|
I'll tell you about my experience about producing, and I'm sure you're going to find it very similar to feelings and experiences you've had.
There were already quite a few people that replied and everybody was right in their own way. But at the end it's all about how you truly feel and what you want.
My production journey started about 4 years ago, and not to brag about it I became good at it. There were moments when the inspiration was flowing strong and there were moments when I felt weak.
Recently I hit the same stage as you. I just cannot sit down and come up with tunes as before. There could be a good driving baseline and a synth line or two accompanying it but that's it. Everything else all of a sudden would come to a screeching halt and there is was just frustration left.
So, you already know about this and you want to know what it is you can do about it?
I'll give you a few pointers that might be taken into consideration
1. Try to answer why is it that you're getting into production? If you love sitting and creating music and that relieves stress and creates energy, production is for you. Music composers do it because they love it, because it fulfills them.
It's like playing sports as an amateur. You don't do it because of money, chicks or fame. Sports are supposed to give you a feeling of connections with other team mates, relax you, make you feel less stressed and pleasantly tired for the same reason at the end of a day.
2. Try to streamline your setup; don't spend too much money on unnecessary equipment. I have bought a Nordlead3, JP8000 and a KS rack. All virtual analog, and for what reason...to make me better. Well, it's not going to, it's just emptied my bank account.
Get the gear you feel your productions might need and learn all about it. Become an expert. When you know how to use it and produce an amazing sound from scratch, the inspiration will come, and you'll do wonders. You'll only need a few pieces of good gear (or software) and a fast computer to start.
3. Take frequent breaks. Make a bassline or a kick that rocks and stop. Don't spend more than 2hrs per day in front of a computer unless you're extremely inspired and you're just building layers upon layers of tracks that sound amazing (it happened to me!).
Monitor and listen to your body and mind. When it tells you that it's tired and it doesn't have any new ideas, it's tired and it doesn't have ideas. Get the hell out of the studio and do something else.
At the same time you cannot be lazy and forget all about it. It's a fine balance that some people never find in life. If you achieve this, you've mastered your own destiny.
4. Somebody before me said 'keep it raw'. This is unbelievably true, and I'll tell you why. Have you ever had a moment where you came up with a great riff and ruin it by listening and changing details so much that it becomes almost unrecognizable?
I've done that with whole songs for God's sake.
Don't get caught up with details. Just start recording and layer those tracks. If it sounds good, don't change. Don't change the groove of your loops...they're already grooving. Keep adding tracks, layer upon layer upon layer.
And then, the next day you'll sit down with it and think what a bunch of crap! You'll start deleting things, changing it, adding delays, effects, compression, and eq and so on. All of a sudden you'll see something being born, just like the diamond in the rough that needs to be processed to get a brilliant and shiny star.
Everything in nature starts raw, until you mould it into a work of art. Don't be afraid to rerecord and delete shitty tracks but work fast and don't get caught up in details. You'll workout the details later on during mixing.
Another analogy is building a house. You start with the foundation and proceed up. Half way, if you asked anybody if they like the looks of a house, they would tell you 'I don't know...it's not finished'. The same with your tracks. Only the last step in the mastering will conclude the process and confirm that you have a great tune on your hands. And even if some people don't like it, who gives a shit? It's part of you and your early venture into music production waters. You enjoyed the process, you got relaxed and you felt happy to listen to it when it was finished.
5. Build a web site and post your work. Keep it updated regularly, share your experiences and I can guarantee you there is going to people listening and following. This is just another source of inspiration, when you know somebody is listening.
These are some of the things you might do to help overcome the problem. I hope it will work out for you and you'll be on a path of creating awesome music again.
Lalin
|
I think i suck at producing...
