How to Know When your Song is Finished*

Today we’re going to talk about How do I know when my song is finished?  Let’s go. 

Hi.  My name’s Steve Collom for The Secrets To Music Success dot-com, and today we’re going to talk about how do you know when your song is finished?  How do you know when your mix is finished?  How do you know when you’re like Okay, it’s done – I’m ready to release it or send it off to the next stage or the next process? 

And I’m going to break it down into five different points that will really help you understand or just give you some direction with your songs, so that you know when it’s done it’s done and you can move on to the next one.  So let’s dive in.

1. Deadlines

Deadlines always tell me when my mix is ready or when my song is ready because – guess what!  If you don’t submit it and if you don’t get it into that deadline, you have a 100 per cent chance of missing the deadline and failing that deadline, or not getting that placement or not getting that opportunity to get signed.  It’s guaranteed that you won’t get that song signed.

So, even if you feel like it’s not quite ready but that deadline is coming up and it’s looming and it’s hitting you, you’ve got to submit it.  That’s your deadline.  If you submit it to whatever deadline is, there’s a 50 per cent chance that it’s going to work.  You know, it’s 50/50.  But there’s a 100 per cent chance it won’t work if you don’t get to the deadline and you don’t submit it, so that’s just a fact and, you know, I’m sure a lot of you can see that.

And one story that comes to mind is a guy called Chris Lord-Alge.  He’s got tonnes of Grammies and he’s mixed for a lot of the big artists, and the bands that you would have heard, top number one singles, top 20 all day long, top 10.  And I heard him say this quite a while ago.  I heard him say – somebody asked him the same question:  How do you know when your mix is done or How do you know when your song is done?  And he said It was done because the next artist – the next Grammy-award-winning artist – was coming in in half an hour and he had to be done! 

So that’s a deadline for you right there.  So he had to be done, and so he would wrap it up.  He would get it mixed, he would get it completed, and it would be done, and I’m guessing he probably gave himself at least 10, 15 minutes to get the next session ready, or maybe half an hour or who knows?  But he had the next artist coming in.  So that’s a deadline for you! 

And so many times, often,  I have deadlines that I’m, like, I’ve got to get that song in.  I’ve got to get it to my publisher.  I’ve got to get it in.  And those deadlines, actually, they become your best friends because they’re, like, without that deadline, you’re just (makes vague sound) – you know, you’re just relaxing, you’re just chilling out and you’ve got nothing pushing you.  That deadline, you’ve got to learn to embrace that deadline.  Let that deadline push you. 

And of course the best scenario is, if the deadline is – let’s just say Sunday night, tell yourself it’s Saturday night.  You’re going to have it completed by Saturday night.  Because then guess what?  You’re relaxed and the whole process is a lot more relaxing, and then on Sunday morning you can wake up and have another little listen and maybe do another little mix or another little tweak, and then, you know, you’ve got the rest of the afternoon and it’s just so much more relaxing.

And we all know it’s all part of music – this is all part of the creative world, and it’s so hard to be creative when you’re all tense and you’re all stressed and you’re all focused and you’re, like, you’ve got to - - -.  You know, it’s just that’s not when the most creativity comes out.  The creativity comes out when you don’t care and you’re, like, I’m just going to create stuff for the fun and for the joy of it.

So number 1 was deadlines. 

2. The vision

What is the vision for your song?  What is it?  If you have a vision for an epic song, like you want it to be huge, then you’re going to have to add a lot of instruments.  There’s going to be a lot of stuff moving, there’s going to be a lot of stuff happening, so you’ve got to – you can’t get that epic sound with just one piano by itself.  It’s going to come out with an awesome building piano but it’s not going to have that epic kind of sound that you’re going for.

But, on the other side of that, if you want a singer/songwriter song, it’s going to turn more into pop or it’s going to turn more into a genre – you know, folk or hip hop – the more stuff you add to it.  So knowing what your vision is is a big key to knowing when your song is finished, because if I’m doing a singer/songwriter song, I don’t need to keep adding instruments.  The more instruments I’m going to add, the more things I’m going to add, the more it’s going to turn into more of some sort of pop thing. 

And then, maybe, you know, if it’s just an acoustic guitar and then I add all these other elements and stuff, then I’m going to want to add drums and then I add bass and then I add, like, a string quartet and then some brass or something – it just becomes this huge thing and then you’ve missed what your vision was for the song.   

So number 2 is know what your vision is and keep to that vision of what that song is.

3. Does it need anything else?

I often ask myself that when I’m writing and when I’m recording and when I’m mixing.  Does it need anything else?  Is there a hole?  That’s what I’m looking for.  I’m looking for more, like, what’s wrong with the song or where’s the holes or where’s the gaps.  I’m not looking for Where can I add my favourite instrument?  Where can I add this?  Where can I add that?  I’m asking What does it need?  What else does it need?  There’s a big difference in that, you know. 

When I first started (laughs) I would throw everything in the mix.  I would do everything.  I’d do some electric guitars, I’d do some chords on the electric guitars and then I’d do some high up kind of, you know, little melodies up high, and then I’d do another funkier kind of upbeat thing and then I’d be, like, Okay.  Well, you know, I have mandolins – let’s grab a mandolin!  Oh, I have a ukulele – let’s put a ukulele in!  I have acoustic guitars – let’s put shakers in – let’s put – and I used to put everything in it just, you know, because I felt, I thought, that’s what you had to do. 

And the more and more you learn it’s that, no, no.  You just put in what the song needs.  The song actually, if you listen to it, the song will kind of tell you what it needs.  So you’re serving the song, and a lot of the times, when you have such a great song or a great vocal take, (laughs) the main thing you’re thinking in your mind is Don’t screw it up.  Don’t add extra stuff.  Don’t try to over-process things.  Just let the magic come out and don’t kill it. 

So yes, so make sure you ask yourself What else does that need?

All right. 

4. Listen the next day

This is a big one.  I love number 4!   Listen the next day.  Now, often what I do is I put down what’s called, like, a ‘board mix’.  It kind of comes from the old school of, you know, by the end of the session everyone’s ears were fatigued, everyone’s tired and they’ve been recording all day.  Maybe it’s, like, 3 or 4 in the morning, and they’re like, Okay, we’re done.  Just go ahead and bounce the whole section down.  So ‘board mix’ comes from just bounce whatever’s on the board, just all the mixing, all the faders that you have, just bounce it down so that you can listen with fresh ears in the morning.

This is a really, really great key because, you know, when we’re in our DAWs and we’re tweaking, our ears get fatigued after a while and so we’re not making the smartest decisions.  And what we can actually do is – what I’ll do, you know, even after a few hours, I will just be like All right.  Let’s just bounce it down and we’ll have a listen with fresh ears, and I’ll play the MP3 on my earbuds or headphones or even on my computer, and I’ll listen to it for the first time that day with fresh ears.  It’s kind of like the first time someone else has listened to the song.

So the first time I listen to it and I’ll just see what it needs.  And, you know, obviously, I’m not worried – Okay – the snare’s too loud or The vocals or too soft or, you know, I’m not worried too much about that because they can turn up and down.  I’m more listening for What else does the song need?  I think it’s there, you know.  Is it there?  Do I need to add another thing?  Oh, maybe I need to add a harmony – one more harmony in the second verse, or whatever it is.  And it kind of just speaks to you.

So listening with those fresh ears is a big deal.  That’s a big key.  And so always do that.  Do a quick little board mix and then bounce it down on an MP3.  Next day – you know, I love having that next day. 

If you don’t have that luxury [of a next day], then go do something else.  Go sit outside and just enjoy Nature a little bit, then come back in, then listen on your headphones.  Or go for a drive in your car and play it.  Resting your ears is so key and doing that board mix, and it’s just kind of like you’ve summed everything up into that stereo track and you just listen to it.  So that’s a big key.      

5. Less is more

Less is more.  Just remember that, that you don’t need to put everything in it.  You don’t put everything and the kitchen sink – not like I used to!  So you don’t need to do that.  Don’t make that amateur mistake.  But, you know, just put in what you think it needs.  Less is more, and a lot of the times this makes your mixing and your mastering, everything, so much more simple. 

If you’ve only got a handful of instruments, you don’t have to carve all this room for all those instruments to be heard because guess what?  You can hear it.  It’s very clear.

If you’ve got five instruments, it’s very clear.  You’ve got bass, you’ve got your low-end stuff.  You’ve got your mid-range stuff – maybe acoustic guitars or pianos.  You’ve got your high-end stuff, vocals cut through and then maybe you’ve got some cymbals or tambourines or shakers are up that high.  Everything is so clear.  You don’t have to fight everything.

Now, imagine if you had 500 tracks compared to that five.  You’re going to have to just really carve in every single spot and you’re going to just have to get really creative and just really know how to mix because you’ve got a big job.  (laughs)  You’ve got a big job at hand to make sure all of those elements are heard and they’re not fighting each other – there’s not too much low end fighting each other and creating this kind of (makes sound) mix. 

So this is all part of the arrangement, you know, to know when your song is done and when it’s finished.

Wrap-up

So awesome, guys!  Well, I know that’s been helpful to a lot of people and please, if this has been helpful, please share it or subscribe and hit that little bell so you get the notifications.  

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And head over to my website at The Secrets To Music Success dot-com and download my free PDF on mixing tips and songwriting tips.  You’ll find a lot of cool stuff over there at The Secrets To Music Success dot-com. 

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All right.  Later.   

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 *Source:  How to Know When Your Song is Finished YouTube by Steve Collom, uploaded 8 June 2021.

Transcribed with care and weird Australian spellings by Kate Battersby on behalf of Steve Collom and The Secrets To Music Success.