How to get inspiration?

elektro80 · Posted: Sun Jan 25, 2004 3:16 pm Post subject:

I once read a text by sergei prokofiev on the same. Interesting.. I haven´t found it online.. not yet..
And I once heard this excellent OTR file.. an interview of Kurt Weill... where he was discussing inspirations and compositional methods. I am still looking for that file.. I think I heard it streaming in 97 or so. I must get that file!

paul e. · Posted: Sun Jan 25, 2004 3:16 pm Post subject:

kruge
sorry to be so simplistic..

just do it ,and get on with it Very Happy

times' a 'wastin

AgentA · Posted: Fri Feb 20, 2004 4:47 pm Post subject:

Take a long walk or bike ride. Linger on a bridge and watch the river. All the while, listen intently. Look behind you with your ears.

Lots of good tips gang...
Thanks for the Brahms, Seraph.
I agree with egw also about playing with someone else.

I often get the "do the washing up" oblique strategy, lol.
A buddy of mine found that inspiration came easier when his desk was clear so to speak. You know, do the dishes, fix that door knob or whatever.

One of my favorites of the Oblique Strategies is "honor thy error as a hidden intention."

Indeed, the American Maverick interviews and programs, yes.
Fascinating.

djfoxyfox · Posted: Fri Feb 20, 2004 7:25 pm Post subject:

Cyxeris · Joined: Oct 30, 2003 Posts: 1125 Location: Louisville, KY

I keep alot of photography books around for inspiration. The more horrific and troubling, the better. I have some of those "20th Century's Greatest Photographs" type books, and I'll go though those until a few images start to affect me, then use that as creative fuel.

Sometimes I'll make an image my desktop and always have it around while writing. "Becoming" was written off of Michael Whelan's Avatar and Passage series. Lines in the Sky was written to a sexy image of Lacey Chabert, but most of such work is to unfavorable imagery, the bad stuff. The ugly stuff. I find these most inspirational (although I'm not always keen on the form the results of the muse take). Documentaries are pretty good too.

Cyx

Gareacho · Posted: Sat Mar 06, 2004 4:02 pm Post subject: how to get inspiratioons

I find the more imersed in music I am the more inspiration I have .Go see a concert of some that inspires you.Try not to get hung-up by by all the technical stuff.My music comes from my dreams and by adding vitamin B-12 it helped tremendously with dreams and music

Cyxeris · Joined: Oct 30, 2003 Posts: 1125 Location: Louisville, KY

There are many vitamins that can help with dreams and music.

7/4 · Posted: Sat Mar 06, 2004 5:22 pm Post subject:

Cyxeris · Joined: Oct 30, 2003 Posts: 1125 Location: Louisville, KY

Note that vitamins was italicised. Wink

paul e. · Posted: Sat Mar 06, 2004 8:22 pm Post subject:

i think he is referring to

tetra-hydro-cannibol

could be wrong.....

mosc · Posted: Sat Mar 06, 2004 9:15 pm Post subject:

Oh you Canadians. Must we poor Americans be constantly reminded that you live in a free country and we don't? Crying or Very sad

Cyxeris · Joined: Oct 30, 2003 Posts: 1125 Location: Louisville, KY

Vitamin T? Drugs are bad, mmmm-kay?

play · Posted: Sun Mar 07, 2004 2:06 am Post subject:

Motivation, inspiration. They're different things. I find that motivation cycles for me. Sometimes it's there, sometimes it's not. Sometimes it's there but I have no inspiration and so what comes out is forced or sort of routine.

If you are really unmotivated there is only one cure. Do it. I find that doing ridiculous things help to get me motivated. If you usually make structured music, make some hellish noise. If usually you make amorphous blobs, try working in a rigid structure or a well-defined genre.

Do a headstand. Do acting excercises like displaying as many emotions as you can in a minute, or talking gibberish. It sounds silly but it works for me. In fact, it works so well for me that I talk gibberish all the time, or make up characters and become them for an hour or so.

The important thing is to get the door open. It's simple inertia. Objects in motion tend to stay in motion and non-moving objects tend to stay still unless some external force is applied, in this case, your will. If you can muster enough energy to get started, know that it will get easier.

It's kind of a zen thing too. When the student of zen receives a koan, the first thing they do is shout "PA!" or clap their hands really loud. This shatters the space, temporarily derails your train of thought allowing something fresh and unanalyzed to appear, something from the well.

that's my two cents. good luck.

mosc · Posted: Sun Mar 07, 2004 8:37 am Post subject:

play · Posted: Sun Mar 07, 2004 12:06 pm Post subject:

egw · Posted: Sun Mar 07, 2004 1:15 pm Post subject:

Nice point about inertia. I agree that is everything. The most important step is to just start doing something, anything. The rest will flow from there.

I think of a person as being creative, if they make an effort to create things. The quality of what they produce is really not as important. As long as they are sincere in their expression.

Cyxeris · Joined: Oct 30, 2003 Posts: 1125 Location: Louisville, KY

I like getting myself really upset and worked up into an emotional lather, and then the inspiration and motivation overwhelm me and down the creative rollercoaster I go. That is what works best for me. Anger, rage, depression, despair. It's as though I resort to creativity, my music specificly, to rid myself of these terrible things. And once I'm going, even after they are eliminated, I find it difficult to stop. Self-abusive, maybe, but so is training for the Olympics, it could be argued. You get what you pay for, I suppose, and sometimes you pay out of your mental/emotional-pocket.

Or mayby I'm just justifying the way I go about it. I think that inspiration/motivation is as unique to each artist as their art is. What I find interesting is observing not only the uniqueness of each artist's work, but also the uniqueness of what each artist draws upon for inspiration and motivation. After all, you never know, perhaps someone else has happened upon a technique that would work well for you, perhaps better than your own methods. And dry spells, periods of writer's block, are perfect opportunities to give some of these a try.

7/4 · Posted: Sun Mar 07, 2004 5:21 pm Post subject:

chuck · Joined: Apr 26, 2005 Posts: 58 Location: cincinnati, oh

Get yourself a project, and one with a deadline is best. Even if you have a degree (or several) in music, you could apply for admission to a music program which would mean you'd have to get portfolio together.

If you live near a university, call the Music Composition teacher and arrange a lesson. Plan to go in and be impressive. Get some old music together, make some new music. Show the prof what you can do.

Make a musical birthday present (or holiday or something) for someone. There are probably several people in your life who would enjoy having some special music made just for them.

Find a stranger to make some music for... ask for volunteers in this forum, and exchange music.

Don't worry about making something that is judged worthless.... failure is a valid human experience... embrace it!

gravehill · Joined: Apr 12, 2005 Posts: 49 Location: Berlin, Germany

Lots of good ideas in this thread.

In the beginning of 2004 I made a new year's promise that I would try to write one song every week during the year. In the end of the year I had 46 new songs (almost 5 hours of material), close enough for me.

This year I promised myself to concentrate on promoting my project Chaos research and in next months there are albums coming out in both Europe and Japan (different ones).

On the other hand I have composed only like half an hour's worth of new material this year but that's also ok. I don't have any pressure since I have lots of usable songs from last years sessions.

Someone please remind me to let you know when I'll make the next new year's promises.

seraph · Posted: Thu Apr 28, 2005 1:54 pm Post subject:

dust · Posted: Wed May 18, 2005 8:57 pm Post subject:

The inevitable "Composer's Block". I am currently experiencing this too. It's not nice not to have written a song in a few months, but after this period some really incredible music can be made. Take Milan Kolarovic for example. One of my favourites of his: Out of the Blue, came literally "Out of the Blue", after him being in "Radio Silence" for several months. A very beautiful song.

I often find that for me, the best way to get inspiration is to listen to a song or genre that you wouldn't normally listen to. Writing music in different genres than your norm can also broaden your tastes and effectively give you more opportunities to write new music.

Ponk · Posted: Thu May 19, 2005 1:47 am Post subject:

I got an inspiration yesterday when finding those cheesy sound effect CDs in my local music library. I borrowed "Essential Sound Effects of Babies and Children" and "Essential Death & Horror Sound Effects, vol. 1". I plan on trying to mix these into a track. We'll see if anything worthwhile comes out...

jksuperstar · Posted: Thu May 19, 2005 12:43 pm Post subject:

and if all else fails, sit down aand have a conversation with the machine elves...

Dovdimus Prime · Posted: Thu May 19, 2005 3:06 pm Post subject:

Booze. And jumping up and down.

I'm not being flippant. I find this combination immensely helpful! Very Happy