What do you guys normally do when you encounter this dillema

particle · Post by **particle** » Sun Apr 08, 2007 1:07 am

I have been working on a song for about 2 months now, the song is coming along alright so far..at least for the first 64 measures or so. the problem is i feel like i am stuck now, i finished the first verse or whatever you would call a section of 4/4 psytrance music, but i am like mentally blocked or something from working on the second part? does anyone else ever encounter this problem? is this something that lots of amature producers go through when they are making their first set of songs that actually sound good? i dont expect you guys to tell me what to do becasue that would be silly in a situation like this since its not really technical..i was just hoping maybe you guys could give some insight to what you do to help you get past the block in you ever get musicians block. thanks if advance to anyone that feels like giving me thier 2 cents

peace

kent_sandvik · Post by **kent_sandvik** » Sun Apr 08, 2007 2:22 am

If it does not work, put it on the shelf and work on something else, and revisit it later. --Kent

theque · Post by **theque** » Sun Apr 08, 2007 4:07 am

i make music with aonther guy so when we get stuck we give it to the other person either to listen to and give some ideas or give them the project and let them play with it for a while and see what they come up with. kinda lucky for us.

evilxsystems · Post by **evilxsystems** » Sun Apr 08, 2007 8:12 am

i usually go out dancing...it helps.

sparklepuff · Post by **sparklepuff** » Tue Apr 10, 2007 3:28 am

I make a copy of what I have so far, then go and just f*ck it up. Start laying down whatever, it's a lot easier to take away than it is to create. You never know when you might just spew out the coolest next part of the song. Even if you end up with 4 cool bars after messing around with different drum beats, guitar parts, wacky synths, pads, bass line, ANYTHING. Bring in a totally different instrument than what you've got so far, see where it takes the song. Then bring the cool part into the version you saved where you last left off. Repeat as necessary.

dhilsabeck · Post by **dhilsabeck** » Tue Apr 10, 2007 9:28 pm

kent_sandvik wrote:If it does not work, put it on the shelf and work on something else, and revisit it later. --Kent

hambone1 · Post by **hambone1** » Tue Apr 10, 2007 9:35 pm

kent_sandvik wrote:If it does not work, put it on the shelf and work on something else, and revisit it later. --Kent

Yep.

subbasshead · Post by **subbasshead** » Wed Apr 11, 2007 8:15 am

i have two instant responses to this

1. u call it "4/4 psytrance music'

maybe get over pigeon holing yrself b4 anyone else even hears it
try making music
frankly who gives a fck what genre it is
ideally it is MUSIC, a musical expresion of u as a human, living on this planet
leave the categories to journalists (who just wish they could make music)

2. try using the mute button on 75% of it
somewhere there is the core of what u fell in love with

thru muting, rediscover what that is
& work up a whole other approach to it

& only then decide what deserves unmuting

i bet 75% of the muted stuff should well stay muted
its probably crap & just instant gratification at the time

the honest human core is what we, the listeners, want

forget the affectations

subbasshead · Post by **subbasshead** » Wed Apr 11, 2007 8:18 am

LESS is more

its just that when it becomes less
the bits u do hear become VERY important

LESS is more

become a reductionist

delete what isnt ESSENTIAL
(but save a copy incase its a momentary impulse)

rozling · Post by **rozling** » Wed Apr 11, 2007 2:54 pm

subbasshead wrote:i have two instant responses to this

1. u call it "4/4 psytrance music'

maybe get over pigeon holing yrself b4 anyone else even hears it
try making music
frankly who gives a fck what genre it is
ideally it is MUSIC, a musical expresion of u as a human, living on this planet
leave the categories to journalists (who just wish they could make music)

2. try using the mute button on 75% of it
somewhere there is the core of what u fell in love with

thru muting, rediscover what that is
& work up a whole other approach to it

& only then decide what deserves unmuting

i bet 75% of the muted stuff should well stay muted
its probably crap & just instant gratification at the time

the honest human core is what we, the listeners, want

forget the affectations

Excellent reply. No. 2 is apparently how Bjork's Medulla album ended up being pretty much vocals only - she recorded a few tracks, wasn't happy with them and kept muting until she heard something she felt worked, which ended up being just the vocals.

Sparklepuff's point is good too - take what you have and train-wreck it to bits! Make it something funny or extreme as it's better to have a finished 'spin-off' track than no track at all. If you don't like what you added, roll back the version

Tarekith · Post by **Tarekith** » Wed Apr 11, 2007 3:57 pm

hambone1 wrote:
kent_sandvik wrote:If it does not work, put it on the shelf and work on something else, and revisit it later. --Kent
Yep.

+1

oskee · Post by **oskee** » Tue Apr 17, 2007 6:16 pm

When I get stuck like that, I loop a portion of the song and begin to add to it as much as I can, without ruining the song. I then get those parts and spread them around the song. Eventually this opens up new ideas. Try it.

snakedogman · Post by **snakedogman** » Tue Apr 17, 2007 6:29 pm

I have the same thing with virtually every track I write. Mostly I tend to get stuck on building and adding to a loop and then when I start making it into a track I'm kinda bored with it already and don't find the inspiration to move on. So lately I've been trying to force myself to start with laying out a basic arrangement quicker instead of noodling around endlessley with a loop. Once I have a basic arrangement I can sit back and listen to, it makes it easier to come up with ideas for "what should come next".

Akumalong · Post by **Akumalong** » Wed Apr 18, 2007 12:02 pm

You said that you've been working about 2 months on the same song. Well i think you spent too much time on the same song. 2 months is a very long time to spend on 64 bars i think. I don't know what you're working on in this 2 months but i presume that you worked too hard for making everything perfect in this 64 bars. So you heart that 64 bars too much i think.

Well if i were you i would stop to working on that song till i forget the 64 bars. Go do something else. Work on another project. Even on an anaother style. Then when you fell ready go back to it and listen to it with fresh new ears. Probably you will hear a lot of mistakes or something like that. But don't think about that or don't try to remake that parts. Focus on the rest of the songs. This is digital, you can go back to a part which distrubs you anytime.

This is a problem i've been encountering too much before. Beacuese i was obssessed to make the parts as good as they can be before mixdown. Well you know what fuck that. I don't know we have the same issues but now i'm working like this: First i start with drums or a melody, or some chords or even a a pice of sample. Then i start makingf the song with sounds that's not perfect but that's o.k. If you know what you want to do, then the sounds doesn't matter anymore. You can always replace samples or vst's with an another. When i finsih the raw form of the song (the drums, chords, melody whatever you call) then i start to selecting the samples, the sounds. At this stage i try to make everthing sounds as good as they can be so the mixing would be easy. And then i continiue on arranging, automations vs. Then it comes mixdown. The last retouchs.
This is my way of work. Hope it will help you. I don't know this is the soultion you're looking for but i'll say it again. It is not the sounds or mixdown what makes a great song. It's something else which you can hear in its raw form.

kent_sandvik · Post by **kent_sandvik** » Wed Apr 18, 2007 5:00 pm

Yep. If I work on the basic song for more than two days, then I think it's a lost case. Most of the material I like the most has been composed in about one or two hours. The production then takes time, but that's another story -- in today's world with remixes left and right, and music styles changing overnight its not uncommon to work a long time on the actual production versus composing. --Kent

What do you guys normally do when you encounter this dillema

What do you guys normally do when you encounter this dillema

Loop a part of your song and add to it