happiness & creativity

dubmatters · Post by **dubmatters** » Mon Jan 03, 2011 12:16 am

For the first time in years I have quite a stable and happy life. Girlfriend, job, nice house, money in my pocket etc etc.

I have learned a lot more of the technical side of edm in the past year but found my creativity has taken a real hit.

I have plenty of time to make beats but often lack a hook or idea.

Before I was pissed all the time, acting like a twat and had no real prospects outside my degree course.

Does unhappiness/stress insipire you or help in the creative process?

Dystinkt · Post by **Dystinkt** » Mon Jan 03, 2011 12:20 am

I think as a genre, dubstep is often really dark so maybe theres a correlation between being a moody tnuc and making a better tune as a result.

gnome · Post by **gnome** » Mon Jan 03, 2011 12:30 am

It destroys my creativity when I am in a bad mood. Everything I do seems to annoy me and I end up frustrated with production in general.

paravrais · Post by **paravrais** » Mon Jan 03, 2011 12:36 am

gnome wrote:It destroys my creativity when I am in a bad mood. Everything I do seems to annoy me and I end up frustrated with production in general.

THIS!

So often I hear people talking about how you have to be down to make the best music/art and I'm like "wtf? when I feel shit everything I do is shit, I need to be happy to be creative" but I guess everyone is different ehy!

ninjadog · Post by **ninjadog** » Mon Jan 03, 2011 1:07 am

Unhappiness/stress/instability/drugs definitely make me more creative. Or maybe it was my late teens early 20's that made me creative, when I was more impressionable and full of angst and thought I was sticking it to the man.
Yeah must have been an age thing with me. I started a punk band and although I dident have access to production tools (because in the late 90's because it was still all hardware) I got into Djing and scratching and would do crime to buy spray paint and go bombing all night when I wasn't drawing in my sketch books... I was also doing a lot of LSD and getting stoned and drunk all the time so that must have had something to do with it. Now I can't write a good song to save my life and havent drawn or painted a mural since forever. Havent done LSD for like 15 years either...Maybe I need to do acid again?

3za · Post by **3za** » Mon Jan 03, 2011 1:21 am

dubmatters wrote:Does unhappiness/stress insipire you or help in the creative process?

Yeah, I do find myself making more music when times ain't so good. I have always used music as a place to vent, and a place to escape the real world. Its my safe little bubble, where nothing else matters. So the happier I am the less need their is for me to make music.

We all work differently, you just got to figure yourself out.

kaiori breathe · Post by **kaiori breathe** » Mon Jan 03, 2011 2:26 am

I find any emotion, 'good' or 'bad' and any situation, again, 'good' or 'bad', can inspire me if I focus it efficiently.

Sometimes I find myself creating those situations just to have something to write about...

shoot2stun · Post by **shoot2stun** » Mon Jan 03, 2011 2:33 am

Making music is therapeutic for me. It is at my lowest moments that I just sit down, isolate myself from the world/any problems that I have...and just go at it. When I do that two things happen...I usually make something I would not have thought of if I were say in a neutral mood...and I usually feel so much better afterwards.

EDN · Post by **EDN** » Mon Jan 03, 2011 2:35 am

Everyone is different, for example if I sit down with an idea in mind for a song, I can never write for shit, but if I just go and fuck around I get the most stuff done.

A good tip I learnt from a book by Aaron Marks (fucking awesome guy, read his books...) is that if you have an idea for something and you are having trouble commiting it to song then immerse yourself in as much media as you can that has that kind of feeling to it.
So as an example say I wanted to write an ultimate brostep tune I would listen to bro, watch robot fights, draw or look up graffiti and cool mechanical photoshop stuff... that kinda thing... give that a go, it might help.

back2onett · Post by **back2onett** » Mon Jan 03, 2011 3:02 am

I think I'm annoyed that you associate robot fights with brostep. Not sure why it annoys me but it really does, damn you.

For me I'd stay happiness is fine for creativity, or at least doesn't hinder it, but stability tends to throw me off a bit. So whenever I feel like my life is stable I just slap up some plebs and tell them the weight of my genius is too much for them...

But seriously.

decklyn · Post by **decklyn** » Mon Jan 03, 2011 5:44 am

Just write a little bit every day.
You'll get something that catches.
Not every idea you jot down will be successful.
Just keep going.
If you sit down for 10 minutes feel frustrated and then stop yeah your brain can't even switch to the non-logical creative mode.

amphibian · Post by **amphibian** » Mon Jan 03, 2011 7:43 am

back2onett wrote:I think I'm annoyed that you associate robot fights with brostep. Not sure why it annoys me but it really does, damn you.

For me I'd stay happiness is fine for creativity, or at least doesn't hinder it, but stability tends to throw me off a bit. So whenever I feel like my life is stable I just slap up some plebs and tell them the weight of my genius is too much for them...

But seriously.

Why are you bothered by someone's relation to music through an idea in their mind? O.o How they relate to it matters nought to you.

I find it odd most people here need some sort of "something" happening to write creativity. I find I am more creative when I am surrounded by nothingness, because then your mind is forced to create.

decklyn · Post by **decklyn** » Mon Jan 03, 2011 7:59 am

amphibian wrote:
back2onett wrote:I think I'm annoyed that you associate robot fights with brostep. Not sure why it annoys me but it really does, damn you.

For me I'd stay happiness is fine for creativity, or at least doesn't hinder it, but stability tends to throw me off a bit. So whenever I feel like my life is stable I just slap up some plebs and tell them the weight of my genius is too much for them...

But seriously.
Why are you bothered by someone's relation to music through an idea in their mind? O.o How they relate to it matters nought to you.

I find it odd most people here need some sort of "something" happening to write creativity. I find I am more creative when I am surrounded by nothingness, because then your mind is forced to create.

I totally agree with this. Your mindedness changes as you spend time in the daw. Just spend time there and you will get good ideas surfacing from your subconscious. That being said, anything you can use to motivate yourself to sit down and try is good whether it's a breakup or depression or someone's birthday or the desire to be great. All that should really disappear once you start tho. Otherwise you will think what the song is for and be too distracted by a future hope to write good music now (IMO)

Biscuit · Post by **Biscuit** » Mon Jan 03, 2011 9:11 am

I find that making music and being creative can be a good stress reliever for me when I'm in a crap mood and I find things flow easier for me in those times but I try to put a little bit of time in every day if I can working on stuff. I have a ton of short little bits and experiments I may never use for finished songs but it helps me learn and figure out different ways to do things and stuff like that. I do feel like my output tends to better if I'm a little on edge but it's not always the case. Everyone is different anyway though like several people pointed out.

jobbanaught · Post by **jobbanaught** » Mon Jan 03, 2011 2:35 pm

paravrais wrote:
gnome wrote:It destroys my creativity when I am in a bad mood. Everything I do seems to annoy me and I end up frustrated with production in general.
THIS!

So often I hear people talking about how you have to be down to make the best music/art and I'm like "wtf? when I feel shit everything I do is shit, I need to be happy to be creative" but I guess everyone is different ehy!

+1

MexicanKangaroo · Post by **MexicanKangaroo** » Mon Jan 03, 2011 4:06 pm

It's different for certain people... at least for me, i have these 'depressive' days where I feel like shit. Not even when anything bad has occurred, I just feel absolutely nothing, and in a way it kind of feels like I put everything into perspective, and the same goes for my music.

Then again, I always think I suck at producing compared to others, which is probably not healthy...

decklyn · Post by **decklyn** » Mon Jan 03, 2011 4:32 pm

MexicanKangaroo wrote:It's different for certain people... at least for me, i have these 'depressive' days where I feel like shit. Not even when anything bad has occurred, I just feel absolutely nothing, and in a way it kind of feels like I put everything into perspective, and the same goes for my music.

Then again, I always think I suck at producing compared to others, which is probably not healthy...

It's about the process, not the product.
Just have fun - it's not a competition.

Genevieve · Post by **Genevieve** » Mon Jan 03, 2011 5:12 pm

I get creative when I'm 'zen' and 'balanced'.

Now, I'm bipolar so guess how often that happens to me. -.-'

*sigh*

mta7388 · Post by **mta7388** » Mon Jan 03, 2011 7:55 pm

when i'm

i just end up trying to create sounds and overwhelming layers of sound without much efficiency and song structure.
when i'm

i generally have a better work ethic and it usually yields something salvageable

EDN · Post by **EDN** » Mon Jan 03, 2011 8:09 pm

back2onett wrote:I think I'm annoyed that you associate robot fights with brostep. Not sure why it annoys me but it really does, damn you.

This made me lol.
Brobostep FTW!!

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