I came across this video from a guy I'm subscribed to on Youtube and I thought I'd share. Some of you probably know of him already as a recording/mixing dude with loads of advice along the band recording route, but I think his points here apply across genres and it's something we all probably face often as a general concept.
Creative ruts. Trying to brute-force creativity when the stars are not aligned. He has a few tips that I think are valuable.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XbiX4FjuFl0
My own take on them with regard to our craft in the Electronic genre:
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Creativity is something we happen upon. It's not an inherent property we're endowed with. We can't force it, nor can we simply tap into it as though we're maintaining a reservoir of it when needed. But we can cultivate it, and this is through inspiration and experimentation. I believe creativity is expressed by the artful realization of blind exploration guided by inspiration, and its values are something we discover during the journey. The results of creativity will be just as surprising and interesting to us as it is to the listener.
The condensed version of this concept:
Try new things and settle on the ones that surprise you in a good way. And then keep doing it. Never stop being surprised at your outcome, no matter how small the detail.
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Listen to other music.
This has definitely been thrown around many times before, but I think that most people consider the concept in general, but not in direct relation to their project(s). I listen to wildly different music than the stuff I produce, and a lot of similar music. But the key, I believe, is not existing in a vacuum and not compartmentalizing the role of this third-party perspective. While I think it's good to have influences, I don't think that means shelving your own perspective of their source in order to honor those influences. The music should be about you, so you take those influences and apply their concepts in your own way. Even (especially) if it makes your music sound different from theirs, but having been guided toward what you end up with. Think of your role models in music as a direction to follow, but you decide the steps you take to get there.
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Extracting yourself from patterns.
If you find yourself always looking for X, Y or Z in order to "start an idea" and are mostly unsuccessful, stop. Change something. Either get out of the current environment for a while or change the approach. Change something. There's this stupid quote that reads "The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over but expecting a different result", and while it's medically untrue, the point does have some value here. Try to identify and break any patterns that may correlate with your unsuccessful sessions. This can be considered a part of experimentation, but mostly as it relates to your state of mind.
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Finding a good environment:
Notice the hits more than the misses. Notice when you get really hyped because something worked out, something sounded badass, something laid your grandma out from 87 miles away with nothing but audio juice. Write down what precipitated those moments, what things you did and what situations you were in. Use it. Learn about yourself. That's the best route to something meaningful. It's a good place to start.
Anyway, I've rambled long enough. You may or may not needed to have read this. I did. I needed to write it because I needed to try and understand it just like a lot of people out there.
Edit - Shit grammar
Submitted November 21, 2017 at 12:13AM by DoNotSexToThis https://www.reddit.com/r/edmproduction/comments/7eepzf/getting_out_of_creative_ruts_a_perspective/?utm_source=ifttt
Javier Rodriguez
Monday, November 20, 2017