Pardon me for being blunt, but no one here, nor anywhere, really gives a shit whether or not you (or anyone for that matter) ever make music again. Unless you're well known and have a large following, you're just another random dude on the internet. If music is something you really want to do, keep at it, but if you can't find inspiration/motivation from your self/life, you should just give up until you do find it. We all have bouts with writer's block, we all have times when we are too busy to sit down and make a song, we all have problems that get in the way of writing, and we all have days/weeks/months where we just don't feel like doing shit at all. you just need to wait for that spark to come back to you, if ever.
Here are 10 tips that are things I do that help me focus though.
1. Sit in the same place every time you make music. For me it's at a table outside where I can have some fresh air, and I can also chain smoke. I assume most people have a "studio" area/desk though. Don't lay down when making music. Sure I've done it, we all have, but it's way easier to work smoothly if you're sitting upright.
2. If you smoke cigarettes, smoke lots of them while working. (chewing gum would probably be an adequate alternative for non smokers)
3. Have an excess of a beverage you really like handy for sippin while you work. (for me it's soda of all kinds, but mainly coke zero. I've found energy drinks are also acceptable)
4. Don't open your web browser. Seriously, just fucking disconnect from the outside world.
5. try and work when no one is around as often as possible. People are irritating and something about seeing someone deep in concentration wearing headphones makes them want to bother you all the fucking time.
6. Chill. If nothing good is coming out, turn off whatever you use to make music, and go do some shit. Play video games, watch a movie, drop acid and ride your bike through some cool wooded neighborhoods, sit outside smoking some wiid, throw rocks at trains, take a nap, just do something/anything not music related. I can't tell you how many times I've been doing random shit when I'll suddenly be like "I need to make music now" then pump out like 15 songs. At least 5 of which are pretty good.
7. Stop broadly listening to music like "I want to sound like this." that person's already doing it, there doesn't need to be another.
8. Listen intently to music like "I want to sound like this." Don't just copy someone though, because that's some lame shit. If you hear a cool thing someone did, even something as small as a drum fill, type of synth, amount of snare reverb, arp sequence, or any small but rad thing, build something off that concept.
9. Don't be a perfectionist. I can see why being a perfectionist is beneficial, but in my opinion showcasing how much you learn/grow on a somewhat regular basis is much better, and allows for people to help you out constructively. I have put out 2 albums since I "debuted" last year and like 30 singles. If you listen chronologically, it significantly shows how much better I got over time. If I had sat there worrying about my first album being perfect though, I would have nothing to show for my work and would have wasted way more creativity trying to make that one thing perfect instead of working up to a point where a decent/good/adequate/awesome product comes fairly easily. Keep in mind though, don't just post a bunch of bullshit 30 second WIPs that you put no thought in just for the sake of posting something, that shit is annoying. But if you have a song that's 90% done and don't know what else to do with it, loop the end, fade out, and move on to a new song. If you had something pretty good from those songs, you can always revamp a melody or beat when you develop new skills. Lots of people here are perfectionists, and they release like 1 song a year. true story.
10. Never think about how people might react to your music. you say you're doing it for fun, so if no one ever gives feed back or hardly anyone listens to your music, who gives a shit. Making music should be fun/something you want to do, and a way of expressing yourself. Don't sit there judging yourself like "oh this is shit because I don't sound like Bit Shifter, so no one will like it". Making something people will like is very hit and miss, but if you like it and feel you did your best at that time, then that's all that should matter.
Long post is long.
edit: Bonus tip: when you finally get in your groove of making shit, and have a certain sound you are going for, don't listen to anything that sounds like that. there are 2 reasons for this. 1) you are very likely to rip off someone and 2) you will feel bad because you're not as good as them.
Last edited by SadPanda (Feb 18, 2013 2:35 pm)
