Overcome a Plateau in Music Production
We all have times when we feel like our music production development has plateaued. Praxis Theory can be boiled down to three areas: action, theory and reflection. This blog explores these areas in music production, breaking down the three elements and discussing them in the context of music production practice. Arguing that a balanced approach with Praxis can be one method to help music producers break through plateaus.
Praxis Defined
This is a process by which skills, ideas or techniques are applied to a workflow and put into practice. There is a sense of deliberate unlinking of practical application and theoretical ideas in order to be able to better reflect, analyse, review and improve.
Praxis contains action, theory and reflection. A lack of balance in these three areas can be a cause of stagnation in progress for music producers. I will now discuss each of the three key terms below.
Action
This is the act of making music, getting things done, calling them finished, and showing them to the world.
This seems simple, but it can be a hurdle. To take action, I need to understand that all areas of practice need regular development. There are different stages to music production: idea generation, recording, editing, exploration, arrangement, detail/interest, mixing, mastering, releasing and promotion. I love to start musical ideas, and it is easier sometimes to leave them as loops and ideas. This means that my idea generation skill set is well-oiled, but my arrangement and mixing skills might suffer from a lack of development.
There have also been a few times that I have felt stronger at mixing and mastering, and I can start this stage too early, getting things to sound right technically, but leaving almost no room for the development of the musical idea and arrangement exploration. This is why action is the first area that needs balance in music production, and if not properly developed, it can cause a plateau. The answer to this is easy to write but difficult to do: I need to get uncomfortable if I want to see development.
Action, therefore, is the consistent development of all areas of music production from the start to the bitter end 😂. The way that I improved in these areas was to develop a practice and workflow that ensures each area is regularly challenged. Here are a few examples of what that might look like:
Making music daily. ‘Action’ schedule for 1 hour, managing lots of different ideas:
New Idea generation - 20 mins
Explore/Jam around a different idea - 10 mins
Arrange a different idea - 10 mins
Tweak/Mix/Technical on a different song - 10 mins
Music Promotion - 10 mins
Weekly music ‘Action’ schedule 30-45 mins per day, managing lots of different ideas:
Mon - Idea Generation (as many ideas as possible) - 45mins
Tue - Exploring/playing/jamming around 2 different ideas - 22 mins each idea
Wed - Arranging/developing 2 different ideas - 22 mins each idea
Thurs - Mixing/Tweaking/Technical on 2-3 ideas - 15-20 mins on each idea
Fri - Artwork/Copy/Promo for 30 mins - idea generation 15mins
Sat - Sound Design/ Ear Training/Plugin Test for 20mins - develop an idea 15mins
Sun - Listen to music and analyse for inspiration - 30 mins
Creating an Album ‘Action’ schedule for 4 months, Jan-April example:
Jan - Prep, sound design, sampling, idea generation
Feb - Intense idea generation and idea exploration
March - Arrangement and development
April - Mixing, Release and Promotion
Each of these cycles has strengths and weaknesses, but all of them develop each area of the music production process somewhat frequently. Self-discipline and delayed gratification are important tools when applying these plans. Rest assured, this is how I approach my music making and it helps to make progress in each area of music production frequently.
Theory
Theory represents the idea of learning and introducing new ideas, information and insights into the music production practice.
Theory happens away from the studio and does not happen when I am making music.
When possible, I try to develop my learning. A mistake I used to make was that when making tunes, I would hit a challenge, then go to YouTube and watch tutorials. 3 hours later, I have learnt nothing at all and have not made any music, but I did watch someone drop an anvil on a trampoline.
The fix for this is simple. Now I will not go on YouTube while I am supposed to be making music! I will not go on the internet at all. If I am making music, I do only that. If I can’t make a sound, can’t find a function, or don’t know how to do something, that is fine. I keep a notepad on my desk and make a note to look it up later - outside of the studio. In the moment, if I don’t know how to do something, I must be creative and solve the problem, or do something else instead. If I can’t get that function to work properly, I will use a different function, find a different way to achieve the goal.
The interesting thing here is that as I find my own way, my music sounds more like me because of how I have used the tools in my own creative way. Once I am outside of the studio, I can look up things and set aside time for study, learning and theory. This must not be the same time as when I am taking action and physically making music.
Another point about theory is to find a balance between the sources for my learning. YouTube is excellent, but not the only source of solid information. Books, libraries, museums, galleries, exhibitions, concerts, collaboration with other artists, reading, listening to other people's music, graphic novels, magazines, artworks, architecture, food, creativity and culture are all excellent sources to find new theory. Getting into the world, where I can learn and then use these philosophies, ideas and theories to supplement my own work.
Reflection
This means thinking deeply about a project or experience in order to learn from it and improve in future.
This is the area that I think is most neglected of the three terms of praxis in music production. It is also the area that I struggle most to do myself. The most appropriate time for reflection is a week or so after an experience, in most cases, when I am just distant enough away from the work that my emotions about it have levelled out, but simultaneously, it is fresh enough in my memory that my recall is accurate. The next hurdle is deciding exactly how I should reflect.
Do I judge myself against other people's music using case studies or references? Do I look at my career and aesthetic goals and see how the work aligns with these ideals? Do I ask my peers? Do I judge myself by likes, shares and streaming numbers?
These all might be useful tools for reflection, and each has its nuances. Ultimately, it is about deciding what is right for each project and person.
Judging my work against references is a really valuable tool and one that I use often. Picking a song that works well for me creatively, technically and musically, then using this as a guideline for my work. However, references are generally better suited for the production stages for quality control, inspiration and study. They ‘can’ be useful at the end too for reflection, but in the reflection stage, it is far too easy for the process to become simple, cold, hard comparisons, which I think are less helpful and to be avoided. However, in the mixing and arrangement stage, when I can take action and make improvements based on what I hear, is when I think references are excellent.
Looking at my own career goals and aesthetic goals can be one of the most powerful weapons in my reflection arsenal. This is because it allows me to reorient myself with my larger goals and also see what I can do to get closer to my aesthetic ideals in future. I could listen to the project and make notes about what works and try and build on these things. Also, I can consider what elements do not align with my goals and note down improvements for next time.
Peer feedback can be useful. However, I need to take into consideration that the sample size of feedback might be too small to be reliable. What if my pals are having a tough time, the feedback might be too harsh. What if my friend is trying to be supportive and tells me everything is great? This might not be the case, but it is worth remembering that the reliability of feedback is questionable in small sample sizes. However, a trusted source that can provide well-rounded feedback from a mentor, coach or tutor could be one of the most effective ways to shorten your learning time and find helpful ways to improve at a suitable pace.
Streaming numbers have always been troublesome for me because someone might buy my track on Bandcamp - 1 sale - but listen to that file they downloaded thousands of times a year, and I would never know. Also, some streaming numbers could mean the song was playing somewhere, but no one was really paying attention to the song or even in the room. Streaming numbers are important, but it also depends on what your goals are and how you measure success.
Praxis in Music Production
My argument is that all three of these areas: action (making music), theory (learning and upskilling) and reflection (looking back on projects to review and find areas for improvement) need to be balanced for a music producer to see suitable progression.
If I were only to apply theory and spend all my time learning, I would not get anything done practically, in terms of having real songs to be able to play for people. If I try and reflect without making anything, then it is most likely going to be wasted time. This leaves an argument that action might have a slight edge over the other two, but only just. The problem with only action is that I could stagnate and get stuck in a rut doing the same things over and over.
With theory and reflection only, I would be developing myself in the abstract, but my practical skills, motor skills, listening skills, creativity, and output would all be nonexistent without action.
Theory and action combined are the most seductive trap, and one that I fall into. It feels complete to be learning and applying in a cycle. However, it is not complete. It reminds me of the story of a group of people working hard to chop down some trees; they have sharp tools, good shift patterns and strong workers who are motivated; however, no one ever stopped for a moment to realise that they were in the wrong jungle, chopping at the wrong trees. This is the same as not having reflection in practice. I need to look up and check every so often that I am going in the direction that I want to, to make sure my jungle is the right type of jungle 😎.
Action and Reflection, these two alone are another deceptive trap. Initially, it seems complete. However, with just these two, I rarely get new input into my practice and only rely on the knowledge I already have, which leads to stagnation once again.
This leaves the conclusion of my point, balance. Action, theory and reflection. With all three in a suitable balance, I have the practical skills developing across the full spectrum of my practice. I have new information in a steady stream to help inspire new ideas and motivate me to keep exploring music production. I also have time where I stop for a moment to look around and review to check things are going the way I see as successful.
In summary, I hope that this will inspire you to consider if you have a balanced praxis which includes:
Balanced music making, including all the different stages
Learning new ideas and theories from a range of sources and applying them
Reflecting on your work frequently to better align with your goals
It would be great to know your thoughts on the topic to see if there is any other angles or ideas that I haven’t considered. Please leave a comment to discuss!
If you would like to know more about this, and make a specific plan for development. You can book a tutorial with me using the service below:
Matt Chapman1st November 2025