Fullofkittens wrote:

Figuring out exactly what to do with the stuff once it works has got to be one of the most jaw-droppingly mind-numbing problems I've encountered in my life. It gives me a whole new respect for electronic musicians... at least, the ones that don't suck.

An observation: people that play "instruments" in "bands" are basically playing a type of music that writes itself. You pick up a guitar, you like certain bands, the drummer has certain bands he likes, you start playing, you get a sound, you shape that sound into a song. It kind of happens automatically. I always sort of assumed that electronic music, especially of the dance variety, is even easier: You buy ten gadgets, you turn them all on at the same time, they beep and boop, you shape that sound into a song.

WRONG. The gadgets have an inifinite variety of noises they make - PER GADGET. So, with 10 gadgets you have INFINITY FACTORIAL possible combinations of beeps and boops to choose from. It really helps explain why, when artists have a recognizable sound, they tend to stick with it - if you start treading outside your comfort zone you have to make garbage for weeks until you narrow your palette down to something that suits you. Then, when you're working inside that palette again, you have your recognizable sound again.

Trying to work on this type of music makes me realize that people that can make actually cool stuff from it are a lot smarter and more talented than they might at first seem. "Turn it on and go" will give you something, but it will be garbage (and it will sound like Daft Punk). Making something that's not garbage requires so many aesthetic choices to be made that you have to wonder how many hours a day these guys work on their shit. I read the Chemical Brothers are in their studio every day, like a full-time job. That sounds about right.