[mickyplankton]

Got to admit, this is a very challenging area for me. I have no quality control filter until about 6 months after I have finished a song. Only then can I determine whether I've written something half decent or a total dud.
How do you find this process? Do you know when you have written something good or bad?

[Hooded Singer]

I'm extremely critical of everything I do and throw away 90%+ of all lyrics and can't for the life of me write a song I'm happy with without 3 months of dedicated effort toward it.

[PaulAds]

I tend to look at it the same as I do with everything in my life...I always look back at myself and think I was a dick. Then I hope I’m better now. But I will look back at myself in the future and think I was a dick now as well. But by then, I will hope I am better again. I’m sure it’ll never be enough....but it will have to do  

[ScottLevi]

It's a difficult one..

Obviously the ideal to have someone accessible and willing to be your basis. Even if they're not overly honest or emote; once you have a baseline you can usually gauge the direction from there.

Other that that; I'd say if you're enjoying working on it, then keep with it. Easy advice given I'm very much doing this just for the enjoyment - but I'm sure there must be a correlation between your enthusiasm to work on a track and 'quality' (which is completely objective anyway) outputted. And worst case scenario if you enjoyed making it then you had a good time.

Hope that's somewhat helpful
Scott.

[pompeyjazz]

I'm totally with Paul on this one. I always go back and think "we'll that was a right bag of shite" and with regard to vocals,  I absolutely hate hearing myself sing, makes me squirm to be. honest. The last few years have been life changing for me in gazillions of ways so my attitude now is do it before it's too late and get it out there as life is a cruel little chappie

[2tuoo]

Great, great, complicated topic

yes and no

1. Lyrics - I used to be deeply unhappy with my lyrics until I found that writing with intent and letting your mind wander is completely different. So now I'm happy with the text and I test for quality with a certain methodology (partially described in this thread - http://www.songwriterforum.co.uk/index.php?topic=13534.0)

2. Singing - hated my voice, joined a band, listened to my voice daily, got used to hearing it outside of my head - now I like my voice and able to judge it objectively. Proof - I stopped being emotional about critiques of my voice and treat it the same way as any other instrument.

3. Complete work - Oh boy, this one... is seasonal. In short-term (working on it and about a month after release) I work on each piece till its good enough (took a lot of time stepping down from the "Perfect" approach) then I like it. A lot.
But I'm changing over time, so are my tastes, interest, and influences. So after 6 months, I too (Like PaulAds) feel that I was an asshole when recorded that piece of dung.
After 3 years - I listen and fell that I was awesome, full of dreams and potential.... (down the rabbit hole)

TL;DR: Objectivity changes over time, there are methods to validate and like your work in short-term.

[Max32]

I tend to look at it the same as I do with everything in my life...I always look back at myself and think I was a dick. Then I hope I’m better now. But I will look back at myself in the future and think I was a dick now as well. But by then, I will hope I am better again. I’m sure it’ll never be enough....but it will have to do  

Bro...don't be too hard on yourself. Everyone, well almost everyone does the same. Except those God damn Instagram models!

[shadowfax]

self critique is a tough area for us all I reckon, whether it's a dud or not is usually up to other peeps..the listener, I just try my best to get a track to a listenable quality with no mistakes..which is the least a listener would expect I think!

[PopTodd]

I have no problem being hard on myself.
Sadly, that critical ear, for me, has always come with more distance from the creation process. I record a song and then, a year or so later, I start hearing all its flaws. I think that's a patience issue, though. I record and just want to GET IT OUT!

Currently recording a couple of new tunes and, I think I am getting better at the patience thing. We'll see.

As far as critiquing the song, itself: I think that I am simultaneously my own harshest critic and biggest fan. There are songs that I won't record or release that other folks seem to like a lot -- I just can't connect with them. But then, there are others that I love, that seem to get a really lukewarm response from the public.

So yeah, it is hard for me to be objective, I guess.
It's such an internal, emotional thing.

[Wicked Deeds]

Yes of course! I struggle to imagine why it would be hard to evaluate my own work.   I know my strengths and restrictions as both a writer and producer. I write about my emotions and they inform  the choice of melody and the direction of my lyrics.

Production Is determined by my technical and creative ability.  Someone else can always produce to a better standard but I always endeavour to give It my best shot based on the time that I am able to devote. Increasingly, I dislike  the process of production but that's because I am a songwriter first and foremost.  

Paul

[Viscount Cramer & His Orchestra]

I would say yes to the question but I still like and listen to all my songs - there aren't that many - so maybe I'm wrong.

I don't like some of them as much as I did when I first finished them (when I thought they were great!) but it seems to be a common phenomenon to really love the song you're on....you wouldn't go on with it otherwise, would you. I am over the moon with the one I'm working on and think it's great of course!

What I do find is that I don't like the mix/arrangement at all and am bewildered that I ever thought it was good. I really ought to let a mix sit for a while and come back to it with fresh ears (as recommended!)

[The S]

As much as I possibly can, yes.

It took me a lot of years but I've developed sort of a habit that fix this for me. Every idea for a song I get I instantly record and then put away for later. It works for me because I write a lot so while some ideas "rest" for later I can always work on others. When I do finally decide to dive into the well of ideas, I don't even remember some of them and it's almost as if I didn't even write them. With fresh ears, I can then pick and choose the ones I like, the ones I want to work on and which ones to scrap entirely. Of course you can never be 100% objective, but it's as close as I can get.

Regarding production, I try really hard to make multiple versions of my songs. Different keys, tempos, instrumentation and whatnot. I say try because there's not always time nor do I always have stamina for it. But I try and more often than not do I end up with more than one version.

I wholeheartedly do not believe in making only one version of a song, and to then believe you were lucky to nail it on that exclusive one version. Sometimes you are lucky, but most times you're not.

IMHO of course. I get that not all of you agree with me.

Cheers,

Peter

[Neil C]

Interesting thread,
One internet defines objective as '(of a person or their judgement) not influenced by personal feelings or opinions in considering and representing facts'. So on that basis the answers clearly a no. Some songs may have more personal and emotional investment than others but I'm not able to completely devoid myself of the emotional aspect of writing and recording. That doesn't mean I cant be critical and hone improvements.

I think there are two times i'd want a degree of objectivity ( if that is indeed possible? ) when writing and then the recording, mixing and mastering part. In my expirience in both element collaboration raises the game and introduces some creative tension as opposed to just critism. I gues thats why pros have producers, and here we have each other .. 😄
As others have said time can help and provide perspective.
Setting benchmarks or saying how would a respected songwriter ( eg Springseen or whoever ) treat this subject might be another approach.

But perhaps the real question is if its my subjectivity that is important to write and record, i dont want to dampen that down, rather augment it. Perhaps thats where the objectivity of song craft, expirience and the gift of being able to take on board feedback is the key to improved tunes comes into play?
 
Neil

[adamfarr]

I think I’m getting there - reviewing songs on here is actually great training for listening. But I try not to totally second guess - almost always I’ll leave something in that I feel is risky or rule breaking because that’s the way I like it and for me perfection is sometimes close to blandness. And after some years most of it is deliberate!

[Skub]

   
Are you able to objectively review your own music?

No bother. It all sounds great to me! 

Therein lies the problem.