spacetownsavior wrote:
this is required reading: http://thelastpsychiatrist.com/2009/12/ … for_2.html
What a fantastic article. You're right, that's required reading.
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Boddrick wrote:
That seems a bit black and white to me. The energy he used starting this thread might turn out to be a blessing. It's motivating in itself to know that other people have the same issues you do.
Oh thats me being tone deaf to empathy with others. I never feel better when I share unhappiness with others, i mean who cares if others feel the same way, I still feel bad! My main point was that everyone I ever known to be successful just WORKS. Inspiration is an excuse that people use to avoid working on their craft. There is always things you can be doing to work on your creative toolchest. Take music theory classes, try to copy the sound design of your favorite artist, cover a song you like, just keep working.
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Brunswick, GA USA
That is indeed a good post.
I haven't been able to find the video where Diane Warren showed her private songwriting space. Take a moment to google if you aren't sure who she is.
Prior to that video, the only other person allowed in that room was the piano tuner. The piano is mic'ed in the center of the room. There is a bookshelf stereo with a cassette deck for recording. The room is a cake of dust and C10's. 1 in 100 cassettes are sent to L.A. or Nashville to become pop hits. The remainder collect dust, saved for revision or go to the trash.
Remember in particular that 1 in 100 when you delete scrubbed ideas.
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Arizona
I find myself constantly experimenting with instrument design and tables even if I'm not motivated to make music at the moment. I like to try and stay productive and learning even when I'm not working on a song.
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detroit
bclikesyou wrote:
Mondays are my music day. From 8-10 in the evening, I work on music. Even if I don't feel like it, I still do.
Typically what happens is after 30-60 minutes of not being in to it or doubting myself, something catches and the ideas start flowing.
I've been doing this for 3 months and now it is much easier to sit down and flesh out ideas. This practice can be applied to anything creative, really.
The most difficult part is that initial hump. Push through it.
my mother gave me similar advice years ago. very helpful.
lately I've been ping ponging between creative outlets to keep me going. it's funny how one thing you create (i.e. an art piece) can inspire something so different (i.e. a new musical composition). it's nifty.
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rochester, ny
herr_prof wrote:
My main point was that everyone I ever known to be successful just WORKS.
This is crucial.
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( : yo monotron i like your stuff ~~ don't quit, my man : )
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UK, Leicester
yh don't quit, your music is p rad
also for motivation, I tend to write stuff when I'm slightly motivated. If I really want to write a song, I tend to jump straight in, and loose interest the second something doesn't work out, if I have no motivation, I write shite, and if I have a little, I usually become more interested in the song as I write
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[this isnt a thread about inspiration. inspiration is different, i think weve covered it in loads of threads already and "try harder" or "practise more" makes sense in those threads]
all this advice comes down to "just do it" which maybe seems like great advice if youre someone who "just does" stuff all the time which is totally unempathetic i.m.h.o, like telling an overweight person to "go for more runs" or an anorexic "just eat more, all the optimal-bmi people eat a healthy amount of food"
great artists dont work on their stuff when they have zero motivation, id think that no one does anything if they have zero motivation, that is what motivation is. yeah people can do stuff when they are feeling inspired but that's different
and that's the problem with this thread (and others like it) i think
the only people who can understand your problem are people who obviously dont have a solution
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D D D Detroit, not the burbs
I have infinite inspiration and ideas. What i lack is drive. I think if i hung out with more musicians it would be different.
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San Diego, CA
sandneil wrote:
great artists dont work on their stuff when they have zero motivation, id think that no one does anything if they have zero motivation, that is what motivation is. yeah people can do stuff when they are feeling inspired but that's different
again, if a mere lack of motivation was reason enough for these "great artists" to stop work on their art, then we'd be in a much shittier place than where we are right now.
the reason I keep telling people to just do things isn't some empathy problem of mine. I say it because I've totally been places in my life where I would have to practice and perform while my piano teacher told me I was shit, essentially. I've gone out and played shows to five people at a dive bar when I would SO MUCH RATHER just stay home with my girlfriend instead. so I definitely understand what it feels like to have little motivation to do things.
I guess the difference between then and now is that back then, I had other people telling me to "just do it", and so I just did it, even if I didn't really understand why. Now I realize that them telling me to just do things was a way of saying "yeah, you have motivation to do this thing you don't want to do, it just isn't coming from yourself." basically, those other people WEREN'T ALLOWING me to be a lazy person.
that's why I have such a big problem with all of these motivation/inspiration threads popping up. I get not having motivation to do things, but when the solution is to go onto the internet (which is the best drug in that it provides instant gratification and no physical side effects) and post about how little motivation you have, that's a problem. normally, I'd just ignore these threads, because if you post a thread about how motivated you aren't and no one responds, the lack of response is essentially them NOT ALLOWING you to not be motivated, either be motivated and participate in our community or get out.
but now I see these threads pop up and there are like pages and pages of responses, and I guess I just feel like I should step in and be that guy telling you to just do things, because it seems like there are less people willing to do that these days (and not even just in this forum -- everywhere). in the end, I appreciated it when other people told ME to do things, even if I FUCKING HATED IT at the time, because it meant that I didn't have time to dwell on how lazy I wanted to be or how little I wanted to do something. those people held me accountable, in a sense. even if everything you do sounds like shit, you're doing better than everyone else that DOESN'T write music or do whatever you do.
that's all it is, really. I'd rather have people write music and feel shitty about it than have them not write music and still feel shitty about it.
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Arizona
spacetownsavior wrote:
I'd rather have people write music and feel shitty about it than have them not write music and still feel shitty about it.
This.
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ram your platitudes, you contextually deaf idiot
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Manchester, UK
sandneil wrote:
the only people who can understand your problem are people who obviously dont have a solution
I don't know if I fully follow your point, but I agree with most the stuff you said. I definitely think the 'just do it' thing is a bit unempathetic. The more specific stuff's cool though, like the 'Monday night, music night' idea.
The main thing I think should be squashed out of discussions like this is the "if it's difficult to get motivated to make music, maybe you're not meant to make music" line. All due respect to anyone here who said that, but I think that's needlessly discouraging, and just completely misinformed. There are a million reasons for a lack of motivation, most of which are are signs that you ARE meant to make music (assuming for now that the "meant to do something" notion is at all sensible, which I'm pretty sure it isn't). The very fact that someone's feeling demotivated, but wants to put in effort to overcome that lack of motivation means they damn well should be doing music. If struggling to make music for a while isn't enough to put them off, that's a person who should be making music.
EDIT: Good post by spacetownsavior there. Clearly there are both empathetic and non-empathetic just-do-its.
Last edited by Boddrick (Oct 30, 2013 4:44 pm)
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Brunswick, GA USA
"Maybe you're not meant to make music" is as meaningless as "I was born to do this." You either want to do it or you don't.
From a person who apologizes to people for what often is the consequences of their own mistakes, some people fuel their egos with empathy, but I know it doesn't actually solve problems.
People who want their problems solved will often get angry at attempts to empathize because they know it's no solution, others don't really want their problems solved in the first place, because it will take the attention away.
I don't think Monotron is either type but there's truly a decision to be made. I have my moments where I'm not certain why I'm making music. I've had moments when I completely stopped. I've been see-sawing all year, but I'll get through it. Or maybe I won't.
When I make myself finish something I'm not happy with and come back to it a bit later, I realize it was better than the things from my distant past which I liked more while making it.