How often do you get Writers Block? Does it seem to occur in stages?

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parsons19

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Wassup yall,

Probably a ton of threads on Writers Block. I am adding another to the collection!

I was wondering, how often does everyone around here get writers block? I know it can effect everyone differently and right now I am having troubles! :lol:

Does it seem to occur in stages? I wanted to note this, its my case.

I have been producing for about 7 months now. Lets make it 8 to make it an even number :lol: My first EP came out in September 2011 sometime. This was about 4 months into my time of production. After that time I had a real rough time getting anything I liked the sound of again and was getting a little frustrated at times!

Now, in January/February my second EP (which if you see my posts on here often you will notice I keep ranting and raving about! Hopefully it will sound good to all your ears :lol:) will be going out under my new name. So, about 4 months down the line I have squeezed out another EP. Now, I have been trying to work on some other ideas and can just get the basis down. Having real trouble developing anything I have!

See the pattern? Maybe I can expect this every 4 months? :lol: Or maybe I can expect this every single time I work on something bigger than an individual track? :lol:

Basically, I am staying away from making tunes for a bit as my HD is low on space (resolving this soon) and I'm really not feeling my results anyways. I am floating around this forum and facebook a lot of the time due to bordem so...

discuss!
 
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Poets like Coleridge or Byron used to smoke opium to stimulate the imagination.



The Victorians swore by it...

opiumstudents.jpg
 
Yeah I get it quite often. Sometimes for a month sometimes for a week, until I figured out what I need to do to get rid it.

For me, I either go back to basics, forget about the synths I use and how i usually make my beats and just load up some samples.

If that doesn't work. I shut down Cubase. Get off my studio PC, do other things and don't even think about writing a tune until I get that "Urge"...that's also when my best tunes come out usually. It's best when the urge comes and I'm away from home, then when I get back I tend to just totally go for it.

Like my latest tune I wrote and basically finished In 5 hours. That was after about 2/3 months of tunes I that never got finished.

---------- Post added at 22:31 ---------- Previous post was at 22:22 ----------

Next time your in the mood and good stuff is coming out, think to yourself. what put me in this mood?
 
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Mr Fletch said:
Think yourself lucky its only every 4 months mate! I'm in the pattern of getting writers block after every single track I finish!
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Woah man! Guess I am lucky then! In all fairness though dude, your tunes do kinda have a bit more to them than mine so I guess you are putting more work in? :lol:

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elmaruk said:
do other things and don't even think about writing a tune until I get that "Urge"...that's also when my best tunes come out usually. It's best when the urge comes and I'm away from home, then when I get back I tend to just totally go for it.
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I have been recommended this before. I was told to do something else creative to keep my mind off of tune making. Trouble is, I don't do much else creative :lol: I guess I have photography? Might even start drawing or writing or something... :lol:

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Papa Jaro said:
Poets like Coleridge or Byron used to smoke opium to stimulate the imagination.



The Victorians swore by it...

opiumstudents.jpg
Click to expand...

Haven't got any Opium lying around I'm afraid! :lol:
 
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parsons19 said:
I have been recommended this before. I was told to do something else creative to keep my mind off of tune making. Trouble is, I don't do much else creative :lol: I guess I have photography? Might even start drawing or writing or something... :lol:
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Meh I'd say do something completely unrelated. Not even creative. But that's me.
Try something new or go for a walk. You never know, you might hear something that triggers something.
 
Have you thought of heroin? Lou Reed found it inspirational...and he was a genius!


 
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Thanks for the advices :) I might even use it as a chance to research some History. Maybe I will end up with all my A Levels going well then! haha

Unrelated: I just noticed I use :lol: too much in my posts. I am going to have to cut down!

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Not sure about Heroine dude, probably not a great route! ;)

And as I am not a fan of Lou Reed, especially after that bloody Lulu album with Metallica, then the drug isn't selling itself either!
 
I've been producing for about 10 months now and got my first kind of writers block after new years, i was unmotivated more then anything so i had two weeks off, luckily its summer here in NZ so i spent alot of time with mates at the beach and going on road trips listening to tunes etc. Once i got back to the computer i felt refreshed and ready to get some ideas down, which led to a pretty much finished tune within a couple of days.

Hopefully i dont go through this period again for awhile its not the greatest feeling
 
yeah not sure about the heroin, usually its a bad idea. anyway elmaruk has the right idea id say, do something unrelated. catch up on all the things you set aside during your last fury of producing :) by the time you get those things in line again i bet you have inspiration. life is all about maintaining balance in all aspects
 
Go for a good old night-time acid trip, any local woods where somebody has been murdered or raped should do the trick. Take some alcohol, and dress warmly - as you may be there for a while, its easy to get lost while stumbling around over all the tree roots and the hands of demons clutching for your feet.

When you make it out alive your drive and passion for life should be tenfold what it was before, once the trip has subsided (and your not staring into the abyss of a 4th dimension creeping out from every right angled object) - you'll be able to put all those flesh eating thoughts into a gut wrenching bass sound.

(Im here for more production techniques if you need - just PM.)
 
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Papa Jaro said:
Poets like Coleridge or Byron used to smoke opium to stimulate the imagination.



The Victorians swore by it...

opiumstudents.jpg
Click to expand...


this works for me like a charm ;)

ever since investing in some hardware and fx i really dont get blocks any more. if i can make a tune i collect samples or breaks or do recordings, or i jam on 100% hardware or then i mix records so i always got somewhere to turn. obviously not everyone has these luxuries but i find the computer is the problem with my writers block, soundcloud, facebook here too much shit that wastes my time when i should be smoking opium or smack ya know
 
Papa Jaro said:
Have you thought of heroin? Lou Reed found it inspirational...and he was a genius!


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i like the cut of your jib jaros. youre making a lot of sense right now, you cant get opium just by snapping your fingers these days, its like asking for laudanum in the pharmacy. but heroin, ah yes. snap your fingers and you will be six years deep loyal to the foil, burnt reynolds, making the ladies of the 80s just tremble.
birds and bees. or worms and slugs. anyway, writers block was it.
i dont know man, the best thing to my mind, for writers block, is group projects. i got a few and even if my solo creativity and eagerness to create is long gone, there is still an output and that is because of my group projects. been like that for a while actually, a girl took me over and i havent been in the studio since. but ill be getting stuck back in (the studio) soon though, i got some spare time coming up and i will dedicate it to the studio.
 
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I think having to rely on drugs to be creative is probably not the best. Used to smoke alot of dope, and used to make alot of tunes, but it was all unfinished and not really any good. Been much better since I stopped. But then again, I've never done opium, crack or heroin...maybe i should :|
 
The most annoying thing for me is always seem to come up with sick ideas just as im tucked up in bed about to go to sleep, well annoying! Happens so often its like a massive brain pisstake as I cant stay up and write tunes cos i'd never get up for work!!!

But i find if you are having a block then step away from making a tune and just have a project full of bass sounds/ drums and spend a couple of hours resampling or whatever to get some movement going.. Ive spents like 3 nights a row just on bass sounds, can be really productive even if you get a block.
 
having it more like all the time. this one day i wake up and cant leave my computer until 22h later with lots of work done. rest of the week i wont get anything done AT ALL.

sucks. especially if you know you can do it. lol.
 
Russla-DJ said:
The most annoying thing for me is always seem to come up with sick ideas just as im tucked up in bed about to go to sleep, well annoying! Happens so often its like a massive brain pisstake as I cant stay up and write tunes cos i'd never get up for work!!!

But i find if you are having a block then step away from making a tune and just have a project full of bass sounds/ drums and spend a couple of hours resampling or whatever to get some movement going.. Ive spents like 3 nights a row just on bass sounds, can be really productive even if you get a block.
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^This x10000000. Hate it, and once I finally get to sleep I'll wake up in the middle of the night with it one of the first things on my mind. Shits gone by morning though :(

I get writers block in short bursts, although I did just get over a month long episode.

But even if you have writers block theres no reason not to still noodle around in your DAW. You could make something super generic and practice your mix down skills, sample stuff, make synth presets, build drums, organize your sample library, or spend some time setting up some sick sampler patches.
 
Cheers for all the responses guys!

I too have that problem of trying to sleep sometimes :lol: I was once up until like 3 in the morning just thinking about a new tune. Kinda sucks when I have to get up for 7.30!

I will probably work on some patches or something then, not sure I will bother with the heroine suggestions thanks ;) haha, I can't speak from experience but I don't think it is a good area to mess around in that area in my personal opinion. If you can be creative without taking drugs then surely thats better? :lol:
 
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