Author Topic: how do you get creative?  (Read 12487 times)

vinceasot

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how do you get creative?
« on: January 31, 2016, 11:24:21 am »
I love to stream the english premier league while in the studio, and follow all the news about it all, some fifa on playstation when on breaks

this helps me with creativity for some reason

also i like to visualise my favourite producers talking to me in the studio

no drugs, pills or anything

and..drinking coffee helps
« Last Edit: February 01, 2016, 01:53:50 am by vinceasot »

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Re: how do you get creative?
« Reply #1 on: January 31, 2016, 02:26:15 pm »
Consuming sugar really helps.
For me, just picking random notes that pop up in my head makes awesome chords/melodies. Really.

Mussar

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Re: how do you get creative?
« Reply #2 on: January 31, 2016, 05:06:00 pm »
no drugs,

This statement is incongruous with this one

Quote
and..drinking coffee helps

Caffeine is a drug, and you can develop a dependance on it.

Not saying coffee is bad, but anyone who says they don't take drugs and either drinks soda/coffee or alcohol is either lying to you or lying to themselves. ;)

As far as my creative sources:

  • Books - Particularly nonfiction books about law, science, the economy, or politics.
  • Exercise - especially cardio.
  • Documentaries - My favorites being political, economic, science & nature, and food.
  • Cannabis - Lamb's Bread and Jack Herer, great to combine with any other activity on this list.  8)
  • Children's Cartoons - My most recent favorites being Phineas and Ferb, The Amazing World of Gumball, and Uncle Grandpa.
  • Debate Webforums - discussing religion, the economy, politics, etc.

Basically anything that gives your mind time to unwind and/or to ask itself very difficult questions. Most of my creative energy comes from an intellectual curiosity and a deep desire to figure things out, so I like to immerse myself in things that spur on a degree of self-education and self-analysis. I often find the answers to problems I have in music while I'm focusing on something else - exercising being a great example of this. Ever since I started going to the gym multiple nights a week, I have at least an hour where I have to occupy my body completely and my mind becomes much more free to wander. Plugging in my headphones and using the elliptical has given me almost as much useful analysis on music as trying to reconstruct the songs myself in my DAW!

Marrow Machines

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Re: how do you get creative?
« Reply #3 on: January 31, 2016, 05:50:21 pm »
You just need to bench press your way to creativity.

lol.

I don't have time to do much creating in the musical realm any more. Mechanical engineering studies does that to you. But I do play the guitar every now and again.

I actually haven't made any songs in like the past 8 months or so. But I have songs that are on the complete and are being mixed.

Going to school has focused me on different aspects and gain an appreciation for silence and letting things work out. Often times the variable you haven't accounted for, and the one that needs to be removed, is yourself. Once you remove yourself from the emotional attachment you have with the problem(s), then you can see things from a different angle. (take that with a grain of salt and maybe a few discussions)

I also drink tea. I don't smoke weed any more because it doesn't help me do any thing besides relax and get super lazy. Besides, it didn't actually make my music, ideas, or perspective any better.

I also play some amount of video games, but not nearly as the level i did in high school. The more serious I'd want to be into games, the more serious i should be towards my music. Given more time and resources available, I'd dubstep all day and night.

Stick with the coffee mate lol.
Josh Huval: Honestly, the guys who are making good art are spending their time making it.

Bertie South

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Re: how do you get creative?
« Reply #4 on: January 31, 2016, 06:25:47 pm »
  • Books - Particularly nonfiction books about law, science, the economy, or politics.


Interesting. So do you think of reading those kinds of books as a creative source in themselves, or is it just an activity that makes the creative process easier for you?
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Marrow Machines

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Re: how do you get creative?
« Reply #5 on: January 31, 2016, 06:48:40 pm »
Interesting. So do you think of reading those kinds of books as a creative source in themselves, or is it just an activity that makes the creative process easier for you?

I know it wasn't directed towards me, but reading any thing of interest stimulates the brain. His suggestions are in line for the vessel that is currently being occupied(i don't know the sex of poster in which the question is directed towards).

It's a great way to activate your brain and when it comes time to use the vocabulary you're learned or just use your brain, you'll have a better time at doing both than if you did not do the activity.

But, you still have to specify the actions you take and practice the things you want to get better at. Different things help with physical and mental properties of any subject, but you still need to practice the mental and physical properties OF the subject you wish to become more skillful in.

I personally think this is the essence of creativity.
Josh Huval: Honestly, the guys who are making good art are spending their time making it.

ZAU

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Re: how do you get creative?
« Reply #6 on: January 31, 2016, 10:58:52 pm »
I don't rely on anything external besides coffee... mainly because I love the taste and smell of it mmmmmm

My day job is writing music for media so I am trained to just show up and deliver, all within crazy deadline limitations. In the ad/jingle house scene, you just don't have the time to get high or play video games or watch TV. It is excellent training because now I can sit down and come up with something really fast without relying on anything besides my own creativity and musical tastes.

Sometimes I feel that you are either creative/musically inclined or you're not.. it's just like with the other thread about forcing yourself to produce.

Mussar

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Re: how do you get creative?
« Reply #7 on: January 31, 2016, 11:59:34 pm »
So do you think of reading those kinds of books as a creative source in themselves, or is it just an activity that makes the creative process easier for you?

Why does it have to be an either or? I think that any activity where you can sort of shut down the analysis and planning centers of your brain while allowing room for free-association thoughts, subconscious wandering, mind-expansion, or whatever you wanna call "not acting like neurotic paranoid primate that evolution made your distant ancestors into." Like Marrow Machines said, "activate your brain." Trying to grasp astrophysics has given me a little bit of insight into light, which can translate in some ways towards what I know about sound - both are waves oscillating at specific frequencies that are perceived by our brains in subjective but generally similar ways. It makes me look at sound differently the next time I approach it, and in my opinion makes me more open to new ideas.

At the same time, not thinking about music gives my mind some time to work through a lot of the issues I'm having with music. Cleaning dishes by hand or folding laundry is another good example of that for me; I've had epiphanies about what to do with my tracks just because I gave myself the time away to be monotonous.

Sometimes I feel that you are either creative/musically inclined or you're not.. it's just like with the other thread about forcing yourself to produce.

There's no such thing as being "musically inclined" or "creatively inclined". You have drives and you have desires. If you desire something, you'll try to achieve it. If you have drive towards something, you'll do whatever it takes to achieve it, no matter how difficult that thing is to achieve. Everyone desires to be creative, because artistic expression allows us to get out thoughts and emotions we cannot otherwise express. Not everyone has the drive to be creative, because artistic expression is one of the easiest things to start and one of the hardest things to master. If you're not 100% passionate about it, there is no amount of desire that will give you that drive.
« Last Edit: February 01, 2016, 12:02:31 am by Mussar »

Marrow Machines

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Re: how do you get creative?
« Reply #8 on: February 01, 2016, 12:25:41 am »
I personally would hate to have to sit down and deliver music with in a time frame. Striking a balance of keeping the music and art for myself, and potentially gaining profit, seems biased towards ways that i am not willing to give into just so that i can make music.

If life is truly about balance, i am ok working a regular job and jamming out when those obligations are dealt with. But, i'd hopefully be in a career that would keep me stimulated enough to not just walk out.

This thread, like others similar and in approach to this entire forum topic, boils down to how well you understand yourself.

There's this line that i got some where and it pertains to engineering: "if given enough time, you can fix the problem."
well take that into the account of being creative and you have your answer. You either do like ZAU and become professional or do it as a serious hobby (or hobby).

only you can decide the depth of which you seek. once you've decided, start working towards what ever you may want. or you may just want to do the things just to simply do the thing with out much goal (the later suggestion is suggested if you're keen to not being attached and have an unconditional love).
Josh Huval: Honestly, the guys who are making good art are spending their time making it.

Final Kindgom

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Re: how do you get creative?
« Reply #9 on: February 01, 2016, 02:44:35 am »
Having themes help. The Song-a-Week subreddit has a theme for every week, and so far they've helped me think of some cool stuff. Other than that, sound design and noodling in my DAW get my creativity going.

ZAU

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Re: how do you get creative?
« Reply #10 on: February 01, 2016, 04:07:21 am »
There's no such thing as being "musically inclined" or "creatively inclined". You have drives and you have desires. If you desire something, you'll try to achieve it.
What I meant by musically inclined was that some people have an affinity or interest in music and some don't. When you are interested in something, you have the desire to learn everything there is to know about it. So it goes hand in hand. Some people do not have an interest in music, like some of my high school friends, etc..

Everyone desires to be creative, because artistic expression allows us to get out thoughts and emotions we cannot otherwise express.
Haha NOT everyone... some people are quite content being told what to do by their boss, as long as they earn a steady paycheque, not that there's anything wrong with that.. I know people who are 0% creative. They just do what's already been done a billion times before.

I'd like to think that artistes are special people. Not everyone has what we have.

Hyperhumanimal

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Re: how do you get creative?
« Reply #11 on: February 01, 2016, 02:47:15 pm »
Usually I just open up my DAW and... put some form of chord progression down. Everything just goes up from there. You can also start with a beat, but that's harder.

Artless Venture

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Re: how do you get creative?
« Reply #12 on: February 02, 2016, 12:53:30 am »

There's no such thing as being "musically inclined" or "creatively inclined". You have drives and you have desires. If you desire something, you'll try to achieve it. If you have drive towards something, you'll do whatever it takes to achieve it, no matter how difficult that thing is to achieve. Everyone desires to be creative, because artistic expression allows us to get out thoughts and emotions we cannot otherwise express. Not everyone has the drive to be creative, because artistic expression is one of the easiest things to start and one of the hardest things to master. If you're not 100% passionate about it, there is no amount of desire that will give you that drive.

I have to agree with this one. I use to get more obsessed with my songs when I'm getting closer to finishing them. I often have this kind of break in the middle of the production phase, where I am just not as stoked about this idea that kept me going anymore. I then often start to either add stuff (which sometimes works) or just don't listen to it for a couple of days and come back to it later - and when I am able to feel it again I finish it!