What do you do when you get burned out on makin music?

[Bright Morningstar]

I've been producing tunes in ableton now for over a year and it seems like sessions come and go. one week i'll be all about making tracks and then it seems like i have to take a week+ off from even touching ableton or listening to anything I've created. Although every time I get stuck and take a break, it seems when I finally do return my music seems like it is becoming more original.

Does anyone else just get burned out with making music? I'm a college student who DJ's around town, but sometimes I just have to take a break from it all...

anyone have any thoughts/suggestions on what you do to restore the love and clarity of making music? It seems sometimes that my head just hurts and I can't even listen to ANY music, even the chill stuff that I used to love...

/end rant

[arctic ranger]

clean the studio
clean the house
go for long hikes/walks with friends
get loads of exercise
go see/listen something you normally wouldn't, like maybe a punk rock show or whatever
lay off the booze and/or drugs for a couple of weeks
go bowling, play tennis, frisbee or something active and social

some of the things i like to do to get myself creative

[gjm]

... moderation/balance. I can't say enough about limiting production time to free up regular opportunities for my chosen sport. Improves stamina, forces smart work and gives me regular time out from everything else.

[UKRuss]

Different types of music. I likes me guitar music and me electronicals so I switch between the two.

That and sex, lots of sex.

[cosmosuave]

I took about a 9 - 12 month hiatus from producing... The day I did it was a day of freaking out.lost the plot and took all of my gear and packed up in boxes and put it in the basement... Later I started modding some synths and drum machines then slowly began unpacking the gear and set a goal to produce a complete track...

Surprise you feel this way only after a year...

[aisling]

I took about a 9 - 12 month hiatus from producing... The day I did it was a day of freaking out.lost the plot and took all of my gear and packed up in boxes and put it in the basement... Later I started modding some synths and drum machines then slowly began unpacking the gear and set a goal to produce a complete track...

Surprise you feel this way only after a year...

+1! At 40 years old having done this a few times, I can honestly say that the musical ability never really goes away. You get temporarily rusty, but when the muse strikes, it all comes flooding back so quick. Life becomes more centered around non attachment and no regret.....Currently I am studying to become an RN, so I just took a few months off, then as I updated to live 8 (which makes me masturbate) I got a creative impulse and a new track was born. When I was younger, the time off would have had devastating psychological impact.

[beats me]

Oh youth, thinking taking a week or two off from writing music is a long time or a challenging dry spell.

I finished 1 song in 2009. One. What did I do with the downtime? Fuck if I know. Look at my post count.

[SubFunk]

totally leaving it, i never try to chase it, it then comes very quickly back on it's own.

[Tarekith]

I write things like this:

http://tarekith.com/assets/inspiration.html

[aqua_tek]

I barely listen to any current music anymore. I'm in such a tiny little bubble with my own thoughts, my own music, and a few golden oldies.

I think it's a fear of sounding too much like other current artists. I think it's a brilliant idea, at times when my creativity is actually flowing. Other times, like right now that I feel like I'm in a bit of a musical slump, I think I've made a huge mistake.

[aisling]

I barely listen to any current music anymore. I'm in such a tiny little bubble with my own thoughts, my own music, and a few golden oldies.

I think it's a fear of sounding too much like other current artists. I think it's a brilliant idea, at times when my creativity is actually flowing. Other times, like right now that I feel like I'm in a bit of a musical slump, I think I've made a huge mistake.

[v0ins315]

I used to get burned out also. But it was because I was using ableton on a laptop unable to handle near finished tracks. I have so many unfinished tracks that I won't touch because it's too stressfull to work in a set that loads for a couple seconds when I fucking move the mouse. Problem solved though. I just bought a MBP. Now I just need to buy ableton 8 suite and I will be back in action. Until then I've been using the free demo.

Also, what Arctic Ranger said:

"clean the studio
clean the house
go for long hikes/walks with friends
get loads of exercise
go see/listen something you normally wouldn't, like maybe a punk rock show or whatever
lay off the booze and/or drugs for a couple of weeks
go bowling, play tennis, frisbee or something active and social"

[ethios4]

Nothing wrong with taking a break for a bit.

I listen to a lot of different kinds of music, so when I get burned out with one direction it is very easy to take off in another direction. I am very rarely inspired by something in the genre I am composing in...inspiration almost always comes from listening to something totally other.

I've also noticed that most of the originators, the top of the class, often comment that they don't listen to music in their genre. For example, Jerry Garcia said he almost never listened to other guitarists. Simon Posford (Hallucinogen/Shpongle/Younger Brother) said he almost never listens to trance.

I'm currently burned out of making psytrance, so last night I started writing in 3/4 downtempo and had a blast.