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Forums - Drums / rhythms / programming
Subject: Creative Slump
Viewing all 27 messages - View by pages of 10: 1 2 3
Original Message 1/27 13-Sep-00 @ 05:52 PM - Creative Slump
Recently I have fallen into a creative slump. Everything I do feels the same as something I've already done. I'll start on something, than half way through it I decide it's too familiar sounding. I try new scales, new sounds, new everything but it turns out like sh*t. Has anyone else had this problem before? What can I do?
Message 2/27 14-Sep-00 @ 03:00 AM - RE: Creative Slump
duh! everyone has creative slumps now and again, some more than others. but like I tell everyone else, I just take breaks and put myself into different situations and atmospheres, u could go out someplace youve never been b4 and just soak it all up.
eof
eof
Message 3/27 14-Sep-00 @ 02:12 PM - RE: Creative Slump
I agree with syn:
Go to a rave. Watch some fucked up movies with
your mates before you go, do moderate amounts
of drugs (stay away from downers unless that's
your thing), stay up all night and go to McDonalds
for breakfast. Don't sleep in your bed, sleep on the
floor, or on the couch. Watch cartoons the next day
and putter around with your gear, but don't try to
make any serious attempts. Make sure you drink
coffee with everyone you went to the party with. Give
it a few days and you'll be inspired again. Try to do
things that aren't in your usual routine.
Also, listen to ALOT of music. No matter what
anyone says, most musicians are influenced by
other music. Buy several albums, and listen to
them. Keep new musical ideas coming into your
head and new ideas will come out of your head.
You have to get your mind kick-started, making
new connections (read the 'connections' thread in
Music Theory). An object in motion tends to stay in
motion.
And for God's sake, get a good book!! I
recommend 'Snow Crash' by Neil Stephenson.
Best of luck... I'm in another slump myself, and
come the weekend I'll be trying to get myself in
motion again.
Go to a rave. Watch some fucked up movies with
your mates before you go, do moderate amounts
of drugs (stay away from downers unless that's
your thing), stay up all night and go to McDonalds
for breakfast. Don't sleep in your bed, sleep on the
floor, or on the couch. Watch cartoons the next day
and putter around with your gear, but don't try to
make any serious attempts. Make sure you drink
coffee with everyone you went to the party with. Give
it a few days and you'll be inspired again. Try to do
things that aren't in your usual routine.
Also, listen to ALOT of music. No matter what
anyone says, most musicians are influenced by
other music. Buy several albums, and listen to
them. Keep new musical ideas coming into your
head and new ideas will come out of your head.
You have to get your mind kick-started, making
new connections (read the 'connections' thread in
Music Theory). An object in motion tends to stay in
motion.
And for God's sake, get a good book!! I
recommend 'Snow Crash' by Neil Stephenson.
Best of luck... I'm in another slump myself, and
come the weekend I'll be trying to get myself in
motion again.
Message 4/27 14-Sep-00 @ 11:52 PM - RE: Creative Slump
Holyshit! snowcrash, I finished that a while back, read it in like 3 days, awesome book if that dont inspire some weird digital music nothing will!
laterz
laterz
Message 5/27 15-Sep-00 @ 07:43 AM - RE: Creative Slump
I can't stress these two things enough: Learning and
living. A steady diet of these two things will help
inspire anyone. Here's some more tips...
Classical composers used to turn sheet music upside
down and try to play the music, to gain new insights
into progressions and melodies. While not the same as
'upside down and backwards', listening to music
backwards can also give you alot of ideas. Remember,
learning is all about connecting ideas, and actual
spaces, in our brains. Like water flowing through a
labrynth of channels and passages, when a new
connection is formed, the water can flow into new
areas. A single new connection can cause hundreds of
other connections to be called into more frequent use.
Get some new gear. I hate to admit it, but new
equipment is the quickest way to feed yourself some new
sounds, which entertain the portion of brain concerned
wholly with identifying what sounds are. This part of
the brain creates the best feelings when excited,
contrary to our belief that it's the notes and melodies
that entertain us the most. The pleasing sounds are the
candy coating around the melodic payload...
The best sounds have alot of 'overtones'. Basically, a
piano has alot of overtones. Play middle C, and at a
lower amplitude the c an octave up is mixed in, and the
next c quieter yet, and so forth. As we move up the
keys, the overtones decrease beyond our ability to hear
them. The more overtones (and not necessarily at the
octaves) the better! Ever wonder why we can listen to a
piano or a cello for hours and not get sick of the
sound? OVERTONES. Something lacking from purely digital
instruments. That's why electronic musicians have to
build them back into the sounds using LFOs, filters,
reverbs and delays.
Get a mentor. You need someone who will be honest and
tell you when you're making crap. Someone who can also
steer you away from habitual paths.
Alot of new age musicians claim to have had near-death
experiences. While dead, they say that they have heard
the most beautiful music. They spend the rest of their
lives trying to re-create the music they heard while
dead. They are driven because they have a goal in mind,
one that they may never reach. If you don't have a goal
besides 'a banging track', you may find your creativity
lacking more often than not. I have such a goal, but I
do lose sight of it, sometimes.
If people want me to shut up, jus
living. A steady diet of these two things will help
inspire anyone. Here's some more tips...
Classical composers used to turn sheet music upside
down and try to play the music, to gain new insights
into progressions and melodies. While not the same as
'upside down and backwards', listening to music
backwards can also give you alot of ideas. Remember,
learning is all about connecting ideas, and actual
spaces, in our brains. Like water flowing through a
labrynth of channels and passages, when a new
connection is formed, the water can flow into new
areas. A single new connection can cause hundreds of
other connections to be called into more frequent use.
Get some new gear. I hate to admit it, but new
equipment is the quickest way to feed yourself some new
sounds, which entertain the portion of brain concerned
wholly with identifying what sounds are. This part of
the brain creates the best feelings when excited,
contrary to our belief that it's the notes and melodies
that entertain us the most. The pleasing sounds are the
candy coating around the melodic payload...
The best sounds have alot of 'overtones'. Basically, a
piano has alot of overtones. Play middle C, and at a
lower amplitude the c an octave up is mixed in, and the
next c quieter yet, and so forth. As we move up the
keys, the overtones decrease beyond our ability to hear
them. The more overtones (and not necessarily at the
octaves) the better! Ever wonder why we can listen to a
piano or a cello for hours and not get sick of the
sound? OVERTONES. Something lacking from purely digital
instruments. That's why electronic musicians have to
build them back into the sounds using LFOs, filters,
reverbs and delays.
Get a mentor. You need someone who will be honest and
tell you when you're making crap. Someone who can also
steer you away from habitual paths.
Alot of new age musicians claim to have had near-death
experiences. While dead, they say that they have heard
the most beautiful music. They spend the rest of their
lives trying to re-create the music they heard while
dead. They are driven because they have a goal in mind,
one that they may never reach. If you don't have a goal
besides 'a banging track', you may find your creativity
lacking more often than not. I have such a goal, but I
do lose sight of it, sometimes.
If people want me to shut up, jus
Message 6/27 15-Sep-00 @ 10:33 AM - RE: Creative Slump
there's a very good thread on creativity dips in the main forum...about a year old i think....hmmm....i cant remeber the name but i thought it was excellent..I enjoyed reading it a lot. Try and find it, and most of all DONT GIVE UP...just do some other stuff for a while (like playing your keyboard with the sequencer/computer turned off, listen to many (amateur)mp3s created by other people, also in other genres...)
Best of luck mate
Best of luck mate
Message 7/27 16-Sep-00 @ 04:44 AM - RE: Creative Slump
i do agree with more gear == more inspiration, BUT i think that can also be a trap. think about finding the right sound for a track, it can take 6 months or more to crack a certain synth and be able to use it to its full potential and actually KNOW what its NOT capable of doing, and then finding the right sound on another machine. and if your have like 5 synths that u only half know then..........(this is all JUST my OPINION)
btw ggehiere I listened to a couple of your tracks the other day, I like'em :-)
btw ggehiere I listened to a couple of your tracks the other day, I like'em :-)
Message 8/27 16-Sep-00 @ 08:22 AM - RE: Creative Slump
I disagree to a point with more gear, more inspiration. I`d certainly say that a certain amount will stop you being held back, but too much and you`ll just be going round in circles dabbling with each individual piece rather than diggin right inside em like Syn said. I mean, I`ve had my sampler for mebbe 15 months now and I`ve absolutely caned it, but I`m only just now beginning to dig right inside it now and its absolutely fucking incredible the things it lets me do and yet I`ve still only scratched the surface in terms of its abilities. If I`d have actually bought all the other pieces that I`ve eyed up greedily in those past 15 months I`d still be going nowhere fast as I`d only have basic knowledge of each and heave even more debts.
Message 9/27 16-Sep-00 @ 08:28 AM - RE: Creative Slump
agreed - i'd say dump 80% of your gear and work with an absolute minimum like sampler & one synth... more kit = less work in my experience cos you solve all problems of originality with sounds choices mentally - that is not the answer - you need to be able to make wicked music grooves with just the absolute basics.
Message 10/27 18-Sep-00 @ 06:23 AM - RE: Creative Slump
I most certainly agree with the rest of y'all - there
are some definitely dangerous perils to the 'more
gear' solution.
I've always said that gas (gear aquisition
syndrome) just gets in the way - the choosing,
obsessing, saving for, purchasing, buying, being
frustrated by, learning and ultimately using new
gear just get in the way of what's really important -
writing music.
But it is one of the ways we feel 'trapped', and like
our creativity is going in circles...
By the way, FLuCKs should tell us what kind of
music he/ she is writing.
Later...
are some definitely dangerous perils to the 'more
gear' solution.
I've always said that gas (gear aquisition
syndrome) just gets in the way - the choosing,
obsessing, saving for, purchasing, buying, being
frustrated by, learning and ultimately using new
gear just get in the way of what's really important -
writing music.
But it is one of the ways we feel 'trapped', and like
our creativity is going in circles...
By the way, FLuCKs should tell us what kind of
music he/ she is writing.
Later...
Message 11/27 18-Sep-00 @ 11:17 AM - RE: Creative Slump
or the other option is get a new girlfriend/boyfreind that usually gets the creative juices flowing - often a 'creative slump' is going hand in hand with a 'relationship' slump 
Message 12/27 19-Sep-00 @ 02:04 AM - RE: Creative Slump
listen some music you absolutely hate. i mean like stuff that makes your skin crawl. and break it down mentally in you head. get yourself so you can start to recreate it. do play anything you like just the crappy stuff you hate. then at some point in time you won't be able to take it anymore and you will go back to writing what you did before the slump.
Message 14/27 19-Sep-00 @ 08:20 AM - RE: Creative Slump
Relationships?!! Luckily, I'm happily married. No
emotional ups and downs, just unwavering bliss!! And I
write alot of tracks (not always amazing, but getting
better all the time!)
I think dating people gets in the way - individuals
only grow as individuals when they're unattached.
Nothing like a girlfriend/ boyfriend to despise all
your gear for taking the attention of of them!! I've
seen few relationships where people give each other
freedom to grow and change - something musicians should
be going through all the time, I think.
Or you can just ignore this married old coot
emotional ups and downs, just unwavering bliss!! And I
write alot of tracks (not always amazing, but getting
better all the time!)
I think dating people gets in the way - individuals
only grow as individuals when they're unattached.
Nothing like a girlfriend/ boyfriend to despise all
your gear for taking the attention of of them!! I've
seen few relationships where people give each other
freedom to grow and change - something musicians should
be going through all the time, I think.
Or you can just ignore this married old coot
Message 15/27 20-Sep-00 @ 08:55 AM - RE: Creative Slump
not that anyone's reading still, or that it matters.. much as i agree with too much gear being anti-productive, i think there is a minimum (probably different for everyone) that you need to be productive & not too limited. say.. 2 synths (analog & a digital??) a sampler, mixer and an fx processor?? also a sequencer helps, and some audio software is never hurtful, especially with all the free sound-marsing wares around. software can be neat. any more could really be seen as embellishment by some.. but a drum module doesn't HURT so necessarily.. or drum machine, thems rock too.. i'd love an Xbase.. no space or cash for it, and no mixer channels.. whatever.... i thought a few times about selling my airbase, just sample the shit out of it & downsize a tiny bit.. but it is hard to get rid of.. i mean it even had a letter to me personally from JoMoX.. and it is sweet. hmmmmmmm.......
sequencer, MIDI thru box or MIDI patchbay, sampler, a synth or two, some FX & a mixer. maybe a compressor/limiter, and some recording gear helps too!! also a cheapish mic for grabbing percussive sounds and bug oscillations. crickets crickets crickets. and tinking glass of the blender. wow... love glassy sound..
ok then
sequencer, MIDI thru box or MIDI patchbay, sampler, a synth or two, some FX & a mixer. maybe a compressor/limiter, and some recording gear helps too!! also a cheapish mic for grabbing percussive sounds and bug oscillations. crickets crickets crickets. and tinking glass of the blender. wow... love glassy sound..
ok then
Message 16/27 20-Sep-00 @ 12:39 PM - RE: Creative Slump
guess it depends on the way you like to work. I`ve kinda hit a point recently when I dont hate everything I do, everyone else still does, but I dont give a shit about them cos I enjoys it. But my way of doing it is basically my racksmapler, some records and a few sampled tones from my MW so I`m thinking about selling pretty much everything to finance a better desk, the rfx chip (yum), slider box and the output board for mumma e4. Mebbe I`ll hang onto the vf1 for now and I`ll keep the Meek but thats about it.....oh mw can stay too, prolly even offload the mpc for an mc80 which`ll hurt, but I could buy it back for the cost of a packet of woodbines when the new mpc and sp come out so I could pick another up later.........or just be happy that all my gear works properly now. Hows the mc80? I`mma little bit bothered about that track merging thing - does it slip up when theres controllers flying allover the shop? Hmmmm......I dunno, the extra money would be more usefull than what I get from the mpc......but I love my mpc..........but it annoys the hell out of me.......even tho I love it........but I cant do the things I want to do to my beats now with the mpc. Guess I should sell.
Message 17/27 20-Sep-00 @ 03:26 PM - RE: Creative Slump
track merging thing? er.... you can merge selected information together.. process the hell out of your midi data pretty much.. user defined templates for quantizing.. honestly i never use more than 7 to 12 tracks of info, and that would be to a few machines.. no, i don't have any timing problems with cc messages.. i'm not sure what exactly you mean about merging.. help me out there? i really haven't gotten into the stuff like pattern calls & song mode.. really it has a lot of features to it. as a loop sequencer i have used it a bunch, but i have not fully learned it. have you read the SOS review? i've never talked with anyone else who had one. and some peoplem buy them with the sound board inside for.. wait for it now......... KARAOKE!! oh gawds & hells.
Message 18/27 20-Sep-00 @ 04:19 PM - RE: Creative Slump
karaoke eh? I`m there dude That track merging thing I read in the sos review as it happens - they said its 32 part multitimbral, but only 16 track so you havta merge and unmerge tracks? Nay mind anyway, my e4s only 16 part and I dont need any more than that. Theres money in the bank which is set aside for bills, but I can ignore that for a while if mateys still got his for sale and keep the mpc in case I dont get on with it, I`ve got a feeling I might like it better tho with all those quantising options and sweet resolution. I fecking hate selling gear, buyers tend to be such arseholes but they gots the money 
That track merging thing I read in the sos review as it happens - they said its 32 part multitimbral, but only 16 track so you havta merge and unmerge tracks? Nay mind anyway, my e4s only 16 part and I dont need any more than that. Theres money in the bank which is set aside for bills, but I can ignore that for a while if mateys still got his for sale and keep the mpc in case I dont get on with it, I`ve got a feeling I might like it better tho with all those quantising options and sweet resolution. I fecking hate selling gear, buyers tend to be such arseholes but they gots the money
Message 19/27 20-Sep-00 @ 05:43 PM - RE: Creative Slump
right.. got it. if it were really meant as a 32-track sequencer it'd have been made with 32 track buttons. so that's my little thought, or at least something i think might have occured to the idiot types this. i would keep the mpc until you know if you like it, yes. personally i love using the footswitches to do stuff. that is neato. i think. er....... the screen isn't intensely bright either. still pretty clinical feeling, though not as much as hospital-sterile akai. and i like my akai. but while you fucking emu users get a new fx board we get a flipping usb board. oh joy! well i'm still keeping my akai.
Message 20/27 20-Sep-00 @ 07:48 PM - RE: Creative Slump
I think the "toomuchgear" syndrome is a double edged sword. It is best that you know all of your kit intimately so you can squeeze the maximum amount of originality out of the oscillators and avoid preset frustration/embarrassment- however.. when I know a certian sound will work best with an fm synth I instinctively reach for the DX or if i need a demon growl... the SH101 will surely speak for itself.. But one thing I am sure of is that looking for inspiration only in new gear is a sure trip down milquetoast lane.. I reicently did a piece for an ad agency's tv commercial, they wanted a specific kind of Muzak for a pharmacy scene. I banged out a couple of different versions but got stuck on one that sounded really dark and swanky... I delivered the others and they predictably chose the least obtrusive ie. most boring one and payed me for it.. however I went back to the dark jazzy version and fleshed it out and it has become a track that I really like and am currently shopping around. So, in conclusion maybe you shold give yourself an "assignment" to write something you usually wouldnt consider, and I'm sure you would find an aspect of it that will fuel your creative fire for a while.. oh.. and dont take yourself too seriously and dont try to copy some specific genre too much you'll end up getting Hamlet's syndrome... (apologies for the S.P.)
Message 21/27 03-Oct-00 @ 07:54 AM - RE: Creative Slump
I think the too much gear thing is a copout i think if
you have to worry about trying to find sounds is the
problem.Dump all your preset gear and get something
that has total realtime control and no sound memory.I
did dump my cd3000 though i mean how many samplers do
we really need???????????????
you have to worry about trying to find sounds is the
problem.Dump all your preset gear and get something
that has total realtime control and no sound memory.I
did dump my cd3000 though i mean how many samplers do
we really need???????????????
Message 22/27 03-Oct-00 @ 01:50 PM - RE: Creative Slump
Jasper
Posts: 424
Link?: No link
File?: No file
erm.. 1?
maybe 2 if ones a grainy old 8 bit?
maybe 2 if ones a grainy old 8 bit?
Message 23/27 03-Oct-00 @ 02:23 PM - RE: Creative Slump
Music is a language, and the better we understand
the tools with which we communicate, the better
we can express ourselves. I think everyone agrees
with that....
Of course, some gear sounds great, but if the
interface between us and the machine is inferior
we won't express much...
the tools with which we communicate, the better
we can express ourselves. I think everyone agrees
with that....
Of course, some gear sounds great, but if the
interface between us and the machine is inferior
we won't express much...
Message 24/27 04-Oct-00 @ 05:24 AM - RE: Creative Slump
That pretty much validates my argument against presets
and to have total realtime control over VOLTAGE not
010101010101010111001010010001100110101garbage!!!!!!!!!
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
and to have total realtime control over VOLTAGE not
010101010101010111001010010001100110101garbage!!!!!!!!!
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Message 25/27 04-Oct-00 @ 11:51 AM - RE: Creative Slump
Jasper
Posts: 424
Link?: No link
File?: No file
something else that helps me is just knowing that I can write tunes if I want.. remember what equipment you had right at the start? 1 synth.. nothing.. and you wanted to write stuff.. what have you got now.. even if it's minimal I bet it's still better than what you had before right? that fact alone should give you a bit of inspiration.
Message 26/27 05-Oct-00 @ 04:57 AM - RE: Creative Slump
When they perfect mind to mind transfers i'll send you
some waves.I'm a bit too inspired.My problem is I need
to label my seq with names that make sense when I'm
sober.Oh yeah I'm never
sober!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!Maybe you should try
peyote and a telescope for
inspiration!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
some waves.I'm a bit too inspired.My problem is I need
to label my seq with names that make sense when I'm
sober.Oh yeah I'm never
sober!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!Maybe you should try
peyote and a telescope for
inspiration!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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