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-- No inspiration...

No inspiration...

I don't know what it is but lately I just can't make anything. Everytime I feel like I'm in the mood for producing, and I sit down and load up Reason, nothing comes to me and I get bored and go and do something else. It's annoying me because I know I want to make music... It's hard to explain really, but basically I just feel like something just isn't there.

It's been since January that I finished a tune (so it doesn't just seem to be a short-term thing, like a bad DJing patch ), since then I've not made anything at all save for a couple of little 2-minute long, weird messing about tunes. I feel like I'm not getting anywhere with the whole production thing, even though making trance/electronic music has always been one of my biggest ambitions.



So what do you guys do when you're lacking inspiration? Just not even go near producing for a while? Or keep hammering away at it? Or get "real fucking high on drugs"

Thanks...
-Simon

no drugs

Its called the producers block i get it alot.

Some causes of these symptoms can be many things.

Intimidation meaning u feel whatever you are making isnt up to par or not good enough
(you said u delete tracks after 2 minutes constantly)

For this dont abandon those tracks try and make them sound better what i usually do is scrap all tracks in progress and start fresh with a clean palete.

Problem with reason is no vstsupport so its not like u can download new instruments to make it more exciting and for more insperation.

Other reasons may just be that your poisoning your self with trance try other styles and if what uyr making doesnt sound like trance and its causing u to trash the track.DONT

becuase embracing a new found style will make you unique it often happens to producers after they start to learn and experience more.

Take my advice stay away from the drugs

shit man, im in the same boat completely right now. ive sat at the screen for hours and even just tried to belt out some nice sounds on a nord rack...nothing. this is the longest its gone on for me, been like a week or two. eventually it will pass. but it is more than frustrating, i know.

hey

Like i said dont get intimidated by other tracks alotta people try to sound as good as what they hear and then find themselves stumped.

try running your fingers over the keys abit punching a bass line.That always gets me going.

I'm having Producers Block right now also, 3 months ago I was producing good stuff, but now I can't make any leads, so I program synths to get good sounds and whenever I feel inspired I'll load my presets and come up with something good.

Writing should come naturally so dont force it... Secondly just write what you are "feeling" at the time... dont try and *think* of a melody... *feel* it...

Its the only advice I can give you

yup

exactly feel it thats the key.That is what makes this a art.I dont consider myself a producer i consider myself a artist.Electronic music is a art we are not told that we need a specific tune for brittany spears to do vocals to we produce for ourselves.

Its like painting a pictrue u need insperation alotta times depression or anger can motivate u to produce things.

Pissed off at any one lately?

use the energy to create and you will feel much better when your done.

I mean when im pissed its bizzare i can belt out this angry tune that would make steven king shit in his pants.

then when im in love or meet a nice girl i always make a softer tune especially when im happy i live on a lake so the view alone keeps me happy for insperation i just look out my window.

the birds the trees the water the grass aven the asshole next door with his big ass lawn mower.

it all helps see right now im thinking of that movie

The Lawnmower Man

im gonna make some evil acid magic happen

I dunno if this will help, but..

Try to aproach a new track in a different way than you're used to. If you always start off with creating some interesting leads, try to create a nice bassline first. Make a good beat going, experiment with different keys etc. I always start off with getting the groove the way I want first, then I experiment with other stuff. For me, that's the best way. When I get producers block, I won't touch cubase. I wait until I get an idea going in my head. Forcing it will only kill the charm of it all, and it's true - it's an artform, and should be treated like just that!

Cheers

Yeah, if I sit down and don't come up with anything at that moment, I let it go and shut it down. I usually have something in mind and go and lay it down instead of opening the program and wait. I never force anything...it's like forcing a girl to like you, LOL.

quote:

Originally posted by RiCo it's like forcing a girl to like you, LOL.

duck-tape and a tree will do the trick

^^^totally missed that comment about a tree - but I guess I never had issue with shortage of girls liking me (ahem ahem)

so, getting back to your question. I'll try to dig up some past posts about this topic, but here's what I do:

1. Hit the gym to clear my head

2. Listen to my favorite sets while working out and pay attention to track details, try to visualize the track. Works magic on 2 levels: 1)not paying as much attention to physical stress 2)I sometimes notice little spices and make mental notes as to what to use in my track.

3. Listen to some old-er music - e.g. your favorite non-trance tracks and see how that music is constructed. inspiration can come from many different angles.

4. forget about leads - make a new patch of your favorite synth. You just may discover a sound that will make your track. Like this one time I found a really weird reverb effect that when combined with a certain LFO pattern resulted in a very cool and unusual arp pattern that I captured for baseline.

5. Remember: DISTORTION IS ART. Pick a patch and try to distort it or FX it or reverb it, you may find sudden inspiration.

6. Experiment: do something you would never do. such as run output of your computer into a synth (if you have hardware synth) and try to process it that way.

7. Go to Guitar center and buy a guitar FX pedal - The last thing you should plug into it is a guitar. Try running your sound through it. You'd be surprise what kind of sick sh!t you can come up with. I once ran a kick drum and snare layer through guitar pedal - hhhoooooly shnikes! I could literally feel the punch in my stomach each time it kicked.

so, overall have fun. when you run out of ideas - play a video game.

don't worry - this too shall pass.

As promissed Thread 1

Thread 2

as you can see - this is quite common...

I think this topic deserves a sticky, IMHO. Many of us are affected by these "moodswings" - at times we need a swift kick of reality and I think this would be a great place to vent our frustrations as producers (or aspiring producers). Just a thought.

go out of home and do something completly different from everyday life...go and swim or something,try to forget about music and producing...you will see how inspiration you'll have when you sit down to produce...
don't try to catch great melodies for a hours and hours...it will not work

damn shit, tell me about it....

i havent wroted a singel tune for ages, i try to start but i end up with average stuff im really not satisfied with at all... and i start blaming my monitors, other lack of gear.. and my own lack of musical knowledge..

even i know its not it.. im just not having fun with it.. but nevertheless if im making something good its the most fun in the world..

I open up Cubase fiddle for some minutes.. close it and talk to people on MSN, browse the web, or play some silly games..

the 2 last tracks i made of my own, look sig.. I played the melody on my keyboard, cause that was what i was feeling or hadd the inspiration of at that certain moment..

still i think the solution is to spend TIME in producing no matter what.. imagine u were in jail and hadd nothing else to do than producing, u sure as would have been producing 24/7..

distraction is the key, focus.. those who manage to do this the most i believe are those who will succeed the most...

im on the edge of quitting producing and think of something else

Quoting BT: "The key to my success is I finish absolutely everything".

yup - ADD (attention deficit disorder) plagues many a producer. but are you under a gun to produce a track? no. unlike Fischerspooner, who nearly split up because of the pressure that was placed on them by the record company. So, enjoy the artistic freedom.

here's another little trick:

I have a laptop with "mobile" interface. I take my laptop, my headphones,my Virus redback and my cigarette lighter adapter and drive out to the lake. I set up my gear in the back of my truck and just chill and play music and record. Ocassionaly, i'll grab a mic and record various sounds at the lake and try to fit them into the track or mangle sounds until they become completely unrecognizable.

so, ideas are there - just be creative. hence the 'art of making music'. the 'art' piece never has to be static.

Me too

Hey we are on the same boat...
i loss my inspiration lately.. i cant make melodies n stuffs...

This what i do...
i'll go back on my DJ decks & make a sets... after hearing lots of different tracks.. it will inspired me a bit. But if i dont have any sense too in DJing.. I'll be doing other things..

but till now, really i still cant solve it!

my tip: don't try to force anything, don't touch your music setup for a week, and instead, listen a lot to cool music.

quote:

Originally posted by Subtle damn shit, tell me about it.... i havent wroted a singel tune for ages, i try to start but i end up with average stuff im really not satisfied with at all... and i start blaming my monitors, other lack of gear.. and my own lack of musical knowledge.. even i know its not it.. im just not having fun with it.. but nevertheless if im making something good its the most fun in the world.. I open up Cubase fiddle for some minutes.. close it and talk to people on MSN, browse the web, or play some silly games.. the 2 last tracks i made of my own, look sig.. I played the melody on my keyboard, cause that was what i was feeling or hadd the inspiration of at that certain moment.. still i think the solution is to spend TIME in producing no matter what.. imagine u were in jail and hadd nothing else to do than producing, u sure as would have been producing 24/7.. distraction is the key, focus.. those who manage to do this the most i believe are those who will succeed the most...

man im with you lol... havent done anything good lately... and i do exactly this, blame my crappy computer and headphones and then play silly games talk on msn (and its a big fucking list...) and i dont have any musical knolege too. but i used to make good melodies. at least i had my moments even tho i almost never finish what i do, id do it till i was happy with it and till i know its good enough to save it for later use when my mixing skills will be better and ill have the same feeling, the same inspiration to finish it.

i dont quit tho. ill load a midi and make patches, play arround with it maybe remix it if it goes good... but still the lack of inspiration is there... maybe its because i dont have this music theory thing so i cant make a track in my head and just move on to the construction part.

i think the real key is to sit there and do what ever... drum pats stupid funky screaming sounds just to do something instead of watching tv. stay close to your gear and use these uninspiring moments to learn it better. this means that when the time comes youll be there near your gear with even better knolege of your stuff and the will + inspiration to do something.

still i suck... ahahahaha yes i need some sleep


edit: and after reading/writing these... i think im gonna spend a little more time fucking arround my piano roll

i don't like to sit down unless i have something in mind...others i end up doing the same thing...

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