A stage of disillusion

[jaydot]

Everyone gets to this stage sometime. Uninspired, out of ideas, and in my case almost like they've hit their production peak. Not that I can't get a lot, lot better sort of peak but that I personally have hit the peak for my capability and will just keep making tracks that sound the same.

I also keep forcing my tracks out kind of. In that I have nothing better to do but produce, and am sort of addicted to fucking around with the DAW, and nothing new is coming out, no new ideas. It annoys me.

I just feel I should get this off my chest because I'm sure it'll pass. Maybe it's a case of overkill. because I have been producing non stop for a while. I know I need to clear my mind and do something else for a bit though, maybe for a week and then get back on it.

Tell me good people of DSF, have you hit this stage of disenchantment before? How did you get rid of the horrible feeling?

[Y_H]

it will pass man, dont produce anything for a week or less then come back to it.

[jaydot]

it will pass man, dont produce anything for a week or less then come back to it.

I know but I spend a lot of time on my computer. And I just seem to have to open Ableton. It's like I'm hooked or something.

[Echoi]

The simple fact that you are addicted to producing is whats going to take you past this stage. While you take a break from it im sure you will be mulling allsorts of production related issues over in your head.

Ive just taken a near enough 3 month break from producing and found it quite difficult to get out of my head, but just thinking about ideas and what you would do if you were sat in front of the screen is good i find, builds the enthusiasm again.

Every time ive taken a break, for however long ive always felt ive kicked things up another notch when ive gotten back in the saddle again.

You've only hit the peak of your current knoledge base, the more that grows, the better you become.

[Sirius]

i often dont make anything for like 2-4 weeks & then get into a frenzy!
just keep listening 2 different types of music, some artists to listen too...
bill evans, thelonious monk, john coltrane, king tubby, lee perry, miles davis.
listen to everything other than dubstep artists for a month & then listen to itunes on random for a month!
start experimenting with the different styles & techniques that ya have heard.
The thing ya should prob start working on....
get ya mixes sounding exactly how ya want them to sound... go over everything & pimp the freqs as much as ya can.
make a track with massive dynamic range... then make one compressed as fuck.
make one that has every sound put in its own place in the stereo field.
make another in mono...
theres heaps ya can do without making a single track, then when ya do....
ya will have found your own personal style from everything ya have learnt!

!!chea

[Depone]

Geek up,
Hoes Down,
Every Mother-funker Bounce to dis!

[circusjam]

i know exactly what u mean man.

ive been absolutly dry for like the last 4 months, then out of nowhere in the space of 1 week, i push out 2 tunes that im very proud of. its so strange man

[hurlingdervish]

if you must keep loading up ableton then try some of these

1. make random sounds and export them
2. make preset patches for every plug
3. make drum kits all ready to go
4. make some loops
5. repeat

then when you are feeling a little inspired you can be inspired..again by what you made a few weeks ago, and a lot of the grunt work will already be out of the way.

and if you made loops too you can drop some in and tear them to shreds until they fit the new idea your working with

[Sirius]

man the last two tracks I have made have been reminiscent of another era... but with a twist of tomorrow!
I've kept the step... but have no sign of LFO modulation!
Im quite proud of them.
the first one is jazu... kinda jazzy i thought..
the other... i put in my sig ( ithink... cant see them!lol) is a proper DUB track.
first dub track too!! check em if ya keen... just to see where dubstep can go!!

!!chea

[Ldizzy]

ask urself what u take ''for granted'' and try to flip it.

eg : if you always do ur drums by starting with an element. start with another one. or build your beat with the snare on the 1st beat... stuff like that. pitch stuff u dont usually pitch, ask urself what part of ur daw u didnt exploit. sample new material.

i may be a noob at dubstep... but that type of change in my workflow improved my beatmaking abilities in a drastic way back then

[breaksbaron]

The best thing you could do, if you got writers block, and you can't keep your paws off the comp, is make another genre. It could be House, D and B, Techno or even hiphop. If your a producer, you need to have a good spectrum of the beats you can produce. so try making something different.

[djake]

The simple fact that you are addicted to producing is whats going to take you past this stage. While you take a break from it im sure you will be mulling allsorts of production related issues over in your head.

Ive just taken a near enough 3 month break from producing and found it quite difficult to get out of my head, but just thinking about ideas and what you would do if you were sat in front of the screen is good i find, builds the enthusiasm again.

Every time ive taken a break, for however long ive always felt ive kicked things up another notch when ive gotten back in the saddle again.

You've only hit the peak of your current knoledge base, the more that grows, the better you become.

what he said!

[amphibian]

I have a routine I do on a weekly basis now, and it goes a little something like this... *queue breakdance music*

Day 1: Play around with DAW, learn more things about it can/can't do
Day 2: Open up a random synth, play around
Day 3: Try and mimic a sound to the best of my ability, try different techniques
Day 4: Find a random preset I like the sound of in any Synth, try and create a melody that sounds really good
Day 5: Create a track
Day 6: Read up on music production
Day 7: Read up on music theory

I always try and do something different and so far I believe every track I've made on my soundcloud is very different from the last. This isn't really intentional, but it's showing me a lot of different ways to do different things and sounds I may or may not use in the future. As an example, I played with the Harpolodic preset last night in Massive for a good 3 hours, recording about 20 minutes of impromptu playing. In the end I wrapped it up in a bassline and a really chilled beat and I've got a track I just love listening to.

I've only been producing for 4 months so I'm not sure if I can relate exactly to the issue you're experiencing, but I have had similar creative blocks in my design work, and in those I always found it best to get past it by simply trying new things.

Hope this helps, love your stuff man - wouldn't want you to stop

[3za]

Maybe it is a stage of realization

[Danger Co]

My standard remedy for writers block:

Accept that your not in the 'zone' atm. Have a cuppa tea, go for a walk around a park etc. If your still not in the right headspace just leave your synths alone, go to the beach or recharge somewhere out in nature. Try to do things (outside of your studio) that you wouldn't usually do. The idea is to break the cycle that your feeling and allowing yourself to gently be inspired by the small/natural beauties that we usually take for granted (excersise is good for this). Whatever you do, don't force yourself through it. You mostly end up frustrated and down. Best to just accept that this is a time better spent elswhere.

Go with the flow....

[Sharmaji]

really depends on how much you write, and how often you're doing it. If you're writing music every day, starting ideas, working on 'em, finishing 'em, then yeah, sometimes you just need a break, need to re-charge and have experiences that are worth writing about/drawing from.

other times, you're stuck with a dozen tunes that all need work to get them finished, but none of them are particularly envigorating tasks-- this one might need some drum edits, that might need to have a bassline re-sampled and worked one, etc, etc.

at that point, you just gotta sit down and put in the work. Listen to some of the great composers-- even in Bach, there's mundane moments between inspiring point A and inspiring point B... you gotta get from place to place, and even those relatively-dull moments require the work.

[deadly_habit]

have other hobbies?
shit i spent hours today reading and drawing and guess what tune ideas came to me
over saturation on one thing will burn you out quick

[grooki]

My standard remedy for writers block:

Accept that your not in the 'zone' atm.

.

I think this is really the key - don't put expectations on yourself about getting better. Relax about the whole thing, it's not as important as you think it is.

[Sharmaji]

have other hobbies?
shit i spent hours today reading and drawing and guess what tune ideas came to me
over saturation on one thing will burn you out quick

yeah exactly...

also physical exercise will get the juices flowing. i posted a while back about thinking i need to buy a bike; since then, i'm riding 20 miles/day all over NYC. re-discovering my home at a totally different pace; switch up what you already know and things reveal themselves.

[jaydot]

have other hobbies?
shit i spent hours today reading and drawing and guess what tune ideas came to me
over saturation on one thing will burn you out quick

Yeah I had proper writers block though that's why I stopped writing! Gonna get back on it though.