Back when dinosaurs and analog 24 track machines roamed the Earth, making records was kind of like making movies. There was a big investment by a big company that brought together a team of songwriters; a producer who wasn't unlike the director of a film; maybe an arranger and studio musicians; and an assembly line of technicians from tracking engineers to a mixing specialist.

I know lots of pop records are still made that way and things haven't changed too much for bands, but it seems to me that for the independent recording artist, the process has shifted to more of what novelists do: sit in a room by yourself and create a world on your computer.

This shift to a more solitary creative process can be empowering and more personal, but also lonely, unchecked and unbalanced. You don't have to fight with bandmates and executives about the specifics of your vision for a song, but you are also more inclined to give your ego free reign and overlook your weaknesses.

Virtual drums and string sections have become about as convincing as Hollywood special effects in recent years, which is to say believe-able, if not perfect. And I still try to bring in friends who can do the things I hear but can't do well enough myself.

What I've found is that the only real substitute for collaboration is to use time as my best critic. I have to let the tracks sit long enough for me to gain some perspective. Enough perspective that I can be as ruthless as a band mate or a producer would be, and cut things out that I worked hard on and maybe care deeply about. This also gives me fresh ears as an engineer. It slows the process down, but I think the finished product is better off.

I'd like to hear from other self-producing singer/songwriters about this. What works for you? What doesn't?