Musical goals for 2017

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Last year I tried to set some high level musical goals for myself to give me something to focus on improving as I do the year's tracks. For 2016 I focused on practicing instruments more to improve my live recordings, and trying to sing.

This thread is for people to share their high level musical goals in 2017 for inspiration.


This year I want to try to integrate ear training into song writing. Most, if not all, of my writing typically works by pressing a key and hearing what it sounds like. I write melodies by playing patterns, instead of coming up with them in my head and inputting them into the daw. I'd like to try composing by ear first. Additionally, I want to try spending a few weeks transcribing some existing songs to midi, or trying to make a cover.

First time doing this. I would really like to focus on sound design this year. Really focus on synthesis. I also want to improve my composition/arrangement. Just all round improvement in musicality (ear training/creativity/piano) maybe that's too much to ask for lol.

This year, I want to improve my lyrics and write chord progressions using more complex theory without making the actual progression complex. I would also like to improve my mixing skills, as they are lacking compared to my musicianship.

I really want to focus on simplicity - making the maximum effect with minimal distraction. This could be sound design, rhythmic elements, arrangement, chord progression, etc.

For 2017 I'm looking at increasing my musical output, which is one of the reasons that I wanted to get involved with "Weekly Beats" again. I also want to push myself to produce songs in multiple ways, i.e. multi-tracking, live to take, a combination of both, etc.
I recently switched to a Mac as my main DAW after producing on Windows machines for the past 10+ years, so I'm hoping that by increasing my musical output, I'll also be able to increase my production quality and speed at which I can produce beats with my new machine.

New to this too!

This year I want to get better at the back half of track/beat making: arrangement + mixing/mastering. I often get too caught up in sound design, composition, music theory, etc. and run out of energy for taking a 16-32 bar loop to completion.

Really looking for to this!

I want to focus on making the most from the least, while using samples and some live tracking. I also want to start seriously making music for the first time in my life, and the one-song-a-week format seems like the best balance between creative quantity and quality.

I hope to use this as a composition tool. The challenge of making a new track every week and try not to stagnate will be fun. I also hope it will inspire me record more found sounds.

Hello y'all !!! Shouts out to all people coming from Weekly Beats 2016 !!!

My personal goal is simply continuing with the habit of one song per week, while enjoying some of the new liberties that the rules of Streak Club give. I just completed a straight 52 songs in a year WB and would like to take a little more relaxed pace while trying to not to give up on the discipline.

As a technical note, I'd love to return to use vocals and lyrics, improve my almost non existing Maschine skills and go deep into a series of yet almost unexplored pieces of software (GoatTracker, SunVox, Ingen...).

Would love to collaborate with other people if time constrains allow it? Anyone from Europe/Spain ?

Best wishes to all. I'm looking forward to hear your creations

Hey gang, good idea writing down goals. Only helps to boost accountability :).

After reflecting on last year I realized I was spending up to a month on one song and had little output at the end of the year, and also spent more time on writing than learning. So this year my goal is to increase quantity by doing a song every week and increase learning by learning something new about music every day. I'm working through some material I have and focusing on composition/arrangement & sound design.