what to do when inspiration dwindles?

[stjohn]

try organise some samples.. ie: freestyle with some synth and break it up into individual samples to work on...

or make some nice loops, concentrating on each sound intricately....
than when you come back... the palette is there ready to go!!

[rounser]

Does your sequencer have a randomise function? Try hitting that a few times, see if it comes up with something that gives you a lead.

Half of the battle is getting over the "blank canvas" bit for me; once you've got something filling the void, there's something to build upon.

[Jay Pace]

I remember being taught a technique a year or two ago, which apparently was popular with autechre

Open up all your channels with a sound (drum, cymbal, other) and enter notes for every beat of the bar. Mute everything.

Then randomly just click unmute, and randomly pan etc.

Basically - its just another "randomise stuff" tip.
But you can have lots of happy accidents that way.

[rounser]

Basically - its just another "randomise stuff" tip.
But you can have lots of happy accidents that way.

Yup. I like to think of it as "subtractive sequencing". Often it's a lot easier to sculpt and modify a bunch of looped random noise-makery than it is to build up a sequence from nothing. Also, it teaches you what sort of thing the patch or sample is capable of, which may be more or less than you envisioned.

[Dave Elyzium]

turn the computer off, have a walk, watch a dvd, have some sex, ban yourself from music even when inspiration strikse for a few days, youll be itching to lay stuff down after that...and if not youll have had some exercise, spread your seed and watched a good movie and saved some leccy in the meantime

[mattdubois]

But you can have lots of happy accidents that way.

I am a huge fan of happy accidents! and love when the happy accident ends up spawning a whole new direction and eventually a solid new addition to your portfolio

when inspiration dwindles for me I like to get completely away from producing and be creative in another medium but in a very relaxed and non-demanding way...I usually find this via my day job as a cook/chef as culinary arts is a passion but one not as intense as music....I used to find it with poetry and prose but words/language got to be too confusing and imprecise for expression as music/sound became my medium of choice....

reading a favorite poem or quote or personal mission statement or watching a certain movie/scene from a movie or hearing a song from a genre I never work in are usually dependable ways to get little spurts of determination and inspiration going....like tonight I heard that track by Eminem that was used in "8 Mile" where he talks about there only being one chance to make it and you have to take advantage and fully live the moment and the music, and it made me want to get to work on my music as soon as I could (I was at work).....

or lately, I just watch cartoons and drink beer till inspiration knocks again...

[dirty_bass]

When inspiration dwindles, what the hell are you doijng trying to make music?
Stop, go do something else, today is not the day to make music, accept it.

Don`t make music just for the sake of it, don`t try to force it, and if you are randomnly hitting shit to try to get something good, ugh.

Sometimes it is simply much better for everyone to just walk away.

Otherwise, you can invest loads of time into a heap of crap, and then because of the time you have invested in it, you will treat it as valid.

Writers, painters, all artists have this discussion, and pretty much the conclusion all of them (I read a lot of biographies and interviews with artists from all areas, being a pretencious arty type myself) comes down to "Just walk away"

Go smoke a joint, have a drink, read a book, watch a movie, play some really loud music (not techno), go out, go have a conversation, watch some porn, but don`t just make music for the sake of it.

[Jay Pace]

hmmmm, disagree

Wouldn't call it "randomly hitting shit hoping for something good"

A random pattern generator is never going to make anything good. It will make something random. A person can take an idea from a random pattern and make it into something good.

Once you've got something down, you can shape it, mould it, come up with new ideas, ditch old ideas and end up in a completely different place to where you started.

Don't make music if you're not in the mood, sure. But sometimes you want to make stuff, but don't know where to start. I rarely have ideas in my head that I want to commit to music. Much more interested in sitting down and seeing what happens, and shaping it as I go along.

And if you don't like the result, abandon it and move on. You learn something everytime you sit down and make a track. What not to do next time, a nifty little trick, maybe try something new etc. If you don't work at all you aren't improving or developing.

[eyeswithoutaface]

i never run out of inspiration. Im that good

[ERROR404]

I like to work on 4-5 projects at once and only spend an hour or so at a time on each one... your ears are always fresh, and ideas flow more creatively between and across tracks etc...