Attacking The Hump

[khujo1023]

I have found myself recently struggling with finding direction in my tracks. A lot of sections with no transitions or just a bunch of sort of chaotic sounds. I am usually able to get around this by switching melodies, forcing myself to focus on one part (drums, fx, transitions and the like) but have really been hitting some nasty walls lately. Usually this isn't too huge of a deal but I am finding myself lost in shitty mixes or just not able to get through even an intro.

This is all well and good, I'll get to the other side of it eventually but wanted to see what the community does to work through it when the wheels spin in place.

So, what do you do to get out of a rut, writers block, shitty mixes, directionless tunes and so on?

 

[Verva]

When Im stuck on a project thats not even got the base idea down I completely abandon it. If you cant capture the vibe or idea down in the first hour, if that, then its not worth continuing (My opinion). You ever make a tune that just gets mostly done in the first day or session? Everything just flows and each idea or sound you make or throw in just works immediately. That to me is making music, nothing is forced.

 

[khujo1023]

Damn... thats what I needed. Thanks!

 

[EvezDroppin]

I agree with what was said above most of the good tracks come together fast (not all).

I would recommend taking some of the good stand out sounds from the project and start building a sample folder with all the rejects in, which could end up being used in a later project.

 

[khujo1023]

I agree with what was said above most of the good tracks come together fast (not all).

I would recommend taking some of the good stand out sounds from the project and start building a sample folder with all the rejects in, which could end up being used in a later project.

Thanks, that is what i'm doing with the last project that started to stall. I am an over thinker which gets in the way of the flow. Read some stuff on Resounds blog about stepping away from that mindset and getting back into it. I'll get caught in the EQ cycle for hours sometimes... Which isn't wasted time, I learn something new but the track suffers. Its all good though and all in good fun!

 

[EvezDroppin]

No problem, yes everyone gets into those habits from time to time.
I do very basic eq'n and reverb sends etc first. I will then get down as much of the track as possible while I'm feeling the arrangement, bare minimum I will start creating a second drop before coming back to it and then its just hours of trying to get everything sounding right which can be a pain but I feel I get the best results in terms of vibe/arrangement.

I know people work differently and it also depends on the type of track, simple rolling type drums? don't worry too much about the mix... Heavily modulated techy rido/xtrah style... you're going to have to go get the drums sounding tight and punchy to truly compliment the rest.

 

[Clod.com]

Yeah