help me start making music again!

[ishimaru]

I totally feel you guys and writers block. I cut down my VSTs by 100% and went analogue for while. It definately caused a change in workflow habits.

[Angstrom]

I know this probably sounds / reads bad but I often get more inspired to write music by seeing a bad band than by a great artist.

I find myself thinking:
if they had just done *this it would have been OK,

where *this can be ...
if they sung much more weirdly
or a little less glitch drum noises all the time
or some harpsichords instead of electric piano
or that weird accidental harmony was the best thing they did all night ...

then I rush home and compile all those ideas.

I recommend : see a bad band!

[Keyser Soze]

Maybe you might have to face up to the fact that you haven't got what it takes, accept it, move on and find a new path in life.
Probably not what you want to hear, but let's face it, very few people achieve their major goals in life and only the lucky or extremely persistent few do.
Having all the gear in the world doesn't make you a musician, artist or whatever. Having discipline, talent and something to say are crucial elements. If you have neither of those things, the odds are heavily stacked up against you.
I know many people who own very sophisticated set-ups, but couldn't produce a decent piece of music even if their lives depended on it.

Ok, we all experience periods of no inspiration. I say then spend the time to master your instrument, gather some sounds, organise your sound library and whatever other advice you have been given. Ultimately though, if you have nothing to say, lack talent or discipline then you face an uphill climb. Giving someone a box of paints will not make them an artist.

[pale1]

Turn off your computer!!!!!

Dust of your guitar!!!

... remember the sound of new strings?

Pale

[frahnque]

If you find you have too much stuff (in this case, VST's, outboard synths/effects and the lot) )on your hands, try removing a lot of it. Keep it down to a real bare minimum.
Keeping it clean will allow you to concentrate on the sounds and most importantly the music (after all, that is what matters).

At some point, having loads of gear is nice - but it might lure you away from making music and instead ending up just adding tons of effects where there should be none, or digging up that sweet looking Reaktor synth that drains 50%+ CPU usage and makes you render to disk instead of keeping everything to straight midi + softsynths and so forth (i.e. always ready for touching, not re-rendering and then previewing).

Basically: Less is more


I hope you find a way out of the 'writers block' soon. Best wishes!

[Gygaxian]

the same thing happens to me.
going from being extremely creative to absolute sloth.

its a strange thing, but i have a few ssuggestions:
if you don't feel like making music or mixing, then don't. Get away from your equipment and leave it a lone for a while, and don't let this make you feel guilty.
it happens.

next, check out your studio. try to re-design it to make it as comfortable as possible while working. make a great autoload, get a comfy chair, etc.

quit listening to music. sometimes when you are surrounded by music all day long, the last thing you want is to try to make music. ears get tired. turn off the ipod and do something else. I find the longer I'm away from any type of music or noise, the more ideas start to fly into my head.

Stop. Collaborate. I agree with the earlier posts. Sometimes collaboration is a great creative kick in the ass. When you do not have the energy or inspiration to do things all the way through, its great to have someone around throwing ideas and manuals at you.

masturbate. this helps with relaxation.

listen to your old recordings and try to figure out why you were so creative at those points in your life. easier setup? a bit more time? etc

whatever you do don't get down on yourself. we all have times of manic creativity, and we all go through times where that creativity is lacking or alltogether missing. its cool, just relax and try a few of these suggestions, or any of the others in this thread.

The same thing happened to me 3 years ago when i switched from being completely analog to almost completely digital. A had an extreme period of pathological creativeness, and now I'm just coming out of the same rut you are in.
Good luck and may the force be with you.

[went to the gypsy]

i was here, too. karate worked for me--you know, exercise. weed works pretty good, too. but when the weed runs out, you're back where you started.

Picasso found inspiration in young, beautiful women. this seems viable, but you might be remembered as a vampire. i'd take Sammy Hagar's advice, and get some exercise.

good luck!
gypsy

[DJ_DIRTY_D]

You basically hit the hammer on the head by implying "I have TOO much gear"

If you've got TOO much gear then, "you have TOO MANY options". You are making it difficult for yourself to be creative. This is because there is SO much THINKING going on inside your head and there are TOO MANY options.
The creative side and the thinking side of the human brain (as it is today)are polar opposites, this is just the way that mankind has become. Anything that is creative (i.e good music) comes from the side of your brain that is less used.
The problem is that most people can ONLY utilize one side of their brain at the same time. So... When your thinking TOO much about ALL THE OPTIONS YOU HAVE then how can you possibly utilize the creative side of your brain ? You Can't.
A good way around this is to sell all the equipment you don't use and keep the stuff you DO use. This clears up your head and you can then utilize the creative side of your brain to make music.

Less is more! Remember, music is the gaps between the notes.

[polyslax]

Turn off your computer!!!!!

Dust of your guitar!!!

... remember the sound of new strings?

Pale

Good point! When I feel I need a break from the virtual I pull out my acoustic. It's soooo real!

[forge]

I've found the live clips helpful in a rebirth/reason kind of way - just load them up and start messing about with them, you automatically change them and the sounds drastically and start coming up with yuour own thing really quickly! like puhing buttons and tweaking in reason or on real drum machines/sequencers

[norrinradd]

for anyone that creates deeply and is original like me well maybe not everybody i feel anxiety before i walk into the studio once i turn stuff on and get going that feeling goes away but i have put off days of going in the studio because the anxiety made me put it off............i get in the studio everyday now but in the past i have gone through months of not creating because of this.

Hello

You'll probably find my situation really weird. A few years ago, I used to make A LOT of tracks. Everyday I used to make music. My studio got better and better as years went by, but I somehow stopped making music...
I love my machines, the way they sound, how they operate.
But I can't discipline myself enough to start a track. I always say to myself, "damn, I wanna do this, do that, I'll do that tomorrow."
But it never happens. I don't make any music, and feel frustrated in the end because I have more gear than needed but feel held back. Something is wrong with me and prevents me from making anything. Has anyone been in a similar situation? I would like to unblock all that and *make* music again, instead of just plaing with my toys and adding gear to my seldom used setup.
Am I still a musician? Is a musician not making music still a musician? What's wrong me with?

[Johnisfaster]

how strange this ended up on here. I was just starting to think about this issue with me and considered posting something but I figured "why? they won't help anything and someone will probably say something negative which will be discouraging"

I think what I really need to do is just put the laptop in a bag and go down to the coffee shop with some headphones and drink mad amounts of coffee. I usually make good stuff when I do that. but lately I just end up opening live and fiddling and then drinking some beer and then starting a movie.

my only input is to unhook the internet from your music computer and throw your tv away.

[nolus]

sorry - multiple post - stupid back button, gets me everytime

[minimal]

travel, see other cultures, eat other food than usual, take a walk in the night... do something different, inspiration will come back soon.

[radiance]

Wow. I wasn't expexting so many replies. Thanks a lot for your concern.
I've read all your answers, and here's one I wanted to comment:

for anyone that creates deeply and is original like me well maybe not everybody i feel anxiety before i walk into the studio once i turn stuff on and get going that feeling goes away but i have put off days of going in the studio because the anxiety made me put it off............i get in the studio everyday now but in the past i have gone through months of not creating because of this.

Anxiety before starting a track, that's exactly it.
I listen to A**LOT** of music, mostly electronic. Always good music, no cheesy BS. And thus I have a lot of respect for music. So much respect that I'm afraid to start anything which might not be as good as what I'm used to listening. And since I have a good ear, I would realize that quickly enough. Thus the anxiety. And the non productivity..