complete loss of direction???

[overdose]

hi all...right i havent posted much on the forum since ive joined, mainly because i feel i cant really give any advice on some of the musicall issues.......any how

i need some major advice ......

its hard to explain but ill give it a go...

at the mo i feel ive hit a complete brick wall regarding music production....i feel ive lost all sense of direction as to what i wanna make and how i wanna make it????(if that makes sense)

i seem to question every thing i do? pick at things before ive even started????

i hear alot of stuff i really like but i just cant get agrip on it????

AGGGGRHHHH its so frustrating......i get advice from dsp.....
i know how to do things but just dont use it. not from not wanting too but dont find it appropriate.....dsp sees this alot..and i feel im letting him and other people down who belive in me????????

just after some words of wisdom from people who have been in this sort of situation....

big up to all who use the forum big up to macc.dsp and all other label mates....

[polygon]

just keep at it mate!

i've had this before, but sooner or later you'll probably just get a really intense rush of inspiration and be dying to get home and get to work on a tune.

try thinking up some themes in your head, instead of thinking what sort of tune you want to make, think of a situation, place or even just a feeling you would like to portray, then you might find the rest just falls into place.

[overdose]

i will always stick to it lol ...ive had enuff greif getting where i am so givin up is NOT an option lol.......

isee where ur comin from ..i must say i dont really get the insperation i used to ...i used to enjoy getting set up infront oy my workstation,enjoy what i was doin..havin fun if u know what i mean.messin about ...i feel im trying to be to serious with it,which is definatly holdin me back.......

i remeber gettin in from work and gettin on the case befor i did anything...stay on it all evening till late at night ..havin to drag my self off...
where has that enthusiasm gone??!!!!

i definatly need to draw insperation or ideas from something, i like the themes idea i will try to elaberate on it i think....

cheers for ur time polygon very much appreciated

[SETI]

take your time, don't rush the muse... i find that just hearing one sound from one of my synths or simply putting two sounds together is all i need to carry on with something, or if you are just totally bewildered just lay off music for awhile... i sure have to

[Macc]

yeah man, doing nothing can help.

if questioning yourself is the problem, why are you doing that?

it's either cos a) you are worrying about whether you will like it, or b) worrying about whether other people will like it. both of those lead to you lose the fun of doing it.

you can help b) by just not giving a fuck (made a lot of difference to me since i learned to say 'bollocks' to other people as it were).

a) is more tricky. generally (but not always!!!) i find that the tunes that come together like that *snaps fingers* are the ones where you enjoy it and like it at the end (maybe cos you don't listen to it 8 zillion times).

those are usually tunes where you get some sound, fuck it up, go 'raaaaaa that's nice', slap a beat on, chop away and a few hours later bob's your auntie's live-in lover. it's cold inside was like that for me - 4 hours and i am still really pleased with it.

then you got your other type of tune, where you have a definite idea and you have to draw on all your technical knowledge and patience (!) to get that thing in your head down 'on paper'. these tunes tend to take longer, depending on the difficulty/complexity of the idea. mean streets took me four months, but i am chuffed with that too.


hmmm, this isn't much help is it. what i reckon though, is that if you are lacking in ideas/inspiration, then just fuck about. make some mad sounds, just spend time away from composition, and make some fucked up sounds (always fun), and they will give you some inspiration.

i dunno, i always bounce all my vsti's so that i don't have the chance to second guess myself, over analyse. if later on i realise i don't like that part, it just gets deleted and that's the end of it. next sound!


i'll shut up. just try and have fun - fuck some shit up, that's always a good start

[Logos]

I'm really struggling at the moment as well. I've got this amen tune with the best atmospherics I've ever done, but I can't get the amen to sound right. Maybe it's because I've been working on it for about 4 weeks now, and am getting tired of it. So I might leave it for a week and try and come back and finish it in one session.

But generally I'm a bit

I think I need to get into the habit of bouncing stuff more regularly, and resampling more. Maybe that will free me up creatively, I don't know.

[Macc]

YES IT WILL!!!!!!

Remember - nothing in this music is set in stone unless you want it to be.

Resampling followed by further mangling is ALWAYS a good idea, even if it doesn't always work out.

Conversation between me and dgoHn the other day;

Me 'yeah so if you put (no telling plugin name ) on this single drum hit, you get this'

dgoHn (with look on face) 'hold on, are you telling me that if I put (plugin name ) on this single drum hit, I get this sound that I am hearing right now?'

Me 'Yes'

dgoHn 'No, seriously, are you telling me that if I put (plugin name ) on this single drum hit, I get this sound that I am hearing right now?'

Me 'YES'

dgoHn ''

[dsp]

od., u ain't letting know one down, We all go through it man,
Inspiration can't be rushedk, no matter how hard you try. Like macc says just fuck around with sounds and keep em for a rainy day.

I have been doing this recently, sampling the keyboard, the morpheous, reaktor , anything that makes sound, vinyl always a good one. then fuck about with what you've bounced or save it for another day.

I find spending a few hours making a whole load of sounds is better than spending hours on a track you don't want to do.

Go for a walk, make some happy hardcore anything to get you back in the flow, u have a nice powerfull sound card / sampler and uad so learn it, its all good for inspiration, when you play around with new stuff.

But most of all don't let it get you down, its all sposed to be fun at the end of the day And give me a bell this weekend man !!

[Macc]

I find spending a few hours making a whole load of sounds is better than spending hours on a track you don't want to do.

I could have just said that

make some happy hardcore anything to get you back in the flow

Woah there - no need for that

[markgabba]

make some happy hardcore

Wash your mouth out with soap young man

[dsp]

i did say THAT for comedy value , but making any other type of music thats not the norm for you can help open the inspiration flood gates.

Any way I think =insert artist name here= makes great happy hardcore

[Diverse Concept]

I'm in the same boat, I have lost direction too

[SETI]

...i'm being lazy right now, i have several reels of tape i have to record digitally and start slicing up, it's like a couple days worth of just Moog noises so it's going to be a major operation... lots o' work (and no hd space)

[dsp]

I'm in the same boat, I have lost direction too

foward is the only direction to take

[Diverse Concept]

I might go sideways for a bit then forward

[Naphta]

Inspiration does not flow from an unlimited tap and sometimes you have to back off and get away from music and the studio (not that I've learned to do that recently ).

Over-questioning your own method and techniques can also kill the buzz cos it slows everything down so much - so too can being an over-critical bastard... I mean, I want everything to be the best it can be, but I think I've often got caught up in that to the detriment of the creative process - and thus ended up not finishing things because I couldn't get them to be perfect.

Try working with some other humans - it might help. Or make some Happy Hardcore (with Macc)!

[dsp]

inspiration does not flow from an unlimited tap and sometimes you have to back off and get away from music and the studio (not that i've learned to do that recently ).

over-questioning your own method and techniques can also kill the buzz cos it slows everything down so much - so too can being an over-critical bastard... i mean, i want everything to be the best it can be, but i think i've often got caught up in that to the detriment of the creative process - and thus ended up not finishing things because i couldn't get them to be perfect.

completley agree, have had the same issues many times in the past , but being possitive helps in a big way,

[Diverse Concept]

Yeah I agree the perfection thing is a pain in the arse, I also find that continually installing new software gets in the way as well. I think I am going to reinstall windows and just install the plug ins that I use regularly and know well, and stick to use those for good, unless some new super duper life changing update comes out

[dsp]

Yeah I agree the perfection thing is a pain in the arse, I also find that continually installing new software gets in the way as well. I think I am going to reinstall windows and just install the plug ins that I use regularly and know well, and stick to use those for good, unless some new super duper life changing update comes out

yeh do that, its worth it, the sampler is there to be used for sound, many tracks i have done have no synths or unneeded plugins, just the ones for processing, theres def somthing about being spoilt for choice that ruins getting stuff done. more time playing and less time tune making usually,


sampling sounds is better 2 years down the line too when you don't have the plugins anymore or you needto send the track to someone for a remix etc

[dodz]

another thing worth consideration is HOW you're coming at making a tune.

it seems to me that a lot of electronic music people are much more apt with tapping into their technical/analytical mind than always having a contstant well of MUSICAL IDEAS to draw on.....

*this may get a little pear shaped, but bear with me*

i beleive in "a source" where we draw music from. it's probably the most mystic hippie babble you'll ever hear come out of my mouth, but i honestly do. i've always been interested in being able to connect to that sort of "etherial spring of music" that my body/mind is a conductor for.....i've had this awareness of the music stream that is a constant in my head for as long as i can remember now. the trick is being able to connect with it WHEN YOU HAVE TO. sometimes this is just not possible, and can result in peroids of creative drought. however, i also believe that the more one hones in on this inner thing, the easier it becomes to connect to it when you "just want to write some music". i'm reasonably sure that it's present in all people....again, it's just a matter of one deciding that they WANT to tap into that particular brand of awareness and dwell in the thoughts or actions that enable you to turn it on, on purpose.

note : this "inner stream of music" is something i would link to the "global mind at large" and those sorts of intercultural systems of mass realisation in a sort of ESP type-thingey.....it's not like i think it's coming from the vacuum void of godly nothingness, it's a more reality based theory system.

if that sounds way pompous or nonsensical, than i apologise, but it's really the "faith" that i have. if you think i'm a swelled sack of detritous, fair enough....

i just think it's important for people to DEVELOPE their own sense of creative output that's completely DIVORCED from your technical abilities.....that way, it only becomes a matter of RAW FASCILITY when you have to get your idea from your noggin and onto the comp, or the piano or guitar or whatever.....you'll always be learning more theory and technique, but it aint worth FUCKING SHIT ALL, if you don't have ideas.

[Macc]

No, you are absolutely right dodz - I think the same way.......

The technical knowledge and all my waffling about groups and compression and blah and fucking blah is only a means of connecting that 'source' out and back into my ears with the least degradation possible.

It's like kung fu. You spend ages drilling techniques into your mind and body, a long time perfecting this that and the other. But when you fight, if you intend on fighting well, you have forget it all and let the techniques do it themselves. All you need to actually DO is remain calm and relaxed enough that the techniques are able to come out. Those kind of fights are where you fight better, and come out far less drained, physically and mentally.

Of course it looks like you are moving round and throwing all kinds of attacks and defences and throwing your mate on the floor and getting hit and getting swept and falling down etc etc - but inside is calm.

Dunno, all this (the Macc brand of Taoism ) is the same in whatever you do IMO - drumming, guitar, kung fu, 'computer' music, riding your bike.............


So anyway, the moral is - SHUT UP and do whatever - learn to say a big fuck you to everyone, including yourself, and let it flow straight from the heart. Don't get in your own way.


[/preach mode]

[Diverse Concept]

"Amen!"

[overdose]

sorry for the late reply to this post......my internet was cut off

ive only just browsed the posts but i see some really intresting replys... and have put me at ease, i dont feel as ...how do i say "crap" lol if you know what i mean...i gotta say thanks to every one who posted and who are in the same situation lol

i really wanna get the "fun" back in to it ...thats the main thing for me i feel right now.....i supose when ur havin a laugh messin around insperation isnt really a big issue in it ???????

ill posted more thoughts as i get through it...

thanks everone

DSP ill be over tomorrow night mate


easy all and thanks

[Logos]

It's like kung fu. You spend ages drilling techniques into your mind and body, a long time perfecting this that and the other. But when you fight, if you intend on fighting well, you have forget it all and let the techniques do it themselves. All you need to actually DO is remain calm and relaxed enough that the techniques are able to come out. Those kind of fights are where you fight better, and come out far less drained, physically and mentally.

Like Wittgenstein said:

"My propositions are elucidatory in this way: he who understands me finally recognizes them as senseless, when he has climbed out through them, on them, over them. (He must so to speak throw away the ladder, after he has climbed up on it.)"

[iNSiGHt]

RELAX

All I can add is this, you are in a special position to have the drive to do this in the first place. Just take it easy on yourself we've all been there it's because we care so much.

Good Luck man,
PEACE