quote:

Originally posted by cl0ckw3rk i keep finding myself falling back to the same vicious cycle. I need a new workflow.

That's really annoying, and I'm pretty sure we've all been into this situation. And there are no specific rules to get out of this cycle.

There are multiple situations that may lead to the "blank screen":

- Some just sit behind the computer screen with no inspiration at all, this happens a lot, and forcing yourself will make it worse. Better do something else.

-Some just make music the opposite way. They want to make music but have no basic idea to start with. Everything else, drums, basses, etc... are parts of an arrangement, so there's no way some can get over the lack of a "firestarter"

- Some just want to produce while they don't put their technical knowledge into the balance every now and then. This is dangerous as it reduces to possibilities of accidents to happen. Accidental things play a key role in electronic music.

I've tried some of these solutions. They did well for me, but don't blame me if it doesn't work for you.

- Change the place of some of your studio elements and furniture if you have a lot of outboard. Do manual work that keeps your attention away from producing in general, and try to do it without any music on, or listen to something different. Always change something every now and then, as people are as much in movement as they get older.

- Chances are that you will want to buy new furniture for that. Go to our swedish friends IKEA, and spend time over there. No need for furniture, no problem, just go for some shopping to the local grocery store, most preferably alone, and take your time. Many ideas come while buying fruits and vegetables. I know this is stupid, but it works every single time for me.

- If you're sitting behind your screen, just take a piano sound, your keyboard, a sustain pedal and play music. Whatever it is. Who cares what you'll play there after all? Musicians are made, not born.

- Edit your VSTi or instrument presets until you don't need them anymore, and start making your own patches from scratch. This is where accidents happen quite often. Don't forget to save your work, though. Do the same with drums, loops.

- READ your manuals, watch or read tutorials here or on youtube or anywhere else, as if you were a perpetual music student. And try everything out. Discover how things you don't know work, how plugins mod your sound.

There you go, try those things out, and tell us in a few days if it helped. Patience is the key.

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Http://www.airwave-music.com is my new site. Djairwave.com is no more. A new era has begun

man I'm in the same boat. I haven't finishing anything in like two years.

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Phunktronix Mixes

Lolo, you got any tip on how to not get bored of your own music ?

I find myself needing to listen to my track many times in order to find what needs improvement, and i often get bored and loose perspective of the track.

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http://soundcloud.com/subtara

subtle: i see u posted this at 9 did u realy sleep at all lol? i had 4 hours now

quote:

Originally posted by Lolo - Edit your VSTi or instrument presets until you don't need them anymore, and start making your own patches from scratch. This is where accidents happen quite often. Don't forget to save your work, though. Do the same with drums, loops. - READ your manuals, watch or read tutorials here or on youtube or anywhere else, as if you were a perpetual music student. And try everything out. Discover how things you don't know work, how plugins mod your sound. There you go, try those things out, and tell us in a few days if it helped. Patience is the key.

There the ones that work for me, in my opinion there is always something extra to learn, that keeps me motivated as i enjoy learning things.

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>>> Beatport Stuff <<<

I have found this too lol.

Usually I bring a melodic pad in which acts as an intro and the direction that the track will take.

Learning new techniques in producing new sounds also helps move a track forward, its the only way to get better I found.

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http://soundcloud.com/drewwihl

quote:

Originally posted by Subtle Lolo, you got any tip on how to not get bored of your own music ? I find myself needing to listen to my track many times in order to find what needs improvement, and i often get bored and loose perspective of the track.

this is not easy if you can just spend a few hours a day on your music, of course. I found out that usually, the faster you produce the less you get bored. Another good thing also in order not to get bored, I start several new tracks at the same time, totally different styles. And try to finish them as fast as possible.

Of course you put this way a lot less attention into detail. But I think that adding fx and candy/icing stuff on the cake can be easily made once the arrangement is entirely done, and it goes faster, too, as I know what to go for.

L.

___________________
Http://www.airwave-music.com is my new site. Djairwave.com is no more. A new era has begun