Creative blocks?

fubar · Post by **fubar** » Mon May 01, 2006 7:04 pm

First time ive had this in ages and probably for the longest time, havnt been able to sit down and make a full tune for nearly 3 weeks now, thought id come out of it tother day when I started a tune then it just went to bollocks, need to refresh me head

shonky · Post by **shonky** » Mon May 01, 2006 7:32 pm

Happens to everybody I'm sure. If you can't make a full track, make rhythms, sounds and things that you might find useful when you do get inspired to make a track, as this should make it flow easier when it comes back and may inspire you to doing new things. If there are elements you like in the piece that you can't make gel with the rest of the track, see if you can save these and try them elsewhere later.

If you force these things, you may just sit at the pc getting more frustrated, and the whole things about enjoying yourself. Take a few days break from doing anything, watch films, see friends, take some long walks and then come back to it after a break and you may find some of those blocks removed.

fullyrecordingz · Post by **fullyrecordingz** » Tue May 02, 2006 3:15 am

u could try drawing a beat pattern on a bit of paper or suttin, drummin it out on a table, beatboxin. lookin at zoomed in wave forms of tunes dat u lyke watchin the beats go by. dat spectral wave viewer on adobe auditions is sick for doin dat
do anything to get back on it

docwra · Post by **docwra** » Tue May 02, 2006 1:26 pm

Shonky wrote:Happens to everybody I'm sure. If you can't make a full track, make rhythms, sounds and things that you might find useful when you do get inspired to make a track, as this should make it flow easier when it comes back and may inspire you to doing new things. If there are elements you like in the piece that you can't make gel with the rest of the track, see if you can save these and try them elsewhere later.

If you force these things, you may just sit at the pc getting more frustrated, and the whole things about enjoying yourself. Take a few days break from doing anything, watch films, see friends, take some long walks and then come back to it after a break and you may find some of those blocks removed.

Yeah, totally agree. When im not making beats or get writers block im layering breaks or making sounds and bass and synth leads.

jera · Post by **jera** » Tue May 02, 2006 2:00 pm

i had bit of bad block....i jus chilled smoked bit of weed jus left it for few days now im back n lovin producin even more.

gravious · Post by **gravious** » Tue May 02, 2006 7:13 pm

I usually find some new samples and fuck about with them, or make some random patches for synths and stuff. Also, I go through all the old tunes I've kept half finished and see if any of its any good.

Usually, after a couple of days some ideas come out of it.

Either that or just stay away from your computer/ studio for a bit, read, watch films, go to the pub - until you start getting the itch again.

Hope some of thayt helps.

theverdict · Post by **theverdict** » Wed May 03, 2006 8:58 pm

gravious wrote:I usually find some new samples and fuck about with them, or make some random patches for synths and stuff. Also, I go through all the old tunes I've kept half finished and see if any of its any good.

Usually, after a couple of days some ideas come out of it.

Either that or just stay away from your computer/ studio for a bit, read, watch films, go to the pub - until you start getting the itch again.

Hope some of thayt helps.

gravious · Post by **gravious** » Wed May 03, 2006 9:42 pm

^^Ha ha!

Doh, I haven't been reading these posts very thoroughly.

Great minds think alike and all that...

djshiva · Post by **djshiva** » Thu May 04, 2006 2:18 am

i have been dealing with this lately as well. my main solution is either:

a) go do something else

or b) play with sounds or old tunes or something

forensix (mcr) · Post by **forensix (mcr)** » Thu May 04, 2006 8:57 am

if get stuck i just make beats, i could make them for months and then i put them in recycle and save them all to a folder for use later.

once ive got a good beat it usually inspires me to do do something else

Citrus Boy · Post by **Citrus Boy** » Thu May 04, 2006 10:17 am

gravious wrote:go to the pub - until you start getting the itch again.

this works for me

twistedspirit · Post by **twistedspirit** » Thu May 04, 2006 9:00 pm

ack... I'm going through one of these right now too... usually if I'm too uninspired to make something, I'm usually also uninspired to do most anything at the computer...

I usually like to mess about on some bass or my djembe. Gets my ear / sense of timing somewhat sharp without the stressful demands of production.

I'm the farthest thing from a master musician, but I'd recommend having some simple instrument around to any producer as a good relaxing (yet still music related) hobby...

gravious · Post by **gravious** » Thu May 04, 2006 9:03 pm

Borg wrote:
gravious wrote:go to the pub - until you start getting the itch again.

this works for me

Yeah, last time I went to the pub i woke up itching like a bastard the next day.

Not sure that had anything to do with the music though...

fubar · Post by **fubar** » Thu May 04, 2006 9:20 pm

ha if I was in the pub for the amount of time that Ive been dry for i'd probably have liver damage by now!

Good advice all round, I partly just wanted to hear that I wasnt the only one

, I think I just need some new samples and things, its what normally inspires me, ill just carry on making sounds and beats for the moment.

defintiely good to have an instrument about so you can still be making noise without having to stare at a screen, saves me from going mental!

cheers.

shonky · Post by **shonky** » Thu May 04, 2006 9:57 pm

Hope it all clears up soon Fubar. I find with a bit of a break, the urge usually gets to you and then you go back more motivated. No-one can be creative all the time, so you're not alone there.

Something you could do, is when you do get creative flows, try to nail the beat and a vague idea of the sounds you want, so that you've got more of a track than a loop. Don't worry about getting the sounds too precise, could be just bass, drums and a bit of melody. Then when you're feeling the flow fade, you can work on the "housekeeping" end of things, tune/replace the sounds, fatten up the sounds in the meantime.

I know a lot of folk compose more around the sounds, but a while ago I heard someone talk about "gesture drawing" in relation to art. Rather than try and draw something outright, you use a few lines to get the shape, basic outline, etc with the fewest strokes/lines. I'm sure this can be transferred to music if you simplify how you work. I can remember trying to nail some lfo pass on a filter and taking hours to get this sounding good, by which time I'd forgotten what my idea was in the first place. Try and get the big picture taken care of and then go for the details later.

mshadetek · Post by **mshadetek** » Mon May 08, 2006 3:52 pm

A technique my friend Chris put me onto that I find works is Speed Dating. Basically, start working, throw in ideas, sketch, broad strokes, until you find yourself getting to the stage where you're hitting the wall then, stop, call it a speed date. I find doing this I'll get four or five loops or ideas in the time I would come up with one only slightly more finished tune.

Initially I found it VERY hard to stop and move on if I was feeling it. Keep in mind though, in this computer world, just because you stop, it's not lost or over (I know it sounds obvious but this was the part I had to fight).

Then, next day or when you're in the mood you go back, find the one or two that were actually worth pursuing and you've saved yourself a lot of time and energy. And often there's something in the other ones you throw away that inspires something else or works, even if it's just a sample, sound or whatever.

Before I got this method I would spend days fleshing out ideas that were no good to begin with, and then get REALLY depressed when I got to the end and realized nothing would save them.

narcossist · Post by **narcossist** » Mon May 08, 2006 6:38 pm

Spend some time to propperly [ie. as you would when your doin your final mixdown] listen to peoples tracks on the forum, or records or cd's [rinse sets aren't too hot for this cos of the quality, unless your on that burial vibe..] on your monitors and try to criticise other heads tunes as you would your own.

This way you either realize you've got a lot of stuff to learn and haven't time to be wasting around thinking you can't write owt, or you realize your shits better than you thought and it might get you buzzed to write something new. Helps realise what makes certain tunes work too, not that i'm advocating imitation of sonics- more just structure and emphasis.

Books about music help too, dunno about anyone else, but Adventures in Sonic Fiction by Kodwo Eshun gets me buzzed to write tunes after a couple of pages. Still haven't finished it cos of that.

Hope thats of some help, still think weeds the best creative stimulant, although it can mean you spend too much time writing long posts on here rather than music. bugger.

djshiva · Post by **djshiva** » Fri May 12, 2006 8:13 pm

mshadetek wrote:A technique my friend Chris put me onto that I find works is Speed Dating. Basically, start working, throw in ideas, sketch, broad strokes, until you find yourself getting to the stage where you're hitting the wall then, stop, call it a speed date. I find doing this I'll get four or five loops or ideas in the time I would come up with one only slightly more finished tune.

Initially I found it VERY hard to stop and move on if I was feeling it. Keep in mind though, in this computer world, just because you stop, it's not lost or over (I know it sounds obvious but this was the part I had to fight).

Then, next day or when you're in the mood you go back, find the one or two that were actually worth pursuing and you've saved yourself a lot of time and energy. And often there's something in the other ones you throw away that inspires something else or works, even if it's just a sample, sound or whatever.

Before I got this method I would spend days fleshing out ideas that were no good to begin with, and then get REALLY depressed when I got to the end and realized nothing would save them.

i really like this idea.

thanks! gonna try that after i get back home from the weekend...

Creative blocks?

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