What's the ultimate skill of great artists?

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Most of you reading this article, including me on the other side, share the same ultimate goal.

We want to make the best music we possibly can.

That sounds reasonably straightforward, and it might even seem obvious what we need to do in order to achieve that goal.

But if our goal is to make the best possible music we can, then we should be focusing our time and effort on mastering the final product: fully fleshed-out and complete pieces of music.

Think of any other artform. Whether it’s painting, filmmaking, or stand-up comedy, the final form is what really matters. It’s the majestic painting, the unforgettable movie or the hilarious joke that leaves a lasting impact, not the sketches, equipment or techniques on their own.

When it comes to electronic music, it's the final track that serves as the ultimate source of truth. How it sounds over its full duration, and how it makes you feel, is the only real criteria to judge it by.

No one cares how good your 8-bar loop sounds, what kind of plugin you used on the kick, or how many layers of hats you stacked. Those are just ingredients and techniques.

In the end, the only thing that matters is how good the full track is. How well everything works together and what emotional impact it has.

Just like cooking: the ingredients and techniques are necessary, but the only thing that truly matters is how the meal tastes.

So, if we want to improve the quality of our music, it’s necessary to improve our skills.

Our abilities are directly reflected in the final result. Which means, if we want to make better music, we should focus on developing our craft, and that growth will show through every track we finish going forward.

The most important muscle for us to grow is the ability to finish fully fleshed-out pieces of music.

But in practice, many of us lose sight of that painfully obvious truth. We get distracted, spending countless hours optimising techniques and obsessing over tools, instead of focusing on the one thing that actually matters: the finished track.

Here are some of the things we tend to focus on, hoping they’ll help us improve, but often end up holding us back:

• Starting another project and abandoning it as an unfinished loop
  

• Watching endless tutorials without deliberately applying what we’ve learned
  

• Collecting every plugin we hear about instead of making the most of the ones we already own
  

• Obsessing over compression instead of simply choosing better sounds
  

• Downloading more sample packs filled with sounds we already own
  

• Spending hours designing a single sound instead of pushing the track forward

If you shift your energy away from those distractions, and instead focus it on finishing and fleshing out full tracks, you’ll be amazed at how quickly you improve. You could genuinely double or triple your growth as an artist.

And you'll have way more finished music to look back at, or potentially release.

You have to practise the full range of motion of music-making to improve the entire process.

And each part is deeply interconnected and dependent on the others:

• Laying down an interesting musical idea
  

• Arranging it in a way that flows, tells a story and effectively reveals that idea
  

• Mixing all the elements in a balanced, pleasant and impactful way
  

• Refining and iterating the full track to the best of your ability
  

• Reflecting on what worked (and what didn’t), so you can improve the next one

Consistently practising this full process is what actually develops you artistically, and seriously improves the quality of your music.

This shift in mindset is something I made a few years ago, and it completely transformed how I approach making music. I learn faster than ever before, I’m more focused on what really matters, and as a result, I’ve got lots of finished music to show for it.

The techniques and ingredients are secondary. They’re there to serve the music, not be the focus.

Growth as an electronic music artist doesn’t come from perfecting loops or endless tweaks. It comes from focusing on the full experience of the finished track. Each completed piece is a step forward, a reflection of your taste, skill, and intention. The more you practise finishing full tracks, the closer you get to making music that truly moves people.

If you have tracks that are roughly arranged and need that last push from 70% to 95% finished, take a look at my article: How to finish tracks using the Kaizen Method

Now go and finish some music <3 Grab my free mixdown guide and get these articles sent to your email :)

Big love

Eryk Kabay

Whenever you're ready, here are 3 ways I can help you make better music:

1. Watch my techno production masterclasses. Learn beyond the surface-level ‘how-to’ and get a deeper understanding of the 'why' and 'when' to make better decisions in all your future tracks. View the masterclasses here.

   
   

2. Join my 1:1 music production coaching. Resolve overwhelm and confusion and become a more creative and authentic artist. Learn how to make professionally sounding music that's uniquely yours. Find out more and apply here.​

   
   

3. Get your music mastered, mixed or get feedback. ​Is your music nearly finished? I will help you make it sound the best it can and get it ready to release into the world. Find out more about my music services.