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shanghai

no i smoke and it makes me paranoid and think my music is whack, when its actually pretty boss. truth.

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shanghai

in all honesty, a small bit of a spliff gets me rolling alot of the time, makes me concentrate and just relax and make whatever i feel is going on in my head, normally that zoot either sits idle in the ashtray for 3 hours while i drink tea and make something decent.....or i cant make shit, so that zoot lasts about 2 minutes, and 3 hours later im still drinking tea, yet now there are 3 zoot ends in the ashtray, no tune made, and im watching the amazing world of gumball. my life goes in pretty much that daily cycle.

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shanghai

but lets face it there are sadder endings to tales. the amazing world of gumball is pretty AMAZING yo

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The Multiverse ::: [CA, Sac]

Often when I'm in a funk, inspiration-wise) I give myself limitations or guidelines and do a long improv session on piano. That or just thinking of some different type of theory stuff. Say, starting a song in a minor key on the VII and doing a progression like maybe | VI | V | i | VII | or different types of rhythm.

I dunno, those personally help me.

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Nottingham, UK

I don't understand why people think writing chiptunes is really different from writing any kind of music. To get anywhere, along the way you'll abort hundreds of songs and ultimately filter out a handful of ones you hate the least. you repeat this process for several year and eventually your music becomes half way decent. However, the whole time you're doing this the people you admire will always seem better than you and you just have to deal with it and be the best musician you can be.

Last edited by ForaBrokenEarth (Sep 15, 2012 10:38 am)

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Liverpool, UK

Just write shitty music and call it "Chip Thrash", people won't notice.

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rochester, ny

Write down notes that sound really cool together and then add more instruments and stuff.

hey thats what i do too.

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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oblique_Strategies

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Melbourne, Australia
Saskrotch wrote:

if you don't like it, keep working on it until you do.

This is seriously amazing advice that I always give people who are in slumps. Do it.

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IL, US
calmdownkidder wrote:

Just write shitty music and call it "Chip Thrash", people won't notice.

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Well played.

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Brunswick, GA USA

A greater part of a composer's life is spent "getting it wrong." The best advice I can give for repeating past glory is to stop trying to repeat past glory. Make new glory instead.

Famous composers make up and throw out tunes on a daily basis, most never being released. Make mistakes, and try your best to remember why they are mistakes.

Last edited by chunter (Sep 15, 2012 3:08 pm)

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Savannah, Georgia
chunter wrote:

A greater part of a composer's life is spent "getting it wrong." The best advice I can give for repeating past glory is to stop trying to repeat past glory. Make new glory instead.

^2. seriously, i've only recently gotten better because i said "fuck forcing myself to be original and fuck trying to make my music a consistent style." just start up your tracker of choice and jam out, don't be afraid to try different stuff, and learn off of other's compositions.

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California, United States

When I'm in a slump I stay up for 32 hours and then try to write something, I'm so out of it I usually don't know what the hell I just wrote (hence how alot of my weird music was written) but I enjoy every minute of it, and I also learn/try out something new

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Orange County, CA
Doxic wrote:

When I'm in a slump I stay up for 32 hours and then try to write something, I'm so out of it I usually don't know what the hell I just wrote (hence how alot of my weird music was written) but I enjoy every minute of it, and I also learn/try out something new

Every now and then I pull an all-nighter and for some reason I seem to pull myself together when I'm half asleep and work like a zombie. But that's usually on a weekend where like I woke up late already and I didn't do anything all day so I'm not exactly exhausted I'm just wired. is weird.

But really like try to imagine music in your head when you're everywhere and then just flip out your phone or a recorder and record that bit. Its a really secure feeling to know that you have 50+ ideas on your phone that you haven't messed with and the best part is, is that I actually never incorporate them exactly they always end up doing something different and imo better. Sitting down and forcing yourself to write isn't exactly "communicating with your muse" its more just like making it any other mundane task that your brain can shut down during. I only find success in writing when im REALLY into it, and its the consistency of such is the reason why I'm sticking with writing chipz.

edit: also during creative slumps I find it a good idea to make covers so that your musical brain still gets some exercise but your creativity is stretched minimally, but enough to exercise it for later.

Last edited by Dr Treble (Sep 15, 2012 4:06 pm)

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The Multiverse ::: [CA, Sac]

^yup. All of that.
I do my best writing late night/early morning. Kinda messes up my sleeping schedule tho. I use my phone to record stuff when I'm out. Also I have a piano app that helps me visualize things in my head.
And yeah, covers can really help take your mind off of your music while still creating music that is essentially yours.