Make a break from it.
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why dont you just do what you did beforehand and see if there is anything there you can use to get a track done. sound like you fixed something that doesnt need fixing
I’m considering that, actually. To just walk away for awhile and see what that brings.
Well, beforehand has been the current situation up until now. I’ve enjoyed trying out and testing stuff. I don’t, anymore. Now, I want to focus on something and move forward.
I should mention that I come from a background where creating, building and releasing stuff has been part of my working beat for decades. So I’m damaged that way. My mindset’s always in release-mode, sort of.
I often try to stick to a voice. I also think that I know what style I’m best and most creative at.
But I get bored. I want to do different stuff. I like several genres or styles. Various tempos, more melodic, more beat driven, more ambient, more experimental, … trip hop, hip hop, electronica, rock… I have different projects and project names for some of those styles.
But I know your feeling very well. I somehow feel the need to have my own recognizable style.
I think I had a similar thread here if I remember correctly.
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here…
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I don‘t know, from most of the creative endeavors I did so far, I‘ve seen that all this reasoning around one‘s own voice or character or essence leads nowhere really. It‘s mostly like justifying a lack of purpose (?), thus all these thoughts of identity and whatnot emerge.
In my opinion this personal-voice-thing goes deeper than what one might expect, but funny enough, seemingly simple goals or challenges work really well to dive into this depth.
Tackle this blockade not from a creative perspective, but rather view it as a craft. Formulate a somewhat simple goal, like producing 50 minutes of material. Produce 7 different tracks, but all with the same percussion structure. Whatever, make up a list of names and compose material accordingly. Structure your stuff according to a movie. This goal doesn‘t even have to be visible in the end product.
Then when you‘re working through all of it, you‘ll eventually find your voice through the process. This voice - or a perceived lack thereof - should never prevent you from anything, it‘s a thing that happens as a sideproduct.
Yeah, take this with a grain of salt though, haha.
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Brings up the question … “who would you like to be”?
I am not qualified to give any advice, but if you are unhappy with the music you create, take a break, leave your comfort zones, try something different, try to understand, what is missing and search, what could fill those gaps.
But beware of the GAS trap. That definitely won’t be the salvation 
If it’s only to get a good track from an experimental idea you love, it might be much easier than you think. Some song structure, some common rules of arrangement, some decomposition of complex ideas to less complex “offspring”, all of this can be practiced like any other instrument or workflow - partly it’s art - partly it’s a kind of craft.
BTW my music is also based on many different genres. I love classic, jazz, rock, electronic genres and even some traditional music, etc. All of this influences what I do. I just don’t care. If it’s music I like, it is right for me. If others like it too, all the better. Well, TBH, this is true for music, which I make for myself in the first place and not for others
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There is much truth to it.
We are in a dilemma, all the times …
- We can copy a style we like and know it’s appreciated by others as well and have to try to get much better than competitors and climb to the top of this ever moving anthill. In the music industry that’s very hard to do.
- We can “intelectually construct” something, which is outside of the usual and will be significantly different and stand out from the ground up, but it might become so much “outside” that nobody likes it, even not we, if we are honest.
- Or - we can try to be authentic, try to be ourselfs, do what we love and hope that there might be others, who also like what we did.
There was a saying like this, I believe …
“… success as an artist is doing something crazy and having people liking it …”
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that’s not a bug, that’s a feature.
investigate what elements you can re-use when switching from one kind of music to another.
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Ah yes sure, these are pretty much the options when it comes to choices of style.
In regards to productivity, I was trying to move this huge focus away from the notion of a personal voice, because I‘ve seen it really distracts people - myself included - from their creative drive. Typically it‘s „I can‘t do X because I haven‘t found my style yet.“
Sure at some point there‘s gonna be decisions about style, but I‘ve found there‘s much better flow if you let the style develop on its own.
Eh, it‘s hard not to sound like a nutcase talking about these things.
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One step out of this dilemma could be to ask and answer the question honestly: Why “my” style?
Is “my style” something I like to develop, because as a critic of myself I have to acknowledge that there is quite some space for improvement?
Or do I want to be acknowledged by others and need “my style” to be recognized?
IMO it’s quite easier in the first case, because - in principle - we have it all under control and don’t long for an applauding audience
Absolutely.
As much sense as that makes sense, I have a track record of the value in the tiresome pursuit of voice. It is an effort worth its while, if there’s a chance for payoff.
There’s a difference between denying the lack of purpose and the acceptance that these things are hard. And the most challenging thing is to recognise this difference.
However, the purpose has always been clear in those contexts where this pursuit has been worthwhile. There’s been an endgame, and honestly, I’m not sure what my endgame with music is. I’m starting to want for one.
Case in point - I did a commercial job where I wrote a track for a company, about a year ago. I finished that in two days. From nothing to complete. Wasn’t great, but the process to get there, was easy. All my collected knowledge came together with the stuff I had at home and that was it. That was purpose.
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Very cool, thanks. I’m gonna revisit that thread. Thanks for pointing it out.
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Yep. That’s a good way to zoom in on it, much in the same vein as @Lauli describes. Who you want to be, would define a purpose and thus make the pursuit for clarity, or voice if you will, justified.
Every musician (and every other artist, for that matter) will experience creative block at some point in their lives, probably more than once. Each person finds their own way to deal with it, I don’t think there’s a one-size-fits-all solution … but to me what seemed to work best was to take some time away for making music, doing other things and just enjoying life in general without trying to force creativity. Eventually, those things you do in your off-time from music will inspire you in new ways and make you want to create again.
As for the problem of identity and finding your own voice, I don’t think there’s any shortcut other than keep making music without rationalizing too much on those issues. It’s something that takes a lot of time, but eventually your identity will shine through what you do and it will probably be much less conscious than you think.
Also, you may enjoy doing all those styles you described and there’s absolutely nothing wrong with that. Most of my favorite artists are extremely eclectic, to me that’s a big quality. It may be just a matter of organizing your output so it’s not all over the place, maybe releasing thematic EPs or albums instead of loose songs. But again, I think that if you do it long enough, there will always be some common ground that’s unique to you, no matter what style you’re doing.
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limiting gear used can help I find.
I tend to focus on a single 3lektron box & 1 extra sound source for a set. it brings with it many advantages, one being sound cohesion.
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I’ve been through this too, and there is an answer. You should check out this podcast series. Lots of talk on finding your sound, getting past writers block, the mentality of music production and more https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/producer-talk-with-bass-kleph/id636397256
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Stop thinking about the end product. Stop worrying about what genre you’re making, or what your artistic voice is about. You’ll be scrutinising your ideas before they’re fully formed and it will cripple your creativity. Do stuff that’s fun, and that you enjoy, without worrying about the end product, and you’ll find that you aren’t stuck anymore.
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