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So when I make a song now, I try too hard. I mean, I think the song HAS to be perfect.
How do I stop thinking that?
Like, the intro is okay and stuff, but when I get to making the drop I try spending hours making the perfect bass and then I run out of ideas and end up trashing the project. Anyone get my feels?

try not making a drop

These might help;

The Motivation/Creativity/Inspiration/Writers Block Thread™
Do you have writers block? Thinking of taking a break?
Inspiration

what works for me is to completely discard a project you're struggling with and start a new one all over

Get one of these, (Korg Electribe). Or any other alternative. They make you think in a different way. You become much less fussy about creating that 'perfect' sound and get some more creative ideas. I use mine for inspiration and record into Live and edit it from there. Brilliant fun.

lol looks fucking expensive. it's funny how usually when someone has production-related issues people usually offer solutions that require an outright shopping spree..

kind of along the same lines:
http://zenchamusic.com/why-starting-a-t ... -to-do-it/

I struggle with blocks myself all the time. Sometimes you just gotta know when to stop before you burn out.

^ that is an amazing video. very smart guy. I've thought many of those ideas before but never put them into words.

Same, his channel is pretty informative. Has plenty of other good info too.

And here, I found a better article:
http://zenchamusic.com/7-ways-to-break- ... ur-tracks/

Make patches/breaks/sample instruments/effects, so that when inspiration does strike, you have loads of elements at your disposal.

Personally, I often get really bored of clicking things--so I think changing up your work flow with a piece of hardware is a great idea.

I also find the unlimited possibilities of a DAW daunting/uninspiring at times. Complete a track with only 8 channels and two send/returns and a maximum of one instance of any plug in running live at any given time (resampling is OK). This pretty much mimics a limited hardware setup in your DAW.

fragments wrote:Complete a track with only 8 channels and two send/returns and a maximum of one instance of any plug in running live at any given time (resampling is OK). This pretty much mimics a limited hardware setup in your DAW.

That's such an awesome idea


EDIT - Going to make a template based on this when I get home I reckon, will mean I'll need to either get a decent drum machine VST or else a VST that acts as a drum machine i.e. Battery or similar. Is there a decent freeware alternative to Battery? Not sure I want to drop money on it prior to my rebuild.

Also, for the two send/returns, would having seperate effects on them be allowed, for example a reverb/delay, in addition to the plugin (for example, a compressor).

fragments wrote:Personally, I often get really bored of clicking things--so I think changing up your work flow with a piece of hardware is a great idea.

I also find the unlimited possibilities of a DAW daunting/uninspiring at times. Complete a track with only 8 channels and two send/returns and a maximum of one instance of any plug in running live at any given time (resampling is OK). This pretty much mimics a limited hardware setup in your DAW.

There's something in there. This tune I'm working on only used hits from a single break. Open hat, closed hat, kick, snare, ghost snare and drums are my lead instrument so no single bar is the same. I thought I was out of options after my first 16 bars, but it pushed me to be more creative with how I treat the drumhits. Create realistic drumrolls from the ghost snares, etc.

wub wrote:

fragments wrote:Complete a track with only 8 channels and two send/returns and a maximum of one instance of any plug in running live at any given time (resampling is OK). This pretty much mimics a limited hardware setup in your DAW.

That's such an awesome idea


EDIT - Going to make a template based on this when I get home I reckon, will mean I'll need to either get a decent drum machine VST or else a VST that acts as a drum machine i.e. Battery or similar. Is there a decent freeware alternative to Battery? Not sure I want to drop money on it prior to my rebuild.

Also, for the two send/returns, would having seperate effects on them be allowed, for example a reverb/delay, in addition to the plugin (for example, a compressor).

Oh yes. You can chain FX on the send returns. You can do this with real hardware. I often have my Memory Man Delay into Hall of Fame Reverb into a compressor w/ sidechain all on one send/return.

I don't know of any free, good drum VSTs. As far as I'm concerned I'd say you could write you drum parts like you normally do, unless you really want to limit yourself more. I bet there are some free 808 and 909 emulations that are free if you look (dunno what they sound like).

I bought Drumazon (909 emulation) from D16 on sale, but never got on with it. Still trying to figure out how to link it to Maschine as that'd be a killer combo.

I'd say you could use one instance of FPC or something.

EDIT: Also, treat all the tracks (except your send/returns) as mono. If you want stereo you have to use 2 of your 8 tracks.

If I get stuck on a track I just leave it for an hour or so, smoke some weed and come back to it. By then I usually have a couple of ideas to try, but I think the solutions of writers block might be a bit too subjective, everyone has their ting.

wub wrote:

fragments wrote:Complete a track with only 8 channels and two send/returns and a maximum of one instance of any plug in running live at any given time (resampling is OK). This pretty much mimics a limited hardware setup in your DAW.

That's such an awesome idea


EDIT - Going to make a template based on this when I get home I reckon, will mean I'll need to either get a decent drum machine VST or else a VST that acts as a drum machine i.e. Battery or similar. Is there a decent freeware alternative to Battery? Not sure I want to drop money on it prior to my rebuild.

Also, for the two send/returns, would having seperate effects on them be allowed, for example a reverb/delay, in addition to the plugin (for example, a compressor).

There was a similar thing on another forum to this that was good fun and another thing

To the OP, the way your describing making an intro then when you get to the drop.... it just sounds really formulaic in the way your describing the song writing process, like your trying to create a song in a set out way and in doing so your not finishing tracks. Many good suggestions in here, I've not read them all, but I'd suggest spending time separately to writing tracks and building your own library of sounds, sourcing samples, creating your own loops etc.

Keep this separate to track writing, not as a hard and fast rule but for the time being whilst your trying to switch things up workflow wise. Then when it comes to making a song you've got a whole pallet of sounds that you can simply audition when coming up with an idea and that way get things laid down more effectively.

wub wrote:

fragments wrote:Complete a track with only 8 channels and two send/returns and a maximum of one instance of any plug in running live at any given time (resampling is OK). This pretty much mimics a limited hardware setup in your DAW.

That's such an awesome idea


EDIT - Going to make a template based on this when I get home I reckon, will mean I'll need to either get a decent drum machine VST or else a VST that acts as a drum machine i.e. Battery or similar. Is there a decent freeware alternative to Battery? Not sure I want to drop money on it prior to my rebuild.

Also, for the two send/returns, would having seperate effects on them be allowed, for example a reverb/delay, in addition to the plugin (for example, a compressor).

@Dublerium: Sounds like an awesome production forum challenge/contest. : ) But wait until next week, leaving for a festival on Thursday!

fragments wrote:

wub wrote:

fragments wrote:Complete a track with only 8 channels and two send/returns and a maximum of one instance of any plug in running live at any given time (resampling is OK). This pretty much mimics a limited hardware setup in your DAW.

That's such an awesome idea


EDIT - Going to make a template based on this when I get home I reckon, will mean I'll need to either get a decent drum machine VST or else a VST that acts as a drum machine i.e. Battery or similar. Is there a decent freeware alternative to Battery? Not sure I want to drop money on it prior to my rebuild.

Also, for the two send/returns, would having seperate effects on them be allowed, for example a reverb/delay, in addition to the plugin (for example, a compressor).

@Dublerium: Sounds like an awesome production forum challenge/contest. : ) But wait until next week, leaving for a festival on Thursday!

Yeah I'd be up for something like that once I'm in my new place and got my studio set up. Took part in it over there and it was a lot of fun so something similar here would be cool. Enjoy your festival!

wub wrote:

fragments wrote:Complete a track with only 8 channels and two send/returns and a maximum of one instance of any plug in running live at any given time (resampling is OK). This pretty much mimics a limited hardware setup in your DAW.

That's such an awesome idea


EDIT - Going to make a template based on this when I get home I reckon, will mean I'll need to either get a decent drum machine VST or else a VST that acts as a drum machine i.e. Battery or similar. Is there a decent freeware alternative to Battery? Not sure I want to drop money on it prior to my rebuild.

Also, for the two send/returns, would having seperate effects on them be allowed, for example a reverb/delay, in addition to the plugin (for example, a compressor).

What's wrong with FPC? It's pretty capable.

dublerium wrote:

fragments wrote:
@Dublerium: Sounds like an awesome production forum challenge/contest. : ) But wait until next week, leaving for a festival on Thursday!

Yeah I'd be up for something like that once I'm in my new place and got my studio set up. Took part in it over there and it was a lot of fun so something similar here would be cool. Enjoy your festival!

That's cool. It could even just be with a couple producers and be a feedback type thing. I'm not very competitive, lol. When will you be at your new place? I don't mind setting up the thread and looking after things. Maybe wub will come back and give us some advice on how to handle this?