Blackouts/uninspired

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Blackouts/uninspired; How do you deal with them?
Topic Started: Nov 10 2008, 11:20 AM (429 Views)
AngeFragile	Nov 10 2008, 11:20 AM Post #1
Member Posts: 13 Group: Members Member #18,842 Joined: November 3, 2008	I'm still very new and still have a lot of basics to learn (which do play a role), but here it goes. If there is already a topic like this one my apologies. I often get inspired and fire up a new project, laying down a bassline or a lead or whatever over the line of a few hours or even days, but then all of a sudden I seem to lose all momentum and whatever I do next...it just doesn't work and I get completely lost. I have dozens of little bits I've started but am unable to 'finish' something. How do you deal with this (if this is familiar)? Do you abandon the project altogether, wasting away on your HD? Go back to it at some point? Chuck it out? Is there a way to 'force' yourself to keep going?
	Check out my noise on MySpace or on AcidPlanet


CJV	Nov 10 2008, 01:43 PM Post #2
Psyhead/Tech head Posts: 2,117 Group: Music Department * Member #26 Joined: March 28, 2006	I've had this a few times, and if you take a look at my fl projects folder its filled with tons of these eventually I end up going back to them, sometimes I end up going back to my older works and reworking them with my current knowledge, sometimes though it's best to set a day dedicated to working on a track like block all means of interuptions etc from instant messengers lol I'd like some advice on this too as I'm currently struggling even with my own tips
	WINNER: Hooverdom Remix Contest AcidPlanet \| deviantArt \| Myspace


PhoeniX	Nov 11 2008, 08:52 AM Post #3
is giving very serious thought to eating Hannibal Lecter's wife Posts: 3,779 Group: Administrator Member #1 Joined: February 1, 2006	I just leave it there for a few days or weeks at stretch. Go back and you realize it was a mess to begin with. Take it up and run along and gain momentum. It's natural. "The Block" happenz. It good! The Bible sez. It good! Kidding... I also try and draw inspiration from all sorts of deviousness (movies, pictures, ehem**ehem, etc.) leaving music alone for a while. Ita help. It good!
	Personal Channels: Portfolio \| Blog \| Music Friends' Channels: AxEast and his funky MySpace \| Pero


kiddk8	Nov 12 2008, 05:11 PM Post #4
1am Media [Music] [Hippy Freak] Posts: 1,484 Group: Music Department 4* Member #50 Joined: June 13, 2006	(Condensed Answer): Well I keep everything. Which is probably why I've filled 3 additional harddrives now x.x haha Sometimes I go back to an unfinished project, sometimes I don't. (Long Fluffy Additional Text): I've found that bits and parts of started projects can come in handy even if you don't come back to them in the same form. Especially with all the pitch-shift and editing features on most software now. Or in other words - even if you don't finish a project, you still might find a great opportunity at another time to fit an arp, progression, drum sequence - whatever - into a different thing you may be working on. This is especially true of loop based composition. When I say "loop based" I'm not referring to a song that necessarily uses outside source loops. Not trying to insult your intelligence, just not sure if you would know my term there. Anyways to make a long reply longer - I come back to them sometimes - other times I come back few weeks or months later and wonder "Who put this awful crap on my computer?!". But giving some genuine time before listening again gives you back that objective ear you sometimes lose on your own work. But at the very minimum - I save every loop that I've made regardless of how seemingly insignificant it was. You never know when they will come in handy later. Ironically on this topic - I adopted that due to a commercial breakbeat artist I know from Romania saying one of his hits was made with a heap of loops he had compiled from 2 older DnB projects he dumped I also listen to a lot of DJ mixes (since I primarily make dance music) if I'm uninspired. The goal is not to clone what I'm hearing - it's simply to get into the right mindset and vibe. Edited by kiddk8, Nov 12 2008, 05:15 PM.
	WINNER: A Trip 2 Heaven Remix Contest WINNER: Hooverdom Remix Contest WINNER: Sand Dance Remix Contest WINNER: L'Art De Chill Remix Contest MySpace \| www.foxxkitsune.net \| kiddk8 at acidplanet "I would cut off my arms to have the reverb sound you use. That however would make my own recording a little difficult." - Russ Krauch in contest comment to PhoeniX


CJV	Nov 12 2008, 06:35 PM Post #5
Psyhead/Tech head Posts: 2,117 Group: Music Department * Member #26 Joined: March 28, 2006	Nicely put
	WINNER: Hooverdom Remix Contest AcidPlanet \| deviantArt \| Myspace


Synius	Nov 25 2008, 05:57 AM Post #6
Needs a melody. Posts: 36 Group: Music Department Member #4,956 Joined: November 22, 2007	Yeah, inspiration can be pretty cruel... just as quickly as it comes, it'll drop out and leave you just as rapid. And then you're left hanging with an incomplete project, and sometimes even nothing at all because you simply had ideas to begin with. I usually fight it with time... exploring other arts helps a lot though!
	Newest Track - Vanity (and how corrupt it is!)


Pedro	Nov 26 2008, 12:13 AM Post #7
Don Shitzinsky Posts: 2,881 Group: Super Moderator Member #24 Joined: March 19, 2006	Inspiration? It's a real *****, I must say. I also must note, I didn't produce a thing since I revamped the entire software part of my laptop, also, I have ideas, but ideas are not just what it takes to produce an entire track from start to finish. I save everything as well and I have over 300 flp projects that only I've made. It's not a waste of diskspace because you will get back at it in some year in the future and comment, aaah, see here, these are the strong badia remixes I once did for 1am. I, myself, currently don't even have a production software installed on my laptop, nothing, the only things keeping me busy are my girlfriend, listening to music and college obligations. I've gotten a lot into politics and I'm a part of many things, in a year or in my graduate college years I plan to lead a project onto a chemical engineering conference in New Dehli, so yes, see you there Pulkit! After my little epiphany, back to the important things, inspiration, yes, CJV pointed some things out, like me bugging the hell out of him on MSN while he's trying to produce some new cool psytrance or DnB. kiddk8 added some great points and pointers as well, so I guess I can stop spamming the topic with irrelevant information. See ya!
	WINNER: Krusty Is Round Remix Contest


ThePublicityStunt	Nov 26 2008, 02:30 PM Post #8
Da down beat dude Posts: 459 Group: Music Department *** Member #39 Joined: April 26, 2006	Being uninspired or blocked is a real personal thing but ill just put my two cents in on my view on it and process for helping As of late, I've been devolping a decent record collection. And I find that if I just sit down and listen to records for a few hours, and pick up differnt things. Like vocal techniques, key patterns, drum breaks and just pick up ways of making music like they did back in the day. I find this to help alot because no matter how many times i hear a record, I pick up something new. And especially lately, I'll sample something of that record..weather its like a drum break, a kick, snare, vocal sample, guitar line, what ever it is ..it helps Now writers block is something differnt than being uninspired to me. Its like starting to make a tune but than hitting a dump. I find it best to just leave music the hell alone. Because the more you pick at this idea of being stuck, the worse it gets...well for me atleast. I think you need to wait for a time where you crave to make music and not just for the novelty of making music, because that can happen quite often, more than you'd imagine . Just when you feeel the true urge , something from deep within that music is something you need to do ...you start to make the best music ...for me atleast In something recent, the remix i did for the Axeast contest ..i've been a follower of AxEAst for ages...and he's showed me the ropes more than once ...so in this case i got inspired by the idea of growing ..and it helped alot...so at times you gotta look away from music to be inspired to do it i kno half of this doesn't make sense, but inspiration is something like that ...weird stuff...
	WINNER: Yol Remix Contest WINNER: Sand Dance Remix Contest WINNER: Twisted Minds Remix Contest ThePublicityStunt : Witness.Explore.Indulge


CJV	Nov 26 2008, 04:33 PM Post #9
Psyhead/Tech head Posts: 2,117 Group: Music Department * Member #26 Joined: March 28, 2006	Adding anothter thing I find going somewhere where no one is and just stare and some landscapes and the sky for awhile so my mind is completely blank and then things tend to creep in, although that could be to do with the style of music I go for personally but it's nice to escape everything and get natural ideas from the surroundings other than your say 4 walled room. I could be going a bit too creative on this but... dunno where I'm going now I'll leave it before I mess it up... TOO LATE! Anyway things come back... eventually!
	WINNER: Hooverdom Remix Contest AcidPlanet \| deviantArt \| Myspace


ThePublicityStunt	Nov 26 2008, 05:41 PM Post #10
Da down beat dude Posts: 459 Group: Music Department *** Member #39 Joined: April 26, 2006	welll..if ur down with it..a good taste of the herb always helps a ton!
	WINNER: Yol Remix Contest WINNER: Sand Dance Remix Contest WINNER: Twisted Minds Remix Contest ThePublicityStunt : Witness.Explore.Indulge


AngeFragile	Nov 26 2008, 09:38 PM Post #11
Member Posts: 13 Group: Members Member #18,842 Joined: November 3, 2008	Thanks for the answers, showing me quite a different angle here hehe.
	Check out my noise on MySpace or on AcidPlanet


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