i've been having issues for awhile now with creating the right kind of physical environment to create music in. i feel VERY anxious and VERY claustrophobic in my room/spaces that aren't "open"?, and oftentimes i find myself unable to create music in a "dead" space where there isn't a lot of light, traffic, energy? etc. usually i end up taking the microkorg and 404 into the living room. i really enjoy messing with ableton in coffee shops, and i've found this is the kind of space where i feel most energized, and able to create. creating at home is very difficult for me.

so i recently picked up an arturia spark (so far so great. super intuitive. the way i see it maschine = mpc, spark = sp) and i'm wanting to take it outside somewhere and fuck with it because that's where im comfortable BUT i'm wary of doing this because i'd feel like an asshole sitting in a coffee shop banging away noddin my head and shit...does this make sense?

SO, is anyone else like this? AND i guess i'm looking for recommendations for creative spaces that work for those of you who hate feeling boxed up in your house/apartment...any ideas where i can go that might work?

appreciate everybodys input/ point of view...

I'd fully recommend to get into more of a 'don't give a ish' attitude with other people around, especially when you're using headphones and not really bothering anyone anyway.

I too felt limited by some environments I used to make music in in the past. I've changed that mainly by just not caring too much about neighbors or people that walk past my home studio and watch.

Heck, let them watch, I couldn't care less, as long as the creativity gets going and I'm having fun making music.

In the end, it's the result that counts, not so much the process or environment.

im the complete opposite, i like being tangled in machines in my bunker or lab, which isnt any bigger than a jail cell . I couldnt ever imagine making music in public because i'm paranoid of everything. I find it harder to create music with people too, but I am getting better at that.

It's funny you posted this. I have been getting a bit of writer's block lately, so I decided to do a project to get over it and have something interesting to show for it at the end...

I just took a job where I'll be travelling every week to different cities and states, so I thought it would be cool to take my 404 with me and make a tune (or 3) for every city I stay at. I think these new environments might help me overcome my writer's block. I'd love most to put my studio back together, but I haven't the tabletop space at the moment with my roommate in the process of moving...I think that might help a bit too.

As far as preferred environment, usually it's my studio with everything set up and ready to go. I have a couple of things that I normally set up a certain way so that rerouting different gear into other gear is as simple as moving a pair of cables on a mixer or turning a knob.

So this project I am going to try will definitely be 'creative places' approach, may not necessarily be public unless I take my 404 down to the lobby of whatever hotel I'm currently holing up in...or maybe a rest bench outside the place or something...I'm likely going to do all my beatmaking in my hotel room, though.

You probably will do well going live.

I like sneaking in hotels and chill on the roof to bang out. Just me and the little MPC500. I stuff her with drumbreaks and sounds from latest digs and then sort it all out on the rooftop. Even the hospitals got some dope rooftops to sneak into. Just find the emergency exit and climb up those stairs. Becareful, some doors got motion detectors but most don't work anymore. If you do get caught, just tell them you were looking for a decent place to smoke, works everytime.

starbucks and on the amtrak is some of favorite places makin beats now since i moved to sacramento. as long as there is a power outlet i see it a good place to make beats.

I would love to go out and produce in outdoor places, but i get pretty anxious trying to produce aroudn other people even if they are just walking past or something, i feel like 'who is that weirdo and what is he doing' . .so id have to be really isolated..

I used to be like that. Almost paranoid about what people would think. But there's been a major jump in my level of confidence ever since I've just stopped taking notice of whatever external influence that can ruin my confidence and fun.

Basically when it comes to mindset, I am making my music as if I'm in my basement studio with just my gear. In reality I'm in a room where others can or might see what I'm doing. I'm not the kind of guy that's confident in making on-the-fly live shows out of my beatmaking for sure. I haven't reached that level of skill nor confidence yet either. But it helps when you don't care that much in the process.

When it comes to doing vocals for a track I'm still that shy guy in the basement though. But I guess that's because I'm simply not a great singer. :p

my lab used to be dark with the curtains drawn. looking through that book "behind the beat" showed me how many dudes have really well-lit studios, so i shifted and that's been great.

as far as making ish in public: do it. nod along. hit the table if you have to. so many d-bags out there do worse stuff cuz they need the attention. yr looking for inspiration. life's too short to sweat worrying about that. if you're uncomfortable with how it might be seen, then choose a table / couch in the corner, or a little out of the way.

but seriously, don't worry about it. just do it.

i'd be more concerned with getting my shit jacked when i order an allonge!

haven't done it for a while but i like to sit at a picnic table somewhere out of the way with my 404, especially in the early morning before the sun comes out. i'd just smoke a bowl, get a cup of coffee and load the battle samples on my ipod, throw that ish in my backpack and walk to the park. i'm easily distracted so it puts me in a setting where i have no choice but to pay attention to the music.

only thing about being outside a dungeon is that the 404 pads make the most annoying clicking sound if you're not the one wearing headphones.

haha you sound extremely experienced in the field.

i like just messing with stuff on my laptop at the beach. its fall right now so there's never anyone there. i know its not really the 'sp' thing to do, but i don't mind doing the beat in garageband then just running through 404 compressor later...

wow. thanks everyone. some great ideas and inspiration here.

truly helpful. can't thank y'all enough. i admire the work done by everyone on here, so getting the "green light" as well as ideas here provides me with a much needed push in the right direction..

SP FORUMS! WHAT!

Speaking of d-bags in public, I used to mess with my stuff in the local bookstore/coffee shop, but I was constantly bothered by LOUD-MOUTH fuckin' evangelical nut jobs who think it is their duty to let everyone in the surrounding area hear the word of their personal jesus. Drives me nuckin futs...

Pray in the closet, bitches, where Jesus said to pray.

Anyway, I actually had a backpack where I would stuff my cables and USB powered audio interface for my laptop. I put the laptop on the table, and keep the other crap in the backpack, with just the cables going in and out. I brought my Steinberger guitar and would try to track guitar in the coffee shop! I got some stares, cuz the Steinberger has no head or body.

Anyway, it was always harder to just get into the music. Now I just do editing and arrangement and production type work with headphones. recording in pub is too much hassle most of the time.