This is a a god question, and a hard on to answer because it is really so subjective. I’ll do my best here.
For me, it just depends on what i’m releasing. My latest EP took me i think about 4-5 months for the four tracks. That is from initial conception all the way to - it’s out on bandcamp and streaming services.
I guess that averages out to about a month per track (all of that was obviously not active time, some of it was the period between when i finished the mixes and it was sent off for mastering / waiting for the official release) which I feel like is probably about where I am normally at on average. This holds for my first album as well. It was 12 tracks and the whole think took me a little over a year from start to finish.
My working sessions are usually like 1 - 4 hours long, depending on how much time i have and how motivated/inspired i feel to work on music. I’m not sure what the exact math is on that but it’s probably not too far off from your 30-50 hours. That being said, i have spent a lot longer on tracks before as well.
I feel like you are always going to be your own worst critic. It’s hard to know when to call it quits on a track or call something done. I think thats something we probably all struggle with a little bit here. Don’t know that there is a good way to not experience that, it’s just the plight of the artist.
That being said, i think it is totally possible to overwork music. Part of the skills you will develop over time is knowing when something is in just the right state to release per your expectations.
Anyway, I think at the end of the day, the time isn’t really what’s important. If you feel satisfied with it, that’s what matters most. Learning how to feel satisfied and learning what your own standards are and how reasonable they are is a much better gauge. And it never hurts to get feedback from others in cases where you are unsure. it helps soooo freaking much to have additional ears on something, especially when you’re in doubt or are not sure.
A little side note on feedback from others since you’re new here too: I think it becomes important to know what kinds of feedback your looking for from people.
When i want feedback, I normally post a track and let people have at it however they want. Sometimes i get feedback i care about, such as “its a little boring in this section”, “the kick is too loud”, “it sounds kinda over-compressed”, etc. I always try to listed to things like that, especially when it comes to mixing.
Sometimes too you will get feedback that might be valid but has more to do with preferences such as “The drums are pretty distorted and I don’t like such distorted drums” or “The use of {insert some particular plugin} is very obvious and doesn’t sound very creative” (both of these are examples of feedback i’ve received on my work over the years). This is just someone stating their preference, and it doesn’t mean you need to go change that part of your track if you like it the way it is.
TLRD on getting feedback from others. If you like their suggestions go with it. If not, don’t feel obligated to listen or oblige them. At the end of the day you’re the master of your work, so make sure you do what you want to hear and not what others want. Everyone here is pretty good about leaving constructive feedback that is helpful as long as you understand your vision well enough.
Ok, rant over. You’ll find that i’m very long winded on here, sorry about that, hope some of this was helpful!
Cheers!
