Musicians!! Read this, stop, and think...

[where02190]

Why do I get the feeling that if I had started this thread I would have been accused of being a cry-baby and been flamed to death?
T.

Dunno...are you?

[Pako]

*snip*

what I want to know is, how can I break the habit, and get back to making some music?

Unplug.... Yes, that's right, unplug yourself from the net. Trust me....the net is taking your creativity away and using up all your time for creating.

I tried, but couldn't...well, I've dedicated one night a week to composition where the net is not accessed. It works...

[Diesel10]

Great thread.
I find my creativity sparked immediately after I buy some new toy (harware or software). In the week after I got my PT system I recorded 4 full songs. They're not great, not "finished" by my standards, but at least I got them on disk and can listen to them. In the four plus months since, I gotten two more full songs down and some snippets; but hey, I read every thread I can on the DUC, I look at the many other recording sites I have bookmarked and I wonder what to get with that gift certificate I know I am going to get for the holidays. Grrr.
I also think part of the problem (mine at least) is this dazzling array of choices I have. I spend hours sampling beats trying to find just the right one, hooking up differnt guitars and trying sounds, doing anything but actually RECORDING.
I like the idea that's been suggested to just do it (sorry Nike). Don't worry about the choices, just get something down and the rest will flow.
I'd love to talk more, but gotta run, got more websites to peruse.

[gtrguy4]

What a funny thread!

I think this syndrome happens in many different hobby/profession scenarios.

Think about it this way- If music writing/producing is our JOB, and your income is made from it, you have to produce results day in and day out, using the gear you acquire. The gear must be learned quickly and easily and it's just really a tool to produce results.

If music is just a hobby, and you are under no pressure to create anything, except for your own enjoyment, then the focus can easily blur from writing good music to playing with tech toys, especially if you are a gear-head type of person.

I'd be willing to bet a plummer that works on toilets and sinks for 10 hours a day doesn't go home and surf "toilet forums" on the net or test out which of his crescent wrenches can break a frozen pipe-joint quicker...they just want to get the job done with whatever works.

I don't think there's anything wrong with tech-a-holic syndrome at all, but it probably happens mostly because of the lack of an immediate NEED for results (music)

If you were starving and couldn't make rent because you were too busy posting in here and playing with REASON, and not creating music that paid the bills, I think things would be different!

[rockridge]

OK, I admit it.... how can I break the habit, and get back to making some music?

Stop making music... start listening... to anything other than what you've been doing.

You're caught in the frenzy, and you need a break.

Give yourself a vacation... you deserve it.

Take as long as you need.

When you're ready, you'll start creating again.

[Diginerd]

My names Rob and I'm a Gearslut. I'm ashamed to admit it, but it's true.

Funnily enough there is a support group for us:- http://www.gearslutz.com

[terrydrums]

A cry-baby? No, I'm not. But I've often thought along the very same lines as the person that started this one but refrained because every time I bring up a point that might show a tiny sign of pointing out something that might be a little out-of-sorts in this industry, I get hammered and told I'm not any good or I should shut up and leave everything to the "pros."

Was that a long enough sentence?

T.

[audiobob]

I'd be willing to bet a plummer that works on toilets and sinks for 10 hours a day doesn't go home and surf "toilet forums" on the net or test out which of his crescent wrenches can break a frozen pipe-joint quicker...they just want to get the job done with whatever works.

Ha! I can just picture a big guy sitting behind a computer with his ass crack showing surfing toilet forums. Now that's funny.

To be pc, I'm not saying all plumbers are big and have their ass crack showing. Just an old SNL thing with Dan Aykroyd.

[lexicon5]

You could do what I and other people have done before....dig out the old Revox or TASCAM or whatever and some funky old mic or whatever and go back to the old days for a while...analog....mmmmmmmmm....warm and toasty.
Forget the computer...turn it off and unplug from the internet....resist the urge to see if update 4.2.1.3.4.5.3.2.6.45.3 came out today....you didn't need it yesterday....don't need it today either.
Get back to basics for a few days...see if any real musical creativity starts flowing again. Record it and listen to it....layer some stuff...do REAL bounces....listen to real flange effects(where do YOU think the name came from?).....play with TAPE delays.....

It's like a big comfy couch instead of the plastic pool chairs...

[Tito Ricci Arballo]

It's funny 'cause lately I've been spending more time recording sounds in protools and mapping them on the keyboard for patches than actually making music. I do force myself to get to those songs though. Once I do, It's on. It just starts to flow. But sometimes I have to force myself. Discipline is the name of the game.

~Tito