What keeps you Motivated?

The Lounge General Discussion
#21

I have no aspirations to make money from music, I just enjoy the process of creating and occasionally low-key release things via bandcamp. There are a few aspects to the music making cycle and writing and release that keeps me interested and give me motivation at the start of making an EP/album but also mean that as I approach the finish line I then start to get excited about the next one I’ll be doing. The three things are:

  • I limited myself to just a few sound sources for each release (usually a couple hardware, a couple software) as I enjoy really exploring what they can do. So, I’ve got a nice cycle and getting really deep, but then moving onto something else which freshens things up.
  • I always have a theme or a topic that I want to explore with each EP/album - not necessarily some grandiose prog-rock thing. It might be doing an EP inspired by a particular visual artist, it might be inspired by a particular film, it might be revisiting old songs, it might be about particular events. But always just something that helps guide or inspire me.
  • I tend to move to a rough stylistic approach. Not to piegeon hole anything into a ultra-tight genre limitation. Rather, I might do something ambient, or I might do something more upbeat, or something more melodic… it helps with cohesion.

It also means that when I’m commuting, stuck in boring meetings or what have you, I can let my mind wander towards either what I’m working on, or thinking about the next thing. It feels slightly more healthy than GAS - although I do that too… :stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye:

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#22

technically, dopamine.
i am officially a dopamine junkie.

1 Like
#23
  1. The fact that music takes me away from the daily life struggle.
  2. Creating something
  3. Thinking I will be very good (in terms of production) when I retire from my daily job. So something to look forward to in later ages.
#24

Gear should be a tool to inspire, not motivate. If your motivation to make music depends on new gear, I’d say there’s a lack of creativity going on.

I personally don’t need motivation to make music, it is part of of my daily routine. How fast a track is finished depends on the idea, but I generally tend to make a track or two every week. Some turn out to be release worthy, others are more like getting an idea out regardless of it being a successful experiment or not. It’s all about feeling.

Honestly I wish I had motivation to not make music sometimes as I kinda have to be made aware by my gf that we should do something fun together.