Average song completion time?

[Wintergreen]

Holy crap, I feel like a slowpoke. My second song took me about 10 hours over the space of a 24 hour period, but all of my other songs (except my first, which was CRAP) took at least 40 hours of solid work and listening. My last one probably clocked in closer to 60, but then again I had to do a TON of EQ, since I made, balanced, and EQ'd different pianos depending on whether or not they were playing with anything else in the mix. I could probably get a track OUT in around 3-4 hours, but it's not something I'd be proud of.

[GHO5T_Official]

Really depends on the time of year. If there's a break, I can get stuff done in two to three days. Otherwise, it's on the order of months. There's a song I've been working on since November that's not even halfway done, not because I can't come up with anything, but because I don't have the time to dedicate to finishing it. >.>

Jeez, my thing is if it isnt done by the end of the day it's a lost cause and I just forget about it, I have about 40 unfinished or just started songs ranging from Dubstep Down section's to drum patterns to synth lead's... was thinking about just putting them as rex loops and let other people use em.. idk

[GHO5T_Official]

I can get a track out in maybe 5 hours, but I've had tracks that go beyond 50 before. I don't judge my work on how long it takes me though. Usually the longer ones are when I'm trying something new, or really have to fiddle with it all. I mix as, so if I get stuck on composition, I'll go back and mix what I already have. I finish the track, do about 12 pass throughs, then after a few days go back do further tweaks, then mastering. Wait a day, listen again. If it's still alright, I post it.

Explains why I only have three full songs published on my YouTube, huh?

what's your youtube?

[GHO5T_Official]

considering I synth multiple kicks, bass lines, leads, one shots, indeed 90-95% of every track from scratch. averaging 8min. I'm not really ashamed to admit it can take 3-4 weeks to complete a song.

mine's about the same, some of my song's get extremely complicated, I think my longest song I ever made was called Electric Symphony and last's around 16 minute's... It took a long time

[Habanc]

Since I never TRULY have in mind what I want to make when I start out on a song (probably a bad thing), it can take me over a week. I had one WIP that started out as x, switched over to y and then z (totally different chord progressions, synths, kicks, transitions, etc...), then got pissed with both so I went back and rebuilt x.

And then scrapped it altogether only hours later.

Inefficiency is a killer.

[Lavender_Harmony]

I can get a track out in maybe 5 hours, but I've had tracks that go beyond 50 before. I don't judge my work on how long it takes me though. Usually the longer ones are when I'm trying something new, or really have to fiddle with it all. I mix as, so if I get stuck on composition, I'll go back and mix what I already have. I finish the track, do about 12 pass throughs, then after a few days go back do further tweaks, then mastering. Wait a day, listen again. If it's still alright, I post it.

Explains why I only have three full songs published on my YouTube, huh?

what's your youtube?

It's in my profile, sweets. youtube.com/lavenderhmusic

[PrincessAddictia]

I'd say it takes me about 40 hours in average.
30-35 hours building the track;
5-10 hours mixing and changing details.

[silverblaze]

Most of my songs take me about 2-8 hours to make, but I have had a couple that I spent a few days on before. For the most part the time I spend is used to modify and tweak the position of notes and patterns within the song. other than that, I can spit out music like there's no tomorrow. lol. But doing that usually ends up with me hating the result. I try to keep the time i spend on my stuff to above an hour. It at least gives me the satisfaction I need to be happy with it.

But like what was said before, it all depends on how you work. Sometimes it takes longer to make one song than it does to make another. Whatever is comfortable.

[DJGaugen]

Maybe like 20-25 hours total.
I space out the time, when I get home from school, I usually work on one for about 4 hours a day.

[MixolydianPony]

I once did a progressive rock instrumental in exactly 4 hours. It was mostly written on the spot. That's normally how long it takes me, unless I'm doing a lot of different instruments. Knowing exactly what I want to record ahead of time doesn't really affect anything, because I can write riffs and stuff on the spot.

I worked about 5 hours on a track yesterday, and I estimate another 2 to finish it. However, that had double the normal number of instruments I would use. (Yay for hand percussion!)

[colortwelve]

Oddly enough, after my first post here I started changing up the way I work. Now I have no idea how long it takes me to finish a track because nothing's actually done, but it'll probably end up averaging at least 20 hours. Yeah, maybe 2-4 hours to lay down a base, but where I go from there and how long it takes can vary wildly, and even something I've already spent 20+ hours on could on a whim be reconstructed in 2 hours and improved upon massively.

[BassRabbit]

It's odd. I used to spend upwards of three weeks on a track. And that was back before I knew how to equalize things.

Now how it happens is: I get "in the zone" and work on a track furiously for around six hours straight, and spend about another half-hour editing it.

It's mostly always improvised.