Original Message 1/20                 Date: 16-Jul-05  @  04:28 PM   -   Getting the energy...

Steve Roughley

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Hey all.

I've just been thinking about how I haven't completed a track in over a year and over the last few months have probably spent a total of 6 hours actually trying to write music. I'm still really interested in producing but my job has taken over my life and I just do not have the energy anymore to even look at a piece of electrical equipment when I get home.

Now, I know that some of you guys must have a similar situation with work and so I'm wondering what tricks, if any, you've found to get yourselves into the studio.

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Message 2/20                 Date: 16-Jul-05  @  06:24 PM   -   RE: Getting the energy...

mcc>

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these things help me:
1. inspiration
2. coffee or tea
3. a desire to rule the world
4. telling yourself that no one else is making any music and if you don't do so you're not living up to your responsibilities as an artist/savior/madman
5. pretending all those knobs are actually nipples and see how they soft and responsive they are.
we know they're not but pretend anyway (pretention can be very functional in many-a-situation).
6. inspiration (more> you can never have too much of this).
7. a decent melody or harmonic worth exploring....beats alone are insufficient
8. more coffee (or tea this time)
9. knowing how much your friends and mother who wanted you to be a lawyer will love you for continuing to churn out more tracks this year.
10. the knowledge you won't have to start a thread like this asking such questions!!!!!

find time once a year.....steve.
even twice maybe.

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Message 3/20                 Date: 16-Jul-05  @  06:26 PM   -   RE: Getting the energy...

mcc>

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is our little emoticon tipping his hat or beating himself with a mallet?

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Message 4/20                 Date: 16-Jul-05  @  06:31 PM   -   RE: Getting the energy...

Sage Bomb

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and if #3....desire to rule the world is too severe or expansive or loughty or grand....then perhaps settle for ruling your bedroom studio.

if all you listen to is charlie mingus or the 3 tenors or coldplay or
the new trend on the verge of being this week's shit....you're probably not hearing yourself.
i'll bet you find yourself more entertaining than what's out there...eventually at least.
okay....

11. finding yourself to be of maximum entertainment value.

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Message 5/20                 Date: 16-Jul-05  @  06:35 PM     Edit: 16-Jul-05  |  06:37 PM   -   RE: Getting the energy...

beds

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stop wanking.


no, but seriously ... stop it.


you need goals innit, same as most other things in life. if you're making tracks with no aim in mind you'll never get anything done. being creative is a nice pastime in itself, but the creative/play bit only lasts so long (for a particular track/song/'masturbatory art installation piece') and after that there's the hard work of finishing.

so you work churning out code for the boss every day and you want something more (possibly fullfilling) in your life? ... apply yourself.


where do you start?


... farmer gives the farmhand a bucket and asks him to clear the field of stones ... field is full of stones, farmhand just looks at it all and can't get started ... farmer comes along half way through the day to see how it's coming along ... "why's your bucket empty kid?" ... "i don't know where to start"


"start at your feet"



specifically how to make time for creativity? start with 15 minutes every day. and no more than that, you'll soon be champing at the bit.

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Message 6/20                 Date: 16-Jul-05  @  06:37 PM   -   RE: Getting the energy...

Maarten

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I know the problem.. I can go many weeks without warming up those osc's because of severe work. Dunno, at some point my creativity is ready to burst and then I lock myself up 5 nights in a row.. tired from work or not- Luckily my own arbeit-situation is not as hectic as it has been last year so I'm being quite productive but I can definately relate to your post. Force yourself to programming some sounds.. brings out inspiration at times... well, with me it does. But to each his own medicine probably.

Good luck

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Message 7/20                 Date: 16-Jul-05  @  07:12 PM   -   RE: Getting the energy...

Sage Bomb

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creativity in itself, is a response if not actual protest against all that which is mundane and banal.
our work is necessary and fulfilling to various extents but unless your creative impulses are given reign there....then some sort of outlet will always be necessary.
of course you got beer and tv to fall back on when all else fails.....but rocking something out of the void is much better.
let 15 minutes become 15 hours.
it's only time.....the time of your life.

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Message 8/20                 Date: 16-Jul-05  @  08:35 PM     Edit: 16-Jul-05  |  09:08 PM   -   RE: Getting the energy...

Rags

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It could take some time to get back to full productivity (weeks... even months), just start playing around with small ideas (if you use software it is good b'coz it is easy to save/load with just one click), and don't be discouraged if all you have is 20 useless idea, after a week. Make an another 40. Be persistent, the energy you invest into those small fragments will eventually pay off...

Getting the energy is a different kind of game though. It's like atomic fusion: you need to invest some energy first: go to concerts, gigs, partys if you can do it, also listen to a lot of different music [I can be considered lucky, because I have the kind of workplace where one can listen to some music with headphones, and even though I can't do it all the time (tasks which need concentration often force me to turn of the music) it really helps to have exposure to new stuff out there.]. Do things you wouldn't do normaly (even if that means you'll not have the time for producing at the beginning).

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Message 9/20                 Date: 16-Jul-05  @  08:36 PM   -   RE: Getting the energy...

Steve Roughley

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"the knowledge you won't have to start a thread like this asking such questions!!!!!"

Yeah, I think you hit the nail on the head there. Although, your last point, Sage, has certainly hit a note. My job no longer entails just coding. Now I mainly speak to clients and model their business problem before mapping a software model to it as a solution, which is very creative and does give me a major outlet for my artistic side. I know you may not think it, but creating well made, efficient software is very artistic. I suppose that's why its called software design. So perhaps this has caused a lack of interest in creativity at home.

I think I'm just gonna have sit down in my studio on Monday evening after work and every evening after that and force myself back into the groove. Its all a bit silly really, that I should be having to complain about this, but I've really felt like I've let myself go a bit. However, this little discussion has already made me feel a little more 'sparked', if that's a sensible term to apply here.

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Message 10/20                 Date: 16-Jul-05  @  08:38 PM   -   RE: Getting the energy...

Steve Roughley

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That's one of the problems that I've been having, Rags. Is I am constantly buying new and interesting music and the more I've put off producing, the more the whole creativity thing seemed to slip as I'd hear all of these new and talented producers doing things that keep getting even further out of my league (anyone following Tiefschwarz atm? My god these guys are talented!!!).

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