Creative Block... Where to start from?!

af_thefragile

So after my long time away from making and working with any proper music, i'm finally done with my exams and can finally work on my music.

But too bad i just don't know where to start from!
The time away from the music has made me hit a major creative block. I can't think of anything musical or anything that i could put in the form of a song.

Furthermore i'm here with softwares like Logic express, reason, about 16gb of drum samples to play around with on Battery, and about 3-4 additional synths to mess with.
Not counting the instruments in Reason and my guitar!

Like i've got all the resources. I know what sorta song i wanna write. I need to make this demo track to audition musicians with for this band i'm looking for set up. I had been working on a few ideas before but i ended up scrapping them cuz i didn't quite like them n i sorta even altered the sound of the music in my head. Just looking for something industrial/punk/electronic. Something like a mix of MSI, Yeah Yeah Yeahs and Crystal Castles.

So yeah, i know what i'm chasing, i've got all the resources, but my mind seemed to have hit a block and i can't seem to put down any skill...

So can any of ye give me some tips and ideas to get me started??

Thanks!

PaulBrewer

Get listening to new music, or at least new to you. Get your mates to recommend some.

Helix

i find synth programming to be a worthwhile exercise during creative blocks. time spent in front of your synths building patches is never time wasted, and it can be great for inspiration

af_thefragile

PaulBrewer wrote: »

Get listening to new music, or at least new to you. Get your mates to recommend some.

I feel i've really herd enough of new music... I really need to get of my ass and start working... Just after the long break can't quite seem to figure our where do i exactly start from...

Sham Squire

This is a tried and tested method you'll find in books, on websites and the like. It's perfect for the situation your in where you just want to get something started.
Find a simple loop of a nice beat. Nothing crazy or complex, maybe just a 4/4 beat from a nice kit in one of your mentioned pieces of software. Don't spend too long finding a nice beat you can always go back and change it later. Pick up your guitar (if it's electric then get a nice basic sound you like from your amp or pedals) and bash out a simple riff. Really play it over and over and see where it takes you but keep it as simple as you can. Hey presto, the beginning of a new tune.

dav nagle

Jesus man chillax!


Think lo fi 80's using modern daw! = happy days!!

trackmixstudio

This may sound like a mad idea but it really works.
Record a cover of a song you like in your style.
Program the drums, keys, play the bass, guitar etc and do vocals.
Doing this will put you in work mode and get you going rather than staring at an empty arrange window.
In the process of doing this you will notice things in the song you are covering that will inspire you in new directions and before you know it you will be flying.

af_thefragile

Thanks mate...
I might try a few of those things... and hopefully it should get me going!!

jtsuited

work through the pain. I've spent long times in creative ruts, but you can discipline yourself to avoid them.

set yourself goals ie.

1. have a nice song idea before breakfast
2. Have a slammin, groovy rhythm section worked out by lunch
3. Have your final arrangement done by dinner.
4. Mix until you sleep.
5. Use the next day to finish off, listen to your work critically and identify your weaknesses and strengths (in that order).

A month or so of doing this everyday and you're gonna be able to identify traps you fall into when you're working, and figure out little tricks to avoid them. You'll learn to work fast and keep the vibe going.

You'll also be disciplining your mind and body to come up with ideas when you want to.

So a month down the line when you start a track you know just where you're going to go and will be able to do it like clockwork.

repetition, persistence, and repetition. Monastic asceticism is good for the soul ya know.

af_thefragile

wow mate, that was some great advice there!!
I'm surely gonna try it out tomorrow... Certainly if i keep doing that for a month, i should get pretty damn good!!

jtsuited

af_thefragile wrote: »

wow mate, that was some great advice there!!
I'm surely gonna try it out tomorrow... Certainly if i keep doing that for a month, i should get pretty damn good!!

yup you'll certainly be a lot better. it's inevitable. did shakespeare or mozart get creative block?
Maybe, but they busted their balls working through it, and eventually it went away.

There's a good Tschaikovsky quote about it saying something like 'most of the time we will have no ideas, but we must work all the time, so that when the muse arrives and sits on our shoulder she shall not leave without her presence going into the work.' (that's a vague approximation of the quote, it's in a book I read somewhere).

you'll have good days, and you'll have bad days. a lot. but most importantly you'll have days. thus increasing the chances of a flash of brilliance. a great artist can be judged not on how he can develop a good idea, but how he can develop even a bad one into something beautiful.

Seziertisch

Find a collaborator. Even if this person is just someone whose has opinions of stuff, and makes suggestions. The fact that another person is there won't allow you to focus on feeling uninspired, and indeed their suggestions should force you to think a bit more laterally about stuff.

Start with something basic and start building on that, adding stuff that might not be perfect but just leaving it in place until a suitable replacement in found or you decide it isn't needed.

It is easier to start improving something when you actually have something to improve on as opposed to waiting for something to spring fully-formed from your imagination.

Welease

I find it's best to stick with the tried and tested methods..

1. Get your wife to leave you..
2. Have your dog die..
3. Spend all you money..

Voila, instant blues/country tune incoming..

fitz

I find an early sounding board can help you get a better sense of what direction you want to take an idea in. Thinking about the comments and feedback you get sometimes pushes you to really decide what you think about it yourself in a way that you wouldn't otherwise.

Mick's suggestion of starting from a loop is a great one. What works equally well is if you have a melody in your head that you get down using a midi keyboard....just get it down rough so that you're not programming, then make a loop out of that and start messing around with guitar or drums over it, see where it leads.

i57dwun4yb1pt8

you have just done exams - your mind and soul is basically been forced into a hyper focussed
reality that pushes the creative flow into the background and allows only your logical mind to the fore.

you need to take time off from logic to get some inspiration and allow the creative mind to voice itself again
go out , go walking ., go on holiday , go drinking , listen to music , watch films whatever - just relax,
and also listen - listen to the noise and sounds around you , and peoples talking , observe , listen and relax.

one good way is to go for a range of massage and floatation tanks this will reestablish the connection quikly.

jtsuited

floatation tanks are unreal. don't take anything before you go into one though, it can turn er, unpleasant!

af_thefragile

DaDumTish wrote: »

you have just done exams - your mind and soul is basically been forced into a hyper focussed
reality that pushes the creative flow into the background and allows only your logical mind to the fore.

you need to take time off from logic to get some inspiration and allow the creative mind to voice itself again
go out , go walking ., go on holiday , go drinking , listen to music , watch films whatever - just relax,
and also listen - listen to the noise and sounds around you , and peoples talking , observe , listen and relax.

one good way is to go for a range of massage and floatation tanks this will reestablish the connection quikly.

Yup, i get this is what i really need!
Almost for the past year i could hardly concentrate on anything cuz of the work pressure i had from college. It just completely shuts off your creative doors. All you think about is you've gotta do your exams and pass them.

Now that i'm done. I really need a break. Need to get out and calm my mind back... Relax and open the doors of creativity...

Cuz even now i still can't get my head out of exams and results and stuff. I've done my exams, now thinking and focusing about it is not gonna change my results! I just need to chill...
Might go for a long walk or something!

RealEstateKing

and go somewhere quiet with an acoustic guitar: Despite all the new tools being wonderful, sitting in front of a computer makes you forget what music is all about - singing, moving people's emotions. You can spend hours farting about with loops and EQing bass drums, and forget the most important thing : The SOng.

(1) Sit in a quiet room with a notebook and or a little voice recorder.
Come up with a good tune on a guitar and piano. And stick it down. If lyrics come to you at the same time cool, if not, cool too, just sing la-la-la or whatever.

(2) Then take that tune and write some lyrics to it seperatley, stay they hell away from your computer and fancy equipment.

(3) If and when you are done and have written a good song, then and only then should you record and start twiddling around. Record openly and quickly: The only technical thing you should have to worry about is mic positioning: It should be as easy and fun as those lazy teenage days of screwing around with your four-track. Put down as many tracks and ideas as you have: Dont allow yourself to get caught up in techinical jiggery pokery at this stage. unless you absolutely have to.

(4) Editing: Take away the ideas that didnt work, keep those that did: Redo parts of necessary.

(5) Mix: Balance things generally first and get anal later.

In this day and age it's all about seperating out the various types of skills involved in music, especially as nowadays many of us are doing what used to be the jobs of 4 or 5 different people: You cant be a wild and creative artist at the same time as being an engineer: You end up paralyzing yourself, and creating nothing: Or creating music bereft of creativity and spontaneity like most electronic music.

In a word:

SE-PER-ATE.

seannash

advice above is good..........if you dont make computer based music.
i cant play any instruments so i gotta go somewhere quiet with my laptop:D

af_thefragile

Good advice there realestateking.
Its very very easy to open up Reason or Logic to make some track and then end up getting caught up browsing through loops and creating patches for synth sounds which ultimately lead to nowhere!

Though the music i'm making is very industrial/electronic so i'll need the comp to work away with synths and effects but i guess i could do that all after once i've worked up some decent guitar bits and some decent melodies on the piano to work around with and later tweak them into how i want them to sound like...

seannash

oh another thing,stop using loops.that way you wont get lost in loops like you said.
really strive to make your own loops,much more unlikely to get bored

af_thefragile

seannash wrote: »

oh another thing,stop using loops.that way you wont get lost in loops like you said.
really strive to make your own loops,much more unlikely to get bored

Don't worry, i rarely use loops.
My music is more guitar and synth based.
I'm a decent guitarist so i usually don't have much problem coming up with some decent riff (although lately i haven't been coming up with anything exciting but i guess i just need to work more at it!) and i'm fine at creating synth patches but due to my lack of music theory and piano skills, i'm pretty bad at coming up with good melodies... Which i hope to get across by learning more theory and start taking piano lessons hopefully from this weeks onwards as i'm finally done with all my college crap and now i can finally breathe!

nyarlothothep

I've gone through this, just keep writing, no matter how sh1tty the song is eventually the continual writing process will jump start good ideas. Also teaming up with someone else is really beneficial if you're on the same wavelength as you'll hear ideas in their music and vice versa.