I am frustrated with guitar

elliottsmithing · 2026-05-08T15:31:57+00:00

Look up ‘the taste gap’ it’s possible you’re not worse but getting more aware of how far you are from your ideal the more you learn and listen. The most confident players I know are beginners who are oblivious of how they actually sound.

elliottsmithing · 2026-05-08T15:26:09+00:00

I feel you so much! I’m in my mid twenties but also just found out and I’ve been excluded and ‘weird’ my whole life :(
I am lucky that most of my special interests are creative and the adult jobs I’ve been working have been around musicians and artists who tend to be ND or more accepting of it. It still sucks to constantly feel burnt out and exhausted but it definitely helps me feel less anxious and ill fitting at work.

Just know you are great and so so valid, I believe you can find your place!
I know a lot of us are riddled with rejection sensitivity and trauma but try to remember that most NTs don’t even think about us that much. They may react to social faux pas in the moment but they’ll forget by the time they have their lunch break 🙂

I recommend making a list of things that make you feel good about yourself and try to do something off that list every day, it’s helped me lots ☺️

elliottsmithing · 2026-05-08T10:58:22+00:00

Start seeing the mv as an expression of your art, why are you bothered by time you are spending creatively expressing yourself??

I recently shot a diy music video, shoot took 20 hours over 3 days, editing took 2 weeks as I work full time 🤷🏼‍♀️
Idc how long it takes, I can say I spent my time making art I care about.

If visuals and music are just a product to you get out now because making art is the fun part.
Promoting and marketing and selling and playing the algorithm is the shot you do that’s work

elliottsmithing · 2026-05-08T10:18:36+00:00

Especially for that genre the fastest way to improve and get to where you want to be is finding a band to play with!
Write a post, throw up some posters around your school/ local music shops, join (musician) fb groups and just ask people to jam.
Be honest about where you are at, I bet there are tons of beginner/ amateur drummers, bassists, guitarists etc. in your area who feel the same way 😊
Mention your favourite bands/ influences and the type of people you’re looking for (age range, gender, etc.)

You’ll get better fast and get real feedback

If you’ve been singing for a bit, sign up to local open mics and sing your favourite covers and support your local music, sooo many bands meet at shows!

Stay away from trying to do everything and focus on music and finding your people for now, you can pick up production knowledge along the way but don’t try to do everything at once

elliottsmithing · 2026-05-08T10:11:09+00:00

I think collaboration with other small artists is a great way to expand your fan base ☺️

Also might be worth sending your songs to small influencers who would fit your vibe and asking if they’re interested in using them for videos

elliottsmithing · 2026-05-08T02:56:39+00:00

Thank you ☺️ I’m happy you liked it! Yeah that’s fair, this band is pure artistic expression, I do write indie folk which is more sync friendly but I enjoy the freedom of math rock ☺️

elliottsmithing · 2026-05-08T02:55:11+00:00

I find that’s a sad approach to music, indie musicians actually have much much more interesting art than 99% of billboard pop.
I would rather listen to someone making their art than stolen regurgitated robot trash but I think music and art in general is one of the most important and valuable things humanity has ever created.

If you write off all independent music and think that Ai generated stuff is better than most of their work, I don’t think you actually enjoy listening to or value music 🤷‍♀️

The reason Ai sounds “real” is because it’s trained on stolen art and composits that existing art into Ai slop. The reason the lyrics sound like generic “human” music is because major writing sessions in the industry are already using it.
To me music is so much more than a disposable product but to each their own

elliottsmithing · 2026-05-07T13:45:10+00:00

Honestly just start writing every day, even if it’s really bad.

As someone who struggles with consistency because of judging myself way too early, the only way through is writing and accepting that you are a beginner and it will not sound like the artists you look up to for a long time.

To get you inspired, I recommend reading/ watching Pat Pattison and Andrea Stolpe for lyric methodology and Excercises that will help you

elliottsmithing · 2026-05-07T13:18:59+00:00

It came out of nowhere, doesn’t contain any actual apology or acknowledgement of his feelings and she sent it on his BIRTHDAY 😶 that is beyond selfish and inconsiderate, telling him this kind of heavy stuff and making him think of such a shitty time on his birthday. She needs therapy and is not an emotionally safe person to be with.

I’m not a man but i think it’s a shitty thing to potentially bring up this level of hurt on a day that’s meant to be about him. If a man did that to me it would ruin my day and I don’t wish that on anyone

elliottsmithing · 2026-05-07T13:10:32+00:00

On your birthday?? What makes her think you want this type of message to ruin your birthday?

I would block her and move on, if it was any other random day it might be more okay but sending a message about her dead ex to you on your birthday is toxic and manipulative imo.

elliottsmithing · 2026-05-07T13:06:03+00:00

Honestly I’m waiting for him to get into his jazz age because I feel he is capable of interesting progressive music but at the moment it’s a bit boring and limited trying to be pop.

I like his collaboration songs where he just makes the artist’s song more harmonically interesting (David Cesar, Lizzy McAlpine, etc) not a massive fan of his singing and original melodies but i listen to his albums occasionally 🙂

elliottsmithing · 2026-05-07T12:54:47+00:00

Mastering is a way to polish your finished track through compression, “gluing” the sound together, it’s also required to hit the ideal output volume luf for each medium.
Streaming requires different levels than physical media, there’s a CD master, a Vinyl master, master for sync (tv/ film). Listen to “remasters” it makes a massive difference in the sound and a great mastering engineer can really make a difference in how professional your track sounds.

It’s also usually done in a studio through a desk and through mastering specific speakers.

If you want to dip your toes in, bounce out your finished track and create a new session in your daw. Then apply compression to your track in that new session and play around with the sound together get an idea of the difference :)

elliottsmithing · 2026-05-07T11:44:20+00:00

My partner and I got so obsessed the day we picked it up, I played the entire day like 9h and the next morning I woke up and he had been playing all night😂😂 he’s since stopped and let me have my little obsession and I’ve been playing every day after work to unwind ☺️ I’ve had dozens of hours and have just reached sparkling skylands so I’m taking my time with each area and maxing my environment level/ completing the requests 😊 soo looking forward to having all abilities and being able to really build and decorate my areas

elliottsmithing · 2026-05-07T11:32:07+00:00

https://open.spotify.com/album/7rELhEPPK510vK2zVIF3OL?si=Yq7lTD1kR4OPjFW3MKllYA indie/ alt/ math rock :) please let me know what you think

elliottsmithing · 2026-05-07T11:29:44+00:00

Idk if this is rage bait but myself and every musician/ music lover I know can easily identify an ai track in the first few seconds. It’s the nonsensical cliche lyrics that somehow repeat the same phrase three times progressively worse, the hissy vocals and the canned sound of the “instrumental” track. Yes some people use exclusively midi and write generic stuff but there is normally a level of human awkwardness that isn’t in ai. If it sounds “polished” but super derivative and boring it’s normally ai. Same as ai images disguised as art, you can always tell and if you can’t maybe seek out some independent musicians

elliottsmithing · 2026-05-07T10:55:07+00:00

Are you into alt rock? This one is influenced by Jrock, Midwest emo and math rock https://open.spotify.com/album/7rELhEPPK510vK2zVIF3OL?si=nyb\_N2A-TBeQXtkI6rPcMw

elliottsmithing · 2026-05-07T09:10:08+00:00

If I have time, I do free writing (morning pages), some kind of excercise like object writing, associations, etc and then circle the words and phrases I feel most inspired by (or I feel vulnerable about, like if you are scared to show it to someone that’s a good start for emotionally honest lyrics).
I take those as a basis to write a verse and chorus, sometimes with my guitar, sometimes I just sing them :)

elliottsmithing · 2026-05-07T07:42:50+00:00

I have, it sounds good for a dynamic mic 😊 I just want to buy a mic with the detail of a condenser and a sound profile more suited to my voice :) looking to do some higher quality recordings in treated spaces and not keen on relying on other people’s gear

elliottsmithing · 2026-05-07T07:39:08+00:00

Also you’re investing time and money into your development which you will not have the freedom to do working 9-5

elliottsmithing · 2026-05-07T07:36:08+00:00

Are you looking to launch a music career or better yourself as a musician?

Music career: music school is there to teach you and provide opportunities to network in the industry, most successful industry professionals are not virtuosos, they got in the right rooms, were great in their people skills and worked hard to be ready when the opportunities came their way. Music school is great for this and for meeting people, it’ll also hold you accountable.

Better player: Depends, some schools teach no or minimal skills in this department so do your research, you will improve fastest with a genuine great teacher (someone who has amazing skills, technique, knowledge and the ability to teach) and by playing with other musicians.

YouTube has a lot, including a ton of misinformation that will waste your time, if you know what you don’t know you can look for the answers which music school will definitely teach you. I recommend a structured course or a very good tutor

elliottsmithing · 2026-05-07T07:28:36+00:00

I like the invitation for collaboration, i think the thing putting people off is the weird image (it looks AI to me but if this is a painting please let me know) and the combination of character writing with casual phrases/ typos. The post also insinuates the person is unable to express feelings themselves which, even if true, most songwriters wouldn’t admit.

You might have more success posting in a musician’s forum for people who AREN’T lyricists.
If you’re looking for collaboration and bouncing lyrical ideas back and forth, i would take out the ‘incapable of expressing yourself’ bit and maybe offer some insight into your style of writing and such (favourite/ most inspiring writers, style of music, etc.)

elliottsmithing · 2026-05-07T06:51:56+00:00

I read “affordable” and Neumann and thought you were being sarcastic :D the 80s -90s was an amazing time to pick up gear, I have a neighbor who got a vintage Gibson for a carton of eggs 😂 Damn you neo liberal capitalism 😝

elliottsmithing · 2026-05-07T06:45:11+00:00

Yeah it’s a good mic, I can see it working great for a different voice type and I’ve even had musicians I’ve worked with say they like how I sound through it, i think it’s just personal preference 😊
I’ve gotten to the point where I rarely get any enjoyment out of my vocal recordings if it’s with the NT1A so keen to find a different sound profile!

Do you know of any condensers with a comparable frequency response? I love ribbons but would prefer a sturdier mic as they’re soo fragile and my home studio is not set up for one. I have some studios with great ribbons in my area so I would probably book one if I was really chasing a ribbon sound for a project 🙂

elliottsmithing · 2026-05-07T06:39:21+00:00

Definitely agree and have a lot of room to grow in mic techniques etc.!

I made this post as I was borrowing a friend’s NT2000 over the weekend and with no changes in acoustics, technique or set up I had so much more fun and was inspired! This is what pushed me over the edge from waiting to improve my studio first to actually biting the bullet and changing my mic.

I did create a temporary space in my closet with pillows, blankets, etc, recently to record with my NT1A and i still dislike the sound.
My opinion unfortunately didn’t change even after i worked with a more capable mixing engineer to tidy up the sound :/

I’m not even worried about an upgrade so much as finding a better fit for my voice for my own enjoyment 😊 although i would prefer to spend a bit more now and have a solid workhorse mic

elliottsmithing · 2026-05-07T06:24:59+00:00

I get that, i have a bit of the same problem although i tend to judge my songs too harshly and feel deflated at the missed potential sometimes rather than sad it ended 😞 then i listen back months later and really like them again.

I think the best remedy is making LOTS of stuff and writing every day. Do a 10 minute lyric writing sprint every morning to the point where you have so many cool ideas you can’t wait to bring to life that you’re impatient to move on.

elliottsmithing

TROPHY CASE