Keeping The Fire Burning

[3za]

Thread for people who been doing this long term.

Well it's been years now an in the start it was fun, new, an exciting. Now not so much.

What do I do? Do I tie my computer up, or something?

So what are you vets doing that keeps things interesting? And what do you do to keep the ambition in your heart?

Disclaimer: If you ain't been producing electronic music for over 5 years, I don't want to hear from you. Even if you played the flute in the school orchestra for 10 years, and download a crack of fruity loops last summer, I don't want to hear from you.

[mks]

Prolly aren't too many vets on this board these days. My official first release came out in 1999 and my first vinyl came out the year after.

For me while the studio is one of my main instruments, so to speak, but I'm also a bass player and a percussionist. If I get tired of the studio, I'll just play my bass or drums for awhile.

[nowaysj]

1. I want you to get a new avatar.

2. Be honest in all things.

3. Do whatever you want to do, no one cares or is paying any attention to you.

4. Keep searching for a workflow that produces results. This may reach, to some extent, into stasis, but that is dubious. Develop more than one type of workflow, and at times, move projects through all workflows in stages.

3za, I don't know if you've found your voice if you're asking this, feeling this. Your voice is not your sound, though your sound may be an expression of your voice. Your voice is who you are, it is your way of being, of making. You're still looking, that is good, it means you're not dead yet, there is still fire in you.

But really, if this is not for you, fuuuucket man, get the fuck out of this, cause it is not all roses.

I've been playing bass in bands since about 1990. Started listening to electronic music around 95, started engineering/recording in 97, producing in 98, took a major departure in 2004-2007 and have been on it pretty hard since late 2007. I'm so incredibly in love with making music, and still after alllll these years, I suck at it sooooo much it is stunning, but that is not the point. I've got the fire in me, it is illusive, but I have a taste for it. I very well may die before I produce something I'm happy with, but that is neither here nor there.

I remember hearing very interesting stuff from you a few years ago. Maybe it is time to start again?

[fragments]

I've got absolutely no musical background (besides being an avid listener and guitar lessons I rage quit after a month)...been at this since 2007...I've taken somewhat lengthy breaks...at from time to time 2-3 months not really do much of anything music wise.

I like changing things up a lot in a lot of different ways...

hardware only/software only/hybrid production

trying to make straight up DJ-dance tracks/making tunes that purely for listening/whatever between

concept albums/music for other people's or my own multimedia projects

collaborations, solo projects

genre doesn't really ever come into it for me much...I just do whatever fits the above

I also like getting new toys...it can be a distraction the "serious business"...but it keeps the flame going (software/hardware)

I have no records out, I don't perform, I don't DJ events, but I fucking love making noise and that flame hasn't died for me yet...in fact I even stopped going to nights and have faded from my somewhat healthy local scene all together...

I also don't listen to a ton of electronic music, what I do listen to is usually nothing that will be found on beatport, juno or chemical records or where ever the fuck

I'm the web master for a creative commons "sound mutation" project

I get involved in some community projects on music message boards

I started writing music with lyrics and doing the vocals myself even though it might be terrible

I think my next toy might be a digital multi track recorder so I can work totally out of the box

I pretty much exclusively worked on music while baked for seven years...I haven't smoked any herb since around the end of this May...huge game changer...

I stopped worrying about the mix down and started writing fucking music.

[cyclopian]

For me my 'inspiration/motivation' has come from me giving up. Giving up on a futile attempt to sound like my inspirations; to reach some mythical area of production.

I spend probably 10-15 hours per month 'on the buttons' these days compared to an old regimen of at least 3-4 hours per day. The stuff i get accomplished in those 10-15 hours is miles ahead of when I was forcing the vibe daily.

My music is still shit, but I dont feel like shit making it anymore; in fact it feels quite nice.

(Also, making friends and meeting people that produce music of all sorts, not just 'dubstep', has helped keep the flame burning a while longer)

p.s im drunk

[nowaysj]

For me my 'inspiration/motivation' has come from me giving up. Giving up on a futile attempt to sound like my inspirations; to reach some mythical area of production.

I spend probably 10-15 hours per month 'on the buttons' these days compared to an old regimen of at least 3-4 hours per day. The stuff i get accomplished in those 10-15 hours is miles ahead of when I was forcing the vibe daily.

My music is still shit, but I dont feel like shit making it anymore; in fact it feels quite nice.

(Also, making friends and meeting people that produce music of all sorts, not just 'dubstep', has helped keep the flame burning a while longer)

p.s im drunk

I like this post a lot. I don't doubt that all those forced hours played a pretty big role in who you are now, your abilities. And it is dope that you've gotten to that place where you can let the batteries charge, and actually make work that is motivated from a real place. Kudos to you.

My life long dream is to have homies local who produce and what not. I love all you internet nerds, but I'd much rather have some local peeps. I feel super isolated, and spending all my free time in the studio doesn't help with that. I really really miss the days of working in a band. Some shit was harder, but having musical intercourse with people is "very nice" *borat*.

And ps, from what I've heard from you, I don't think your tunes suck. In fact, I'd like to hear more.

[nowaysj]

Haha, going back and listening to Mineshaft, fuck you dude, that is doper than I recall. To hell with you.

[wub]

Working on my battery powered rig project. Idea (think I've mentioned it here before?) is to build up a truly portable rig that runs entirely off batteries. Idea being I can then sling it in a camera backpack (one of those things with the different pockets for lenses etc) and take it anywhere to make different tracks entirely live.

Microgranny was a big piece of this, as was the Volca series. Mixer/recording duties are handled by the Zoom R16. Couple more bits and pieces to fill it out (noise generator would be nice, as would another synth/drum machine that's NOT a Korg) and then it'll just be a case of practising with it out and out.

Ideal aim is for an EP/album where all the tracks are recorded out and about in different locations.

[nowaysj]

Dude, I've asked you if you received the Micro Granny, no response... you wanna put up like an iphone video or something of the thing? I've been holding off waiting to hear your input (and to see if you even really got one ;0).

But I did do a minor all battery rig this summer. Took it into the mountains a couple of times, as well as just on the road. sp404sx, korg microkorg, zoom h4n, and then my laptop. All battery. If I was like invested and or talented, I could pull that off live, but I was using it for writing. Pretty nice. I've also got some portable solar panels for AA battery charging. When the grid goes down, I'll be the last producer dropping sick beats on the hamster powered interwebs.

[wub]

Oh right, yes I have my Microgranny and it's great fun. SD card is a tnuc to get out, but it runs off batteries and is just good fun to use.

[nowaysj]

Oh right, yes I have my Microgranny and it's great fun. SD card is a tnuc to get out, but it runs off batteries and is just good fun to use.

You have any audio from it? Like a song that used it?

You wanna shoot a little vid? Get one cat to hold the camera, and the other one to hold a light for you. Just like, what it really sounds like, looks like, feels like, outside of like a product promo. Pretty please!

[wub]

Will see what I can rustle up

[Electric_Head]

I've been battling with this as well.
Just not finding the slightest bit of motivation to produce.
I still enjoy it but just can't get round to doing it anymore.

[nowaysj]

I pretty much exclusively worked on music while baked for seven years...I haven't smoked any herb since around the end of this May...huge game changer...

Dude. Dude. Dude. Making music stoned is so fun, it is amazing. You can come up with shit that is so out of the box, fuck can someone come up with another expression for that that doesn't sound so ghay, but.

I swear, that is like 7 years treading water. So disappointed to find out at this late stage that drugs and alcohol are a waste. Really do weaken your faculties. The human mind, spirit is helluv powerful, but will go into decay with drugs and alcohol for lack of challenge.

Honestly, glad you sobered it up. I bet there is gonna be a learning curve, like learning how to relate to music straight, but once you get into that, and you bring your full faculty to music, ah, good things.

[outbound]

I suppose the common answer is gonna be:-

Make music in new style + New alias = less boring?

I'm getting out of the dungeon'y sounding dubstep stuff but in the process I've gotten into grime, house, hip-hop, dnb so it's just about keeping things fresh. Inspiration is where you find it blah blah blah

[nowaysj]

I've been battling with this as well.
Just not finding the slightest bit of motivation to produce.
I still enjoy it but just can't get round to doing it anymore.

I'm not trying to be all up in this thread, but I just wanna say, if you're at another place in your life, and you are not, like, compelled to produce, fucket, there is so much to do in this world. Interesting shit to do, places to go, people to meet. There is so much in this world that needs the love of good men (no homo), that honestly, time in the studio is a selfish indulgence.

I'm not holding myself out as anything, I'm just speaking freely amongst people mature enough to hear it straight, but I AM compelled. I took some time off this summer. Was running around. Was still producing, but was not like constantly in it. And while away, after whatever it was that I was doing kind of wore off, I'd be routing the fl mixer in my head, setting up sidechains and weird signal flows. To an extent producing whole tracks in my head, just ideas that I wanted to try. It becomes very distracting and burdensome. There were times I was dying to be in the studio, but could not be. A couple of weeks ago, I got more time and rushed back into the studio, and all those fucking ideas just evaporated staring at fl's grey screen... mother fuck. But what I'm saying is, I really do start to lose it, can't focus on the real world if I'm out for too long. Really not trying to sound like some two bit Richard James, it's just the way I am.

If you feel like you should be producing, but aren't enjoying it, really, absolve yourself of that, and go and do something worthwhile. But if you find yourself fucking watching TV, just kill yourself, or idly browsing the interwebs, open a project in the background, producing is more worthwhile than idle time wasting.

[AxeD]

Definitely change the avatar. Assuming that's not you.

I like to think getting some outboard seq. hardware will help, but I feel like I should at least be able
to make a few full tracks in Reason/PT that I'm happy with before I can justify getting that
999

I guess what helps me is that I don't understand what people do when 'mindlessly surfing'.
If I'm not looking for something, where do I go? I mean I have this place, one other forum and a few
blogs on art/music.. that's about an hour a day really.

[3za]

I remember hearing very interesting stuff from you a few years ago. Maybe it is time to start again?

I never stopped
My passion just doesn't burn as bright anymore.

Focus
It's just now I don't feel as Focused as I were, like I don't care if I spend the whole day going out with friends, or go for a 25 mile walk on my in the middle of no where, or even stay in all day cooking food, and watching anime. I use to be just stay in for weeks on end just making tunes, like I would even skip showering some days. It was all I was interesed in doing, and pretty much all I ever did. When I did something else I would feel guilty, and that it was a waste of time, and not enjoy myself.

Ambition
I'm less ambitious now, like I wanted to be signed to warp records. Like that was the goal, and I wasn't going any lower (even though they don't accept demos lol). I wanted to be better than the guys I looked up to on Warp. I wanted to be remembered in the future like bach ffs. At the very least I wanted to make a living from music. Now I don't give a shit about any of that, apart from the last one, but than only because I wouldn't have to work doing something I hate for a living.

I still strive for perfection
When I sit down to make tunes nowadays (and that ain't every day) I seem to get something pretty decent in about 10-30mins, then spend some hours trying to make it better, then get bored of the thing I original made like some chords, and melody. Delete them, and keep what I added, say some drums, then work on them trying to make them better... ad infinitum...

Working with video
Now I done some soundtracking stuff, and I like this. It makes me write music I wouldn't other wise right, and it stops me going of on mad tangents, cause I see the screen as my conductor, and he tells me what to do. Though this is not what I really want to be doing, I want to be making mad beats.

Fading
I feel like I have mellowed out, and becoming more, and more just a normal part of society. Like I do a little bit of this, and a little bit of that, but don''t do anything to the full.

I want to be that extreme mother fucker again, but is it really worth it???

I'm trying to say to much at once. That probably sounds like a badly written blog by a 15yo girl. Ah fuck it, I typed it. Submit.

[Electric_Head]

I've been battling with this as well.
Just not finding the slightest bit of motivation to produce.
I still enjoy it but just can't get round to doing it anymore.

I'm not trying to be all up in this thread, but I just wanna say, if you're at another place in your life, and you are not, like, compelled to produce, fucket, there is so much to do in this world. Interesting shit to do, places to go, people to meet. There is so much in this world that needs the love of good men (no homo), that honestly, time in the studio is a selfish indulgence.

I'm not holding myself out as anything, I'm just speaking freely amongst people mature enough to hear it straight, but I AM compelled. I took some time off this summer. Was running around. Was still producing, but was not like constantly in it. And while away, after whatever it was that I was doing kind of wore off, I'd be routing the fl mixer in my head, setting up sidechains and weird signal flows. To an extent producing whole tracks in my head, just ideas that I wanted to try. It becomes very distracting and burdensome. There were times I was dying to be in the studio, but could not be. A couple of weeks ago, I got more time and rushed back into the studio, and all those fucking ideas just evaporated staring at fl's grey screen... mother fuck. But what I'm saying is, I really do start to lose it, can't focus on the real world if I'm out for too long. Really not trying to sound like some two bit Richard James, it's just the way I am.

If you feel like you should be producing, but aren't enjoying it, really, absolve yourself of that, and go and do something worthwhile. But if you find yourself fucking watching TV, just kill yourself, or idly browsing the interwebs, open a project in the background, producing is more worthwhile than idle time wasting.

Fully agree with you.
I don't really watch TV anymore for this reason.
I just feel it is such a waste of time.
My wife watches series but I can't bring myself to watch more than 1 episode without loosing interest.

[3za]

Nah. Thats not me (It's some bitch that took the soundcloud URL I wanted).


She pretends to be me, and I pretend to be her. It's how the world works, right?

I'm male, tall, dark, and handsome as fuck

Yeah I need, a new avy. I want a lain avy, but that is what ghosthack has