help me start making music again!

telekom · Post by **telekom** » Fri Nov 25, 2005 11:35 am

Hey Radiance,
Anxiety is/could be part of the process... maybe you get anxious anyway before you embark on a new creative process (and I can understand that) but maybe you should try accepting that you're anxious and use it positively as part of the creative process... maybe you're in a position where anxiety is a part of what you're gonna make.

And that's good, right?

Wishing you the very best of luck however you get through this - cos you will.

Angstrom · Post by **Angstrom** » Fri Nov 25, 2005 1:04 pm

thats a very good point.

Anxiety about the outcome is something that builds as you get older and more immersed in the subject.

Give yourself the right to make something shit, it doesn't matter if it is derivative, never changes key, uses cliched sounds, appears to be a rip of a known artist.
Just say - I am allowed to be as shit as I possibly can be.

when I was 17 and started making music all my stuff had the propertiesI descibe above - I had no shame either, cos I didn't know 'better'.
Forget trying to make something good - just make something.

frahnque · Post by **frahnque** » Fri Nov 25, 2005 6:09 pm

radiance wrote: 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..

I know this, believe me, I do. I spent some 4 years doing this, and during those years i might have produced 4-6 tracks (yes, it's the truth. roughly atlest). It was a combination of having a lot of work, and when I had free time I "did my best to create some music that was really really good".
This is more or less the opposite to what I do now (and believe me, the music starts sounding better than before), i.e. I don't TRY to do really really good music - I just do music and then I see if I like it or not.

I just sit down, and start with whatever comes to mind. It's a bit like booting you computer. Starting fresh. Don't think too much about what it should be, just let it come to you. Let go of that high regard for music, it's all about playing. Make it all into a game with no rules at all (other than to have fun).
At some point the music came back to me (rather than that I fetched it [as in tried to make a track that was this or that good]).

It's quite recently (1 month or so) that I really began making music again. I should also say that I quit work some 4 months back and took up studying and that this might also be part of the key (to my equation atleast).

I'm not saying this might work for you, but so far it seems to have worked for me (knock on wood).
Once again, best wishes. Hope it all comes back to you soon.

telekom · Post by **telekom** » Fri Nov 25, 2005 8:09 pm

Hey radiance,
One more thing... try setting yourself very strict limits. Try making a track with only one sample (one sound I mean) and nothing else. Do something relentless in one key with no progressions, no chord changes, key changes, melodic variation. Do something minimal and remember what it feels like to just be creative FOR NO REASON. Set yourself a time limit of say three-four hours (30 minutes?) and see what you have at the end of the time limit. Be open minded while you're working - there's plenty of time to be critical about your work a little later on once you've got something done. The you can springboard from that starting point...

I really wish you well, and anybody else who is feeling this way too. Been there. Snot easy.

Do the opposite of what you normally do.

Johnisfaster · Post by **Johnisfaster** » Fri Nov 25, 2005 10:51 pm

you gotta remember that alot of the kick ass artists you spend time listening to probably have a thousand songs on their computer that are just plain horrible. I'm sure aphex twin and squarepusher have a huge collection of really really bad music. those are just guys I listen to.. and autechre. I'm sure autechre has all sorts of really boring tracks before they find something thats really interesting(debatable that they ever do...hehe)

the other thing is, I've started alot of songs that sound absolutely horrible at first. I'll hate all the sounds and hate the melodies and slowly start thinking "maybe I should trash this one I think it's beyond hope" but if I keep working on it then eventually it starts shaping up and the sounds get replaced by new sounds and the beats get more interesting slowly. sometimes ends up being completely different than it began.

lastly:
THIS IS THE IMPORTANT PART!!!!!!!!!!!!!
music is not a fu**ing competition. nor should it ever be compared to existing works. make it because you want to and because you enjoy it and for no other reason. and if you don't enjoy it right now but you want to enjoy it then you just have to be patient till the love comes back.

but stop worrying about if it's good or not. don't compare it.
my artist name FASTER FASTER is dirived from when I was a little kid and I wanted to be a race car driver. it's supposed to remind me to approach music as a little kid thats totally fascinated with whatever is going on. "awesome dude you made a drum beat!!! shake dat booty, shake dat booty!!!! dude batman would love this song"

Johnisfaster · Post by **Johnisfaster** » Fri Nov 25, 2005 10:53 pm

sign up for a world music class at your local college. it really puts music into perspective.

kettensaege · Post by **kettensaege** » Fri Nov 25, 2005 11:53 pm

radiance,
I feel with you, but you've been where I'm still trying to end up so I kinda feel stupid to give you hints on how to get back there. Maybe something of the stuff I found/decided for myself might work. I guess i'm mostly with nolus' post ...
* reduce the setup: I'm limitting myself to Live and Reason, strictly avoiding plugin orgies that'll get me distracted. If my song is shit (harmonies, arrangement), then even a $1000 Waves Compressor won't save it. So I don't even bother.
* play and don't be afraid of trashy ideas and recording methods. One of the best ideas I had happened when I was playing that crappy nylon string guitar on my girlfriends sofa. Wasn't even tuned properly. Recorded it through my iBooks internal mic while my girlfriend was sorting through books in the background, causing lots of weird ambient noise. Warped everything in Live and nailed it to a beat. Threw a loop, a vocal sample and an effect at it and the result is a beautiful triphoppy song fragment thats worth keeping in its original state.
* play even more and enjoy the immediate feedback and results instead of limitting yourself to mousing stuff.If you don't play an instrument, play the automation, clip triggering, cross fading, whatever. Just don't think too much about it. do it. Spend less time in programming drum loops and custom sounds. Use some loops, synth presets and get the basics down. polish later. (thats something I have to remind myself of :/ ... a lot!)
* collaborate and use dealines. do all this in a kamikaze style.
Two days ago I had a few too many beers with two guys from work. At 9pm after a long day I decided we needed to record a hiphip tune RIGHT NOW. Went to my place, got even more drunk. The song didn'T work out at all but we had a lot of fun. I got my acoustic guitar out in the end, we got even drunkenerer and improvised songs any lyrics. We didn't record anything, but it all the anxiety was gone and all the fun was back.
On another occasion I made a deal after a long discussion with a graphic designer coleague of mine. He committed to finishing a 3D model in 7 days, I promised to write a drum'n'bass tune. If you stick to this, it'll make you feel pretty stupid when you waste a whole evening on recreating a 4 bar drum loop that turns out WORSE in the end instead of pushing on with the arrangement and flow of the song. Worked out for me. Its rough, but it was done in 3 or 4 evenings and contains lots of good ideas, samples from a zombie movie and 3 games.
* and if all of the above doesn't work out, I've still got my coverband, so the music making in my daily life doesn't drop under a certain level, even if I'm completely burnt out and scared shitless by this blank live session view staring back at me. It all comes back eventually

have fun (that was an order).

conny · Post by **conny** » Sat Nov 26, 2005 1:37 am

kettensaege wrote: have fun (that was an order).

Agree

/// C

Machinate · Post by **Machinate** » Sat Nov 26, 2005 10:12 am

hey all you uninspired people - do you want to do a quick collab of some kind? With lots of deadlines and stuff? Pm's welcome.

jimmynitcher · Post by **jimmynitcher** » Sat Nov 26, 2005 4:25 pm

Buying gear can be used as an avoidance tactic. All that time taken up getting it working - necessary business, but we can hide behind it.

I was addicted to free plug-ins at one time!

When we complete a song, we put ourselves in a position to be judged, this can be stressful.

Sensitivity can be a strength when put into our music but a hinderance when it comes to being judged.

Successful people practise being judged, like they practise their instrument - they become immune to it.

Put more of yourself into the music. Make it yours. Sometimes following fads can make creativity feel less genuine.

Allowing yourself to write something "crap" is a good way of kidding yourself into writing something that may surprise you, it lowers expectations, which can be a good way to get started, as long as you don't then use that as an excuse to write yourself off further !

Here's a quote from Goethe that I have found helpful;

"Until one is committed, there is hesitancy, the chance to draw back, always ineffectiveness. Concerning all acts of intitiative (and creation) there is one elemental truth, the ignorance of which kils countless ideas and splendid plans - that the moment one definitely commits oneself then Providence moves all. All sorts of things occur to help one that would never have otherwise occurred. A whole stream of events issues from the decision, raising in one's favour all manner of unforseen incidents and meetings and material assistance which no man could have dreamed would have come his way. Whatever you can do or dream, you can begin it. Boldness has genius, power and magic in it. Begin it now."

Whatever you decide, good luck, you took the first step by sharing your trouble.

J

telekom · Post by **telekom** » Sat Nov 26, 2005 5:03 pm

jimmynitcher wrote: Here's a quote from Goethe that I have found helpful

Storming. That helps me too jimmynitcher. Thanks!

kettensaege · Post by **kettensaege** » Sat Nov 26, 2005 5:12 pm

jimmy,
nice post indeed, thanks!

DJ_DIRTY_D · Post by **DJ_DIRTY_D** » Mon Nov 28, 2005 1:25 am

jimmynitcher wrote: Whatever you can do or dream, you can begin it. Boldness has genius, power and magic in it. Begin it now."

Whatever you decide, good luck, you took the first step by sharing your trouble.

J

I agree 100%!! You need to be completely FEARLESS in this life if you want to be very successfull. Anxiety = FEAR and FEAR kills dreams. BE BOLD !

Cheers Jimmy! I love this forum!!

sans soleil · Post by **sans soleil** » Mon Nov 28, 2005 3:51 am

brian eno came up with what he called 'oblique strategies' to deal with creative block:

http://www.rtqe.net/ObliqueStrategies/

there are a few other sites online with 'virtual' sets.

having said that...i usually just go for a walk.

kent_sandvik · Post by **kent_sandvik** » Mon Nov 28, 2005 3:55 am

One classical blocker is worrying about the final sound quality. Well, it's very hard to to wrong for getting decent sounds out from most modern DAWs today. Just watch out for red lights concerning clipping, and don't use compression to the extreme.

Remember that the quality you achive today would have required a very expensive studio setup only five years ago. So no angst about the quality -- usually it's the idea that counts, anyway. --Kent