I’m not what you’d call an “active forum user” (though I do come around and read once in a while), but you were who came up to my mind first with this problem.
I’ve been into production for, let’s say, 1 year and a half, and I feel I’m getting nice sounds right now (Ableton Live).
Thing is it’s been months since I’ve composed anything. I simply can’t come up with anything of my liking, and I’m now totally frustrated
So my question is, what do you guys do with this “musical blocks”? I belive I’m not the only one who has been in this situation.
If it’s of any help I’m into good atmospheres, whether it’s DnB or Progressive House/Trance.
One way to avoid this block is just to sit down and rapidly make a long set, like a mixing set, late evening/night time or so. Don’t worry about mixing quality or perfect synth sounds and so on.
Then a day later go in and cherry-pick the parts you liked for more production work and if not just rinse and do again.
PS: Ableton Live is especially good for such rapid composition work, not that Logic/flex mode for quick adjustments of loops works well, too.
I think one of the best things you can do is to give yourself limitations or handicaps when producing. An example being limit it yourself to only using 10 tracks, or try and make track that doesn’t have a “bassline” or a “snare”. Or make a track using nothing but loops and samples, and just edit/process the shit out of them to make a song.
By placing these limitations on yourself you won’t be frozen or bogged down with all the choices you have at your fingertips when producing, and can actually focus on being creative.
To get you thinking, here’s a little snippet from Wired,
“Think of a young tree, a sapling. With water and sunshine, it can grow tall and strong. But include some careful pruning early in its development—removing low-hanging branches—and the tree will grow taller, stronger, faster. It won’t waste precious resources on growth that doesn’t serve its ultimate purpose. The same principle applies to design. Given fewer resources, you have to make better decisions.
For proof, just consider these cultural and technological high points of the last century: Piet Mondrian helped usher in modernism by limiting himself to 90-degree angles and primary colors.Miles Davis conceived Kind of Blue without the use of a single chord. More recently, the very iPhone on which you listen to Davis’ landmark album is a one-buttoned example of restraint in pursuit of an ideal, while the sublimely simple Google homepage is forever limited to 28 words.”
I had a “musical block” for close to a year. And now I cant seem to stop and when nothing comes out I just make it come out, keep making the track or finding the sounds. The problem arent you are out of ideas. Ideas are ALWAYS there, the deal here is how do you get them OUT. Some people take drugs, some party, some watch TV, some keep making the music or start a 2nd new track.
I have just one little tip, you could call it limiting yourself but this works a lot better for me. Take a random synth, click a random preset, do NOT choose one by a cool name or whatever, just close your eyes and click one. Now unless it reaaallllly sounds like shit (a strange sound can be a real chalange) twist some random knobs and just play away some chords or a melody on a metronome. Now just build a song with that.
Another trick for me sometimes when i don’t know how to continue a song, i just make a bassline first instead of the melody (if you start with a bassline then you can try starting with a melody of course)
This is gonna sound really really stupid after the golden advice given by the others above but when i get stuck i always do the same thing and it seems to work for me.
Most of the time i already have a bassline or a melody and then i get stuck sometimes. I just kick my chair back, put on a pair of headphones and loop what i have and then… i start whistling different possibilities that come into my mind after a while i always come up with something that worth a closer inspection. Maybe its strange but you can always try!
Also what i do a lot is just listen to other artists and just let myself be inspired by that, not copying what they do but just getting some fresh inspiration from other music loving producers!
4 hours max for a Laidback Luke production. He used FruityLoops even if he’s using Ableton Live nowadays. Anyway, there’s something about being ‘laidback’ when doing music.
Not stupid at all! I’ll try everything after my ‘break’ period (wich ends this Friday, after a party I’m playing at… I’ve focused on my mixing this week.)
what works to me is to see some people live…feeling the music in a club or hall or something really gets me into it…also just have fun with it ive made some of the stupidest shit some times when ive been bored but its learning either way
after a while i always come up with something that worth a closer inspection. Maybe its strange but you can always try!
ive made some of the stupidest shit some times when ive been bored but its learning either way