Dry Spells

dono · Post by **dono** » Mon Nov 09, 2009 2:13 pm

We all get dry spells if we're recording, or making art...

What do you guys do during your dry spells, or to get re-inspired during them?

I tend to not do anything at all music related for a few days, clear my head, and let it fill up with sounds... and then it just comes back at a really random time. And sometimes, I force myself to create even though I don't "feel it" so to speak, which usually brings about interesting results. Most of the time bad, but sometimes there are those gems.

What do you guys do?

EDITED - SPELLING

88marquis · Post by **88marquis** » Mon Nov 09, 2009 3:58 pm

Well.. It depends on the mood I'm in, but usually I'll start making tunes on an impulse - sometimes it will be a week or so before I sit down and start composing electronically.. Every day I pick my up bass and just groove though, along with my acoustic - just found my finger picks today I'm excited to use them again.

I can't force myself to become inspired, I just know when the time is right I guess.

polar sky · Post by **polar sky** » Mon Nov 09, 2009 6:49 pm

It DOES suck, but I try not to think about it, and then it just comes to me. If I sit down and tell myself, "I am going to write a song!", it will not happen, but if I just sit down to mess around with an instrument, it starts to come out on it's own.

harpoon dodger · Post by **harpoon dodger** » Wed Nov 11, 2009 7:57 pm

I never force myself to make/write/record music when I'm stumped for ideas..I let them come to me when they do, and go with the flow at that moment in time. I find when I try and force myself to be creative, I'm too critical of myself, and the music suffers for it.

Pantheon · Post by **Pantheon** » Wed Nov 11, 2009 8:35 pm

I get this from time to time, I can sit down and nothing comes together, and it sounds realy uninspiring.

I ushaly just take a break for a week or something and only go back to it when im excited to make music. Another thing that can help when your taking your break, is sample hunting. I wont try to produce music, but instead try to find new samples that make me want to work with them.

Phasen · Post by **Phasen** » Thu Nov 12, 2009 2:19 am

listen to a new artist for the first time, straight through a good album of theirs.

turquoise70 · Post by **turquoise70** » Thu Nov 12, 2009 3:28 am

i've found that damn near everything in my life goes in cycles, from my mood and altogether mental together-ness, to my physical coordination and ability to make art, visual or musical.

when i'm in a dry spell i usually make way less music, or spend less time trying to compose it. often i come up with a bunch of 'dud' songs that kinda suck.

The Telepathic Kid · Post by **The Telepathic Kid** » Thu Nov 12, 2009 5:03 am

I'm in a dry spell right now.
I usually get out of one by getting a new bunch of samples, drum tracks and such, and I have.
And I've started laying out the base for some really neat tracks as of late, so maybe my dry spell's over.

TEARZ · Post by **TEARZ** » Thu Nov 12, 2009 6:26 am

awesome sex wit m'lady.

polar sky · Post by **polar sky** » Thu Nov 12, 2009 1:42 pm

I was just laying down some tracks with my Juno 60. Sounds really warm.

Skytree · Post by **Skytree** » Thu Nov 12, 2009 4:16 pm

polar sky wrote:...but if I just sit down to mess around with an instrument, it starts to come out on it's own.

This! If I'm in a bit of a creative rut, I usually take the time to take in a lot of music, new and old, especially stuff I've been meaning to get to for a while (demos from friends, podcasts, old vinyl, etc). I'll also use the time to practice playing whatever instrument in my studio catches my interest. These days it's been the penny whistle...simple and rewarding, and exercises my sense of pitch and timing.

If I'm stuck, the last thing I do is sit on my computer and come up with solutions via software. Almost all of my tracks start with a rhythm on a hand drum, some lick on the whistle, or noodlings on any number of instruments. Keeps it fun and spontaneous. (:

polar sky · Post by **polar sky** » Thu Nov 12, 2009 8:07 pm

Skytree wrote:
polar sky wrote:...but if I just sit down to mess around with an instrument, it starts to come out on it's own.

This! If I'm in a bit of a creative rut, I usually take the time to take in a lot of music, new and old, especially stuff I've been meaning to get to for a while (demos from friends, podcasts, old vinyl, etc). I'll also use the time to practice playing whatever instrument in my studio catches my interest. These days it's been the penny whistle...simple and rewarding, and exercises my sense of pitch and timing.

If I'm stuck, the last thing I do is sit on my computer and come up with solutions via software. Almost all of my tracks start with a rhythm on a hand drum, some lick on the whistle, or noodlings on any number of instruments. Keeps it fun and spontaneous. (:

Yeah, I do that too, I have Native American Indian Flute that I will write with now and again.

dono · Post by **dono** » Thu Nov 12, 2009 8:23 pm

I use my recorder (flue recorder), my nylon guitar with 2 broken strings, and my $10 mini 2 note polyphony keyboard to "jot stuff out" sometimes. :-)

saurus · Post by **saurus** » Thu Nov 12, 2009 8:48 pm

dono wrote:I use my recorder (flue recorder), my nylon guitar with 2 broken strings, and my $10 mini 2 note polyphony keyboard to "jot stuff out" sometimes.

That's my whole kit! that and some effects via ableton.... http://www.myspace.com/perrywimbleton is what i've done so far... it's not great, especially compared to the beasts here which is why don't promote it in my signature..

Joebot Kill · Post by **Joebot Kill** » Thu Nov 12, 2009 8:53 pm

I just got over a dry spell. Pretty much the whole month of october it seems. I just let myself be lazy for a little while. Eventually something will come along and inspire me for a little while longer.

dono · Post by **dono** » Thu Nov 12, 2009 9:02 pm

Soo...

Do you guys ever experience this... you are just messing around, and you get all these ambient ideas in your head so you record them down, and line em up. Then you play a nice airy, or melodic tune over it, and it just seems like a beat would ruin it?

I seem to encounter it a lot. I am working on a piece right now, and it just doesn't want a beat. I need to be careful on this whole concept album, because the wrong beat will ruin everything. It's meant to have a really melancholy memory sound to it.

Synthestesia · Post by **Synthestesia** » Thu Nov 12, 2009 9:14 pm

dono wrote:Soo...

Do you guys ever experience this... you are just messing around, and you get all these ambient ideas in your head so you record them down, and line em up. Then you play a nice airy, or melodic tune over it, and it just seems like a beat would ruin it?

I seem to encounter it a lot. I am working on a piece right now, and it just doesn't want a beat. I need to be careful on this whole concept album, because the wrong beat will ruin everything. It's meant to have a really melancholy memory sound to it.

Yes!!!! That happens to me every single time. When I was a young lad, my dad told me to always lay down the beat first. Still though, I always forget to.

polar sky · Post by **polar sky** » Thu Nov 12, 2009 9:43 pm

dono wrote:Soo...

Do you guys ever experience this... you are just messing around, and you get all these ambient ideas in your head so you record them down, and line em up. Then you play a nice airy, or melodic tune over it, and it just seems like a beat would ruin it?

I seem to encounter it a lot. I am working on a piece right now, and it just doesn't want a beat. I need to be careful on this whole concept album, because the wrong beat will ruin everything. It's meant to have a really melancholy memory sound to it.

Yeah, some of my tracks do not have beats on em, cause it just sounds full with out one.

Pantheon · Post by **Pantheon** » Fri Nov 13, 2009 12:37 pm

I mostly make ambient when im experimenting. Then when I sit down to make a tune I just sample most of my own experimental stuff and resample it, most of the time layering beats into them. But yeah, every once In a while I'll get a peice that a beat would ruin.

I would have to say, you need to trust your judgement. If tune makes you want to layer a beat into it then go for it, otherwise it might sound forced.

But are we talking about a pure lack of rythmic elements, or minimal percusive sounds?

Some songs need to be tied into a distinct tempo (via repetition, precusion, etc) and others are more like sound scapes with no dicernable driving force. I guess that my point is maby its best to let the song guide your next move instead of thinking "I want to make something with heavy beats!" or such.

turquoise70 · Post by **turquoise70** » Tue Apr 13, 2010 7:31 pm

FUCK, you guys. I haven't been able to write a song I like in MONTHS.

I'm totally stagnated. This sucks. I haven't written any good new Boreal since January, and even then it was just one song. UGH.