposing it into a new song.

Okay, so another trick would be to have an honest friend (whether musician or not)/honest forum member listen to your “less than perfect” track and give their unbiased constructive critique. Better this than to become so self-critical that you get a 4-year writer’s block....like I did.

Bottom line though....do NOT toss it out. NEVER toss out what you consider to be rubble. Who knows? Maybe 15 years later, you’ll come to find out that there’s SOMETHING salvagable.

Even rubble has a use !

Another option is to throw the parts into blocs wave and let them magically materialise unexpectedly in other tracks