Chasing the White Pony Snare - Curing My Hyper Focus.

[@GeorgeLeverG1]

Whats your method for handling your hyper focus? Is there something I could include that would further improve my working habits?

[@MalyanDrum]

You had a great point with checking your landscape and identifying "what is the goal right now". I think developing on that could be great by creating a task list which you can go through (and get hyperfocused on each step with). By having an initial task of creating the ladder for yourself, you can trust that each step is justified. Digital tools like ClickUp are great for managing and planning time for tasks, subtasks and progress tracking. Time tracking tools like Toggl are amazing for looking back and finding out just how long you spent on something, especially if you come out of the other side feeling like you haven't done enough!

[@DomSimpsonDrums]

Read Effective Practice For Musicians by Benny Greb. Great video :) love your stuff.

[@brandonmorris6181]

I get crazy hyper focus with different topics. For years I couldn't let them go. I did a similar thing to you and broke it down into achievable pieces. Then gave myself allotted working hours to achieve it. I still had other things to mix, relationships to maintain, etc so I had to get it in check. It turned into the best tool I've ever had. Having the ability to focus so hard on something that you can forget to eat or use the restroom is a terrifying concept, but also allows me to make a few hours go a lot farther than I would otherwise.

[@MalyanDrum]

I'm so grateful for your sharing this. Coming to terms with ADHD as an adult is extremely cumbersome, but the great online community sharing how they deal with it in positive ways is SO helpful to others who are just discovering that "it's not just them". Props and respect for talking about it

[@GeorgeLeverG1]

You got this dude. I know you do!

[@riptideL]

@@dougleydorite I hear you. Everything snaps my attention away from the task at hand, snap! what's that... follow follow... oh snap! what's that, follow. Sometimes I feel I'm interested in everything and I get swamped.

[@toesuc]

I feel the same way about so much stuff you said. Getting hyperfocused on a thing and then kinda forgetting about it. Happened to me with cooking, coffee, music production, guitar, endurance sports... I'll definitely try out some of the things you spoke about here. It's kinda comforting to hear other people going through similar shit. Thanks man!

[@ryanharvey53]

appreciate you george

[@alastairwain]

Always a good day when George uploads!!

[@GeorgeLeverG1]

Enjoy!

[@christophbrandt4250]

This is something I love about your channel. Technical aspects are important and necessary, but organising everything and staying focused is just as important. I often struggle with that too, working a full time job and doing music just after work is done besides all the other obligations. So these insights can potentially get me further down the road as another "the perfect snare sound" technical explanation. Let's be real: many of us hobby musicians probably won't ever be able to do mixing on a level professionals such as you can archive, because it's just not as easy to do and is a task on its own. For people like me nailing the basics for being able to use recording as a tool for composing and developing ideas is already enough. If a song idea is done and recorded sounding "ok" for demo purposes, what else could you wish for? Because just like you said, then it's time to pay someone who is a professional.

[@particlejim]

This is extremely relevant to my interests as: - a drummer - a producer - someone diagnosed with ADHD in adulthood - someone who struggles with major hyperfixation issues - someone who has been chasing that White Pony snare sound for the better part of 20ish years Excellent video, consider me a new subscriber :D

[@themovemnt9372]

I am not one to typically comment but this video is incredibly well done, insightful, and spot on. It is clear from this video why you are so exceptional and prolific in your work. I love how you have created a system to keep your hyperfocus in check so it doesn't negatively affect other aspects of your life - thank you for sharing your process with me. Only because you asked for additional advice, I will provide it: 1. Play to your strengths. 2. Hire someone to help you in the areas you are weak. As you become more successful, and you take on more projects, responsibilities, and have less time, hire an executive assistant to do all the things you aren't good at or don't have time for. As an owner of multiple businesses, a musician, author, father, husband, and personal coach, my life changed when I realized I don't have to do everything myself and I hired an executive assistant. As a side note your work with Loathe and Sleep Token is sublime, and I hope my band will someday get the opportunity to work with you. Cheers to your future success!

[@GeorgeLeverG1]

I love this so much. thank you!

[@thomasrobertson4213]

Thank you for once again sharing things like this in such an open and thoughtful way, it is a real skill.

[@manipulationproductions8233]

Cheers for the great advice George. You have inspired me as a young producer.

[@valentinzwick5408]

loved that video - you possibly became my most favorite youtube channel and most fun to watch speak person (and that means a lot as I am watching a ton of Nolly & Misha videos who are both super fun to watch). keep it going man

[@GeorgeLeverG1]

Really appreciate that. Thank you

Your videos are amazing! I just watched this one while my wife was listening. This sounds exactly like me! I'd love continue learning from you, please keep'em coming!

[@RedSpark_]

Great video George, I really struggle with this. The thing I'm trying to do to improve things is to do iterative workflows. Just get it done as quickly and easily as you can then if it's not good enough, do it again. Much of the time once you get a bit of distance, the first attempt is fine. Then If you need to do it again you'll have learnt valuable lessons along the way. btw the link is broken, would you mind uploading it again? Thanks.

[@synstergates4364]

Hey , George Thanks for this awesome video. Always a huge fan of your work .I really need something like this from a long time because i have not been super focused on my work and distracted for more than a year . It's because of an unhealthy and lazy life . But now after watching your video , you gave me a new hope to start everything again from the scratch ( because its never too late ) , whether its waking up early in the morning or mixing a song every day . So, Thanks to you for this amazing content and please keep posting all these positive stuff... !!

[@matt-tomo]

This video really made me think, I guess the way I deal with hyperfocus is taking small breaks and stepping back to appreciate the present, but this is hard cause I’m always thinking ahead and trying to plan everything but it’s definitely an important practice to work on. I need more selfish time haha. I also read this quote a lot: ‘If you focus on what you lack, you lose what you have. If you focus on what you have, you gain what you lack’ Greg McKeown Great video, can’t wait for the new studio tour, Cheers for the sample :)

[@harrisonmackley6703]

Just this week, I began dedicating 2 hours a day (after coming home from my day job) to sit down and practice mixing with absolutely no distractions. 2 hours of absolute focus instead of a greater number of less productive hours.. and because of this, I've had more triumphs in the past week than I have in the past month! Knowing someone as successful as yourself in the industry implements similar strategies has given me even more confidence.

[@Pigeon_child]

thank you for the video george, always looking forward to new ones! I think my main way of getting over hyperfocuses is just taking a day a week to entirely work on whatever it is I want to work on rather than following my "work" checklist.

[@taterfight]

You are a gift to us all. Praise you.

[@robreyes3356]

I started learning how to produce about 2 years ago, really to record my band. With the shared trait of hyper-focusing, I can’t tell you how much time I’ve waisted on vocal takes or mixing to get it to sound perfect, and to look back and see that I tried way too hard. With the fact that I really have no idea what I’m doing. Legit, how you produced I Let It In And It Took Everything is the level I wanna be on. Thank you for the sample, you know the forbidden snare! Much appreciated from Texas!

[@TrueFallacy]

Thanks for this George, really wonderful bringing up mental state as it relates to goals and hard work, it’s SO MUCH of what underlies how we feel about our work, which is important!! For me personally, I also am stricken with intense focus, or OCD, or whatever it is, but I’m so used to being pulled in so many different directions that I can’t sit in the studio all day, and expect to get anything meaningful done after hour 5 or so. So I take breaks, often days at a time, before I come back up in. I couple that with small goal chunks, as you said, and this has been working really well for me lately!

[@MikeSkinnerAudio]

This is great. I'm currently new to the game and struggling with feeling overwhelmed with what to learn first, how to establish the basics, etc. Thanks for sharing! I just started a new schedule of forcing myself to do certain things within realistic time chunks. (nothing more than 3 hours without some short break), The book "Make Time" really helped me prioritize some things I never thought of. Highly recommend! It's a short read too.

[@andygreen5565]

Great advice. Thanks for the sample.

[@michaelseifertprofessional9685]

I have not been able to handle it so far, but am trying now. Your video has helped me a lot. Very often you don't realize that you can lose sight of many other important things. I will tackle this now. Thanks george

[@riptideL]

Inner monologues and Rode chest wigs. I'm in. I would love to see your list of organisation, your time stamps on what you do and when to see how you align yourself. I have issues with following my excitement without realising it becomes way too much "selfish time" help is needed.

[@kevinoflion]

Great content as usual. For me it's all about scheduling and forcing myself to start good habits. Otherwise, I very much drift from obsession to obsession. Also, Wells looks amazing!

[@x.eternal.x9150]

Great video as always. Buffy is beautiful

[@darryldrums]

I needed this. Thank you

[@johannorstrom7041]

Thank you for putting the time to put this to words. I think I subconsciously knew most of it, but I'm hoping it'll be easier to follow through on it having been told to do so, haha :) That said, the damn snare link is broken. :(

[@AlucardXIX]

I don't normally like and comment on videos, but I do if there's a cat.

[@blue_mountains28]

sounds like my job.... and the end of the day your spent from being in a state of constant search and max info intake mode all the time... it dose take it out of you, Very interesting take on this. thanks. My thing is golf at the moment. me i have to have something to sink myself into, i let is define me then remember it doesn't then do it again with something else.

[@DanielSquires]

Such a great share

[@ExELCiS777]

thx for the video! and thx for the sample! love your work and content

[@TheNightdiver]

Loved the video, it's like a positive click bait! but I gotta say that it left me curious about the trials, errors and misconceptions you encountered chasing the White pony snare sound Ps: Wells kind of has a Bath vibe, looks lovely

[@GeorgeLeverG1]

The term ‘chasing the white pony snare’ is an example of being focused on something beyond an objective outcome. It is not a literal rabbit hole. It’s only a snare. It only works in that record. Nothing to chase. The rest of the video explains the reasoning for using that title. If you missed it - it may be worth watching again.

[@BryanPapic]

I needed this video! Thank you George! So very refreshing... also link has 404 error..... #sadface

[@KeepTheGates]

Your content is fantastic. Your voice is pretty sibilant. Please keep making videos.

[@andrewcap2419]

Always Save As before the rabbit hole...You were probably right the first time! lol but you don't know for sure unless you experiment. As you said, setting aside time for audio adventures is definitely the move though.

[@DomSimpsonDrums]

Who else had to pause and rewind this video several times because they got distracted wondering if Georges cat would be capable of befriending a duck? I think this video is for us.

[@wearemanywearelegion4613]

I don't know if this is verging on OCD rather than a useful step in the process. But I've always been a list maker so lists always help me stay on task and on track. So I would only add that if your 'selfish' time is short, create a list of the rabbit holes you would like to go down and periodically revisit it and rank order it. Also make sure you mix up the fun with the laborious. With those two things you can focus your hyper focus time and also keep it fun, you don't waste time selecting the thing to work on (if indeed that is a problem) as you have your ranked order list and you can just crack on. I would also move your hyper focus time around in the day too. Try and find the optimal hour in the day where your particular brain is at its most creative.

[@ryanshook8284]

I’m revisiting this vid and thinking 💭 maybe api2500 is the key to that snare sound. Try ittttttt

[@sammyloehnis3373]

Great video George. Could you make wav files available for that snare sample as well as tci files for those of us who don't have Slate Trigger?

[@adamfulcher1367]

Is this sample still available 🙏. I get an error when I click on it

[@TheBPortilho]

The link is broken 😢

[@mlsoundlab]

Man I would've loved to join you on that quest though. That being said many times these sounds like f.ex. Deftones drum sounds have a lot to do with WHO played the drums. So now it's time to imitate how Abe hits round things. :P

[@GeorgeLeverG1]

We'll have to find something to collaborate on in which case haha!

[@CFChristian]

Hello, Good day/evening. Have you ever considered, or attempted, meditation? You have touched on a lot of things I had struggled with myself, before I developed a daily habit/ritual of meditation.

[@kshitijk14]

u gave some really good tips. i usually try to write everything down, and then think for a while how can i approach it without being a lazy ass! and just take short breaks in between!! no wav samples though?

[@guiyegarcia]

Hello George! What do you think of the organized daily schedules in the life of a producer or someone who works being creative? As you say, getting into a rabbit hole has its costs. Discovering valuable information late at night usually seduces me to devour it in the moment regardless of the hours and regardless of how it will affect my energy levels the next day. It is a process to improve these impulses as you say in the video. The real question I want to ask you is: what is your emotional intelligence process to differentiate when it is worth producing until 3 a.m. to finish something and feel productive, and when it is better to respect our strategically designed routine to develop healthy habits? Thanks for your content and cheers from Argentina!

[@justevan877]

I know you get like a trillion and then some questions about this, so sorry for asking, but do you think you will ever be able to go over the "Sundowning" Drum mix? Also great vid!!

[@GeorgeLeverG1]

Probably not, no. I've done better mixes since. They come out later this year.

[@justevan877]

@@GeorgeLeverG1 I don't think it's possible to have better mixes than sundowning XD

[@Kasi_]

Deep dive video about unsqueaking a chair incoming

[@ryanshook8284]

At 11:20 when the snare sample plays in this vid... Does the room decay sound panned more to one side than the other? Wondering if it is that way or if my ears are just hearing its own asymmetrical freq from wearing ear buds

[@livecarsonreaction]

Ironically, the cat destroyed any ability I had to focus on this video's "serious" topics

[@23parisarm]

I watched this whole video waiting to hear you dial in the ACTUAL White Pony (Deftones) snare😂😂😂

[@zacharysmithingell5460]

Well what the hell. Here I am in the midst of a hyperfocus rabbit hole on Abe's wp snare sound and here's this video. Hm.

[@WtZuck]

Wait so this video doesnt show me how to attain the snare sound on the Deftones White Pony album? Shit!

[@nephilymbass1]

Im coming more from the musician side than the producer side of things. But think limiting the time you work on an album is a very important thing. Music should be a sort of snapshot of a particular time. Chasing things too long doesn’t work out. My experience is even if you get the one thing you were chasing other things suffer because of it. For example recording drums with guitar/bass scratch tracks in two days then spending weeks or months nitpicking over guitar tones and performances. By then the bass player and vocalists have lost enthusiasm for the material and their performances suffer because of it. With performances as I’ve gotten older I’ve come to lose respect for “perfection.” . With heavy music “perfect” isn’t “metal.” Perfect is “soulless” and “overproduced”

[@willo.brien.]

I've got PIE (pure intense enthusiasm)

[@schleppvideos]

Link is dead😭

[@KeepTheGates]

I don't care about the sample, I want the video.