Guys, I need your help - I’m stuck in a rut and can’t see a way of escaping at the moment, I’m going to call it producers block, and while I know it’s hopefully not permanent, I need some help!
Here are my symptoms:
I’m trying desperately to be creative, and not create one these billions of “jackin’ house” tracks that are popping up at the moment
Everytime I play something in, it’s the same pattern - I feel like I only have a memory bank of 3 different patterns, and my mind is blocking me from accessing others
I just don’t know WHAT to make - it’s like the blank page is crushing me, I don’t know what to do!
Has anyone else experienced this level of producers block, and what advice would you give someone who has it?
I know that I’ll be fine eventually, but for now, it’s tough to have this urge to produce, then just roll out the same old “meh” again and again! As you can see, I’m sidetracked from producing now to just browse these forums - not the worst thing in the world!
Forcing creativity is difficult at best. There are a lot of “thinking outside the box” videos on TED.com. Try watching a few of those to help discover a process that works for you.
Amy Tan is a good place to start…
Three chords and the truth has sold a LOT of rock and roll. The I-IV-V chord pattern is NOT new. Try listening to some classical music to find something “new to you.”
The blank page is a horrible thing. So, put something on it…ANY constraints will be helpful. Start by “randomly” grabbing a few things that you do not normally use that you MUST use on this next track - horns, toms, something else…?
Creative work is tricky, because it is difficult to predict when inspiration will strike. The critical element is that you MUST show up ready to work. Inspiration can take a day off, but you can not. Elizabeth Gilbert sums this up well.
If nothing else…when you show up and are not feeling creative…work on your tools. Get your sounds and your library in order.
I’m constantly finding myself listening to music when a rhythmic melody or just a melody comes into my head that would work on that song. What I need to be doing is recording these “snippets” into my DAW when they come into mind so I have a bank of ideas for just the moment you’re describing. I like some of the other recommendations as well, especially the classical music one. You can get a LOT of musical ideas from listening to classical music. Anything Tarekith says is usually pretty good too.
Hey man, just recently went through a tough drought myself. Here are a few things I did…
unplug. I put down my Maschine for a couple weeks. I found I was doing the same thing over and over again just like you explained. I spent more time listening to music. I went “online digging” for some new tunes, pulled out my old 30G iPod Vid and listened to a ton of my old favourites that I hadn’t listened to in a while.
If you’re a musician of any variety pick it back up. I sat on my balcony with a couple beers every night and just played my guitar. I had no goals, or expectations. I wasn’t trying to write any music just sat there and played until my hands got tired or I got drunk lol.
Lastly, I read a lot. I powered through about 3 books over the xmas break and watched some of my favourite movies.
Ultimately take a break from it but don’t do anything. I definitely agree with you on the sketching out ideas. I used to do that all the time and stopped for some reason. If all I could do is make some drum loops, that’s fine. Bounce them to audio so you have a starting point the next time you open up your DAW and go straight to melodies and what not.
It’s tough for all of us when this happens but you’ll eventually get through it. Good luck!
