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anyone with writers block or a block of any kind just needs to ingest some psychedelics. it will come.

jesus, don't be so melodramatic

you're stuck in somewhat of a rut, it happens to everyone, you'll get over it

jaydot wrote: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.

You pretty much solved the case here
Spending countless hours in front of a computer with no purpose and forcing oneself into making tunes is a creativity killer. For me anyway.
Quit for as long as you feel uninspired and do some other stuff that doesn't involve a screen. Creativity will kick in at some point.

Phigure wrote:jesus, don't be so melodramatic

you're stuck in somewhat of a rut, it happens to everyone, you'll get over it

Man you really could ease up on people aye. Requires less energy to do so. He was simply asking for advice on some ideas of how to overcome it easily so he can keep doing what he loves.

amphibian wrote:

Phigure wrote:jesus, don't be so melodramatic

you're stuck in somewhat of a rut, it happens to everyone, you'll get over it

Man you really could ease up on people aye. Requires less energy to do so. He was simply asking for advice on some ideas of how to overcome it easily so he can keep doing what he loves.

Perhaps SiderealdB was right after all...

j/k

amphibian wrote:

Phigure wrote:jesus, don't be so melodramatic

you're stuck in somewhat of a rut, it happens to everyone, you'll get over it

Man you really could ease up on people aye. Requires less energy to do so. He was simply asking for advice on some ideas of how to overcome it easily so he can keep doing what he loves.

YOU CANT HANDLE THE TRUTH

jaydot wrote: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?

this is normal...

Quit producing for a few days... go and have some fun outside, visit some gigs...
Listen to non-dubstep music... it can inspire you...
Lay out some basic riddim sober, and then get stoned in the evening and build up...
Dig for samples, from everywhere, records, movies, record your own... In my example, one individual sample can inspire me to do a whole tune based on it...
...

Phigure wrote:
jesus, don't be so melodramatic

you're stuck in somewhat of a rut, it happens to everyone, you'll get over it

Man you really could ease up on people aye. Requires less energy to do so. He was simply asking for advice on some ideas of how to overcome it easily so he can keep doing what he loves.

+1

Phigure man you really need to lighten up a bit, everyone get's this, everyone knows it'll pass, there ain't nothing wrong with posting about how you are feeling about producing, we are all part of this community because we help each other, however that help is needed. Did you ever hear the saying 'if you don't have anything nice to say, STFU'?

Jaydot, man I get this a lot at the moment. Since my second daughter was born early, I haven't had chance to really get into anything, and with so much else going on it's really difficult to get in the zone when I do finally sit down at my DAW. Haven't finished a track in time. Last couple weeks I just thought 'fuck it, I am actually finding it more frustrating to try and force a track to start happening in the small pockets of time I have free than when I was not having time to do any producing at all'. So I just accepted now isn't a good time for it, and I've chilled out, watched some movies (ain't done that in aaaaaaages), caught the footie, redesigned the bedroom. I got three hours spare the other night, already had an idea, bam, produced probably the best intro I have ever done.

Give your brain a chance to breathe, take it out of the feedback loop it seems to be stuck in, and as soon as it's freshened up a bit, you will find the ideas come with it.

Simple solution that works for me every time: Just start a new project with another tempo. Seriously. If you do Dubstep nonstop, just open a new project, set tempo to 120, 100, or 90 and fiddle away. Since you cant make proper dubstep at those tempos, you will automatically start to leave your beaten path and try something new. Try yourself on some hip-hop, house, techno or whatever you come up with. Just try out new stuff, which will come to you automatically, and teach you new things. Its very inspiring and you dont even have to stay away from your favourite drug, your DAW

If you have a mic go grab a bunch of household objects and record some strange and interesting noises with them ( some good ideas here http://rhythmweb.com/homemade/ ). Sitting in front of a computer can be pretty unengaging at the best of times and even worse if you feel spent creatively. Switch it up with some physical playing and have yourself some unique sample material in the process.

People who have been suggesting drugs :s sure getting stoned can help get you sat down and working sometimes but the work that you do will be technically sloppy as the drugs affect the way you hear and that will affect the way you make the tune. Also what about those of us who can't take drugs anymore? Believe it or not but cutting back on the intoxicants when you producing and doing some exercise instead will do you the world of good.

/preachy

I think when you hit that point where u realise you're in a rut a break is essential. Otherwise progress will be slow and you'll find that something you usually enjoy doing becomes a chore and negative feelings can easily arise.

I have found that a break of about a month spent listening to a wide range of interesting music and maybe reading some inspiring material can do you wonders, so you'll come back to it from a different angle with enthusiam and a sturdy erection knowing you're about to get your hands back on your fav synth/DAW!

So although it may feel counter productive to spend that long not makin beats, i really believe it can help you evolve further than where you'd be at if you tried to just soldier through the rut.

If you want to read something to inspire you and make you think about music differently, I highly recommend this :

http://www.amazon.com/Listening-Book-Di ... 0877736103

Still go back to that and read the odd chapter every now and again

people have given good adivce. Etiehr stay away or try something new, forget dubstep or whatever it is that you make.

Forced exercises that have been mentioned are what Id go for. Make some drum patches, pick a really odd scale youve never even heard of before and try to write something using it, pick bpms etc at random. First 2 numbers you see on the next page with a 1 infront of them for bpm, the first scale you can find on a list thats name starts with a 'pick random letter', and you can only use triangle waves on your synths. Then see what new madness comes out of all the restrictions. Or go sampling, rip a ton of movies and albums out to wav and get chopping.

Like someone said earlier, sometimes a good break is essential, lets everything youve learnt filter through your head and become second nature, when you come back you always improve more over the next week than you did in the pervious 3 months spent stagnating in a given mindset.

I situations like that I personally switch between heavy dubstep production and deep dubstep production and it always work in my case. Thats why I am running the main project alongside with his experimental co-project and switch why I feel I need to unblock my creativity.

hey jaydot... i had this retarded 2-week relationship at the beginning of summer... didn't end well... we're still pissed at each other for no good reason. she blocked me on FB because "I don't want to see you, hear you, or even THINK about you!!"

but now.. i'm making the best music i've ever made in my life... go figure

go on a trip somewhere

make something in a completely foreign genre

Use a very different workflow than normal

Try a different DAW

also, psychedelics.

egoless wrote: ....
Dig for samples, from everywhere, records, movies, record your own... In my example, one individual sample can inspire me to do a whole tune based on it...
...

Good advice from Egoless - especially the sampling part. Sample a genre you hadn't considered before, Jazz, etc.. so true ^^ about one sample being enough to inspire.

Sharmaji wrote:i'm riding 20 miles/day all over NYC.

Can I have your production gear when you die?

It's happened too me before, it's so frustrating, I get to the point where my brain feels fried and I just end up staring at my DAW lol! But it passes, and you can come back strong, with some quality stuff. Sometimes I try out different genres when this happens too me. That helps!




oh. and FIZZY DRINKS.

the get down wrote: also, psychedelics.

nothing like a 12 hour dance with madness to give you a fresh outlook on things