Electronic Music 411 - Stagnation - music, nowhere, stagnation

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Stagnation

StoreTags: music, nowhere, stagnation

Author: cornbb on November 23 2006

Viewed 1590 times. 5 people liked this blog. You can rate it below if you haven't already.

People who enjoyed reading this: Ochre, delete, reehc, Plissken, jcd

--> I love electronic music. You can probably tell that from how I'm posting here. But I have a problem. Lately I've been finding it tough to make music. I've just moved to a new city and started a new job. Life is busy but I have enough spare hours in the week to dedicate to music. I have plenty of tools: a laptop running cubase, energyXT, Max/MSP, Kontakt, and tons of other software. I have a guitar, a nice audio interface, a great MIDI controller and a decent set of monitors. Yet whenever I sit down and try to compose I've recently draw a blank.

It could be an issue with self confidence. I have a folder full of abandoned cubase projects entitled "New1", "New2" etc. The fact that I mess with a drum pattern or drone or whatever and think "nah, thats shit" and move on to something else probably doesn't help.

So what the hell does one do in this situation? Where does one start? Can anyone empathise?

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Comments

11/23/06 + Ochre

We all have our productivity peaks and troughs - don't be too hard on yourself. Best thing I find is to just wait, and perhaps absorb some new music, read something, go to gigs etc. You might come across something inspiring to kick-start the creativity again. Instead of looking inwards for that creative spark, staring at Cubase, take a breather to see what's going on around you, the big picture etc, then refocus on your music.

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11/23/06 + Zanf

Music stagnation and impotence are linked: the more you think about it, the more chance there is of it happening. When it happens, the more you focus on it, the longer it will continue.

music is about expression: go out and experience something that you can then express through your music.

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edited: Nov 23 2006 + delete

i think the problem might be the "new1", "new2" filenames. i find it a lot easier when i start a track with a certain purpose on my head, otherwise it's almost impossible. try visualising a cool new track, find a title and a story for it, find the label that's going to release it for you and the artists that are going to remix it for you. then start writing the music

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11/23/06 + cbit

ochre said: " Instead of looking inwards for that creative spark, staring at Cubase, take a breather to see what's going on around you, the big picture etc, then refocus on your music."

very well put ochre.

Heres my current approach: dont put any pressure on yourself to finish tracks. Work on sketches for as long as theyre enjoyable, then stop and start a new one but don't delete the old one! when you have a ton of them, go through and finish them into tracks, for me thats the harder part.. but the problem of the 'blank canvas' isn't an issue anymore.

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11/23/06 + lilt

buy a nice and sturdy note book
start jotting notes about anything
draw pictures...

they dont necessarily need to be about music...but its always good just to get your mind thinking about things and having something to actually go back to...

works for me anyway

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11/24/06 + Squeal

I write best at a piano. Or maybe on a guitar.

Recent blogs: Take this job (school) and SHOVE IT

edited: Nov 24 2006 + monty

when im stuck for inspiration ill pick a genre and try and recreate it.
any genre, but one you dont normally listen to, sometimes that works for me.
ill end up getting a weird crossover sound that i didnt know i could make before

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11/24/06 + astroid

well, you have max/msp, so that means you're a patcher, and you can make your own instruments, effects and stuff. you make some wicked effect-it can be very inspiring. i find the best patching ideas come from times i'm not at the computer. so, i'll be on a walk, or going to sleep, or washing the dishes, and thinking about some capability or problem i want a way around, and the brain makes it so much easier than the fingers. also, for big meta-musical things, this works really well. also, learning how to write music (not neccesarily in notation, maybe a personal shorthand) can make you rely on your ears and your memory-and i guarantee that your ears and memory are more powerful processors than your hands and a computer.

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11/25/06 + tonearm

I get that a lot. I have a notebook full of track titles. I pick one then I start work. The track has to reflect the title somehwhat (well in my head anyway).
when I dry up, I go to the park & take some photos, do some gardening, take a train to somewhere I've never been. Sometimes sitting down at a laptop just drains any spark of creativity, so you have to find it elsewhere

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