I haven't had any inspiration nor managed to complete a single track since July last year or so.
WHEN WILL IT END?
I've managed like 30 seconds of music every time I try and never bother finishing it.
Mind you, that's probably a good thing, as my 'music' sucked anyway :/
-get new plugins/hardware and start experimenting
-make some experiments with music-styles you didn't try before
-maybe try remixing someone else's stuff
at least that's what i'd do....
hardware, can't do, I'm broke right now :D
Plugins, been there done that, still not helping, just sheer lack of imagination I guess.
Work has been kicking my ass lately and I'm always tired so maybe that's why eh?
I know that problem. Things that I do:
- Enter a compo. Preferrably one with a fixed sample pack and with a tight deadline (One Hour Compos are perfect for that). I tend to like the results of my OHCs and I often release them.
- I don't force myself to do something new, e.g. I won't hunt ideas. I'll just collect ideas in my mind, playing on my synth and if there's something going around in my head for a long time, i give it a shot and write it down in the tracker. if i don't force this process, ideas flow more easily.
Good advice by Jojo.
Stress can really damage the imagination ( usually brought on by work or women ).
I think now is a good opportunity to get involved in other aspects of music. I mean since nothing is coming out anyway, why not start messing around with mixing and mic technique? Crank out those ancient pieces you made as a beginner and re-master them in a funky way. Doesn't even have to sound good... Just enjoy yourself!
Quote from: "KrazyKatz"Good advice by Jojo.
Stress can really damage the imagination ( usually brought on by work or women ).
I think now is a good opportunity to get involved in other aspects of music. I mean since nothing is coming out anyway, why not start messing around with mixing and mic technique? Crank out those ancient pieces you made as a beginner and re-master them in a funky way. Doesn't even have to sound good... Just enjoy yourself!
funny you should mention that, I did do a remaster of 'Let My Demons Out' the other week, came out slightly better than the original, especially as I redid the drum parts totally. Still though, it's nothing new :(
Explore new music, not made by you.
Often you have not so many ideas because you listen to the same stuff all the time, and it doesn't bring you anything new. Don't just make music in a new style, listen to music from new people in new styles too. I'm sure it'll help you.
Sometimes there's no egg to deliver, so one has to accept that.
No real effect of forcing anything, because out of nothing, nothing stands.
So in the meantime, do useful things, like upgrading a track. (so I don't agree about Asharin's 'it's nothing new')
~ Like, as LPChip states, listen to tracks, once downloaded and played, again, or DL another, still unknown, track of that site.
~ Like switching your imagination from the musical perspective to a pure technical one :
Convert the 7 characters of your nick to 7 different sound-samples. And do something with that.
Such a period gives room for learning and experiments to enhance the knowledge for a next step of production.
Personally, I find that when I have this problem, it's best to just leave it all alone for a while. Don't open your tracker for a week. Don't listen to your own music for a week. In fact, don't listen to much music at all for a week. Give your brain a chance to breathe and relax.
Also, try going on holiday... WITHOUT A COMPUTER! :shock: That also does wonders. :)
Quote from: "bvanoudtshoorn"
Also, try going on holiday... WITHOUT A COMPUTER! :shock: That also does wonders. :)
i'd bring a laptop just in case... i often have good ideas when i'm far away from my pc
and unfortunately tend to forget them until i'm home again :wink:
Quote from: "BSV"i'd bring a laptop just in case... i often have good ideas when i'm far away from my pc
and unfortunately tend to forget them until i'm home again Wink
Hehe. That happened to me once. I couldn't bear to lose the idea, so I grabbed my phone, turned on the voice recorder, and put it on top of the piano. :) Then, a week or so later, I could play back the (atrocious quality) recording and write the track. (It was "You've given me", if you're interested.)
No,no,no, you have the wrong idea about this. I've had some of my ideas not only from forced tinkering, but from snippets i threw together and went back to months and even years later. Sometimes it is not about the inspiration, it's just about using your knowledge in theory and throwing the paint on the wall. Let it form itself within your ears. You can start with a drum beat that you know goes somewhere, a bass line that lends itself to a song, or a chord progression that sets up an inspired "what-if". I have many snippets of music stored away that i know can do something when the time is right or the spirit moves me.
Usually i find the reason an artist's inspiration dries up is that nothing new has changed his attitude or perspective. It's the same ol' same ol' routine, or relationships (or lack thereof) that aren't changing, things like that. You'll prob'ly find that if you go do something -- ANYTHING -- different, it'll shake out the cobwebs. Take a class in pottery, go to a place you would not normally go, abstain from sex or drinking for even 3 days, just shake up the routine and the perspective in which you've been trudging. That usually helps.
Inspiration needs newness and movement...
I strongly agree about breaking the routines and the perspective. Places you wouldn't normally go.
Listen to ticking your spoon on different edges of your tea-cup. Reverse a common effect in a compo.
Experiencing and analyzing 'unusual' things can inspire again.
Quote from: "Asharin"I haven't had any inspiration nor managed to complete a single track since July last year or so.
WHEN WILL IT END?
I've managed like 30 seconds of music every time I try and never bother finishing it.
Mind you, that's probably a good thing, as my 'music' sucked anyway :/
Been there done/doing that ;) - My best advice is to listen to some other music than your favorite (opera for example) and even try to "copy" a song after listening to it only once. sometimes you can get some real interesting things out of that and you can save the bits and pieces and throw something together later ;)
Quote from: "Asharin"I haven't had any inspiration nor managed to complete a single track since July last year or so.
WHEN WILL IT END?
I've managed like 30 seconds of music every time I try and never bother finishing it.
Mind you, that's probably a good thing, as my 'music' sucked anyway :/
I'm in a similar position. My job and other recently discovered hobbies, such as writing, are to blame (but the job especially; composing requires lots of concentration; I don't like to compose for just an hour a day).
I was able to compose two tracks only in the last year. Both were soundtracks: one for a contest, another for a friend. So, here's my advice: try making music for a specific purpose, such as a soundtrack. Might work.
Long time no see PPH :) Good to see you back. :)
I agree with you on one end, but on the other, I disagree.
It matters how you lost your inspiration. Because if it were because you did too many projects, then doing projects alone certainly won't help.
Perhaps figuring out how it formed is the first step. If you slowly got less idea's and at a certain moment just dried out, then change.
If it was more abrupt, then perhaps focus on specific idea's that can drive you through the process. (even stopping entirelly for a longer period of time can help with that)
My advice is, try discovering something completely different. E.g. if you are into Doom Metal, try composing some peacefule ambient electronica... just dont tell anybody ;)
And, if your software feels uninspiring, try different one. Using cubase is a total inspirational suicide for me... I need more fluency. Although many people do like Cubase very much, this is only my opinion so no offence to them.
Quote from: "dBlues"My advice is, try discovering something completely different. E.g. if you are into Doom Metal, try composing some peacefule ambient electronica... just dont tell anybody ;)
And, if your software feels uninspiring, try different one. Using cubase is a total inspirational suicide for me... I need more fluency. Although many people do like Cubase very much, this is only my opinion so no offence to them.
It's funny you should say this, but I did the very thing. I started making a track using reaper as the main tool (normally I just use reaper for mixing a finished mpt track - exported mpt tracks as wav files)
The piece I am working on has the potential to be the best I have ever done, perhaps MPT was starting to restrict me?
That said, I still used MPT for making the drumbeats for it, so MPT still had a hand in the proccess.
Three cheers for the dry spot finally being over!
Way to go!
Don't drop Modplug too quickly... you'll eventually come back to it and re-realize why it's the best composing software in the galaxy ;).
Quote from: "KrazyKatz"Way to go!
Don't drop Modplug too quickly... you'll eventually come back to it and re-realize why it's the best composing software in the galaxy ;).
Hahaha, I've so been down that road! And its so true! :D
Quote from: "KrazyKatz"Way to go!
Don't drop Modplug too quickly... you'll eventually come back to it and re-realize why it's the best composing software in the galaxy ;).
Oh no, haven't dropped it, as I said, I used to for making the drum beats, it's great for that. I've used modplug since before it went open source, I'm too set in my ways to drop it totally, but I have to say, using reaper as the main tool was rather eye opening. Much easier to do some things in it than modplug.
Well, I must admit that it's more than a year ago of making a complete composition with MPT.
Which doesn't mean that I've dropped it, I've used it in almost every work in that period, but for other purposes.
Next to the live playing thing, but it's also a great tool to construct a phrase of sounds, a short sequence, etc.
Like Asharin's example of the drum beat. But it could also mean the making of some soundscape.
These things depend on the kind of composition I'm planning to make, which defines the tools to use and for what.