Losing the will

The Lounge
#1

I haven’t made a beat in weeks, I can barely be bothered to even sit down and mess with synths and stuff. I just feel like I’ve lost all motivation to even do it. It’s not cause I’m bored of my gear, got guitars, bass, pads, samplers, synths etc etc. Totally disillusioned with acquiring new toys. I’m just bored to death of being a one man circus. anyone else? Do we really not reach a point where we’re bored of being the drummer, the instruments, the vocalist, the mixer, the videographer, the editor and the promoter? I don’t really have much desire to work with other people so we can all pat each other on the back and do basically the same thing. It’s just been a while since I made anything and felt like fuck yeah this is it

Not trying to whine, guess I’m just thinking why do I even do this, it’s so so much work for so little reward, even in the sense of pride in your work. I couldn’t care less about “blowing up” or having a single fan. It’s a lot of effort to sit and make something where I can say to myself “this is objectively good”. More so because some days it’s effortless but more often than not it isn’t.

Gonna stop before I go on and on, but anyone else?

26 Likes
Producing a full song/album: Which workflow?
#2

I’m doing OK, but I feel for you in the midst of a rough patch. The muse will return.

25 Likes
#3

I can go weeks, months sometimes without doing anything constructive musically. I learned not to push it when it’s not happening. For me it turns me off even more. I find it’s cyclic; I’m super busy at the moment, more so than any time before… maybe that just means I’ll be taking a longer hiatus! I’m not reliant on making money from my music so I’ve learned to go with the flow.

11 Likes
#4

Mate! I’ve been in the doldrums more times than I can count. It can be very bothersome, frustrating, soul destroying even. All I can say is that it’ll pass eventually. May take years but it’ll pass!

Ive pared back my toys considerably and that’s helped. I’ve also learned to lower my standards. As long as I enjoy my tunes while cutting the grass, commuting, working or whatever then that’s good enough for me.

Take a break. Start running or cycling. Learn something new that’s completely non music related and enjoy life a bit. It’s too short to be worrying about these things.

18 Likes
#5

I’ve been through this many times. Even given up music entirely for other things like photography at times. But I always come back eventually. Sounds to me (as someone who has this on the regular) like depression. Not saying it’s something you’re born with or anything, just these social distancing times where it’s hard to meet up with friends is really taking a toll on a lot of people right now. Just don’t make the mistake of selling your gear. It’ll pass. It always does. Hang in there for more creative times in future and don’t put too much pressure on yourself right now :yellow_heart::yellow_heart::yellow_heart:

19 Likes
#6

My productivity with electronic music hasn’t been great.

I’ve been dividing my time between practicing stuff on guitar/violin, exercise, and career development (practicing coding problems, studying up on system design, job searches, etc.). There’s something very meditative for me about practicing a Bach piece, jazz lick, fingerstyle arrangement, in that external concerns disappear and it’s just me and the instrument. Same thing with exercise. The career development stuff take me as deeply into contemplative realms but it can also take my mind of other things at times.

The muse will come back when it wills.

6 Likes
#7

Whenever I go through a rough patch musically I just appreciate all the shit music that I make and love it because it represent the rough patch… be proud of what u create even if it’s not that Great!

9 Likes
#8

If you can correct these two concepts then you will get your mojo back im sure

replace work with Fun
replace reward with pleasant surprises.

19 Likes
#9

… or even a yeeeeeear ohh :family_man_man_girl_girl:

4 Likes
#10

I can most certainly identify with this feeling at times. You question why you even do it in the first place. Creating music for me is always a push and pull of emotions. I feel ecstatic and overjoyed while I’m sitting and creating music most times. But when it comes to editing and working towards a finished track, I am not very invested in that process.

There is a lot of craziness and uncertainty with current events right now, I know that has slowed down my creative output. Maybe you’re going through something similar. You’ll be back to it soon, this feeling will pass.

3 Likes
#11

yea i haven’t written anything since lockdown. ain’t got the focus for it for some reason. I’m painting loads which is good but I can’t get into me beatz :frowning:

7 Likes
#12

same here… not exactly the thoughts but I guess that‘s because I haven‘t bothered thinking about it.

1 Like
#13

I know the feeling very well!

Take some time out. Read a few books, get into listening to some music you’ve never thought to explore before, meditate, watch some Netflix.

In lockdown everyone keeps smugly telling us “the time to grow and create and up-skill is now” etc.

Balls to that, its stressful and lonely as hell right now so if you don’t feel musically productive, don’t put any pressure on yourself and chill out for a couple of weeks. The urge will come back, and there’re much more important things in life anyway.

Look after yourself!

G

5 Likes
#14

Feeling this way myself right now. I’ve been through it before and know it will pass. Take a step back, put some energy into another endeavor. It will give you some perspective and motivation. You’ll get through and find that mojo again. :slight_smile:

2 Likes
#15

Sometimes I enjoy doing other things around the studio that break up the monotony and sometimes that also helps to spark my creative flow. A few examples would be…

  • organize sample library
  • make patches/ presets
  • re-arrange setup
  • work on album covers

Maybe this could help. Also, as others have suggested, go and pursue other passions. And if you have very minimal energy, just watch some tv or veg out on a video game. There’s no shame in just vegging out at times.

14 Likes
#16

I really feel your pain. In “normal” life I get to spend one whole, long night with 2 buddies (in our group called TNC) with a pile of synths and computer jamming away freestyle and I LOVE IT!

Since COVID I’ve sat down religously alon with my modest setup (A4, TR-8S, Volca Sample) after the family have gone to bed and made tunes. Its not the same with noone to feed in to or spark off but I’ve learnt a hell of a lot solo and I know it’ll be even better when we get back together. We have emailed our offereings around, be they just a few bars or a whole track, and seen what remixology can be achieved. It just lacks spontineity.

Keep the faith!

1 Like
#17

its about trying to enjoy the process and respecting the fact that there will be ups and downs but you are always moving forward, you don’t always realise it… these periods are good times for critical listening of other tunes, reading, watching a random ukulele lesson sorta thing…

4 Likes
#18

all that’s been said already in the previous posts. there’re moments where it is better to just stop and wait for inspiration to come back again; do something else regardless of whether it’s music related or not, can help in getting new/fresh ideas or think of new ways of doing things that maybe one didn’t think about beforehand. it’s a bit like recharging the batteries and even though it might feel like time is passing and one could have been doing something, well, it isn’t really…those moments will come and go, especially if one doesn’t do this as a daily job, waiting to get a new album out or if there’re no plans…so maybe, one alternative could be to make one? :smiley_cat:

1 Like
#19

It can be a struggle. The reason why for me is that I absolutely love music more than anything else, so even though I don’t have a lot of talent, I just want to do it.

It’s taken me about 8 years to find a setup I’m really rather happy with. Which has involved selling off about half of what I own (gear wise), and trying several different methods of workflow.

Part of that means Elektron is no longer involved.

I’m sure people I know think ‘what’s the point’, but when I’m there head banging behind my Eurorack, I think, ‘this is the f#cking point’.

10 Likes
#20

withdrawn