atrink
03.12.13 | list is 2013 digs yo.
Title is pretty self-explanatory. So is my description lol |
YoYoMancuso
03.12.13 | i pretty much just write whatever comes to mind for like 90 minutes, and then spend a lot of time revising it. |
atrink
03.12.13 | I don't ever revise. I plan it out so i don't need to. I spend about an hour actually writing and then half an hour editing |
atrink
03.12.13 | ..I think i try too hard |
Yuli
03.12.13 | I listen to the iTunes song previews (only for the singles tho), and then write my review ten minutes later |
CK
03.12.13 | Well I look at that beard of yours for inspiration first |
atrink
03.12.13 | @ohahastylee sweet. now i know how to become staff. Thanks man |
klap
03.12.13 | how many listens depends on the album. usually takes me an hour to get everything done then a couple minutes of editing |
Yuli
03.12.13 | Hehe.
But in all honesty, we prepare in similar ways. I listen to music in the car- I can focus completely on it. So it makes
me have to wait to give my opinion, and that's really good with albums that grow on/off you.
Taking notes is good too, although I typically forego the ideas I write down. |
ILJ
03.12.13 | with a computer |
atrink
03.12.13 | That's a good call. If it's a band i love, like mewithoutyou or something, it takes under an hour to do. But if it's a new release by a band i know nothing about, it usually takes me a lot longer |
coneren
03.12.13 | i ask my friend |
PistolPete
03.12.13 | 1st Listen: Get a nice feel for it, see if anything jumps out. (If nothing >>> 1 or 1.5)
2nd Listen: See if the good songs are still good, try and listen to lyrics more and see wtf they're even talking about (unless it's converge in which I don't care).
3rd Listen: Try masturbating to it...If nothing max 2/5.
4th Listen: begin writing down thoughts while wolfing down a bowl of cereal.
5th Listen: write review while listening.
6th Listen: Masturbate again. |
FromDaHood
03.12.13 | I listen to an album once, then I put it on again a day or so later and write at the same time to write about general impressions/make sure I remember everything correctly. Then I listen to it a few more times to check for interesting parts I might have missed and check lyrics. A lot of times that's just individual songs though. |
toxin.
03.12.13 | honestly nowadays unless it's something really dense or I wanna do a particularly good job, I listen twice, once to get a feel and another time where I'm just taking small notes about each song. Then based on these I write my review, maybe while listening to it a third time |
toxin.
03.12.13 | oh yeah I look at lyrics the 2nd time too, if your lyrics aren't on google, too bad |
Trebor.
03.12.13 | Most of my best ones were written on paper with pen |
atrink
03.12.13 | Sometimes i'll write intros in pen while taking notes. Usually those are pretty solid. |
Funeralopolis
03.12.13 | usually make notes while listening to the album |
PistolPete
03.12.13 | I'm very OCD when I write I need to be able to edit (aka backspace) pretty much every sentence. So if I tried it with pen and paper, the whole page would just be scribbles and I'd probably get so frustrated I'd scrunch it and throw the paper down the toilet and then go tie a noose and hang myself. |
toxin.
03.12.13 | high school essays must have been fun for you |
PistolPete
03.12.13 | yeah english wasn't my favorite subject... |
tragic.details
03.12.13 | depends. I try to only review albums that haven't been reviewed yet, and if I listen to something I like, I might review it. From there, I just go. Sometimes I stop for a little bit, and usually the album is over before I'm done writing the review, so I have to start it over. |
Atari
03.12.13 | honestly i just type mine up in word whenever i feel like reviewing something. i don't take notes but i listen to the album at least 2 times usually more. i don't have much of an outline either just kinda learning as i go lol |
atrink
03.12.13 | Your comment somewhere talking being surprised about me taking notes on my reviews prompted this list lol |
Atari
03.12.13 | me? lol. nothing wrong with taking notes i'm just lazy |
Ignimbrite
03.12.13 | Your process is much more meticulous than mine. I generally jam the album a few times and then crank out a stream of consciousness-ish essay about it and fit things together as I write. It takes anywhere from half an hour to three hours. |
atrink
03.12.13 | Yeah, it's probably more meticulous than most, but I feel as though it usually works out pretty well.
Plus taking notes on albums is a good way to procrastinate from actually work
|
Gnocchi
03.12.13 | Yeah I'm with Ryan, usually i'll try aand vary my audio source (sml speakers, earphones, car, big speakers) just because you can hear things you usually don't |
ericu03
03.12.13 | if you really like the album you're reviewing not just writing for the hell of it, it will be easy to
consistently think interesting ideas and points to summarize it up. |
tommygun
03.12.13 | poorly |
mryrtmrnfoxxxy
03.12.13 | lol wheres your #8 tommy |
tommygun
03.12.13 | floating around the universe somewhere |
Necrotica
03.12.13 | I do all my reviews in one go, usually about 20-30 minutes spent. I listen to a record multiple times for every nuance, every embellishment, everything. But yeah, I churn out my reviews quickly, or else my thoughts will escape me and I'll never return to the review |
mryrtmrnfoxxxy
03.12.13 | dammit not again
ill get the net....... |
Necrotica
03.12.13 | yea |
klap
03.12.13 | i actually just stare at atrink's majestic beard and let it inspire me |
sniper
03.12.13 | just paraphrase the pitchfork review |
Aids
03.12.13 | depends, sometimes I just wing it but sometimes I let the album sit for like a week before trying to write anything. Then when I open up the floodgates I have all these disorganized rants and after 15-20 minutes of writing I'll take 30 or more minutes cutting out (most of) the bullshit and organizing it into a "review" |
sniper
03.12.13 | maybe your descriptions just suck |
Sleaper
03.12.13 | write shit that comes to mind after i listen to an album. listen to it again. continue revising. |
atrink
03.12.13 | This list was actually just a ploy to get you to look at my beard |
omnipanzer
03.12.13 | I'm a bad reviewer, I need to be really inspired. I have to love it or hate it and I can't leave emotion out of my judgement. Then I poor over my review at least ten times looking for mistakes. After I post it I read it 10 more times looking for more mistakes that need to be fixed. Then I fix the five mistakes that other users point out to me. :-) |
omnipanzer
03.12.13 | Nice beard, very lush. |
atrink
03.12.13 | I like to imagine every user on here has a gnarly beard. At least the cool ones |
Atari
03.12.13 | i don't have a beard sorry |
atrink
03.12.13 | I refuse to believe that |
Atari
03.12.13 | it's the truth lol sorry to disappoint you. don't think the place i work would allow that anyways (insurance company). Can't even wear a damn t shirt at work |
MikeC26
03.12.13 | I usually just go on a drive and listen to a record for a while and type out notes about it on my iPhone. Onnce I've got a couple of core sentences I just type it up in word. |
AliW1993
03.12.13 | Once I feel like I've grasped an album enough to review it (usually after 3-5 listens), I have another run through, making notes as I go. Once done, I assemble them into a clear intro-body-conc structure, and then add flesh to my points once I'm writing them up.
I have a pretty poor attention span, so actually writing reviews up takes me a lot longer than it probably should do. Presuming I'm not going out or anything, I usually spend all night writing on-off. I'm also a terrible perfectionist. I never post anything until I'm completely happy with it, which hardly speeds things up. |
Atari
03.12.13 | @Ali,
doesn't sound like a bad thing i'm sure your attention to detail and hard work shows in your reviews. |
AliW1993
03.12.13 | I'd hope so, although given it's something I eventually want to do for a living it's something I need to improve. |
nononsense
03.12.13 | I honestly just go for it. I split it into 3 paragraphs: 1 Brief band bio/intro to album 2 talk about album 3 closing paragraph. I prefer short reviews too. |
anarchistfish
03.12.13 | I don't really have a set way of doing it. I listen to the album a few times, usually just for
pleasure cos sometimes it's not until I start to form ideas about what I'll write that I decide to
write the review. Otherwise I don't plan. Then I'll just dive straight into it. I'll write however
much it takes to say everything I want to and take however much time it takes to do that and edit it.
Sometimes it takes 20 minutes, but I've had reviews which just didn't sound right and I've had to go
over and over again and have ended up taking 2 hours in total. |
Azn.
03.12.13 | I plan it out in my mind, and then I take an hour (spaced out by breaks) to write the actual review. I used to write long reviews but I'm moving my style to a more concise, to-the-point format. But this is usually after I go through an album at least three times |
Atari
03.12.13 | "spaced out by breaks"
I can't do that. Once i start a review it's all I can focus on until it's finished. |
Mookid
03.12.13 | 1. Open up Word
2. Write
3. Submit
And that, is how you can write reviews |
atrink
03.12.13 | It's that second step i get stuck in... Now i realize all I have to do is write! |
Atari
03.12.13 | you're missing a step mookid
1. Open up Word
2. Write
3. PROOFREAD
4. Submit
*fixed |
Mookid
03.12.13 | lol
I barely proofread and it comes out fine (for the most part). Probably because I proofread each sentence as I type |
Azn.
03.12.13 | whenever I get stuck I just take a break
when I go back to the review I can just pick it up again |
Atari
03.12.13 | @mookid, whatever works man just saying you can't just count on word to do the proofreading for you lol. |
