One part of this is a natural physiological process. There is a some mechanism in our brain which starts to filter out the information from a repetitive signals (one track played for hours). The best treatment here is to distract from the track totally for couple of days or weeks. This applies to every music actually, no matter yours or the other’s.
Sometimes I rediscover the old projects with which I was very dissatisfied and found them to be actually good. Or listening again to an old music after years break.
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Thank you!
Yes i have a band and it’s way easier to get stuff done with them. But sometimes i just want to go back to the time where i was a teenager in my room playing around with one synth and a sampler and surprise myself with new sounds and melodies. And be proud that i made this piece of music alone.
But of course i have different expectations nowadays. I heard a million songs and sounds more and sometimes music gets a bit boring.
This happens to me as well. I definitely should record all the little idea snippets. Sometimes i’m so bored of these loops or sequences that i just delete them.
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Yes, that’s me.
Hmm, i cant say this for the generes i am into - i still find good music - also from people 25-30 years younger than me. Maybe i dont view it as technical as you do - i was into metallica in my youth, and i loved that they made really difficult but very brutal stuff back then - the moment they went away from that difficult stuff - and made something which was accepted by the masses - was the moment i felt betrayed - they betrayed the underground -but they had to make a living - i understand this - but i will never forgive them - i thought if they persisted in there vision - that vision could have made it into the public domain.
From that aspect i think you should write down your vision - then create around that - i .e. work with pictures and a story - then think about what sounds that could be.
I personally just accepted- that i have to make a lot of bad stuff -to do some good stuff - but at least i make something, besides platin in Elden Ring.
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I think it is good to recognize the ability to recognize if you’re making shit is quite important if you want to grow. I think as artists we often continue to up are standards for are selves and it makes things get harder and harder… but at the end of the day it’s a good thing. We all hit the occasional wall, not really a thing more or less gear will fix, you just need to push on (its fine to take a break but you gotta come back either to a new song or an old one). It also fine to enjoy making a shitty tune… actually that could be a fun way to break a slump, go in there and attempt to make the worst thing you can imagine 
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I also still find good music. That’s why i try to come up with cool stuff too. If everybody would do boring stuff i probably could accept that my music is boring somtimes. 
That’s one of the keys to finding happiness i guess. Everything comes in waves. I know it but it’s still a challenge for me.
Now that’s a real challenge! I’ll try it…
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Is that a sequenced track? Its really quite good.
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Sorry to say that but this ain’t no shit, wrap it up and publish it! I find it really good. Some things need to be more Minimal than others. Other people’s ears are good for diagnosis.
You will have to find into your inner self what’s wrong. Fatigue, too many music, depression or just bored? 
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I remember some years ago being amazed by Fellini’s film 8 1/2. It’s not for everyone, and some would see it as pretentious or whatever… but I was blown away by it. Some time later I saw it again and loved it just as much the second time. I did some digging, thinking how could someone be inspired to make something like this?
Well before he made this film Fellini had made 8 films previously. For the first time in his life he experienced writer’s block. So what did he do? I know, he said to himself, I will write a story about a film director who is experiencing writer’s block! After which everything fell into place.
So why am I saying this here? This thread is more about self doubt, thinking it’s all crap etc. But I think almost every artist goes through this, be they world famous, someone with a passion hobby, or anything in between. The point I am trying to make is that there is always a way round something - find another route in, be self aware at those moments and find another angle. And maybe what you were doing at that particular time wasn’t that great - or maybe it was! Point is to carry on creating, find a different way to look at something, take a different route… then you will be able to reignite that passion, and continue moving.
Not sure I expressed that so well… hope it makes sense
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Thanks! It’s one of the first tracks i made with the Roland SH4D.
Thank you! Yeah it’s hard to judge your own music. Especially when you just made it.
It definitely makes sense.
I should probably take a step back and do something else for a while. I tried pretty hard to make music instead of watching videos or other shit in the last days. Which is good but can feel a bit forced after a while. I’m probably a bit oversaturated with music right now.
Nevertheless i just recorded some more ambient stuff. Time to go to bed and let my ears and mind rest.
YOU ELEKTRONAUTS ARE THE BEST!
Thanks for all your words and ideas. I couldn’t reply to all of you but i read everything and took it to heart. This forum is a freakin treasure.
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The riff is not interesting enough to drive the entire track. So either A/ make a better riff or B/ remove after x-amount of bars, and back in at the end.
Also the drums are a bit repetitive. To sum up: it’s a bit boring. Although there’s something there. I would continue with it
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that recording is good. it’s not finished, but it’s good.
important to remember that when people release music, they’re releasing the best of what they’ve made and we don’t get (or have) to hear all the absolute garbage they’ve made along the way.
also important to bear in mind just how little music is both new and good. let go of ‘new’ a bit. sometimes when i’m feeling creatively blecch i do what aMunchkinElfGraduate mentioned and take midi from a song i like and just run it through synth patches, tweaking and enjoying the new perspectives that this practice offers. another thing is making a decent synth patch and running it through a huge reverb and luxuriating in that space. it’s not really ‘productive’ but it is a great way to reset your mind and ears.
another thing is fx+RESAMPLING loops. underrated way of breaking out of stuckness.
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My two cents advice would be to finish the song, you can still be surprised in a good way, you will learn a lot, and sometimes the struggle is part of the making.
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Try to set out to make the music you want to make, not the music you think your gear is supposed to be good for
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I’ve had more of these feelings lately when trying to make things again after a pretty lengthy period where I’ve done very little music. I’m not really sure I know of a solution or how to prevent it, but I’ve been trying to just keep on going myself. Sometimes distance and time away from stuff can help as I think I saw mentioned in the thread already.
But I do think being too inactive for too long (in my own experience) can also start messing with ones ability to enjoy the process, as parts of your skillset or just specific things about your setup may become rusty with time. So you can end up spending time re-learning things or having to stop to think about cables or MIDI channels or whatever.
Lately I’ve been trying to lower expectations for myself too, and I’m starting to realize that while I enjoy daydreaming about making really out there and experimental music, I usually enjoy the things I do which are more grounded and traditional in terms of the sounds used more than I do my experimental dabbling. And that there’s nothing wrong with not doing cutting edge sound design, or blowing people away with complexity.
I still occasionally feel like I’m making the same tracks over and over on autopilot, but I don’t think the answer for me is pivoting to mad sound design stuff as much as it is trying to approach things from new angles. And this without placing a huge burden on myself that I need to change the core of what I do. 
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Do we have a thread on here for constructive criticism or feedback on tracks that one has produced? That would be useful. I like the things that I make but have no idea if it is considered ‘good’ or ‘decent’ haha. Feedback is always nice!
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When everything sound shit: and you found that out yourself you are ahead of yourself. Means that something clicked, time to rest a bit and maybe hear older stuff of yourself and try to listen why it was so fun. Or maybe there was always the same mistake, then its time to hear completely different things to catch inspirations.
The harder you try the more often this can happen but the main thing is you are about to learn. Or even better about to accept that passion is not your enemy.
You learn the most from the one person who is the most critic of yourself - you.
When i was little people around me helped not to get mad by inspiring not to destroy the last painting und just use other colours. Some helped with talk, some with distraction, some by just letting me sit it out. Some even stole the whole painting to save it. Pretty sure you remember that happened to you as well.
And there is one source that is always right when it comes to music. Birds! Go for a walk, record them, listen four times as slow what they tell you. No rhythm you say, sounds all the same you say, you will be surprised.
And a wise professor once told me, good ideas are marked with one particular characteristic: they get copied, which approves it was a good idea.
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I love when this happens because it makes me realize I’m not that great… And everything I do is not great…
Look the world is filled with amazing sounds, these boxes we use are great… but they force us in a small area of sounds though that can become predictable and repetitive… I always remind myself this $&/# isn’t easy… the boxes make you feel like it is… but your songs should not sound the same and should be different and quality… it is hard to do for a reason… try maybe recording your stuff through a guitar amp, or go sample under a bridge or something… or think of something that makes a amazing sound in your head, then go sample it.
Next thing of a sound that would go good with it… etc.
Don’t just be happy with whatever the box gives you.
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maybe try something different.
if you normaly make techno, go for hiphop. of you really like drums, try something without drums.
or find a preset that you would normaly skip and use that.
or try using only one device. something that you don’t use a lot or something you don’t really like.
make 100 songs with it. when you run out of ideas of things you would normaly do, the real creativity comes.
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My 2c, directed into the ether rather than towards any individual, and worth exactly as much as anyone else’s, namely very little: with cool devices like Elektrons, even more so with DAWs and sample packs and all the rest, it’s very very easy to make something that sounds competent. Professional, even. Something that wouldn’t sound out of place soundtracking a Youtube video. But when you understand these tools, you understand exactly how easy that is, so there’s not a lot of personal satisfaction in it. You know that you haven’t pushed past, exceeded your own personal abilities, grown as an artist.
That’s not to say that failures are worthless. Often a track/song that isn’t very good has something in it that’s worth repeating; a particular production or arrangement idea or rhythm or chord progression that’s worth further exploration. That’s probably what kept you working on it for hours in the first place. Figure out what that thing is and start again.
Internet culture insists we always be gentle on ourselves as ‘creatives’. I think that’s disempowering. People who are very good at what they do get better because they work on their weaknesses. The ability to critique your own work honestly without despairing and giving up is of the utmost importance. You only need despair if there’s no chance of getting better. Which is very unlikely - you certainly can do better. But only if you accept that inner critic with good grace.
To put it another way: How enjoyable is it working with someone who can’t accept and learn from any criticism, however polite and considered? Are you that annoying co-worker - to yourself? Don’t be. I expect a bunch of people to jump in and say “This all about fun, don’t drag people down with expectations.” But for anyone who’s unhappy because they don’t like what they’re producing, those expectations are already there. “Accept that you’re not that good and be chill with it” is not bad advice, and doesn’t foreclose the possibility of improvement; “Pretend that you don’t care whether you’re good” is not.
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