what to do when inspiration dwindles?

[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

[Tyrisia]

well, I've just had a week off an it does work, and yeah @dirtybass, I can see you've got a good point, investing time in an idea does make you "want" it to work too much, I've defo had that problem in the past.

@Scott, I wish we were all that good, techno would definitely be a better place for it hehe

[rounser]

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"

I've observed differently - the ones I've read tend towards "get your requisite daily work down, it doesn't matter how you feel about it at the time." e.g. Frank Herbert, looking back, can't tell the difference between work he did when he was "inspired" and when he hated the very idea of writing something and had to force himself. Bryce Courtenay's only piece of advice to writers is two words, "bum glue". A published ex-girlfriend of mine always sticks to her X-thousand words a week, come hell or high water. There are others, but I can't bring them to mind.

Although a stroll in the countryside (Rudyard Kipling) or endless games of patience can allow time for the subconcious to work on the problem, I'm very suspicious of the "walk away" advice. Different strokes for different folks, though.

[dirty_bass]

I've observed differently - the ones I've read tend towards "get your requisite daily work down, it doesn't matter how you feel about it at the time." e.g. Frank Herbert, looking back, can't tell the difference between work he did when he was "inspired" and when he hated the very idea of writing something and had to force himself. Bryce Courtenay's only piece of advice to writers is two words, "bum glue". A published ex-girlfriend of mine always sticks to her X-thousand words a week, come hell or high water. There are others, but I can't bring them to mind.

Although a stroll in the countryside (Rudyard Kipling) or endless games of patience can allow time for the subconcious to work on the problem, I'm very suspicious of the "walk away" advice. Different strokes for different folks, though.

Bad examples man, Frank Herberts books got progressively worse, and the fact he forced himself is exceedingly obvious.

You see if you invest time in shit, you lose objectivity, and give value to shit, purely down to the effort you invest. In shit.

I think it`s terrible to look at every piece of music you make as a release. Experimentation can sometimes be just that.

Sometimes, not all the time, sometimes it is better, to walk away.

Obviously there are things you can do to get your juices flowing sometimes, but to walk in the studio, and expect results every time, can lead down a dangerous path.

[rounser]

Frank Herberts books got progressively worse, and the fact he forced himself is exceedingly obvious.

Well, his point was that the "being inspired or not inspired" bit didn't change the quality of the resultant material; he couldn't tell the difference. Perhaps he was always destined to be a Pearl Jam and get progressively worse with each release. There's a lot of artists like that, but I think they're more respected than those who don't release anything, which walking away might cause. If he walked away, would we ever have even seen Dune? Even one novel is quite a feat of application.

You see if you invest time in shit, you lose objectivity, and give value to shit, purely down to the effort you invest. In shit.

That's true to an extent...although you could argue that it's just as easy to discard something worthwhile as it is to push something not worthwhile. You lose objectivity about your work in the positive as well as in the negative.

I think it`s terrible to look at every piece of music you make as a release. Experimentation can sometimes be just that.

Sometimes, not all the time, sometimes it is better, to walk away.

But if you walk away, you won't be experimenting.

Anyway, swings and roundabouts...there's two competing underlying principles we're discussing here, both to do with the subconcious mind, and both of us are correct IMO:

1) The subconcious can create a game plan better than that of the concious mind, and needs time out to do it.

2) The subconcious only begins to work once you've begun to act, because by acting you get it focused on the problem.

Depending on who you are, both of these might apply to a varying degree. I tend towards (2) because it doesn't risk procrastination and the forming of bad habits such as not ever finishing things (which walking away encourages so far as I can see), which is much worse than finishing many crap things and the odd good thing.

[TechMouse]

I think it`s terrible to look at every piece of music you make as a release. Experimentation can sometimes be just that.

There's no such thing as time wasted in a studio.

(Unless you are actually wasted, in a studio).

[dirty_bass]

There's no such thing as time wasted in a studio.

(Unless you are actually wasted, in a studio).

sure there is.

you wanna work in a professional studio some time.

You`ll see
PLEEEEENTYYYYYYY
of time wasted.
Turds going under the buffer for hours.