Producers block

[djswivel]

Anyone ever get this?? Kinda like writers block but for producers.....And I'm not talkin like 1 day, I'm talking like over a week, where no ideas are flowing, nothing is motivating you etc. That's how I'm feeling right now. I just feel like pure shit. Nothing's coming to me.

I htink part of the reason is this. I got this HOT ASS sample, and for real, the track I'm using, sped up by itself sounds hot, but when I try and mess with it, it just doesnt sound right....I'm never happy with it.

Also when I read that interview with Dre and he says his record is 72 hours straight in the studio, and he's banging out 3 or 4 tracks per average day, it just makes me feel so small. Yeah I know, Dre is the shit, and prolly nobody can even come close to his level, but you know what I mean. Lately nothing is giving me the energy to focus and put out some hot shit.

Anyone else ever get this feelin, and how do you deal with it?? And don't say smoke a joint, that ain't my thing....lol

 

[tricky spinz]

yea man, sometimes i get into a slump for a week. i hate it when it happens on my weekend cuz thats when i really have the free time to just sit for a good 3 hours and produce. and i got nothing. lol. i hate that. but yea, i know the feeling. like, usually i'll just do something else i enjoy. sometimes i try just listening to music for inspiration. but then i'll get a song in my head and i can't make up anything my own. so really just do something you enjoy. anything at all. i dunno what your into so i can't say. but just leave it for a bit and come back. or just experiment around with a piece of equipment you have. just see what cool sounds you can come up with. that way when you get the inspiration you might have a good sound you can use. or sometimes you'll find a sound you like, and right off the bat you can create something with it. so thats what i recommend i guess.

 

[StressWon]

Yo if yall got some writer's block,,,ya should do what i do,,,,I rock some underground hip hop radio online, and peep out the boards. Check the Showcase and peep my yall are soin an then I get Amped!

PS:

Yo Spinz....why your avatar lookin Geeked out?...lol Jus Playin my man!

 

[J Rilla]

i have been in a slump for about a month....only had about 2 keeper beats and they aint all that great...my slump usually comes after i have had a streak of quality beats......im hopin once i get all my equipment in the future i can move around to different tools to find inspiration....like mess with some live instruments one day mess with tha MPC another, a mess with tha comp another day, some if im in a slump with one tool i can just run to another....preach

 

[boneyboys]

Slumps ain't all that bad, just try and experiment with wierd stuff, effects and that. Swivel - keep the sample for the beat in the background and have a mess round with it every once in a while but keep other stuff going on, I often find that helps.

 

[Equality 7-2521]

just listen to some of your favourite beats. or even better, phat new beats which you havnt heard before. download some songs of your fav producers that you havnt heard before.

i get mad inspiration just form listening to others. that includes beats from cats here at illmuzik too. take a listen to all the beats in the current competition and showcase and you should get some nice ideas

 

[pirell]

messenger, we're reading the same mag then.. scratch right. i read that interview too. well, i think everyone creative gets that. even dre, he may not have mentioned it, but its not like he comes out with albums every month, so he must have seom downtime at somepoint. he's not the worlds best/most successful producer, and ive read about other legendary producer having this downtime.

when you're surrounded in that environment though, it will come more naturally. when that happens to me, i just listen to music, usually of other genres. and i totally escape from the usual Hip hop rnb i normally listen to, then ideas flow again. Funny enough, weeks after im working on my own stuff with no knowledge of whats going on on the music scene, i play my acts/friends stuff and they tell me it sounds like this or that tune that just came out!! annoying compliment, but a bit re-assuring that i still got game.

secondly, the last thread i posted, asking about creativity was closed for some reason. i thought the deabte was healthy, we're all at different stages of this game, especially when there are other open threads with people arguing about Dre and neptunes using a piano or an orchestra

 

[djswivel]

thank everyone for the comments....I think i just need a week away from it all, which in itself is gonna be tough.....I love makin music so even though I'm in a slump I continue to sit down and try and work on things everyday....Everytime I do I get aggrevated or angry that I can't come up with anything and then the cycle keeps going...

I think i'm gonna have to fight my urges to make beats for a week and just chill....

 

[Cold Truth]

i say, stay away from beats for a minute. play some video games. watch some movies, go out and chill with friends for a few days. read some producer interviews, there a lot of them floating around the net. listen to some guys who inspire you while dring around.

do these things while staying away for three days or so and i will almost guarantee that you will be in a better mood and more creative for making beats. works for me every time.

 

[Kevin A]

J- rilla I fell your you, I've never had a months slump. This is your thread now, because it seems you need it the most. Let me tell you what I think these slumps are. Think about them as rechargable batteries. Use up all your juice, then when your out go back to the charger. But with batteries you can't just plug them up and they work, they take time to charge. When you have a season of good beat making, it can slowly, or briefly come down to a slump. If you've been producing for a while, everyone knows the formula for thier own average track. But what your mind needs at this point is more information. When I hit a slump, I recharge with information, then when it's time again, I've progress to a new level in theory, and I have some new techniques to try out. There are basic priciples to good production that does not involve particular software, you can pick something in your software that you don't know how to do, Like Cold Truth said in so many words, buy a music magazine (no vide, source, or fan type stuff) but electronic musician, scratch, computer music etc. Listening to music is good, but not for the pleasure of it, study it. That down time is the time for you to recharge with knowledge, don't wait for the tooth fairy to come knock you on the head, because yeah you'll be making new and different beats, but you'll be on the same level, with just a different feeling, that's not growth, and you want to grow. Hit up illmuzik and read the threads. You can do searches for topics, also people have made their names period a source for good information. Try typing in some names like Wings, and look up all of his posts, or god. I would say some other names but I'm just not sure, but I do know these cats consistantly post knowledge about music. Even if your like me and hate to read ( can't you tell by the run on sentences ), buckle down and do it and it will bless your future production.

 

[J Rilla]

Even though i find u incredibly annoying at times Kevin (no offense) alot of times ur on point and this would be times....i know exactly what u mean with recharging and all that great stuff.....i just havent made any attempt to recharge except with reading of course(scratch,remix,and of course post in here)....i never stated that i didnt know why i was in a slump just that i was in one....the havin mutiple tools thing was just for if i needed inspration immeaditly say for instance i become a hi demand type and someone needs a beat ASAP and also becuz i want alot of toys to play with.....now that school is out and work is about to start slowin down i will probaly begin my battery recharging

 

[Kevin A]

What's working for me is when I'm at work, I'm using every little break I can get to read some printed out material, or get some internet access to the web. It's good for me because I have a labtop. If I'm on a quest to find every good free vst, I can do that and download them without a problem. I would suggest to anybody think about buying another piece of expensive equipment to consider a labtop. Get something that's fast, I have a P4 2.8Ghz and it works for everything I need even video. In front of the machines that allow us to extend otherselves is the entity of the producer. The light of the production. Everyone has drinkin a bit hater-aid before, and you drank it because of it's interesting taste. Although I may throw a little hater-aid in my drink I keep it legit. If you love everything that's going on in the world then you are one with no hate, but if you feel strongly enough to express your dislike about something, your hating, because that's the nature of the meaning.
when I hear that I think very lightly of it so I figure I'll be the hater. Yes it can be done in an orderly manner, but with the unorderly is the temptation so you make your choice to stay on your A game or use your B game. Other than that I'm very serious about my craft and reaching musical freedom with my abilities. But with a slumps, there's no time better than the present to start recharging, the sooner you start recharging, the sooner you come out of the slump. And you never know when the slump is going to end, you just feel it when it's on or off. I will tilt the hat of respect to you until I see fit to change it. By offering my advice, I'm saying we can be cool and agree to disagree. Stay cool


Signed The Hater

 

[J Rilla]

fa sho Kevin...i dont dislike u or anything i even agree with u sumtimes its just like said u annoy me on occasion...but everything is gravy...continue with tha hating its good for the site

 

[Kevin A]

You know now that I've start to think about it, I'm not so hot about my job, although I'm truly blessed to have, but I always drink the hater-aid at work LOL. You maybe able to look back on a difference when I'm blessed with another financial opportunity. LIfe

 

[Obsidian Blue]

This is the time when you back away from the hardware/computer and do other things. Music all the time isn't always a good. Besides, most times your are looking to move in a differant direction anyway. One could find that next idea out of no where without stress. Down the road, a producers block could be a good thing....

 

[Kevin A]

It always a good experience for me nowwa days I know better. I think the hardest part is that first track that you attempt to make, that lets you know you've just began a slump. That feeling is horrible LOL.

 

[Ozmosis]

When Im in that slup I just play around on my keyboard and go thru a workbook that teaches different chords. I just have my own piano lesson, then maybe a good melody will just pop up when you least expect it and not trying. When your in a slup just sit around and work on whatever you think your weakness is in producing.

"The Oz"

 

[Tim D]

Dont even think about it, and one day when ur just messing around it will come too u, it always does

 

[sYgMa]

What I like to do is to look for new sounds and get inspired by them...or listen other styles of music and the most important part is not to overdo it cuz that could lead to anger and/or unnessesary frustrations

And I also wonder if all the beats Dr Dre says he's doing every day are keepers... He's tight, but I doubt that

 

[kaivai]

im slumpin' right now no matter what i do i just cant seem to keep my eye on da ball i need to get out a bit more maybe invest in sum turntables, try out another skill in the area of hip hop producin' learn how to scratch ( if you dont already know) make up strange sounds with ur mouth do sumthing that will inspire you