Losing my creativity - and I've only just started?!?

[Cell 2Dee]

Last month my net was gone for a long ass time and I had no good way of obtaining samples. I don't own a turntable (yet) and all the CD's I bought to dig on sucked. Basically, I ended up having a month long break from it all. Now I've moved out into my own place, got my shit sorted out and I can download samples when I want. Problem is, I will download a few, chop them up and get bored, or just construct a simple loop and not know what the hell to add to it. It's as if I've got producers block. How do y'all get over it when (if ever) this happens to you?

I'm hoping that learning to play the guitar and keyboard will help a little too.

 

[skidflow]

just try a different beat making process...for example, if you start your beats building around the drums...try building around the sample...you know just mixing shit up a little sometimes stimulates a lil creativity....just try something new or take this time to learn something extra....just trying to help a lil.

 

[Cell 2Dee]

Thanks for the advice. I think maybe I should watch a few videos of other producers in action too to try and gather thoughts about others' creative processes.

 

[skidflow]

Thanks for the advice. I think maybe I should watch a few videos of other producers in action too to try and gather thoughts about others' creative processes.

hay man...anything to "stir up" those creative juices in ya dome sun!

 

[Cell 2Dee]

Shit, I've just been watching the 2008 One Stop Shop video Ominous posted, and I think I'm gonna make my first change by not sampling so much and start making composed beats. Anybody got any tips for me on composed beats?

 

[skidflow]

Shit, I've just been watching the 2008 One Stop Shop video Ominous posted, and I think I'm gonna make my first change by not sampling so much and start making composed beats. Anybody got any tips for me on composed beats?

make sure sounds are in tune...and when composing...its up to you come with a dope melody. layering and good chord structure are important aspects also.

 

[Kontents]

Read and learn my friend. Don't waste time not doing something with music. If you cant make music learn it.


Search the threads dig deep cause there is a lot of good stuff just waiting to be read.

 

[afriquedeluxe]

to get your creativity going;

-forget about the limits you normally impose on yourself. like for example, "i have to make a beat at 90-95bpm".

-Try using other sounds you normally wouldn't use. Like there maybe a kick or snare sound you never use because you don't like the sound of it. Try to make it work into a song. that kick you hate might make a track.

-Do something refreshing in your outside the lab life. Go watch an Opera, or go the to the theatre. One time I went to see a classical pianist id never heard of play some weird stuff and I came back inspired. if clubbing is your thing, then hit up the club and see what makes people move in songs.

-Finally, have fun! I was in the studio 2 days ago clowning around with friends making t-pain sounding tracks with a weird ass beat.

 

[slik da relic]

leave the house... go to open mics, beat battles, and producer showcases... check out other producer battle forums... watch youtube beat makin vids... buy a voice recorder and record melodies that come to u... dig up some of ur old stuff, turn it up in the house, close the door of the room that the music's in, and go to another room and listen to it thru the wall... all this worx and brings new ideas and inspiration... it all worx for me.

da relic

 

[Cell 2Dee]

Thanks for all the advice fam, I've got an early start tomorrow so I'm gonna catch some Z's, tomorrow I'll get the ball rolling.

Also, I think 90% of my problem is my mentality. I seem to think that I should be able to make dope music from the start, and I've only been producing a couple months now. I need to learn to not get so worked up with it all, and that it will take patience and time. Thanks again fam.

 

[Shonsteez]

Like Skid and Af-D were saying, it def helps to approach making a beat differently then the last time...Also, ive found just observing how a song is arranged that u dig and then aiming to replicate that arrangement can open up new ideas because you find other things occur along the way as you follow a different process...

 

[skidflow]

Then again you might just need to get some Z's like you said...wake up and start fresh..trust me a good night sleep will have you ready to pump a banger out in the morning....its something about morning time and making beats...all the bangers I've made has happened in the a.m....I get stagnated when I'm up late making beats and I get tired and loose that creative feeling...thats when I tend to make what I call "filler tracks" When that happens I just go to bed then.

 

[GRAFIK]

smoke weed!

 

[The Arkitekt]

smoke weed!

Deff brings some inspiration.

 

[Schizo-Manic]

I feel you im coming off a beat block slump myself, I usually have a custom rack ready to go with all my sounds mapped out, over time you become accustomed to the same process to the point its no longer challenging. Basically what I did was create new mixer groups inside to program itself. I went back into all projects and saved all my mixer presets so I could use them later in future projects. After doing that for about 15-20 projects I created about 30 new racks/preset all I have to do is tweak them to use in future projects. Now I start all my projects with a blank empty rack as opposed to having everything loaded already to go, its more fun starting from nothing. Now I'm learning a new DAW and reading up on the music business helps when your not creating music. Currently reading this book called "Web Marketing for the Music Business" by Tom Hutchison with that being said change your perspective think outside the box its no formula for creativity.

 

[Chrono]

don't think too much about it, it will come. weed does help out though... truthfully i went on a year production drought which happened to coincide perfectly with my drying out. Once i started smoking again then i've been steady working on multiple projects. I basically quit drinking all together and smoke in the evenings with a vaporizer, very nice an healthy. everyone's different, but alcohol is my enemy production-wise. good luck 2dee

 

[Schizo-Manic]

Apropos with the comments above, weed (if naturally grown) does help depending on the user personally I make my best music sober....

 

[The Arkitekt]

Thing with me beatmaking and smokin, when I smoke I can't multitask, but all my concentration goes into one thing, in that case the music. Works wit school work too if your in a quiet environment

 

[MagnaOpera]

to get your creativity going;

-forget about the limits you normally impose on yourself. like for example, "i have to make a beat at 90-95bpm".

-Try using other sounds you normally wouldn't use. Like there maybe a kick or snare sound you never use because you don't like the sound of it. Try to make it work into a song. that kick you hate might make a track.

-Do something refreshing in your outside the lab life. Go watch an Opera, or go the to the theatre. One time I went to see a classical pianist id never heard of play some weird stuff and I came back inspired. if clubbing is your thing, then hit up the club and see what makes people move in songs.

-Finally, have fun! I was in the studio 2 days ago clowning around with friends making t-pain sounding tracks with a weird ass beat.

lol thats funny I did that just yesterday... Took my least favourite piano VSTi, and took (what I initially thought to be) a whack vintage drumkit sample (boss dr50 or something like that) and flipped the whole mess into a really nice track... But yeah like everyone else is saying, shake things up.

 

[BobCarter]

yeah dude tokin' the chron always makes things interesting ...when I get in a block..I just put the project file in a folder called scraps...and keep chopping and going through songs until something really speaks to me... also I notice that I have a problem with listening to music. sometimes I get so anxious to produce music that I don't take the time to actually sit down and listen to music and take it all in on what's happening...I notice that the more different types of music (especially middle-east, jazz, big-band, even country) you take in, the more diverse your ear will become, the more styles you will be familiar with, and thus the more creative I become. and as for the previously scrapped file, each day I go through the folder and re-listen to my incomplete songs and see if there's anything I can change or add and go from there.
my favorite way to rise up against producer's block, is to go my favorite VsT website and start downloading some new apps and presets for other vsts and try to find a crazy sounding instrument and do something with that...also sometimes the stress or pressure that you might be feeling that you HAVE to make music is blocking out the creativity... maybe you should do other things to help your production game like start downloading tons of music and not even creating for a few days, watching tutorials on sampling, your DAW (if you use one), learning more about a piece of hardware you have, etc. I've learned that it's far more constructive to focus your attention on other areas besides creation when you come to a block...it's like poision ivy man, the more you try to scratch it, the worse it will get...just take a vacation and re-direct your attention to other areas of your production game...im sure when you are ready to make a banger...it will come to you and everything will be fine again
remember that as long as your doing something related to production even if it isn't making a song itself...your doing the right thing...never force the creativity bro..I did this method with guitar and it has helped me countless times.. (Although now I spend my time producing instead of practicing hahaha)
-bob