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CREATIVITY


Mr No Name

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Any tips and tricks to inspire and create "creativity"

it's fine waiting around for a burst of it to come along, but wanting to find ways to give it a push in the right direction.

What do the people on here do to inspire their creativity and get to making some music.

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I usually have several music projects going at any particular time.  If I get stalled on one, I go to another. Often the resulting process stimulates a thought on how or what to do with the stalled one. Or I just flip the lid up on the piano and start noodling, or pull a guitar down and noodle on that. 

If I'm stalled on all of them, I go to one of my many other "hobbies" (learning robotics / coding, ebikes, cgi artwork, 3d printing, learning about astronomy / astrophysics and wolves (and many other things (often via random internet walks), but especially those), metalwork, electronics, sound creation (sometimes used musically, sometimes not), "gardening" / yardwork, playing with the dog(s), sewing and leathercraft, helping people with various problems (usually online), reading, etc., etc.).  

(I also use all these hobbies to fill the time when I can't sleep, which is most of the time, when I am not working the dayjob)

 

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On 10/13/2024 at 8:02 AM, Mr No Name said:

Any tips and tricks to inspire and create "creativity"

it's fine waiting around for a burst of it to come along, but wanting to find ways to give it a push in the right direction.

What do the people on here do to inspire their creativity and get to making some music.

Generative CAL Scripts.

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I don't know what genre you're working in, but for electronic stuff, often what sparks an idea is choosing a synth I haven't explored in a while and running through its presets.

Often enough, a timbre or arpeggio will suggest a melody, chord change, lyric, and then further filling out.

A drum machine with interesting pre-programmed beats is also a good way to spark something. Running through the content in Breaktweaker, all the patches and individual variations in them can flush out an idea.

With more conventional guitar bass drum keys pop, I start with a lyrical phrase, sing it to myself, make up a melody, add chord changes, etc.

Whatever instrument(s), I put my hands on them and just make up shapes and patterns, without regard for whether they "fit." Thom Yorke and Brian Wilson are a couple of songwriters who I am sure do this at times, I can tell by the way their chords shift.

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Creativity often comes under certain circumstances.

It's easier to come up with ideas when you set specific rules or limitations. 

For example, in a song, you might limit yourself to using only two kinds of chords or a single synth.

Forcing yourself to work with something suboptimal or seemingly useless can be another approach. If it doesn’t seem good at first, you'll think about how to make it work with the tools available.

I have too many ideas to finish my songs...

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Walk out of your comfort zone. Do something in a musical style you’d normally never consider.

Also, specifically for plugin hoarders, create at least one song based on each sound library or synth expansion pack you’ve ever bought, before you allow yourself to buy yet another one. That might boost not only motivation, but also inspiration.

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A little trick I have done many times. is to swap out randomly any vst. And again use a random sound from the new vst. EG I'm using a guitar vst. Swap it for a synth and the timbre, envelope, can change the "this has to be a guitar sound" thing. And thus put a new perspective on the work.

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I certainly have fallen in to ruts. I usually do mood lighting (like a lava lamp or a neat random screen saver of shapes and colors) and tune everything out. That usually helps. Other times, I force myself to work a little bit on something everyday and break through.

Both approaches have helped me break through on occasion.

Something I am talking about(mute sound of course): 

 

Edited by hockeyjx
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 Ive never really been one to borrow ideas(beats, melodies, changes) to write songs but A LOT of all-time great artists have. For example, Eddie Van Halen was big on using other's ideas as a jumping off point.

Eddie told Peter Frampton that he once played his song "Nowhere's too far" backwards to try and write his own song.

He also said "Drop dead legs" was him stealing an AC/DC groove.

He said "Jump" was based on a Hall & Oats song.

And "Best of Both Worlds" is 100% a rip off of "Celebrate" by Cool & the Gang but because it has a diff vocal melody it sounds original.

The saying is that "Good artist borrow, Great artist steal".

My advice is to try being creative in the WAY that u borrow ideas. Like maybe try isolating diff parts from two diff songs u like and combining them then let inspiration take over. And dont be too quick to judge or comdemn urself. Just keep massaging the changes in a non judgemental way(Lke a kid at play).

 Bottom line, the hardest part is usually the initial spark of a song. So why not try using beats, melodies &/or progressions from music u already love then twisting them into ur own original thing.

  It's kinda like starting a fire...  If u put in some fuel & perspiration first, it's bound to ignite ur creativity. Good Luck & Have Fun 😉

 

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