how do you write?

[VitaminD]

depends.

on trance I focus on riffs or melodies and then build on them.. my more 'successful' songs have been ones where I had the idea in mind before I sat down.. though I've done some nice stuff by just ploinking along until I got something I was happy with..


on more drum-complex stuff I focus (naturally) on the rhythm of the drums.. usually I get a rhythm going with my kick drum(s) then I tap in the snare or handclaps...

sometimes I do it the other way around.. especially if I do sets of 16 in 4/4

either way/style I use a lot of creativity.. with a lot of focus on movement.. does it move or does it sit still.. and does it make me bop my head to the beat or not.. if not then I either try to fix it or scrap and move on.

thats about it.

oh, and I'm usually tons more creative after doing something school related (highly technical and non-musical) especially after a few days/week of no music making ...then the ideas just flow... its like my brain is fully awake and recharged then.

if you're having problems coming up with something then it means just that.. you're forcing yourself.. like all things good, music shouldnt be forceful.. it should be more natural and easy to achieve... at least imo.

[the_nihilist]

i when hear myself coming up with no new ideas and nothing new to say, i quickly loose patience with what im working on. that right there is probably a significat factor in my 8-16 bar block. by that point i can already hear that im not on to anything all that exciting.

Have you ever considered trying something like famitracker and just write some simple NESified chiptunes? Nothing to worry about except 3 voices and a noise channel.

[ugo]

Have you ever considered trying something like famitracker and just write some simple NESified chiptunes? Nothing to worry about except 3 voices and a noise channel.

i've never tried that particular program, but i dont think it would be quite my thing. i find the tracker way of writing to be too counter intuitive for me. i prefer to work in a way thats a bit closer to playing and less like programming.

interestingly though, while im not really into chiptunes myself, the only cool solo (non collab) thing i wrote this year was built mostly with dave's fizz n chips video game sample collection that i tweaked in liveslice and kontakt.

[pilot7]

few things you could try:

- change the colors/interface of your host. (yes i am serious)

- if you can, use a other host (they all do the same basically, it's mostly workflow differences)

- make music with other people

- make music outside..

i've experimented with different colors of light and even extreme heat or cold.. it's amazing what a environment can do to your brain.

[VitaminD]

oh yeah.. and changing up my daily routine can also help a bit.. getting out of the monotony..

[ugo]

few things you could try:

- change the colors/interface of your host. (yes i am serious)

hmmm...i havent tried that one yet.

- if you can, use a other host (they all do the same basically, it's mostly workflow differences)

i did buy project5 and eXT this year. (as a change from cubase SL3.) i've spent a good deal of time in eXT (and build that collab with :10: in it) but i havent spent all that much time in P5 yet since i bought it while i was deep in development for ironhead. i do intend to work in P5 more too though.

- make music with other people

i would like to do some more collabs. that one with :10: was the first track i had written with anyone else in ages. i also havent jammed in the same room with anyone in an equally long time.

- make music outside..

well, i do have an acoustic bass. no laptop though.

oh yeah.. and changing up my daily routine can also help a bit.. getting out of the monotony..

considering the monotony of my daily routine, that would probably be healthy for many reasons.

but in a positive outlook...
dusted william and i are scheduling weekly record-offs, as funky lime suggested. that will force me to push through and actually write stuff. hopefully this process will also help clear the rut and let me move into some new directions.

[Ildon]

That reminds me. Did you ever get out of your rut, ugo? I remember a while back you said you hadn't written anything in a really long time.

nope, im still not out of it.

For this thread's sake, I shortened your post, but I did read it all! That's really a shame, man.

[tomg]

If writing crap counts, I've have never had any problems. Basically I just come up with a riff on whatevers close. Guitar and bass are usually best. Then write the song around it. If it sucks as usual, I just remind myself that 90% of everthing is crap and that includes my music. Lyrics are not importaint most of the time as long as the fit with the riff. When I write a guitar/melody song with real lyrics it comes off too cheesy most of the time.

I can do crap, anytime anyplace. The best stuff comes from working though. You sit down like it was a job and work at it everyday. It's called practice. If you just cut out 1 TV hour a day and practice the craft you'll get better.

Think of the song structure intro - verse - chorus - bridge - middle8 - lead break - ending. You're going to need at least a couple of parts mixed up real good to make it interesting. IVCVCBLCVCE or even VCVCLVC.

Clicking through presets looking for inspiration is a good way to waist what little life you have. Just do it and do it a lot. Complete them no matter what you can always mix a few crap ones together to come up with something else.

Good luck.

[RTaylor]

few things you could try:

- change the colors/interface of your host. (yes i am serious)

- if you can, use a other host (they all do the same basically, it's mostly workflow differences)

- make music with other people

- make music outside..

Stop spending your time at programming and concentrate on music?

[OzoneJunkie]

I wonder... if all paths will work... or fail...

[Freeform]

It'd be fun to write a 10 second song, and just keep adding 10 second songs onto it so every damn bit was amazing... *talking to himself* Just a thought though.

It'd probably end up sounding like old Skaven *.IT songs

[eduardo_b]

I wonder... if all paths will work... or fail...

Failure is just too harsh. Disappointment is more like it. I think knowing what to throw out and what to keep is the critical point in any of these creative endeavors.

Really good photographers, for example, throw out at least 80 to 90 percent of what they shoot. It's the hardest part -- getting rid of anything that isn't really good enough, so that what is good is all that's left. Even with considerable skill and ability, the truly creative stuff is always a small percentage.

What, then, is success? If I ever finish a song...that alone would be a kind of success. Finishing a song I still like when I'm done would be way more success. Having 10 such songs might be too much success -- because, then what?

Sometimes I think that the process is what really matters, and the songs would be a bonus.

[Sickle]

anything else about your songwriting process you'd like to mention?

My tracks stem unhindered dirictly from my sub-consciousness, the only part of myself I can always rely upon for disclosing ugly truth and self-honesty. I'm usually in a near(or occassionally absolute) self-hypnotic state and at best my conscious role is restricted to passenger status during the creative proccess, which is usually VERY rapid.

If a track takes me more then 2 hours from conception to final mix, I usually delete it.

For every track I've shared here, there's 9 more that have never been heard by anyone.

ps: That also applies directly to my role as a Reaktor ensemble 'developer'. I'm sitting on a LOAD of Reaktor creations that I have never shared with a single other individual.

[tomg]

anything else about your songwriting process you'd like to mention?

My tracks stem unhindered dirictly from my sub-consciousness, the only part of myself I can always rely upon for disclosing ugly truth and self-honesty. I'm usually in a near(or occassionally absolute) self-hypnotic state and at best my conscious role is restricted to passenger status during the creative proccess, which is usually VERY rapid.

If a track takes me more then 2 hours from conception to final mix, I usually delete it.

For every track I've shared here, there's 9 more that have never been heard by anyone.

ps: That also applies directly to my role as a Reaktor ensemble 'developer'. I'm sitting on a LOAD of Reaktor creations that I have never shared with a single other individual.

You are one of the gifted. All the greats give birth to songs almost second hand, the rest of us have to build 'em from scratch.

[Arglebargle]

Badly!