How to get inspiration?

Redbeard · Joined: Jul 04, 2006 Posts: 3 Location: UK

One technique which I use to sometimes get almost non-stop musical ideas is - although possibly a little ego-centric - to imagine that you are just at the start of a concert, any concert will do, and the crowd are anticipating the start of something special.

You have use your imagination to its fullest sometimes but it can certainly be enough to get the muse going, to the point where you have to let juicy bits leave your mind and hope that they return, (which leaves me with the question of how others trap their inspiration before it's lost forever, but perhaps that's another thread).

I think once ideas start coming they don't stop. 'It doesn't rain, it pours' as we say in the UK.

Antimon · Posted: Wed Jul 12, 2006 8:17 am Post subject:

opg · Posted: Wed Jul 12, 2006 8:58 am Post subject:

I have an unhealthy need for perfection. I have to get everything just right, so I focus too much on little details. That's why I hardly finish any songs.

BTW, this is somewhat off-topic. What's a good DAW that will be the easiest to record/stop/erase and retry/add on to the end of the track/record a new one/stop/record again, etc.?

I find that if I spend more time fiddling with just trying to lay down tracks, the less time I think about the important stuff - like which weird sound to mix with what random pedal.

Besides Fruity Loops, I only have Cubase - which is getting on my nerves for some reason.

opg · Posted: Wed Jul 12, 2006 9:12 am Post subject:

I should also mention that I've been looking at Audacity. The only thing I worry about is MIDI for VST instruments (which I may still use) and a piano roll editor for them.

mosc · Posted: Wed Jul 12, 2006 9:54 am Post subject:

Try reaper.

opg · Posted: Wed Jul 12, 2006 10:47 am Post subject:

frogger · Posted: Tue Aug 01, 2006 3:44 pm Post subject:

State Machine · Posted: Sun Aug 06, 2006 9:10 am Post subject:

Bill Fox Wrote:

kkissinger · Posted: Sun Aug 06, 2006 12:00 pm Post subject:

This is a great thread and I have been following it with much interest.

As a result of reading posts here I have pondered the question of what inspires me.

What inspires me is my desire to create music. So, for me the question is what keeps the desire alive? What is that "magic" thing that keeps the music flowing?

And after pondering this for a while, I have to conclude that for me the thing that keeps me going is....

Deadlines.

Deadlines force me to focus my efforts, to make decisions, to set parameters. They force me to FINISH projects (after all, a project that is 99% finished is an unfinished project). I think too, that deadlines force me to simply get things done without allowing any time for worrying about whether my work is "good enough".

I find that the biggest source of anxiety is if I decide that my next creation will be some kind of deep artistic statement. If I am trying to express some kind of profound thought, I will be stymied because nothing can measure up to the high-fallutin' thoughts in my mind!

If I decide (in the spirit of Larry the Cable Guy) just to get 'er done then I am better off.

Yes, indeed... I would like to think that occasionally my creations are expressive and inspiring -- I have learned just to have faith in myself and focus on getting the job done.

frogger · Posted: Mon Aug 07, 2006 1:02 pm Post subject:

lvbsx · Joined: Jul 19, 2006 Posts: 4 Location: sarajevo

jksuperstar · Posted: Tue Aug 22, 2006 10:50 pm Post subject:

Ironically,this was just on PBS the other day--

http://www.drwaynedyer.com/?gclid=CLrNyKOO9YYCFRN7NAodTj48Wg

seraph · Posted: Wed Aug 23, 2006 12:51 am Post subject:

opg · Posted: Wed Aug 23, 2006 5:51 am Post subject:

As long as your deadline is for something realistic, deadlines are a good idea. When I have an entire weekend free, my dealine is usually, "finish an entire song by Sunday evening" which might be too lofty a goal. Then, I'll have so much pressure to finish the song that I won't be able to think straight and relax. Mad

Alexander · Posted: Wed Aug 23, 2006 6:41 am Post subject:

Lately I've been using almost everything. Say I record some minutes from my window and I listen to the recording, instead of taking out what's useful, I try and 'recycle' the rest.

The digital domain is perfect for this and it gets you inspired guaranteed! I will take the leftovers, bad overdubs, lousy beats and whatever and process them through audio units, create patches to mangle the sound, run 'm through whatever. The results from all this "trial and error" processing is a lot of potential useful 'new' material!

If that still doesn't lead to any inspiration in creating a piece of music, just take the mangled material and repeat the above suggestions, after a while you'll end up with something close to noise and well, there's filters, s & h, etcetera to continue..

I tend to view digital audio as a big bag of unorganized 0's and 1's, as an alphabet, or music notation symbols. The core remains the same and after 'degrading signals to an extreme it sometimes feels like sculpting/painting with numbers, very inspirational to me.

I hope that was clear, the last bit seemed a bit vague, gehehe! This is by the way not my way of composing music, it's something I try when I just finished something or am working without any purpose.

kkissinger · Posted: Wed Aug 23, 2006 6:55 am Post subject:

sine_wave · Joined: Sep 25, 2006 Posts: 20 Location: NY

Kruge, I've been in similar situations as I'm sure we all have in the past.
I know for me the lighting in the place I write is crucial. For some unknown reason I just seem to write better and generally get more inspired in a dimly lit studio. Also, the layout of the room is another thing to consider.

Last but not least, maybe something bigger is on your mind? It's possible you could be stressed or upset about something and it's killing your creativity. We're strange animals!

elektro80 · Posted: Sun Oct 15, 2006 4:18 pm Post subject:

That leaves two questions! Where is Kruge and how is he doing! Shocked

Kruge! Please return and tell us how you are doing!

MN · Joined: Feb 26, 2007 Posts: 4 Location: Paris

Hello

Erh, being new here, I will be a bit careful not to jump at the phrase that just came into mind, so I'll rephrase it a bit Smile

The romantic things actually works too, a certain long legged columbian girl, that disappeared into fog way too soon, actually made me compose an entire script for a movie (which now is in the works more or less), and I have a slightly humorous theory about the danish philosopher Søren Kirkegaard, that his entire lifework is one long love letter to the love of his life. As we all know this sudden urge to express the reason or thoughts behind our emotions, when love hits (be it happy or unhappy).

So, well (ahem), the smartass rock'n roll suggestion that burned my lips was:

Women (or whatever do the trick in these matters) Embarassed

Happy chasing inspiration.

All the bzt,
Mick Nye

seraph · Posted: Fri Mar 02, 2007 6:55 am Post subject:

MN · Joined: Feb 26, 2007 Posts: 4 Location: Paris

A well documented (however slightly exhausting) recipe indeed Cool

M
PS Thx for the well done

Stanley Pain · Posted: Mon Mar 05, 2007 3:38 pm Post subject: