Listening your own noise

[FreakAnimalFinland]

As many people who listen noise, tend to also make noise, in what way that works for you own listening? Can you listen your own works for pleasure, or will it be endless I should have, I could have, why did I... -session?

While making material, do you listen "unfinished works" to what extent? Do you return to your old releases or just hope to move on after potentially getting burned on listening it too much while making? Or that it wasn't necessarily made for you to listen to in first place?

Or possibly... liking what you hear so much, that concluding it's ideal for your own listening habits?

Any surprising discoveries of older material what effected your current creative process?

[NaturalOrthodoxy]

I've found myself listening to my own stuff quite often, firstly from a critical point of view, but once enough time has passed that I no longer vividly remember the process of making it (the visual memory of cubase projects, the small accidents that worked in my favour, the arduous process of editing/mixing) and I can listen to it almost as an outsider, I've returned to some releases simply because I enjoy them. This is especially the case with collaborative works- the album I recorded in a proper studio with an actual engineer specifically. I can appreciate his input and touch on the album too so it's not a TOTALLY masturbatory experience to listen and enjoy.

But at the end of the day, we each should be making the noise/music we want to hear. That's the most sincere way of approaching it. I've recorded hours of material that I didn't like enough to release but am proud enough of nonetheless to keep and occasionally listen to.

[Vermin Marvin]

When i do my stuff i listen it again and again until i think it is good enough or i get sick to hear it, heh..
Then i leave it rest to fair amount time and try to listen it with new ears later and do final edit then and if there is something that i think not work i cut it out or do again.

I usually listen older recordings before i start to do new to avoid too similar structures and learn from my mistakes because i want every record works in its own but still identifiable to my sound on bigger picture.

But short.. yes i listen my old stuff with pleasure when i get some time between hearings and don`t shame anything because it is what my skills are then and mistakes can made songs even better or atleast easier to remember.

If you do not like your own stuff how you expect someone other do?

[NaturalOrthodoxy]

If you do not like your own stuff how you expect someone other do?

In a nutshell!

[NO PART OF IT]

When I get an idea for a recording, I first have to see what I can do to make sure it doesn't already exist by someone else.  It's not that I think I'm 100% original, it's that sometimes "inspiration" comes in the form of me looking at my CDs (or my hard drive) and craving to hear a certain sound, but finding that it's not there, and I just can't quite place it.

In my case, it's usually just a particular take on loops, or a certain spin on "dark ambient", "Industrial noise", "Power Electronics", etc, but other times it is an idea that I couldn't fit into these categories, and I don't know where it comes from.  So I'll search, for lack of memory, and then when I can't find it, I'll do what I can to make it myself.  Sometimes, but not always, it'll be an idea that would suit a particular feeling/tone/vibe that, while it may not necessarily be "emotional", would still suit me in a time where that particular mood could be complimented by listening to something. 

It's always been this way for me, even when I was more musical, but now I look more for non-emotional themes to sounds; things that can't be pegged with the simplified concepts of "sadness" or "anger" etc.   When I'm finally finished with something, and this can take a very long time, I don't often listen back unless I am curious about what territories I was trying to figure out at that time, and if I can expand on or add to those territories, or if the territory explored is more or less suitable for my mood at the time of listening. 

[Soloman Tump]

I listen to my own stuff, over critique, then never release it.

[FreakAnimalFinland]

If you do not like your own stuff how you expect someone other do?

I would suppose that like previous comment suggests, one may be overtly critical towards his own works.
Many things I'd let pass from others work - and perhaps even hope I could let it pass - I may not be able to accept it for myself. Lets say album of 2 noise tracks. One per side, blasting good noise. I may enjoy it 100%, yet may not allow it happen with my own "albums". In odd way it may be simply not enough.

To answer some of my own questions, I tend to listen own works excessively until they are released. When something is finally done, it might be anymore reason to check that there are no pressing flaws. By then, it has been listened already so many times. Both, for being critical, but also for liking what I hear.

I return for old albums occasionally to remind me what has been done. To see if they can survive the test of time. there are releases I am not 100% fond of anymore, but I doubt anything I regret doing. I still own almost all the gear I ever had, what was used to make noise. Once in a while I have made attempt to return to specific old era, digging up old efx and methods, see what I can do now in similar settings.

There must be 5 hours of unreleased material from this year. Not all completely finished, of course, but I'm quite sure that fraction of that will make it to 2020.

[PTM Jim]

I would suppose that like previous comment suggests, one may be overtly critical towards his own works.
Many things I'd let pass from others work - and perhaps even hope I could let it pass - I may not be able to accept it for myself. Lets say album of 2 noise tracks. One per side, blasting good noise. I may enjoy it 100%, yet may not allow it happen with my own "albums". In odd way it may be simply not enough.

I feel the same way. I can listen to someone else and really enjoy it, but would possibly hate it if I did it. The way I see it, why bother rehashing old ideas, no matter how great they are. Always working toward improvement.

I return for old albums occasionally to remind me what has been done. To see if they can survive the test of time. there are releases I am not 100% fond of anymore, but I doubt anything I regret doing. I still own almost all the gear I ever had, what was used to make noise. Once in a while I have made attempt to return to specific old era, digging up old efx and methods, see what I can do now in similar settings.

Also feel the same. Some things I don't necessarily like anymore, but never regret doing it. There was a time and place for it; that was then, this is now so to say. Sometimes I'll have very old recordings unused that find their way edited into current material. They weren't ready back when recorded, but seem to fit now.


As stated earlier, if you don't like your own material, how can you expect anyone else to. I think that is pretty true. Although, at times, when experimenting with new sounds I find myself asking "do I even like this?" but am compelled to release it because sometimes noise should be difficult like that.

[Vitrufen]

If you're able to listen to your own work and process it like other music you enjoy, interesting results can come from this...just having an aural experience without the constant critiquing will allow the sound to do its job. Of course, during a recording process there might need to be some tweaking/mixing/re-recording done so we can make this "outsider" listening experience easier to achieve. Maybe sometimes its the opposite, if we are trying to hang on to a recording that we can't get "just right", maybe only severe spontaneity/re-structuring and experimentation will satisfy our desire to just listen and enjoy our own work. Like Mikko said, there's music/sounds from other artists we will find and definitely enjoy, yet we wouldn't create it ourselves. This occurrence always inspires me to continue exploring and fulfilling my own standards for my music.

As time goes on we can view old works from a different and possibly fresh perspective. This is what I try to do when listening to finished/past works of mine, but its not always easy, and some old stuff doesn't always hold up or bring forth much satisfaction. Most (if not all) of us have had experiences with laziness and taking shortcuts just to get a song over with or quickly produce some seemingly brilliant idea. Sometimes this has even worked as a result, but I think a visceral and memorable recording/mental process holds up to be much stronger in the long run. This must be where so much of the critiquing fails simply because you know what you put into it.

[Andrew McIntosh]

Can you listen your own works for pleasure, or will it be endless I should have, I could have, why did I... -session?

It used to be the latter a lot, now it's just the former.

While making material, do you listen "unfinished works" to what extent?

Previously recorded material can be re-used. Sometimes it remains "unfinished".

Do you return to your old releases or just hope to move on after potentially getting burned on listening it too much while making?

Sometimes listen to old material. Usually just keep recording new material.

Or that it wasn't necessarily made for you to listen to in first place?

Never.

Or possibly... liking what you hear so much, that concluding it's ideal for your own listening habits?

That's the point. Not always successfully.

Any surprising discoveries of older material what effected your current creative process?

Sometimes.

[NO PART OF IT]

I am not a minimalist at all.  I only tend to release stuff that is clearly no longer "source material", because the inner conflict about something never being finished is so ever-present that there's pretty much always room to add something, potentially ruining it.  That risk is always taken by me, for good or ill.   I have very rarely been satisfied with efforts towards minimalism. 

[Balor/SS1535]

I have really been trying recently to spend more time listening to my own noise.  I remember reading here a while ago that one should always listen to what one has recorded before releasing it, so as to make sure that it is sure that it is something that deserves to be put into the world.  I have found that this actually helps a lot, and encourages me to push myself to improve my own noise.

Additionally, to echo some comments above, it is interesting to look back on pieces that I recorded a long time ago.  I often do not remember the recording process, so it is sometimes surprising to reflect on what I had made!

[Strangecross]

I do not keep copies of my own releases, and a lot of times I even loose the original masters. Who else does not hold on to their own work?

[Baglady]

I do not keep copies of my own releases, and a lot of times I even loose the original masters. Who else does not hold on to their own work?

I dont think I have one single master left of anything Ive done. I keep accidentally overdubbing them with sound sources or rock music or whatever. I think I need some sort of system. Like labels saying MASTER.

[Balor/SS1535]

Who else does not hold on to their own work?

I cannot say that I do so (as I have never done a physical release), however, Pasi Markula said that he pretty much gets rid of all/most copies of his own releases (https://www.plaguehaus.com/home/2010/10/07/765/).

If I did have some physical releases of my own, though, I don't think that I could part ways with all of the copies that I produced.  I would always want to keep one or two around for the sake of memory.