what to do when inspiration dwindles?

[Tyrisia]

I've just realized that my inspiration is dwindling fast, ideas ain't workin and I'm finding it hard to keep my attention to detail happening, arrrrggghh.

This is all due to making loops for my live pa project, it started off so well, maybe I've just been hammerin it too hard.

Question is do I walk away for a couple of weeks, or find a way to push through the inspiration barrier? It must have happened to a few of you, so how to deal with it?

[rhythmtech]

walk away..

go find new music, discover new sounds.. get away from techno for a week.. its amazing what it can do for you.

[loopdon]

Absolutely true.

Even longer if needs be.

[RDR]

Try making a different style, and like the others said, spend a week listening to a comlpetely different type of music.

My preferred one is classical music because of the tonality. i get remix ideas from pop and rock, but tonal ideas from classical, bartok, britten etc etc

[koda]

walk away..

go find new music, discover new sounds.. get away from techno for a week.. its amazing what it can do for you.

very good advice.

i have a live pa coming up in a couple of weeks and i find when im preparing for gigs, i always come up with my best work in the last two weeks or so leading up to it, i guess there is a hint of inspiration if not, a certain drive to get it done right and have it worthy to be played to people.
what also works for me is to go to a tekno party and spend the night completley straight, no beer no weed, nothing and see what people react to looking from the "outside"..2c

[Jay Pace]

All of the above is sound advice.

Also - would recommend being quick as you can with ideas.

Just get them down as quickly as possible and move on. The longer you hear the same loop, the more nothingy it sounds and eventually its just noise

I've abandoned plenty of tracks because I've spent ages noodling about with the same patterns and loops, getting more and more distracted with fiddling with a filter or an envelope - and eventually you have no idea what you are working on anymore.

Try and split your time between being creative (coming up with new things) and constructive (sequencing, mixdowns, mastering) etc and take lots of breaks so that you come back with fresh ideas and a more objective perspective.

If you try doing everything at once you burn out.
Give yourself different tasks which require different skills and mindsets and you will exercise different parts of your brain.


I quite like using randomisers for inspiration. Sometimes you can hear patterns in randomised stuff, and you can pull them out. Its like your brain latches on to what the pattern should be doing, then its just a matter of altering it and "correcting" it. Its can be a great way of coming up with ideas.
Best of luck mate

[Tyrisia]

all very good advice, thanks guys, and actually just realizing the fact that I need to change the way I was lookin at things was a big help in itself, after posting, I spent half the night constructing a great loop out of the ashes of pure chod, sod's law I know.

Maybe I just hit a dry spot, but I tried some stuff I hadn't tried in ages, and got a whole new direction. It's like I've been dismissing the ways of workin I used to have when I first started as amaturish, without realising that I can now take those old ideas and ways, and add far more to them than I could ever have done previously.

I'm more charged up to get this pa sorted than I have been in a while, so just shows, it's good to talk:)

[audioinjection]

i usually take breaks when that happens, watch some tv, get some beer, then try to get back at it. sometimes i can do days without any inspiration, which sucks sometimes :S

[stjohn]

try organise some samples.. ie: freestyle with some synth and break it up into individual samples to work on...

or make some nice loops, concentrating on each sound intricately....
than when you come back... the palette is there ready to go!!

[rounser]

Does your sequencer have a randomise function? Try hitting that a few times, see if it comes up with something that gives you a lead.

Half of the battle is getting over the "blank canvas" bit for me; once you've got something filling the void, there's something to build upon.

[Jay Pace]

I remember being taught a technique a year or two ago, which apparently was popular with autechre

Open up all your channels with a sound (drum, cymbal, other) and enter notes for every beat of the bar. Mute everything.

Then randomly just click unmute, and randomly pan etc.

Basically - its just another "randomise stuff" tip.
But you can have lots of happy accidents that way.

[rounser]

Basically - its just another "randomise stuff" tip.
But you can have lots of happy accidents that way.
Yup. I like to think of it as "subtractive sequencing". Often it's a lot easier to sculpt and modify a bunch of looped random noise-makery than it is to build up a sequence from nothing. Also, it teaches you what sort of thing the patch or sample is capable of, which may be more or less than you envisioned.

[Dave Elyzium]

turn the computer off, have a walk, watch a dvd, have some sex, ban yourself from music even when inspiration strikse for a few days, youll be itching to lay stuff down after that...and if not youll have had some exercise, spread your seed and watched a good movie and saved some leccy in the meantime

[mattdubois]

But you can have lots of happy accidents that way.

I am a huge fan of happy accidents! and love when the happy accident ends up spawning a whole new direction and eventually a solid new addition to your portfolio

when inspiration dwindles for me I like to get completely away from producing and be creative in another medium but in a very relaxed and non-demanding way...I usually find this via my day job as a cook/chef as culinary arts is a passion but one not as intense as music....I used to find it with poetry and prose but words/language got to be too confusing and imprecise for expression as music/sound became my medium of choice....

reading a favorite poem or quote or personal mission statement or watching a certain movie/scene from a movie or hearing a song from a genre I never work in are usually dependable ways to get little spurts of determination and inspiration going....like tonight I heard that track by Eminem that was used in "8 Mile" where he talks about there only being one chance to make it and you have to take advantage and fully live the moment and the music, and it made me want to get to work on my music as soon as I could (I was at work).....

or lately, I just watch cartoons and drink beer till inspiration knocks again...

[dirty_bass]

When inspiration dwindles, what the hell are you doijng trying to make music?
Stop, go do something else, today is not the day to make music, accept it.

Don`t make music just for the sake of it, don`t try to force it, and if you are randomnly hitting shit to try to get something good, ugh.

Sometimes it is simply much better for everyone to just walk away.

Otherwise, you can invest loads of time into a heap of crap, and then because of the time you have invested in it, you will treat it as valid.

Writers, painters, all artists have this discussion, and pretty much the conclusion all of them (I read a lot of biographies and interviews with artists from all areas, being a pretencious arty type myself) comes down to "Just walk away"

Go smoke a joint, have a drink, read a book, watch a movie, play some really loud music (not techno), go out, go have a conversation, watch some porn, but don`t just make music for the sake of it.

[Jay Pace]

hmmmm, disagree

Wouldn't call it "randomly hitting shit hoping for something good"

A random pattern generator is never going to make anything good. It will make something random. A person can take an idea from a random pattern and make it into something good.

Once you've got something down, you can shape it, mould it, come up with new ideas, ditch old ideas and end up in a completely different place to where you started.

Don't make music if you're not in the mood, sure. But sometimes you want to make stuff, but don't know where to start. I rarely have ideas in my head that I want to commit to music. Much more interested in sitting down and seeing what happens, and shaping it as I go along.

And if you don't like the result, abandon it and move on. You learn something everytime you sit down and make a track. What not to do next time, a nifty little trick, maybe try something new etc. If you don't work at all you aren't improving or developing.

[eyeswithoutaface]

i never run out of inspiration. Im that good

[Tyrisia]

well, I've just had a week off an it does work, and yeah @dirtybass, I can see you've got a good point, investing time in an idea does make you "want" it to work too much, I've defo had that problem in the past.

@Scott, I wish we were all that good, techno would definitely be a better place for it hehe

[rounser]

Writers, painters, all artists have this discussion, and pretty much the conclusion all of them (I read a lot of biographies and interviews with artists from all areas, being a pretencious arty type myself) comes down to "Just walk away"
I've observed differently - the ones I've read tend towards "get your requisite daily work down, it doesn't matter how you feel about it at the time." e.g. Frank Herbert, looking back, can't tell the difference between work he did when he was "inspired" and when he hated the very idea of writing something and had to force himself. Bryce Courtenay's only piece of advice to writers is two words, "bum glue". A published ex-girlfriend of mine always sticks to her X-thousand words a week, come hell or high water. There are others, but I can't bring them to mind.

Although a stroll in the countryside (Rudyard Kipling) or endless games of patience can allow time for the subconcious to work on the problem, I'm very suspicious of the "walk away" advice. Different strokes for different folks, though.

[dirty_bass]

I've observed differently - the ones I've read tend towards "get your requisite daily work down, it doesn't matter how you feel about it at the time." e.g. Frank Herbert, looking back, can't tell the difference between work he did when he was "inspired" and when he hated the very idea of writing something and had to force himself. Bryce Courtenay's only piece of advice to writers is two words, "bum glue". A published ex-girlfriend of mine always sticks to her X-thousand words a week, come hell or high water. There are others, but I can't bring them to mind.

Although a stroll in the countryside (Rudyard Kipling) or endless games of patience can allow time for the subconcious to work on the problem, I'm very suspicious of the "walk away" advice. Different strokes for different folks, though.

Bad examples man, Frank Herberts books got progressively worse, and the fact he forced himself is exceedingly obvious.

You see if you invest time in shit, you lose objectivity, and give value to shit, purely down to the effort you invest. In shit.

I think it`s terrible to look at every piece of music you make as a release. Experimentation can sometimes be just that.

Sometimes, not all the time, sometimes it is better, to walk away.

Obviously there are things you can do to get your juices flowing sometimes, but to walk in the studio, and expect results every time, can lead down a dangerous path.

[rounser]

Frank Herberts books got progressively worse, and the fact he forced himself is exceedingly obvious.
Well, his point was that the "being inspired or not inspired" bit didn't change the quality of the resultant material; he couldn't tell the difference. Perhaps he was always destined to be a Pearl Jam and get progressively worse with each release. There's a lot of artists like that, but I think they're more respected than those who don't release anything, which walking away might cause. If he walked away, would we ever have even seen Dune? Even one novel is quite a feat of application.


You see if you invest time in shit, you lose objectivity, and give value to shit, purely down to the effort you invest. In shit.
That's true to an extent...although you could argue that it's just as easy to discard something worthwhile as it is to push something not worthwhile. You lose objectivity about your work in the positive as well as in the negative.


I think it`s terrible to look at every piece of music you make as a release. Experimentation can sometimes be just that.

Sometimes, not all the time, sometimes it is better, to walk away.
But if you walk away, you won't be experimenting.

Anyway, swings and roundabouts...there's two competing underlying principles we're discussing here, both to do with the subconcious mind, and both of us are correct IMO:

1) The subconcious can create a game plan better than that of the concious mind, and needs time out to do it.

2) The subconcious only begins to work once you've begun to act, because by acting you get it focused on the problem.

Depending on who you are, both of these might apply to a varying degree. I tend towards (2) because it doesn't risk procrastination and the forming of bad habits such as not ever finishing things (which walking away encourages so far as I can see), which is much worse than finishing many crap things and the odd good thing.

[TechMouse]

I think it`s terrible to look at every piece of music you make as a release. Experimentation can sometimes be just that.
There's no such thing as time wasted in a studio.

(Unless you are actually wasted, in a studio).

[ERROR404]

I like to work on 4-5 projects at once and only spend an hour or so at a time on each one... your ears are always fresh, and ideas flow more creatively between and across tracks etc...

[dirty_bass]

There's no such thing as time wasted in a studio.

(Unless you are actually wasted, in a studio).

sure there is.

you wanna work in a professional studio some time.

You`ll see
PLEEEEENTYYYYYYY
of time wasted.
Turds going under the buffer for hours.

[Jay Pace]

sure there is.

you wanna work in a professional studio some time.

You`ll see
PLEEEEENTYYYYYYY
of time wasted.
Turds going under the buffer for hours.

If its your own studio, you are learning polishing skills.
Getting your buffing arm toned and muscular.
You're learning, basically.

Then when the day comes, when you lay a solid gold egg instead of a steaming cable, you can polish its brilliance to a fine sparkle.

Otherwise your brilliant idea is hidden by 2nd rate production, and nobody will appreciate it.

[TechMouse]

sure there is.

you wanna work in a professional studio some time.

You`ll see
PLEEEEENTYYYYYYY
of time wasted.
Turds going under the buffer for hours.
Ah, I'm sure there are valuable lessons being learned even then.

[dirty_bass]

Ah, I'm sure there are valuable lessons being learned even then.

well, normally, what`s being learned is, when to go and get a coffee/smoke a fag, while the dirge is being minced.

I mean, sure you can look at it as learning.

But I know plenty of people, who hammer away, who have been sending me stuff for critique for ages. I`ll name no names, but the same problems come up again and again, so nothing is being learned.

I`m not saying just leave your studio until you are bursting with maximum inspiration, but I am saying, you have to know when to walk away.

[TechMouse]

I`m not saying just leave your studio until you are bursting with maximum inspiration, but I am saying, you have to know when to walk away.
This is also true.

There is such a thing as flogging a dead horse.

[Basil Rush]

Yeah - I had last year off. Did about three records all year, which is down from between about six and ten a year the year before. Decided to do an awful lot more day job work and just make noises for fun, for about six months I couldn't even bring myself to make fun noises.

Anyway the fun noises are back and I've got one serious project on the way, we'll see how that goes.

In the meantime I've learnt csound and and few other wizzy sound toys.

Right then, chocolate, then noises!

ps. hello again everyone :)

[clodhoppa]

brian eno's oblique strategies can help... just pick out a card, then do what it says. sounds stupid but if it works for eno...

http://music.hyperreal.org/artists/brian_eno/oblique/oblique.html