Great news: May 17th I will be playing at the Dunn (?) Center in Exeter PA. I don't expect any of you to make it, but that's beside the point. I'm having trouble composing. I have about four tracks already lined up, however it seems now I can't write anything I like. Everything sounds like shit to me. What's really frustrating is that I used to be able to come up with a melody or beat that I would really like in about an hour. Now I can't write anything even slightly complex, its all four on the floor stuff.
It seems that now that I am somewhat forced to create I can't do it. I can't get past these awful loops that just don't congeal.
I'm trying to find something to inspire me, and so far nothing has, Reaktor's getting old since I don't get the results I used to and Renoise is just a bitch to look at anymore. It seems I can't escape doing the same thing over and over again. UGH.
If anyone could give me some help in any way that would be great.
thanks everyone. thanks to this blog i'm not worrying so much anymore. tiny fuck ups don't matter because no ones heard these tracks before, even when i try to record songs I have to manually play everyhing out so improv shouldn't be that big of a deal. I'll just have to remember to keep my eyes on the clock and the audience, so i don't let things drag on too much.
<- Apparently I can't post in my own blog.
P.S. I love Fugazi
P.P.S. I think my friends are going to try to record the show, so maybe if it goes well I'll upload it. Maybe.
 , Pennsylvania, USA
About me
i make small loops
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Soft: Reaktor 5, Renoise, various VSTs
Hard: Nanoloop, DS10, Yamaha AN200 +Most Recent Blogs
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Electronic Music other: First gig Blues
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Written April 01 2008 , Tags: uninspired, bored, bitter, meh
Comments
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take a break for a bit, or change your composing environment a tad and see if that helps. Put yourself in the mindset you want your audience to be in, and go from there.
(I don't know what else to suggest, just hoping something I say might light a fire under your ass or something) don't force yurself into long live sets.
a short good one is better than a mediocre long one. try to keep it under 40 (or even better 30) minutes. best gig i ever played: a little bit more than 20 minutes. i would say, work on your old stuff make it primo, and work on making an awesome live set.
yeah from my limited experience I would say don't try and do anything fancy or out of the ordinary... do something you're very used to, and keep it as simple as possible. Seems like you're trying to come up with a lot of new stuff and that might not be the best idea... for a first gig at least.
hey jack...i think there has been a lot of good advice given already. in particular, if you can storm it for 20 minutes, rather than meandering for 40, that would be better! I admit that i would want more if you had stormed it for 20 minutes but it has to be better than forcing yourself to produce 40 minutes you are not happy with. for a first gig, your happiness is pretty key i'd say. so take it easy for a bit and get happy with performing whatever you have. if you add some gems at a late stage, taht is a bonus. at least you will have a solid and rehearsed basis to work from.
by the way, i am no veteran by any means but my first gig is still very fresh in my mind. good luck with it dude! my first ever gig (with monty) felt like 20 minutes but was actually well over 40. I think that's a good sign...
Short is sweet. I saw Fugazi play a few years ago. I've liked them for a long ass time and still I left before they were done.
fugazi concerts are the opus magnum of concerts.
it'S like the uber extended version of somebody playing live. haha. they are talking about performing Stockhausen's Licht in full next year - now that will be a long concert. 20 hours I believe.
(no) edit: 29 hours apparently and they were planning on performing it this year - not sure of the status of this in light of events at the end of last year...I was meant to be going
 just make loads of those uninspiring loops and find a way to mess with them while playing- switch to the next one when you get bored- add some hands free transitions in between for when you need a rest
i dont know what youre going to use but something with midi track mute buttons will let you vary a loop just by switching on/off different tracks of midi data ive done this with an mmt8 (cos i havent got a laptop)- its surprisingly effective- i managed to keep a 1 beat loop interesting for several minutes live sets dont need to be 100% preprogrammed- improvise with loops longest performance ever:
639 Years link oh, john always wins, doesn't he...
jack, sorry, not trying to hijack your blog at all. in fact, i would add one thing and that is the fact that (assuming this is true for everyone), no-one will be listening to what you are doing quite as closely as you. i had some technical problems and made a couple of fuck ups with my first live gig. is quite a complex thing i try to pull off.........but no fucker cared. people loved it and once i realised that i wasn't bothered by the fuck ups anymore.
just do it. the less you think and the more you enjoy yourself the better.
just rehearse at home, feel comfortable and there you go. and again. better 20 minutes of real thunder, than 40 minutes of mediocre stuff. leave the stage with the audience wanting to hear more. you don't want them to be glad, your set is over, right? Page 1 | 2
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