If you're blocked and can't get anything done...

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rktic
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If you're blocked and can't get anything done...

Post by rktic »

...watch this video of John Cleese about cultivating creativity.

youtu.be/tmY4-RMB0YY

It's a bit uncanny how he comes to terms with different modes of work, what supports creativity and so on. He provides a lot of valuable hints how to get through blocks and once you've got an idea how to implement it. Can easily be transfered to the process of music production as well.

Essential!

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Lost to the Void
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Re: If you're blocked and can't get anything done...

Post by Lost to the Void »

I have always found the best method when i am blocked is to whirl down into a spiral of despair and depression, think that its all over and i will never create again, that the muse has finally left me, and then plan what i am going to do with the rest of my life.
This can be aided by increasing ones isolation, and numbing the mind with some form of narcotic, from booze to psychotropics.


Always worked for me anyway, ill make a video one day.

Creativity and the path to despair.
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Pantschowa
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Re: If you're blocked and can't get anything done...

Post by Pantschowa »

Nice video.

I see this creativity swings as some natural flow and I think my reactions to blockades are also pre-configured. Dunno, it feels like in periods when I don't produce much the isolation and mind numbing mentioned above come in a rush automatically.

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Re: If you're blocked and can't get anything done...

Post by SHIDZO »

Does anyone still have the video?

What are you guys doing when you are blocked... I don't know whether I should take a break for a few days(?) and use my time to do something else or just shut the fuck up, stop whinging and power through. Because in the end I succeed, isn't it.. At the moment I'm just sitting there hitting the "C" key on my piano over and over again... Literally... Everything sounds like shit. I'm working a lot of hours at the moment and feel generally exhausted. Winter is coming, too. So yeah, what are your experiences and recipes? For today I decided to not use the holy Sunday for music and take the missus out exploring one of the many abandoned places here in Berlin instead. Looking forward to receiving some input from you cunts

Cheers

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Hades
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Re: If you're blocked and can't get anything done...

Post by Hades »

SHIDZO wrote:Does anyone still have the video?

What are you guys doing when you are blocked... I don't know whether I should take a break for a few days(?) and use my time to do something else or just shut the fuck up, stop whinging and power through. Because in the end I succeed, isn't it.. At the moment I'm just sitting there hitting the "C" key on my piano over and over again... Literally... Everything sounds like shit. I'm working a lot of hours at the moment and feel generally exhausted. Winter is coming, too. So yeah, what are your experiences and recipes? For today I decided to not use the holy Sunday for music and take the missus out exploring one of the many abandoned places here in Berlin instead. Looking forward to receiving some input from you cunts

Cheers
you can try this book.
It's ok, not great, but definitely worth the read.
I suspect the content is better the newer you are to production (as it usually is with these kind of things)

https://makingmusic.ableton.com/

Or Eno's Oblique strategies.
There's some timeless advice in there like "call your mother and ask her what to do !!" :D

http://stoney.sb.org/eno/oblique.html
Sin cambios no hay mariposa


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Hades
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Re: If you're blocked and can't get anything done...

Post by Hades »

SHIDZO wrote: At the moment I'm just sitting there hitting the "C" key on my piano over and over again... Literally... Everything sounds like shit.
well, if you're gonna hit C all the time you can't expect musical miracles,
unless you have some mad ninja sound design skills for each sound that gets to play a C note. :D

You can always just spend a few hours making sounds, or just organizing your sample library,
or other "household" types of jobs that are also part of the electronic music making process.

But is the problem that you're not happy with the sounds, or that you're not happy with the melodies you come up with ?
Because a good way to stimulate creativity when you use Live is to use the "convert to harmony/melody" or "extract groove" option,
and abuse this on all kinds of loops.
Like convert a drum loop to melody, delete some notes, run it through some mad FX chain,...

Just stay inside the studio and keep on putting in the hours.
Something will always come sooner or later.
Just take a break once in a while, even if it's just to give your ears some rest.
Sin cambios no hay mariposa


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Re: If you're blocked and can't get anything done...

Post by Barfunkel »

My tip #1: If you don't feel creative, go to a house/techno club for the whole night. If it's good, you'll feel inspired, if it's bad you'll just think that you can do better. Either way, you'll feel motivated to make some music...


Works for me anyway, though of course there are times you just don't feel like clubbing.
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Re: If you're blocked and can't get anything done...

Post by The_G »

I've been having a different but related problem lately...mainly that I keep getting ideas for new tracks that don't cohere with other ideas I've just had, so I've got all these beginnings to tracks but can't see the roadmap to turning them into actual releases.

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Kromasome
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Re: If you're blocked and can't get anything done...

Post by Kromasome »

Lost to the Void wrote:I have always found the best method when i am blocked is to whirl down into a spiral of despair and depression

Creativity and the path to despair.
I think this sums it up pretty well

And to quote a Dillinger Escape Plan album title, "option paralysis" is a big problem for me these days (as I'm sure it is for many others too)

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Barfunkel
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Re: If you're blocked and can't get anything done...

Post by Barfunkel »

The_G wrote:I've been having a different but related problem lately...mainly that I keep getting ideas for new tracks that don't cohere with other ideas I've just had, so I've got all these beginnings to tracks but can't see the roadmap to turning them into actual releases.
Everybody does that I think and it's not even really a real problem imo, (unless you're a pro who has deadlines and/or have to feed someone). Can be a problem if you NEVER manage to finnish anything, but it's not like every single idea you start is a masterpiece that deserves spending ages of fine tuning. If it just doesn't work I think it's more fruitful to just start a new track instead of trying to perfect something that can't be perfected. Some ideas simply are born dead and while you can of course slowly mold a turd into a shiny object, at least for me clearing my head and starting from scratch is usually a better solution. And of course, you can always go back to the old project and later find out the idea actually was decent and worth pursuing.

A related problem that is (again, imo) much worse is habitually finishing everything, especially if we're talking about people who are obsessed with details. You know the type, makes 1-2 tracks a year, each track is honed for months and most of the times the core idea of the track isn't so good, yet the obsessed mind think it'll become a hit if only he manages to EQ the kick perfectly or something. Unless it's specifically an exercise to learn to finnish tracks, most of the time you learn the lesson (or make a nice track, or both) way before you enter that "let's spend 20 hours to work on the minor details" phase.


Really good ideas quite often finnish themselves. If you've been stuck in the same short loop for weeks and all you do is wank about with the minor details without the track actually going anywhere the chances are it never will. Exceptions exist of course, but typically if you get an idea for a track it should be fairly obvious from the get go where it's headed, how to mix/produce it, arrange it, what to add later etc. If it's not clear it's often for the best just to move on.
"I don't shower every day, but when I do, I do it after listening to some Barfunkel" - Anonymous

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http://www.mixcloud.com/Barfunkel/

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Re: If you're blocked and can't get anything done...

Post by SHIDZO »

Hades wrote:
SHIDZO wrote:Does anyone still have the video?

What are you guys doing when you are blocked... I don't know whether I should take a break for a few days(?) and use my time to do something else or just shut the fuck up, stop whinging and power through. Because in the end I succeed, isn't it.. At the moment I'm just sitting there hitting the "C" key on my piano over and over again... Literally... Everything sounds like shit. I'm working a lot of hours at the moment and feel generally exhausted. Winter is coming, too. So yeah, what are your experiences and recipes? For today I decided to not use the holy Sunday for music and take the missus out exploring one of the many abandoned places here in Berlin instead. Looking forward to receiving some input from you cunts

Cheers
you can try this book.
It's ok, not great, but definitely worth the read.
I suspect the content is better the newer you are to production (as it usually is with these kind of things)

https://makingmusic.ableton.com/

Or Eno's Oblique strategies.
There's some timeless advice in there like "call your mother and ask her what to do !!" :D

http://stoney.sb.org/eno/oblique.html
Thanks heaps for that, I had a read through the book and it gives some really nice input. The Oblique strategies are just great :D Thanks man!!!

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Re: If you're blocked and can't get anything done...

Post by SHIDZO »

Hades wrote:
SHIDZO wrote: At the moment I'm just sitting there hitting the "C" key on my piano over and over again... Literally... Everything sounds like shit.
well, if you're gonna hit C all the time you can't expect musical miracles,
unless you have some mad ninja sound design skills for each sound that gets to play a C note. :D

You can always just spend a few hours making sounds, or just organizing your sample library,
or other "household" types of jobs that are also part of the electronic music making process.

But is the problem that you're not happy with the sounds, or that you're not happy with the melodies you come up with ?
Because a good way to stimulate creativity when you use Live is to use the "convert to harmony/melody" or "extract groove" option,
and abuse this on all kinds of loops.
Like convert a drum loop to melody, delete some notes, run it through some mad FX chain,...

Just stay inside the studio and keep on putting in the hours.
Something will always come sooner or later.
Just take a break once in a while, even if it's just to give your ears some rest.
well, if you're gonna hit C all the time you can't expect musical miracles,
unless you have some mad ninja sound design skills for each sound that gets to play a C note. :D
Ok I might have exaggerated a little bit, sometimes I accidently hit the "D" ;)
You can always just spend a few hours making sounds, or just organizing your sample library,
or other "household" types of jobs that are also part of the electronic music making process.
I'm trying to keep the shit nice and tidy from the start, I think I have a computer OCD in general...
But is the problem that you're not happy with the sounds, or that you're not happy with the melodies you come up with ?
Because a good way to stimulate creativity when you use Live is to use the "convert to harmony/melody" or "extract groove" option,
and abuse this on all kinds of loops.
Like convert a drum loop to melody, delete some notes, run it through some mad FX chain,...
This is the input I'm looking for! I kind of got stuck in the same routine I reckon. Not happy with the sounds rather then the melodies I'm coming up with. I have this great Pad going on but can't get any stab to play with it.
Just stay inside the studio and keep on putting in the hours.
Something will always come sooner or later.
Just take a break once in a while, even if it's just to give your ears some rest.
I had this feeling I'm not wrong with the stop whinging approach...

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Re: If you're blocked and can't get anything done...

Post by SHIDZO »

Barfunkel wrote:My tip #1: If you don't feel creative, go to a house/techno club for the whole night. If it's good, you'll feel inspired, if it's bad you'll just think that you can do better. Either way, you'll feel motivated to make some music...


Works for me anyway, though of course there are times you just don't feel like clubbing.
That used to work for me, too. I think the lack of creativity increased a bit and I didn't feel like clubbing. Probably the easiest and best solution is to increase the size of the balls to conquer the missing creativity :) Thanks man


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