Musical writers block

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Cone Poker
Member Since: Apr 07, 2002

so what do you guys do when you can't come up with anything to record?

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I am not a crook's head
Member
Since: Mar 14, 2003

Jul 21, 2006 10:12 am

Then I don't record hehehe.

Every once in a while, I'll be watching somethnig on TV or reading something and it'll get me to pondering. Then I realize that this is where inspiration comes from. It's all the little things in life, the everyday happenings in all of our lives that make the subject matter of music. Just keep your eyes open and I'd bet that you'll find a muse in the little nooks and crannies of your everyday routine.

I just start writing about those things and before long they start morphing into more complex ideas. For me, writing breeds writing. I just have to get the ball rolling. I'll write about anything, but just the act of putting pen to paper gets me in the 'mood' for further writing.

And as for writing music or melodies, I have to hear it in my head and then try to reproduce it on the guitar. If I sit with the guitar and write from there, I'm kind of locked into my own lack of theoretical knowledge of the instrument and I end up with the same patterns as I've been playing for over 16 years. I try to hear it, then capture it.

Well, that's what I do anyways. Whether it helps you or not :)

Cone Poker
Member
Since: Apr 07, 2002

Jul 21, 2006 10:20 am

well I got these awesome sounds in my head but can't put them to tape... that bothers me. It's music that I have the hardest part writing since I am not good at any instrument, but mediocre at a few. I dunno

www.TheLondonProject.ca
Member
Since: Feb 07, 2005

Jul 21, 2006 10:25 am

Smoke a fatty! - JK

Actually I'm fortunate enough to have very creative band members. We all feed off of each other and we really don't have a shortage of material. If I'm not working on anything in particular I will revisit some other mix and see if I still like it. I try to see if I can take anything out that isn't necessary and improve on what is kept. After messing with a couple of the mixes new stuff just sort of comes to mind. Most of the time we work best under pressure. It seems our best stuff is written under tight deadlines.

I can see writers block being a big problem for soloists though. It's really nice to have bandmates to bounce ideas off of.

I am not a crook's head
Member
Since: Mar 14, 2003

Jul 21, 2006 10:33 am

I totally agree BH. I'm such a loner that I don't collaborate with other musicians very often. But I'm starting to realize more lately that interaction with other people is a key to innovation and creativity.

www.TheLondonProject.ca
Member
Since: Feb 07, 2005

Jul 21, 2006 10:50 am

Oh ya, 1 more thing. I record EVERYTHING when we jam. As soon as we start jamming I start recording and don't stop until the jam is over. Sometimes I end up deleting everything afterwards but every once in a while some great gems can be found after listening to the session again.

Answer:On a good day, lipstick.
Member
Since: Jun 24, 2004

Jul 21, 2006 11:13 am

Capo!

'sfunny, it seems to always work for me - and it's probably due to my lack knowlege of real music theory. I'm crap at the alternate tunings thing.

Grab the ol' git-fiddle, and stick a cap on the neck...where ever you like...

Then just make noises. Try different open chords, and runs. Having the guitar in a different key just makes everything sound different - new, alive.
A concert tuned guitar has a certain sound, and that's what our ears are used to. If you capo up, the sound is different enough to jump out a feel new.

When I finish the song, and record, adding the standard/concert tuned instruments just add a lovely base behind the capo'd guitar.

Worth a try.




Cone Poker
Member
Since: Apr 07, 2002

Jul 21, 2006 11:59 am

All very good advice. I ended up with something last night, but it didn't turn out very good so I entered it into the best of the worst thread. I am gonna go back and redo it later and start writing and actual song out of it... right now it's kinda bad.

One thing that did help was listening to other bands and artists I dig on to kind of put me in the mood for music. That worked well too.

Only 32 Characters?
Member
Since: Dec 25, 2005

Jul 21, 2006 12:16 pm

You could also just force yourself to start writing. Some of my best work comes out when I just go with the flow and write something out. It gets better as I go along, and I can go back and revise the first part later.

Answer:On a good day, lipstick.
Member
Since: Jun 24, 2004

Jul 21, 2006 12:31 pm

Quote: Smoke a fatty! - JK

That stuff used to give me writers block!

Cone Poker
Member
Since: Apr 07, 2002

Jul 21, 2006 12:54 pm

Alright lets stay away from that topic guys.

'The Flying Dutchman'
Member
Since: Jan 11, 2006

Jul 21, 2006 02:06 pm

I don't think I ever have a writerblock.. there are periods when I have the time and play lot's of guitar and the ideas will come out of nowehere easily. And I usually write them down, just references and so I kinda create a musical bank with ideas and whenever I want I can pull an idea. Usually they're just riffs or basic chord changes and I'll work them out some other time. And sometimes I'll be listening to a lot of reggae or blues and I get in the mood to do a song like that and I just start and see where it ends, piece by piece. Sometimes I'll have starting ideas or outlines for several songs in one day and sometimes I'll go weeks without any idea and that's fine, it'll come sooner or later. But I always have ideas stored that I can work on. Usually I'll be playing my electric without an amp and out of nowhere an idea comes out. And most of the time I'll put it in the box and work on it later.

With lyrics/vocals it's different though, I can only work on them when the music is completely done. First the melodies and structures and at the end I'll fill in the words. And usually it's right before I record the vocals.

'The Flying Dutchman'
Member
Since: Jan 11, 2006

Jul 21, 2006 02:17 pm

I think I've mentioned it before on here somewhere but there's this great Keith Richards interview about his view on songwriting. For those who are interested here it is:

www.geocities.com/abexile/keithintgpl.htm

Do you throw ideas on cassettes?

Oh, yeah. Hey, I started to blossom when cassettes got invented. "Street Fighting Man," "Jumping Jack Flash" - I cut those things on cassettes.

Do your songs typically begin when you find a riff?

Mm hmm. First I find a riff and a chord sequence. And if that's any good, then I start to play it with some other guys and pump it up. If that's great, then I check the attitude and the atmosphere of the track. What the hell is this putting out? There's no point in writing songs on a sheet of paper, going verse, chorus, verse, chorus, and regarding this as a song. No, it ain't. A song is music, and I'd rather start with the music and then get into the attitude of the track and put something on top of it. What are you going to put on top of it, because you could have spent months writing? I can't divorce lyrics from the music. Songwriting is a marrying of the both. To me, the easiest way is to get the track. I mean, the odd brilliant and rare occasions where a song actually presents itself to you in totality from the beginning to the end, with the bridge and the hook, is very rare.

Was "Gimme Shelter" one of those?

Yeah, "Satisfaction" was one of those, "Make No Mistake" was one of those. Those three - and that's about it - actually presented themselves in totality.

It must have been a stunning experience.

It is, but at the same time it's humbling, because you realize, "Hey, I didn't write this. I just happened to be around when it came by." People today run themselves into a corner thinking they actually created these things. I'd rather look upon myself as an antenna or some go-between. I'm just around. Songs are running around - they're all there, ready to grab. You play an instrument and pick it up. What I generally do is like, "Fingers are getting a bit soft right now. I'll go through the Buddy Holly songbook"- because I love Buddy's songs. Then I start playing 'em for half an hour. [Sings "Maybe Baby.'] "Let's try Eddie Cochrane or the Everly Brothers or a little Chuck." And after about an hour, I get fed up with other people's songs, and there's something that I'm playing of theirs that suggests something else to me, and I'll start to follow that. It'll either end up as a song or it'll end up as a disaster, and I'll get bored with it. It doesn't bother me. I never sit down and say, "Time to write a song. Now I'm going to write." To me, that would be fatal. I know other guys work in other ways. There's no one system to this. It's what's right for you. But me, I always like to sit down and play the guitar a couple of hours a day, and something will come. If something interests me, then I think, "Hey, there it is," and then I hang on to the end and follow the motherfucker. To me the important thing is recognizing something when it comes by.

The idea that you create it, again, is alien and can also **** you up, because then it's all on your back, whether you've written something or not there. Treat it in a lighter way and say, "This is what I do." If you can write one song, you can write 900. They're there. Your method of going about that - you can either try and regiment it, make it a task, or you can make it part of your everyday life and just sit around and play and not think about writing. Play anything you want.

There's only one song in the world, and Adam and Eve wrote it. And the rest of them's variations. I'm the antenna. You just stick your finger in the air and you grab a bit of it and you go off. And that's the way to avoid writer's block, because that's what happens to people that think they actually create things. Nobody creates anything. It's there, and you just ******* grab a hold of it.

Everybody has a talent. But how many get to find what their talent is before they're sucked into the system? I mean, it usually ends up as their hobby, which is probably what they're really good at. I mean, why do people have hobbies? They're working their guts out doing something they don't really like to do, but they just happen to have caught a job and do it, and at night they go home and on the weekends they have a hobby. They are working to get those few hours to spend on their hobby, when that's the area they should really be working in. My one problem with people is that it's a miracle if you get to find out what your talent is before you're sucked into doing something you don't want to do, and that's the big fuckup. If people were doing things they really wanted to do, they'd do it ten times better.


Czar of Turd Polish
Member
Since: Jun 20, 2006

Jul 21, 2006 05:10 pm

I get the block sometimes. I will agree that when jamming with me bandmates we tend to feed of each other. We are all so different in our styles also that a simple little punk progression from the singer ends up having a metal'ish counter melody from me and some jazzy bass lines from our hombre. When all combined we get that much more into it seems to be easier to end up with a cool end product.

Me by myself, that's another story. Although I did come up with something good from that 20 songs in a day workshop. I still have yet to post it, but it's pretty funny.

I am not a crook's head
Member
Since: Mar 14, 2003

Jul 21, 2006 07:31 pm

Hey Loki, have you tried simply humming the melodies in your head? Sometimes just hearing it out loud makes it easier to translate onto an instrument.

Member
Since: Jul 02, 2003

Jul 21, 2006 10:42 pm

I don't think I really get writers block, except possibly for lyrics, words don't come to me easy as least meaningful words :D I follow very much Keith Richards method after reading what izzy quoted, right down to playing other artists songs and then jumping off to something of my own. But basically if I sit down and start playing I can/will come up with a song good or bad, but it will always be at least something I like.

The problem these days is I don't sit down and start playing like I used too, so in 3 years I only have 2 brand new songs and I'm working on #3.

Dan

Ne'er ate 'er
Member
Since: Apr 05, 2006

Jul 22, 2006 12:55 am

A can of Stagg chili and a Sennheiser 421 can inspire the roof right off your house if the EQ is tastefully applied.

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