Author Topic: [Q]Unlocking your creativity  (Read 6484 times)

Kareem

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[Q]Unlocking your creativity
« on: May 21, 2016, 07:37:08 pm »
Hey everyone

Probably this will sound familiar for some. Sometimes you can sit for ages in front of your PC and nothing. Sometimes you finally get something, end up hating it and eventually you started with project number 9000. Well yeah, that's the situation I'm currently in.
I can remember the first days I started to produce, I could make tracks as if it was nothing. Now it feels the more knowledge I have, the less creative I am. It feels like all theories and rules are restricting me. First I was just bashing every white key because I knew it was either 'a' or 'C'. No worries about what must be done and what can't be done. I was simply doing what my ears felt like doing.
I'm curious about the ones with the same struggles and how they solved it or are trying to solve it.

Cheers!
Quote from: Frederich Nietzsche
You have your way. I have my way. As for the right way, the correct way, and the only way, it does not exist.

vinceasot

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Re: [Q]Unlocking your creativity
« Reply #1 on: May 22, 2016, 12:56:26 am »
creativity is a muscle, like going to the gym etc and it has to be developed, you need to keep a very open mind and listen to lots and lots of music and study your favourite tracks out there

you need to learn basic music theory to get some chords going, you pretty much dont have a song unless you have a hook

and develop on from that with sound design
and dont use too many presets cause your sound will be dull

keep going man...





Kareem

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Re: [Q]Unlocking your creativity
« Reply #2 on: May 22, 2016, 08:55:53 am »
I like the metaphor. Thanks!

I have been going to a music academy for 5 years now, I'm classically schooled. But the thing is, it feels like the all the knowledge I gained there and through YouTube tutorials have kinda blocked me.

What do you mean by not using to much presets? Are you talking about layers or effectively about presets? Because I can't seem to figure out what's "wrong" with them. It's like using shortcuts in your daw, you can get to something quicker. It may or may not sound great right away, but you can always tweak the knobs or add a layer that fills the blank spot.
Quote from: Frederich Nietzsche
You have your way. I have my way. As for the right way, the correct way, and the only way, it does not exist.

Mussar

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Re: [Q]Unlocking your creativity
« Reply #3 on: May 22, 2016, 12:52:06 pm »
The problem is you're thinking too much on what you've learned, instead of just using the skills you've acquired naturally. You're spending so much time trying to keep in your head the various things you believe that you have to think about while creating music - composition, arrangement, sound design, mixing, etc. - that you're paralyzing yourself away from actually creating music.

The reason we learn is so we don't have to think. It's the same reason we practice. You want to spend as much of your spare time as possible doing the mundane and boring little habits of practice and training so that when you need to sit down and work, you're just acting on instinct and muscle memory. You don't try to think of a cool chord progression, you use all the experience you've gained studying harmony and function and allow the aspects of theory that describe them to, in essence, procedurally generate your results.

Stop thinking so much while you make music, and start just making music again. If you can't think of anything to create, steal bits and pieces of creation from other musicians until you can. Most importantly, stop worrying about making a good song, and just focus on making anything.

Final Kindgom

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Re: [Q]Unlocking your creativity
« Reply #4 on: May 23, 2016, 08:01:07 pm »
I agree with Mussar. Don't worry about making good music, just make it.

However, I'm assuming part of your problem is that you want to use the knowledge you've gained, you but don't know how to apply it. In that case, I would say that you should use the things you've learned but don't overthink it. If you know music theory, instead of trying to figure out a masterpiece with all of the theory you know, why not just make a small track with a I-IV-V progression? Then move on to a track with a ii-V-I progression? Then try including secondary dominant chords, and then pivot chords to modulate to a new key, etc. There's so much that we learn in theory that when we try to manifest the concepts in our tracks, we tend to freeze up because we don't know how to cohesively put it together. We can analyze sheet music for days, but actually making something that puts our theory to use can be a daunting task. Maybe if you break it down, you won't have to think about theory the better you get.

You have to practice and listen to the concepts you know before diving headfirst into the more complicated stuff. Listening to and recognizing the concepts you learn in is a critical part of unlocking the creativity you're reaching for. If you don't know what they sound like, of course it's going to take forever to make a track -- you don't have a strong foundation for the song in your head because all you can think about is the theory! Add that with not practicing each concept (putting your theory knowledge to use through sound), and you'll feel like you can't make anything.

(I'm saying this assuming you know theory since you said you go to a music academy.)

GhostaOne7

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Re: [Q]Unlocking your creativity
« Reply #5 on: June 08, 2016, 04:15:32 pm »
I suggest walking for at least 20 minutes when this happens, maybe put on some tunes and listen carefully/train your ears/analyze whats going in the song. Simply walking will clear your mind and let you focus better coming up with new ideas more naturally.

The other thing I would suggest is practicing chord progressions (and scales), appegios, and inversions in different keys. Choose a key, start with the I root, go through all the inversions, then go on change the order so you know practice them to heart/muscle memory, then move to the minor root, then just go up the diatonic key. Do chromatic if you have time. Then work with different progressions and inversions and see if you can go from simple progressions in different inversions without having to think about it. This is a great exercise to not only train your skills but also to exercise/boost your creativity by playing different possible combinations.

If you are still having trouble maybe take a step back. Build some instruments or Fx chains, or maybe just throw on a drummer track/copied beat and improvise. Remember you can always improve your skills by going back to practicing scales, chords, and appegios, which will help you make better songs when you finally do go over the road block.

Best of luck.