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The exploration of you

I know this forum is mostly about the technical side of things, but what about the actual songwriting?

I'm going through some sort of an existential crisis right now. The last two years haven't been very fun for me and I'm starting to feel like I want to dive deeper into the meanings of songs. I've been working on this one tune now, and it actually sounds pretty damn good if I do say so myself - BUT at the same time it just feels hollow, generic and just going through the motions. I want the music I make to have more meaning - at least for me, if not anyone else - and I feel the dancy, clubby sound just isn't doing it. I need to find a new direction, but I don't know what it would be.

Has anyone else faced a similar situation?

yeah i hear you i want to make tunes that make me tingle inside something i can listen to over and over again but my life is a real mess and when it comes to making tunes i loose the plot.

but i have found out certen genres can suit your style a lot more then others i love dance music but find it hard to put in any real emotion thats why i have turned to ambion music and it is a lot better to work in

sounds like your stuck in a bit of a rut - we've all been there.

Not sure what advice to give - ive usually got out of it by falling upon a different style of music and then being influenced by that instead of what id normally listen to.

Maybe it sounds like you need to move away from dance music altogether? Even if just for a while - Ive no idea on your musical background tho

I remember being like the peeps that couldn't can't get past the first minute mark in track length. I thought it would be for ever but as time progressed, i eventually over came it. Don't really know how. but never gave up.

When I start writing a song I often have a theme in mind that I relate to. For example, one day, around the time I started producing music, I was driving on a highway into northern Oklahoma while I was at university. As I drove north the landscape around me opened up into expansive plains with views for miles. I had not been that far north in that region before and was not expecting to see quite an impressive natural landscape, mostly uninhabited wide open land.

That evening, when I was returning, I stopped at a small parking/picnic area on the side of the road (you see them from time to time if you travel on highways in America). It was quite, I was probably the only one at the stop, and I spent a few minutes looking out over the vast autumn landscape of golden grassland as the sun was setting. For whatever reason, that moment, completely unplanned or expected, inspired me and I doubt I will ever forget it.

Soon after, within a few weeks, I completed a song with that experience in mind. Now, about 4 years later, I am remaking that song. Listening to it these years later, it still reminds me of that experience. That is one thing I like about songwriting; providing a soundtrack to those special moments in life.

we all look for meaning in our lives. we want to assign a meaning to things. but in the end of it, there is no real meaning objectively, just our perception of it in the moment

Songs (value systems)

Hello,

you are probably one of millions with this permanent state of
dissatisfaction and it's an artists acheles Heel...

Really it's likely to be across the board, all the hit factory's and
all the production houses where people *must* produce quality and quality at an output rate.

i really don't know , you could look to your friends as a means of
a soundboard.

i don't know you,

was just imagining for a bit, how difficult it must be for people
who have already had success and a wiegh hangs over them too, there
are expectations...

Ghosting, perhaps that exists to even eleviate the problem you
describe above.


Thinking about it....if there is't enough emotion in One's real life
to be able to "deliniate" towards habitual creativity , namely music
then one needs to mix and listen to your heart. GO out and stuff
without the shackles of what's described above.

It surely is the case that without getting enjoyment creating, then
it's a process frustrating.

Take stock:....look at what Good you have created, your works, savor in what you have achieved already as an artist.

maybe even start teaching production and techy music. THis is a great
way to bring new revived interest into your life.

yes


V.

quote:

Originally posted by evo8 Maybe it sounds like you need to move away from dance music altogether? Even if just for a while - Ive no idea on your musical background tho

Ideally I'd like to implement some sort of a fusion of styles - but even more important than the actual style, I'd like the tracks I make be part of a larger whole, if that makes any sense...

quote:

Originally posted by Mr.Mystery Ideally I'd like to implement some sort of a fusion of styles - but even more important than the actual style, I'd like the tracks I make be part of a larger whole, if that makes any sense...

kinda makes sense i guess - i think you are starting to think outside "making a tune\tunes" (i know you have been producing a long time though) and are maybe looking for something bigger with your music?
i think that is only natural...

I've never been one to be satisfied making one style of music and that's why I make a pretty wide variety of songs under this artist name, as well as some other aliases, collaborations, etc. I'm also influenced by and listen to many different styles and artists. It's always good to try new things and challenge yourself to do something outside your comfort zone.

As for songs with meaning, I'm one of the few people it seems who doesn't really create music with some intended meaning. That's mostly because the majority of my songs are collaborations with vocalists, so the lyrics are usually what convey the meaning and I don't write lyrics. I come up with the music and (usually) the melodies, so I create a mood or vibe for each song, but the singer/lyricist conveys the meaning. For some odd reason, I don't usually write music that is inspired by some deep reason or emotion, either - I just come up with ideas that I like the sound of. If it's an instrumental, I just try to give it a title that fits the vibe *after the song is complete*, but the title almost never has anything to do with some intended meaning behind the music.

quote:

Originally posted by Mr.Mystery Ideally I'd like to implement some sort of a fusion of styles - but even more important than the actual style, I'd like the tracks I make be part of a larger whole, if that makes any sense...

Maybe you should make an album or EP that covers a fusion of different tracks in different styles? My focus since this past spring has been a new project with a singer and we are between half and 3/4 done with an album. This will be the first full-length album that I've ever made, and we're taking very much a shotgun approach with it - the songs range from dark ambient to downtempo, a pseudo RnB track, a house track, a Latin house-inspired track, a trance track, a DnB-influenced track, some trip-hop, and an industrial-ish track (that may or may not make the album!). Every song is very different, and Amy (the singer) has very little experience with most of these styles, so she brings a very different vibe to the whole project that keeps it interesting.

I think that just the fusion of our different styles and backgrounds makes for a unique sound, but even with the wide range of song styles that we're making, there's this cohesiveness to all of them. That's mostly because she just lets me throw any idea her way, and I just let her do her own thing. There's just this weird chemistry from each of us writing independently and neither of us trying to dictate what the other is doing or what the next song idea should be like, then working out the details when we get together each weekend to record. We're just letting it flow and the ideas are coming together better than any collaboration I've ever been involved in.

Anyway, sorry for the wall of text/TMI/boring life story, but hopefully something in there is useful.

Re: The exploration of you

quote:

Originally posted by Mr.Mystery I know this forum is mostly about the technical side of things, but what about the actual songwriting? I'm going through some sort of an existential crisis right now. The last two years haven't been very fun for me and I'm starting to feel like I want to dive deeper into the meanings of songs. I've been working on this one tune now, and it actually sounds pretty damn good if I do say so myself - BUT at the same time it just feels hollow, generic and just going through the motions. I want the music I make to have more meaning - at least for me, if not anyone else - and I feel the dancy, clubby sound just isn't doing it. I need to find a new direction, but I don't know what it would be. Has anyone else faced a similar situation?

Yes. That's why I sold all my analog gear years ago and started teaching myself piano. I felt I could express myself (to myself, essentially) much more and in a more natural, creative, and improvisational way than I ever could with dance music.

Re: Re: The exploration of you

quote:

Originally posted by AlphaStarred Yes. That's why I sold all my analog gear years ago and started teaching myself piano. I felt I could express myself (to myself, essentially) much more and in a more natural, creative, and improvisational way than I ever could with dance music.

That would be extremely nice, but that is also the reason I've had a bad couple of years - I've got arthritis, which means the joints of my fingers are constantly swollen and only have a limited range. I would love to play the guitar or piano, but I can't.

I'm sorry to hear that. However, I eventually gave up on piano, too, even though I was getting much better. I had a few very creative years where I wanted to do anything creative - draw/paint, photography, music, etc. but eventually I realized it wasn't bringing me much happiness or fulfillment anymore.

I recently bought some gear again and may try and produce a track from time to time, but it's not like it used to be.

As far as your OP, why not delve into a kind of experimental/ambient sound, then? You can get pretty creative with that, and definitely get deeper into the music, I think. Unlike dance music, experimental/ambient stuff may evoke more feelings and atmospheres.

An example:

music health

sorry to hear about your trouble. Very sorry and i hope somehow
things can improve.

Music may indeed, lend a catch 22 and such things as have been mentioned above here, like Field recording, and usage of apps which don'tneed dexterity. (these could give a possible future avenue to you)

you could use a controller such as kinetic and Namm things that are
released now. Making music using movement gestures in open air.

this is small comfort,but is all i can think of.

you can also ask other musicians to play your interpretations.
as a new lease of life on your older works.

O____o


V

You can still compose music by singing into a microphone and using something like melodyne to transcribe the notes for you. Obviously it would take a few takes of that to do chords though. I'm all about using the computer to compensate for my lack of instrument abilities. I understand everyone wants to boast their superiority by claiming classical training and ability to play a real instrument, but we aren't taking tests for a class. Nobody is grading us.

But to answer the original topic. I often try to make a song based on an idea or a feeling, or maybe a picture or something I've been through. Usually I fail and the result is evokes nothing resembling the inspiration.

I didn't mean to sound like I'm a cripple or something I don't think piano would be too hard for me to play, but it would be somewhat limited. I can still do it the old fashioned way and draw everything in the piano roll.

Anyway, this thread has given me some pretty good ideas. Now I just need to tinker around and see if anything comes of it.

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