What's wrong with my brain?

opg

Alright. This is getting irritating. I had 4 entire days to work on a tune that seemed to have a lot of promise, but it all withered away when I started adding synths and melody.

I'll run through my typical process: I start with either drums, bass, or a weird gritty effect. Based on how I feel about that first element (what kind of mood the song could have, for example), I will slowly add other parts.

In this last song, I started with a really nice and messy bassline - something with hiss and overdrive that really wobbled when two notes were played together. I then added some auxillary percussion (clicks, hihats, electronic zaps and buzzes) that were panned all over, with delay and an LFO wildly controlling the amount of reverb. I selected 170 bpm for the tempo. After 8 measures, I started the main rhythm with exactly the right type of drums I had been wanting to hear in a song - old drum machines with bitcrushing, saturation, etc. I added in a few effects and adjusted the existing auxillary percussion to fit the rhythm to my liking.

Then I get stuck. This has been happening more and more. It's like by the time I have figured out what sounds I want to hear (the instruments and synths I like and the effects I put on them to warm them up), I don't know how I want them arranged anymore. I must have tried at least 3 versions of this song - a more IDM version with complex beats, a simpler rhythm but very melodic by matching the bassline with a synth pad and a lead synth, and a version that spirals into a kind of novelty disco with the wah pedal guitar and a funk rhythm.

You see? It's this big GENRE / STYLE thing that's in the way of my brain! I'm more sure of what I DON'T want to make than what I DO. I have no artists as references. It's like I end up with something too much for a chiptune, or a sloppy IDM song. I've listened to a lot of synthpop bands, but they don't have what I'm looking for (and a lot of them are vocal-centric). Aavikko is great, but I would substitute old drum machines for the live acoustic drums. And do I want melody-oriented music or more ambient?

Anyone know of other artists in the vein of Aavikko (instrumental, toy keyboards, an ability to not sound like a Playstation basketball game soundtrack)?

If not, a good brain surgeon should do the trick..... Rolling Eyes

Antimon · Posted: Tue Feb 14, 2006 2:22 pm Post subject:

Maybe you need some Oblique Strategies?

Let's see... (flicking through my stack):

"Gardening, not architecture"

"Just carry on"

"Who should be doing this job? How would they be doing it?"

"Simple subtraction"

/Stefan

opg · Posted: Tue Feb 14, 2006 2:45 pm Post subject:

hmmm.....I have never heard of this before......I'm reading about Brian Eno right now....

Here are some of my own fake news headlines (off-topic):

"Folding Chair Lost at Poker Tournament"

and another:

"Archaeologists Find Shovel"

opg · Posted: Tue Feb 14, 2006 2:51 pm Post subject:

I haven't found "increase dosage of Xanax" yet......

Kassen · Posted: Tue Feb 14, 2006 3:12 pm Post subject:

I've been working with toy keyboard sounds lately and found Absynth works better then Xanax.

That might help?

mosc · Posted: Tue Feb 14, 2006 4:48 pm Post subject:

When I get frustrated like that I like to jam with another musician. It's a way to forget about composing and just make music.

Stanley Pain · Posted: Wed Feb 15, 2006 4:45 am Post subject:

nothing is precious

opg · Posted: Wed Feb 15, 2006 7:11 am Post subject:

Usually, when I get stuck, I'll start fresh with another song. However, if I get stuck on every song nowadays...

I liked reading the Oblique Strategies. I need to think of someway to think outside the box while keeping the samples and sounds I want to use. Perhaps I could mix it up similar to one of Eno's quotes by making the rhythm the melody and the melody the rhythm.

I think the base of my problem is my habit of defining what the music is before I've finished it. If I've decided that it's a [insert genre here] song 16 measures into it, I'm NEVER going to finish a song.

paul e. · Posted: Wed Feb 15, 2006 9:52 am Post subject:

try everything, but in a new way..

throw out assumptions..

break habits...

throw out the 'i usually start with..' and do something unusual

don;'t think as much..

tap into your inner emotional state and meditate on communicating that through sounds

connect with why you make music..question your base need for music...reconnect with your primal need for music

every now and then i 'quit'...give up..throw in the towel..

for a few hours anyway hehe

it can rejuvenate my thinking

paul e. · Posted: Wed Feb 15, 2006 9:54 am Post subject:

another thought:

if you play a traditional instrument...pick it up and recall the basics...play a traditional folk tune or classical theme..a beatles songs..

it can transmit new information each time...

'back to basics' can be an nice refresher

opg · Posted: Wed Feb 15, 2006 12:00 pm Post subject:

It's funny, when I'm at work and not on the computer, I am constantly writing lists of things that will help me "connect with why you make music..question your base need for music...reconnect with your primal need for music." Not so much musical things as much as memories from childhood - the first day of kindergarten, playing outside in the woods, sneaking around in old barns on a Fall Saturday, etc.

If I really tried to incorporate these feelings and memories into a song, I would end up with a whole lot more field recordings (not that that's a bad thing) and much less melody. I've gotta have my drums, though. But this is all good; ideas are brewing.

Thanks!

memedesigner · Joined: Feb 11, 2006 Posts: 59 Location: Berlin, Germany

You seem to know pretty well how you like your bass lines (rich & messy) and hows the drum set to sound (bitcrushed etc) ... try approaching the synths from a totally different angle, eg "need to build a roof for the bass&drums" and then work on "the roof" so to speak. With melody, maybe go with "lets put in some more feeling" and then go from there.

Dunno, might help. What do I know.

blue hell · Posted: Thu Feb 16, 2006 2:26 pm Post subject:

memedesigner.

Trying something completely different works for me, like drawing or painting, or computing. Or when it has to be music, start with pure white noise in a wave editor and filter it and cut it up & stuff. Or try recording suround sounds and use those instead of your usual gear. Anything that turns out to be fun will do I guess ...

memedesigner · Joined: Feb 11, 2006 Posts: 59 Location: Berlin, Germany

Thanks Jan for the welcome Very Happy

The idea of going out with a portable recorder, a mic and some wind protection (or maybe not) for the mic, and bringing some sounds in from the outside sounds very alluring. Might be a good creative block buster as well.

I just picked up a book Audio Anecdotes II, basically a collection of digital audio articles, that has a field recording primer, among other pretty interesting looking stuff. Now Im really waiting for the summer and the sounds of summer Cool

jkn · Joined: Mar 14, 2004 Posts: 469 Location: La Porte, IN, USA

Sounds like you're in a bit of a rut which we all go through. I think the key is to not worry too much about it. There have been some nice thoughts already posted (and there's probably a couple of longer threads on getting stuck, lack of inspiration, etc... I have a thread on "musical lethargy" on a modular synth forum > http://forum.soundarc.net/topic-33.html < if interested - where I ramble on a bit.) I know I've posted at electro-music several times on getting out of a rut in the past.

Anyway - point is - you can easily over-analyze what the problem is. There are lots of approaches to getting out of it - from going back to basics (I love to go play piano or get my bass or guitar out...), jamming with friends can be so amazing, just hearing something that knocks your socks off can do it, changing your musical style for a track or two... try playing noise, write in 3 instead of 4, rock out, go minimal, whatever is truly different - you'll be surprised at how refreshing it is when you come back to what you truly want to be working on.

The thing that's helped me the most in the past is to not force it. Sometimes the more you try and force a solution to the problem - the bigger the brick wall in front of you gets.

jkn · Joined: Mar 14, 2004 Posts: 469 Location: La Porte, IN, USA

One more thought... I've found time and time again that any time I have a week off work - or a great weekend where I have "nothing" I need to be doing and it's a perfect time to dive into the studio and "catch up" on recording...

Ha! It never pans out. Something gets in the way - or my creativity is just gone...

On the other hand - I find that when I'm my busiest - work is killing me, we have 15 places to go, I really should be sleeping... suddenly the floodgate opens and that spark goes off and all is well in my little world of recording.

Scott Stites · Posted: Fri Feb 17, 2006 9:18 am Post subject:

There is no substitute for your own experimentation, mentation and persistent, disciplined digging into the musical earth.

-- Ivan Tcherepnin

FLechdrop · Posted: Fri Feb 17, 2006 1:03 pm Post subject:

opg · Posted: Fri Feb 17, 2006 1:39 pm Post subject:

jkn · Joined: Mar 14, 2004 Posts: 469 Location: La Porte, IN, USA

Sounds like you have plans for something fun - plug it in... do it!

opg · Posted: Sun Feb 19, 2006 2:58 pm Post subject:

Oh, I've got plans.....I just gotta keep the pressure from getting to me....

jkn · Joined: Mar 14, 2004 Posts: 469 Location: La Porte, IN, USA

I spent several hours yesterday hooking up the rest of my studio (I had it only half plugged in...)

No - I didn't record anything - but it was wonderful finally tracking down where those last three power supplies were tucked away (in a container down in the basement... how'd they get there?)

Only thing not plugged in is any midi cables (which I don't use all that often anyway...) - and I ran out of 3' and 4' cables that were earmarked for my modular. Have to order a few. Nice to hook things up with shorter cables though instead of having tons of 20' spaghetti to deal with... Wink

opg · Posted: Tue Feb 21, 2006 7:22 am Post subject:

mmmm.....spaghetti.....

Cables are like Christmas tree lights for musicians. You pick up one cable and this entire twisted mass is also pulled up off the ground. I've been so lazy before with mic cables that I have put masking tape at both ends and wrote label names on them instead of untangling them. I remember in my first recording class, the professor said the best way to store them is by hanging them on a hook - too many tangles decreases the life of them. I had that system going for about 4 days until they returned to Christmas lights...

jkn · Joined: Mar 14, 2004 Posts: 469 Location: La Porte, IN, USA

I label both ends of cables - and power cords - it just makes life easier in the long run... Smile

I don't have my modular cables labeled since their much shorter and you can see where they're going... but anything over 10' - yeah.

I keep this next to my mixer as well... http://www.johei.com/gallery/2004Nov/mackie_layout_revised

egw · Posted: Fri Mar 03, 2006 5:42 am Post subject:

There was a thread about this a while back, but I can't think of what to search on. Anyone remember?