Am I talented enough to ever make it in the electronic music industry?

[Emerald]

Hi,

I've been a musician for 8 years. I have taught myself how to play the drums, guitar, bass and even have my own professionally recorded rock song on the go. In doing everything myself I have realized the massive undertaking I have engaged with. To be honest its very discouraging; paying 3 grand for a song and dealing sound engineers and writing and hiring people and doing all the marketing myself (not to mention, how would I ever play a gig?).

I have always been a fan of electronic music but had not considered the project until recently discovering all the trials involved with rock music coming solely from myself. I bought a Traktor S4 and FL Studio and a bunch of plug ins such as massive and decided to give it a try. I have managed to put out music but Im just not happy with it. I cant get a reaction out of most people and I feel like Im falling flat on my face. I feel like my music isn't as inspired as it could be and that I should just give up everything. Im incredibly discouraged at the moment. I feel like the Ill never be able to catch up to the industry heavy weights such as Dillon Francis, Skrillex, Deadmau5 etc.

Though I know its a high goal for someone that has only been at it for 3 months;I excel in one area of my life and that is music. I am a very talented rock artist strictly from being self taught and I feel like i could contribute good music if i was just not so bent out of shape.

Do you think its too far and i should quit while im ahead or do you think i should keep going?

Here is a link to a few of my songs. Don't hesitate to troll, I need a reality check

https://soundcloud.com/erick-samwise-samuelson

Thanks for your time and please reply with as many words as you can.

[BiggChev]

So I listened to "Old Kicks, New Tricks"

for starters, I can hear some solid chord-progressions here. I take it that's form your rock background as we share a similar musical background. Hints of real musicality especially in the melodic runs.

It does however seem to sound a bit dis-jointed to me. Maybe focus on one ore two main themes and try to develop them more thoroughly. It's easy to get carried away with electronic music and want to use every cool, interesting sound you come across.

From what I can tell on my laptop speakers the production quality is good. My main concern is that it does sound very turn-key. If you want to make it it's very important to craft and style your own sound. Think of your favourite rock bands, they're all uniquely themselves. There's a million and one people out there making the same types of dubstep

Soundscape:

I really like the groove of this track. The up-beat sync is very reminiscent of old school dub. Again, the melodic leads really shine here. Maybe think about the articulation of the lead notes to dig even deeper to a rhythmic groove. This is far more whole in the sense of two main themes that flow nicely from one to the other with interspersed sub-themes and variations that definitely spice it up. I really do like this track.

My advice is don't abandon your musical background. Seem you're taking some great cues as far as chord-progressions, movement and melody. I often find myself picking up my guitar or sitting at my piano to really hash out the good stuff, as opposed to trying to get that electronic sound, whatever it may be.

[Emerald]

thanks for the uplift man. good advice.

[PjAndreasson]

If I were you, I would really take advantage of the rock background. Make use of guitar riffs, rock drum patterns and so on.

For the past months I've been creating "rock based" drum n bass&breaks. I have tried to make my own rock drums,
taking a simple kick and snare and then put some reverb, panning, distortion and some EQ. I even distort my
hihats to give them a really distorted feeling.

The only advice I can give you is to keep producing. You'll learn more and more by just producing and testing things out.
Do your own thing. This is my 5 cents.

[Emerald]

for those of you who gave me non judgmental advice, thank you... it was a good pick me up to a bad day yesterday.

[DJCherk]

Basically I agree with everything the other 2 posters have said. Use your talents and what you know best and continue to work harder and harder and success will come. It may not be at the highest level, but some success is better than no success.

And I enjoyed the dubstep remix.

Keep it up!

[Emerald]

Basically I agree with everything the other 2 posters have said. Use your talents and what you know best and continue to work harder and harder and success will come. It may not be at the highest level, but some success is better than no success.

And I enjoyed the dubstep remix.

Keep it up!

Thanks man, I like your mixes a lot actually. Good job

[chrisastro]

Theres no such thing as success without trying. You cant give up on your dreams. IMO its worth knowing at least you tried to get where you want to be then not trying at all. You're very talented and if you keep it up will go far!