How long to write a song from inception to completion?

Hey folks
I was just wandering how long it takes (on average) to write a song, I know people work differently, but Iā€™m just curious, Iā€™ve been a musician for years, but am pretty new to composing and writing all parts of a song

Thanksā€¦
Kevin

Anywhere from a couple of days to a couple of weeks! :wink:

Itā€™s tricky to estimate actual time spent, but for me, (in general) it usually takes about 5-15 minutes to come up with a basic idea or theme; about 2-6 hours total to build the main composition and develop the production/sounds; a couple quick recording sessions for tracks with live instruments; and anywhere from 2-6 hours to properly mix and master. In reality though, it usually takes me several days (sometimes weeks) before a track is completely finished.

Note: this is for a normal instrumental track for AudioJungle (not a song with lyrics)

Keep in mind this is an approximation based on my own experience, and greatly varies depending on: how well the idea flows, how good the idea is, and how much coffee Iā€™ve consumed :wink:

Itā€™s a lot of work making a solid track from concept to final product, but I usually like to work in ā€˜chunksā€™ of a few hours rather than flat-out until itā€™s done. I also usually work on several projects at once. It helps keep musical ideas fresh, reduces ear fatigue, and often results in cross-inspiration!

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My workflow is pretty much on par with Jamesā€™ ^ :slight_smile:

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Thanks for this, really appreciate it!

I find that spending more time developing the idea prior to sitting down with the DAW actually saves time in the end. With a well thought out emotion and concept the rest of the production goes more smoothly than in the case where I ā€œtry outā€ bits and pieces and ultimately just try to ā€œpuzzle togetherā€ something that could just as well be parts of different tracks. If you ever wrote a verse and a bridge which worked fine together, but then started to struggle a bit with the chorus, trying different ideas, then you know what I mean. Itā€™s better IMO to have a clear view of all the parts before laying down the first recording.

Basically I try to have the melody and feel to every part in my head before I go physical, and this process can take hours, days, weeks depending on the project. Even if I stray a bit from my ideas later on, itā€™s always nice to have a red line somewhere to go back to. I usually finish up a production decently in a day or two and do the final mix after a good nightā€™s sleep :sunglasses:

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Hello there :slight_smile:
It usually takes me between one and two days to two weeks to finish a track depending on inspiration and also external factors.
I usually am pretty quick to get the main idea , itā€™s the tweaks here and there which take me more time.

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Thanks for this Lars, much appreciated

Rock tracks 3 to 4 days. I still have 2 works in addition to audiojungle, so so long

For me, itā€™s anywhere from 30 minutes to a week. It took me five days to write this:

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Between 2 hours to 20 yearsā€¦ :grinning:

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Thought this was relevant: a great quote from Les Paul, talking about recording with his wife Mary Ford:

ā€œWe would make an album while Mary was preparing dinner. Sheā€™d be making macaroni cheese, so Iā€™d figure I had 45 minutes, and during that time Iā€™d lay down all these parts, including the backgrounds for the whole album, and then Iā€™d tell her where she had to come in, saying, ā€˜Lay way back on this one. Make it real loose. Do a Bing.ā€™ She could do that and put feeling into it, and within no time at all everything was done.ā€

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Thanks Alex :+1:t2:

Sounds great Stef! :+1:t2:

Haha! :wink: :+1:t2:

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Love this, brilliant!

It all depends on inspiration, on how fast the ideas come from music that you do! You can write a good track for the day, and can be carried over is not very pleasant 5 days and eventually delete and start all over again! If you want to make fast use the templates!

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ā€¦ and 25 days later we would get the ā€œunfortunately, your submission is not ready for Audiojungleā€ e-mail. :sunglasses:

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Too true!! :slight_smile:

Dziękuję ! (Thatā€™s Polish for, ā€œThank you!ā€)

Nie Ma Problemu :+1:t2: