broma Posted March 30, 2021 Share Posted March 30, 2021 I don't know why I do this but over the years I find myself doing anything but making music, even though I more often than not fucking love it when I properly get into it. I probably subconsciously worry what I make will be shit. Even though I know everyone makes shit sometimes. I worry it's a waste of time even though when I'm in the zone it's all that matters and I should do it just for that. I worry other people will think it's shit if I share it, or that no-one will give a fuck... which happens 😆 I also get overwhelm with the number of choices when starting something new. Avoidance tactics include I must dust everything down first, I'll wait until I get 'x' bit of gear, lists of things to do - with making music last on the list so I never get to it, hours 'organising' samples but no music making. The beat battles on here used to be a good way for me to start and finish something. I think I need deadlines however rough they were here, haha. Any beat makers on here involved in any online battles? I'm aware of the STBB but the turnaround on them is so quick... there's me avoiding again Any others? Anyone avoiding making like me? Could be avoiding scratching too. Any tips on how to break the rut? Saaaaaafe 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
djdiggla Posted March 30, 2021 Share Posted March 30, 2021 Yup I hear ya. I almost have to trick myself or set aside a block just for that. That's why I liked the DV beat battles is it forced me to make something in a timely manner and also get out of my comfort zone. The new studio I built isn't going to have a big TV or anything intentionally to avoid me just coming in and playing video games. Trying to create a creative space. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JHouse Posted March 30, 2021 Share Posted March 30, 2021 It's really common for artists to avoid starting a new project, thus working on a blank canvas. I go through this with web design, but once I get going, I can't stop as I f'n love it. Naturally though, I have to stop, sleep, then start again, but this is where I was getting stuck. What started working for me several years ago was "tricking myself." For instance, I would just look at a site I'm working on, see something small that needs fixing, then fix it. Then I would tinker with something else, and before I knew it, multiple hours went by and I got a shitload done. I call it the snowball effect. We often wait till we're motivated to take action, but it's really the action that gets us motivated. Also, when I blaze up, I just want to make something. I need to apply the above to making music. I put about 10-15 hours a week into live finger drumming on my drum machine, but I haven't made any tracks, let alone beats or even loops. Having deadlines really helps me too, and on that note, I wish we had the beat battles bangin' again. Anybody want to take it over and light a fire under our asses? I would love to get involved!!! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan Posted March 30, 2021 Share Posted March 30, 2021 I’ve struggled for a number of years with my creativity. I use to make music all the time, I could spend hours on maschine or Ableton, chopping up samples to find something good. Then for whatever reason I just lost the spark. I’ve tried to work out what changed, but never worked it out. For a long while I thought it’s because I now work in IT and spend all day on on a PC, to the point where I almost got an MPC Live because I thought it would “fix” my issue. But I realised that’s bollox as I can happily sit on the PC at home for hours playing a game or pissing about on YouTube. My friend has the same problem with art, he used to draw everyday but these days maybe does something once every few months, he can’t pin point why either. what we have started doing is a 1 hour video call each week, I start with an empty project, he has a blank page. And we see what we can come up with in an hour. We’ve only done three so far but it’s been great fun and I’ve started thinking about what I can do for the next hour. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clownstyle Posted March 30, 2021 Share Posted March 30, 2021 I totally feel you on this subject. Over the years I've gone through phases where I've been creative then stopped, then came back to it wondering why I ever stopped. It was this whole start / stop thing for me spanning many years, and then there's finishing projects.. most of my stuff never leaves the project phase so finishing off a few tracks recently was my retribution. I find when I go in with the intention of making something it always sounds shit. I joked with my mate recently that most of my stuff is made at 2am.. stoned and basically noodling because I'm bored - my best stuff is made when I'm not intentionally doing anything. I'll fire up my DAW and just mess around on the keyboard - This then leads onto other things. If I come across something I like, I build on it.. Sometimes it still leads nowhere and that can be frustrating, but when you're really enjoying it and in the moment that's when the creative process is most fun for me. It depends how you're making your music but I find having a template for the initial track really helps - for me this is having all my channels in my mixer already hooked up and with some basic FX sends already in place that I just throw in a VST and noodle on the keyboard. It takes seconds to load that template and its my go-to starting place these days. I also work in IT and working from home (while I enjoy it) is really bad for me creatively - I've been in front of the computer for 8hours already. My desire to sit in front of it rapidly diminishes when I've finished work - More so working from home (like being in front of another computer doesn't count) I never felt this way while I was working in the office. I think you need to concentrate on making things fun, relaxed and not something you feel you have to do.. Also remember that although the time spent might not always give you some amazing track that time is never wasted. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JHouse Posted March 31, 2021 Share Posted March 31, 2021 The happiest and most congruent I've ever been is when I'm playing or making music. And every time I do, I always think why don't I do this more. I'm seriously trying to schedule my life so this becomes first nature. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
broma Posted March 31, 2021 Author Share Posted March 31, 2021 Nice one fellas, some good advice in here and nice to know I'm not alone on this. Thanks! On 3/30/2021 at 11:08 PM, Dan said: what we have started doing is a 1 hour video call each week, I start with an empty project, he has a blank page. And we see what we can come up with in an hour. We’ve only done three so far but it’s been great fun and I’ve started thinking about what I can do for the next hour. That's a cool idea man. And thinking about what you can do next time is good news I think. I love that too when I'm 'in it'. Thinking about what I'm gonna do or try when I get back on it. Miss that at the moment. 23 hours ago, Clownstyle said: It depends how you're making your music but I find having a template for the initial track really helps - for me this is having all my channels in my mixer already hooked up and with some basic FX sends already in place that I just throw in a VST and noodle on the keyboard. It takes seconds to load that template and its my go-to starting place these days. Yeah I've kind of got that set up in Ableton Live. Then I started getting different things like the eSPI (software SP1200 clone), Koala Sampler, KO-33. Almost got too many choices so got overwhelmed and made nothing! At the same time, trying new gear/software out has sometimes worked to kick things off. I literally started a new beat last week, but only because I'd installed Live 11 and wanted to check it was working. Kinda liked it. Haven't been back to it since though! But I guess that fits with what you say about good stuff happening when you're not intentionally doing anything. On 3/30/2021 at 8:48 PM, JHouse said: Having deadlines really helps me too, and on that note, I wish we had the beat battles bangin' again. Anybody want to take it over and light a fire under our asses? I would love to get involved!!! Mate, I wish we had them too. It helped that Rockwell supplied some good samples 😆 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deft Posted April 2, 2021 Share Posted April 2, 2021 I've never had a creative block, as I've never created anything. Don't think my brain is wired for creating music. I think most people struggle with "productivity" in their life. I have a list of things I keep meaning to do: properly practice and become next level at scratching, python programming wizard, a big book on calculus I want to get through, hit a 3:30 km running pace over 5km, should really have learnt conversational punjabi by now, etc. Trying to get that balance of enjoyment vs slog, having some measurable goals or projects to work on. Fundamentally, though some will say it is a bit of a cop out, there are only 24 hours in a day and I have plenty of shit to do most days. OK I could juggle stuff around and it would give me a few clear hours a day, that's probably enough to get good or do something. I'm looking forward to retirement, then I'll have no excuses. 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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