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here's the best post i've ever read about how to deal with your problem mate. I still try to read it every now n then, even if i'm not having writer's block because it never fails to help me think oif new things to try 
by Dj Rx - Owner and Operator of FiNRG & Hybridize:
Creativity, innovation and effective music making UPDATED V.1.2.1
I think weīve all been thinking this for many times... Yes, Iīm one of those of musicians that have those "dry phases" as well... Iīm actually having one dry moment now, so It got me thinking, how do I flowerish my creativity...? Why not use this time for a good purpose and give you guys few tips that might help you to get into the spur of creativity madness...
First of all EXPERIENCE NEW THINGS. Ever wondered why getting that a new vst-synth with those fancy new factory presets spurs the creativity into bloom for a track or two..? Experiencing new things makes you creative and It doesnīt always have to be a fancy new vst synth... Go hiking, climbing, into opera, visit new places, go into the new amusement park thatīs just opened couple of blocks away... Experience life both physically and spiritually, feed you mind and your soul and youīll be more creative than ever before.
SET TIME LIMITS TO YOUR WORKS. Thats right, do It today, not tomorrow. Do a list of things you need to do in order to get the track ready and done. Percs today, leads tomorrow, bouncy bassline the day after, arrangement the the next day and final mixdown the day after, then two weeks off and the final polishing to make it extra crispy. Ever wondered how come professional producers get so musical material done..? Because they have to!
LIMIT YOURSELF. Thats right, as crazy as it sounds, most often the innovation is spurred from limitations and restrictions, not the 100+ vst-synths you have. Ever done a track with single vst synth? With just one reverb and delay? The idea of whole thing is to break the way you make music, with limitations you do things differently therefore widen your horizon of music making skills. Get back to basics and make better music.
MAKE AN IMAGINARY TRACKS. Making music IS all about imagination..? Thats right.. But it can quide you to totally new kinds of musica. Take a clip from a movie, remove all audio from it and score it. Read a good book and try to get the tensions, emotions and highlights and the structure of it on a one track. Ever felt angry? Sad? What has been the most embarrasing moment of your life? Make a track out of it.
WRITE THE IDEAS DOWN WHEN YOU HAVE THEM. Thats right, always keep a pen and paper with you.. Or at least a mobilephone where you can put your ideas if you donīt happen to be in a studio at the same time (which seldom happens). When you get good ideas you def. dont want to forget it, do you? Remember that the reminder can be for example just one word or a few note melody. You can write notes down with letters ie. 8C would be an middle c with duration of an 8th note. Again this may sound crazy, but it helps you get back to the grand idea you had in the bus stop yesterday.
WRITE ALL STYLES OF ELECTRONICA. The thing that really annoys me is the fact the people producing music are so narrow minded. The purists of what ever style of music praise the music they do and listen, but they fail to knowledge the fact how much different music styles would give to their music style. Ok so youīre into freeform? trance? experimental music? Why not try to make a mellow progressive trance or breaks track and see what new things you learn on the way of doing it?
SAVE EVERYTHING YOU DO. Save your project every now and then, the more saves, the better. Each time give it a new number, so that your final version of a new track will be something like mynewtrack_79. This way you can always recall that one sound that did not fit in 45 minutes ago and if youīre feeling uninspired you can always check back those unused ideas that might flowerish a new track. Not to mention the headaches you lack get when your seq. computer crashes.
TAKE BREAKS. Not just every once and them but ONCE AN HOUR. Unless your totally in flames, take a break, go outside for couple of minutes and get some fresh air for your brains (since they propably need it after that brainstorm you just had) and rest your ears. If the track starts to sound dull, take time of from it or change the key of it to keep it interesting for your ears, you can always change it back when itīs time to mix the track. Taking time of few months of music making is also a good way to get that beginners enthusiasm back that you once had.... You know when itīs time to get back to the studio.
LISTEN TO MUSIC YOU LOVE. In lack of inspiration get back to the music that really makes you tic, it wonīt take long till you have that right mood and inspiration to create your next big hit.
Last but not least, music making SHOULD BE FUN. Enjoy discovering new things, donīt be afraid to be out of your debth, cause that is the only way to become skilled producer, meet friends that might teach you new tricks of the trade, hang out and co-op with other producers, arrange "learning rings" meet up with fellow producers and SHARE YOUR KNOWLEDGE WITH THEM, listen to music that innovates you and most importently ENJOY MAKING MUSIC.
Few more pointers to help you on the way...
- Donīt be afraid of things because they are too hard (... or easy) to do
- Look closely at the most embarrasing details and amplify them
- Shut the door and listen from outside
- Listen your music in different alt. enviroments
- Fill every beat with something
- Pan musical elements in unusual way
- Emphasize flaws
- Combine different music styles
- Steal and DO NOT feel bad about it
- Chop, reverse, time strech, pitchbend and effect samples you never use and use them on your track
- Automate random parameters on the synth you are using
- Knock that lead melody or beat of yours 1/8(or any other value) forward or backward to make more interesting rythms
- Change the mode, ever tried to make a "Mixolydian" track?
- Go outside and record everyday life audio into you track
- Use instruments you never use, such as harp violin or perhaps a didgeridoo
- Make a sudden, destructive, unpredictable way action; incorporate
- Abandon normal Instruments
- Make a ridiculously long effect chain on your synth channel
- Give way for your worst impulse
- Use real-time recording to make grooves and melodies
- Use your DAWs random function
- Smack your distortion and bit reducer units to the extreme
- Swap you lead and you bass synth so they play each others notes
- Make reckless holes your track, with deleting parts, filtering, eq or compressor
- Make a sudden tempo change in your track to keep the listeners on their toes
- Go extreme in simplicity
- Use odd time signatures
- Break your track into pieces and re-arrange it.
- Destroy the most important thing
- Make some music that you hate
- Try to do music in a different state of mind
- Review your track to your friends, they might have some new ideas for you
- Review your track to a person who doesnīt know anything about the music style you produce
- Break your usual way you compose a track, the order you usually use
- Rewrite the words to a song that exists, change the subject, meaning and everything else as you do it. Now you got whole set of lyrics, rythm and structure to work as a starting point of a new track.
- Make a track on a foundation on excisting track
- Break the rules
- Work in groups, in music making 1 + 1 = 11
And to become more effective on making music...
- Clean and organize your project and sample library, get rid of those you def. wont be needing so that you can more easily find what you are looking for. If you donīt want to trash your samples, make a dedicated folder for the files that are not arranged.
- Avoid using new software when working on your song. Save it for the learning, exploring for designated "play time" when you donīt expect to get finished results
- Get proper monitors and I really mean the most expensive you really can afford. You can get cheap on many of things but not monitoring. In order to sound professional, you need get the best posible monitors to achive that "pro mixdown".
- Pay attention of the accoustics on the enviroment you use to make music, if effects just as much to your sound as monitors
- You should invest more cash in your work space than your computer and sequencer.
- Learn keyboard shortcuts
- Think positive, thereīs nothing you can not do, if you focus your thoughts on it.
- "Donīt fix it, if itīs not broken"
- Arrange few hours in morning for the music production when your brains are rested and ready for some creative action. Youīll be amazed how much youīll get done in just mere few hours before going to work.
- Dedicate some of your studio time on making solely beats or presets for future use
- Make a template, where you have all the synths lined up, coloured and arranged that you most often use armed and ready for you to recall every time you start a new track. This way youīll save loads of time.
- Make a to-do-list before you begin and stick to it.
- Start working right away, msn, social networks and other websites can be dealt later on when you are finished with your work.
- Lose some synths. Thats right, more often less is more. Knowing your few trusty synths will eventually give you freedom to do anything you want, instead of going through those factory presets time and a time again.
- Set learning tasks for yourself. Explore your synths and daw, the buttons and sub-menus you never ever use, this way youīll learn more about your software and tools work that you use. If thereīs something you donīt understand, check it out from the web.
- Challenge yourself mentally, this is a crucial part of the whole learning process. Try to focus on solving the tasks each time bit differently, this way you expand your skills to an unpredictable paths and widen your innovative horizon. Is short, visualize your actions. The creative process in three parts:
1. Ask
2. Answer
3. Receive
- Make a small diary that has few key words of your latest innovative discoveries. You do not have to write a whole book, just few keywords that help you recall the things afterwards.
- If you still want to favour the factory presets, why not make a list of the more useful ones and ducktape it to your monitor. Youīll save a lot of time just by checking what you need on your list.
- Donīt overload yourself, making a good track isnīt easy after long hard day at work, so remember to "reset" yourself before you go to your studio
- Make notes for your next session before you pull out the plug, It might take a while when you have the time to get back to your project so these notes will help you get right into it next time.
- Make a frame work for your new track before hand, this guides you on the way and helps you to focus on doing what needs to be done to finish the song.
- Knock that monitor screen of your off when you listen to your tracks, this way youīll be able to concentrate more easily whatīs happening on your track.
- Your music will never be finished, Donīt worry, accept it.
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"THERE ARE NO RULES IN MAKING MUSIC", these are just a merely tips to get you going.
I hope these essential tips have helped you, feedback and most importantly new tips of how to you get your innovation and creativity flowing would be awesome!
- Rx @ Finrg Recordigs, rx(youknowwhatscominghere)finrg.com
Last edited by DJ Rx (Saturday 12th of November 2005 11:58:10)
Last edited by Lyft on Jan-04-2010 at 07:20
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