Ableton Forum

hello me again...

i have this problem with making music, i stare at ableton, go thru synth sounds, listen to samples, arrange some, think they are good, realise they are shit.

stop

come back, press some chords with different synths, mess around making my own synth sounds. get frustrated, hate the fact that i never make any progress, get an aching in my heart because i can't express myself, lie in bed at night not knowing how to get it out, get a bad sleep, go through my day hating my lack of progress. get depressed, sit in front of ableton and repeat cycle.

please can someone rescue me?

i don't know how you can help me but i know that you can.

Try recreating one of your favorite songs.

take a break... and just listen to some music. why does it make you so sad? do you have a job? hard work eases the mind, in my experience.

Get it in the body, man. The body has to drum or sing or strum or at least record your own found sounds. Anything other than just cut paste edit.

seriously

take a break

learn an acoustic instrument, or just bang on things, make music in it's most primal form, then worry about translating it to a computer setting

Moody wrote:Try recreating one of your favorite songs.

I like this idea. Also, it might just be a phase. Do you play keys or something else as your main instrument? I've found it helpful to return to my tanbur (i.e. my main acoustic instrument) when I get too buried with music tech.

I also agree with nowtime. My gajda teacher told me that's how she learned the asymetrical rhythms of Bulgarian music: by dancing (i.e. "Get it in the body, man).

as a person who often is in the same place as you and feeling deep depression from it I recommend a few things.

take some time off.

listen to music just for enjoyment and not in the mindset of "I'm gonna figure out their formula"

http://www.ableton.com/forum/viewtopic. ... 119594b1f8

and go to that thread and get into the spirit of it.

This is an interesting subject for me. I'm there with you sometimes.
Problem is I believe that we want to do something that we will like 100% and that's dammed near impossible. One of the best reasons I could give you why bands make it big more than individual artists who write all their own material is that when you write a song and somebody adds what you think is the perfect part for it, you didn't write the song 100% the emotional investment doesn't necessarily include only your ego, therefore you can separate yourself/ego from the song, and realize how good it is without the guilt shame and envy demons coming in to ruin it for you.
Collaborate with someone you share music taste with. Personally, I like my stuff, but I don't get exited about it like I do when I have a vocalist, or other musicians in the mix. I still write alone a lot, but I've been messing around with music for about 20 years now so....

That, and the simple fact you get torn up about it is a good sign, most musicians I know who don't have moments like that basically suck, lifeless, and not in a cool as hell Kraftwerk way.

One more thing. Stop judging your stuff so harshly. I've been doing the electronic music thing for about 6 plus years now and this year I decided to just freacking release a disk finally instead of only cuts on compilation records. I have the material, but I'm always only interested in what I wrote last month, not the old stuff, and seriously, people cannot tell the difference, it's just the more I hear my own material the more I find fault with it.

Ever wonder why almost every artist claims their last disk is their best?

i'm right there with you. i was in a serious band for six out of the last seven years. after getting out of it (i was the main and only songwriter), i feel totally drained and it's hard to actually bring a song to completion. the band broke up a year and a half ago and i still haven't been able to finish a song. i've started about fifteen and got the skeleton done for about four, but no lyrics, no mixing, nothing. anyone have any suggestions for curing writer's block that doesn't involve remaking a song you like (already tried) or taking a break (i took a six month break altogether from music when the band broke up)?

snowtires wrote:i'm right there with you. i was in a serious band for six out of the last seven years. after getting out of it (i was the main and only songwriter), i feel totally drained and it's hard to actually bring a song to completion. the band broke up a year and a half ago and i still haven't been able to finish a song. i've started about fifteen and got the skeleton done for about four, but no lyrics, no mixing, nothing. anyone have any suggestions for curing writer's block that doesn't involve remaking a song you like (already tried) or taking a break (i took a six month break altogether from music when the band broke up)?

sorry but I still think this is the best idea. just get loose with it and have some fun and let it be whatever it is. realise that it's no big deal.
http://www.ableton.com/forum/viewtopic. ... 119594b1f8

thatguy wrote:learn an acoustic instrument, or just bang on things, make music in it's most primal form, then worry about translating it to a computer setting

Fucking Awesome!

Johnisfaster wrote:

snowtires wrote:i'm right there with you. i was in a serious band for six out of the last seven years. after getting out of it (i was the main and only songwriter), i feel totally drained and it's hard to actually bring a song to completion. the band broke up a year and a half ago and i still haven't been able to finish a song. i've started about fifteen and got the skeleton done for about four, but no lyrics, no mixing, nothing. anyone have any suggestions for curing writer's block that doesn't involve remaking a song you like (already tried) or taking a break (i took a six month break altogether from music when the band broke up)?

sorry but I still think this is the best idea. just get loose with it and have some fun and let it be whatever it is. realise that it's no big deal.
http://www.ableton.com/forum/viewtopic. ... 119594b1f8

i also write in a journal, with the same sort of stuff, just whatever is on my mind. i know it's not a big deal, which is why it's so frustrating, because i've gotten to the point where i feel like my brain doesn't give a shit anymore. i just need my brain to realize that the only thing i'm good at is music haha

silverlulu,

when i get in the rut you are describing, i shift gears and make something deliberately "wrong-sounding".
for some reason that clears my head.

start chopping up some samples. always gets you going