damn, its been days and i feel like my sampling powers have gone on vacation! i go through this every once in a while...i record a bunch of cool samples then i put them in the mp and they sound different to me and less motivating...i kno the samples are dope but its weird..some days i can "hear" everything and days like today im not feelin anything i put together...hopefully i snap out of it soon...what do you guys do in this instance, just take a break or what?

ive said it before and ill say it again... DO SOME CHORES. do something that you don't like to do. tax times here! or laundry, or paint that bathroom you've been putting off... im surprised by the ideas i come up with when trying to focus on something else. also if you smoke bud, a new strain sometimes can change the game. or just take a break from making and just listen to music

hehe yeah for real! ive been puttin off laundry like a motha fucka and smokin the same purple strain for a week! maybe thats where i need to start hehe

I like to listen to music that I wish I made. That gets me motivated, like "damn, if I had that sample I would've bla bla bla".

But in the end, the thing is, not to force creativity. Let it do what it wants, when it wants.

I was actually getting out of a slump a few days ago, but then my mom decided it would be a good idea to ground me from my 404 for 4 weeks.

When I'm @ work i really want to go home and make some beats, but add the end of the day i'm home and to tired to do anything hehe except when it's friday.

I get that quite often... I even thought of taking the SP-404SX to work, more than once. I think it'd be a big hit with everyone talking crap and burping into the mic and me making beats out of it.

And we have a winner. That always seems to work for me too.

I write as well, so I tend to go back and forth...I do one until I spend up my creative burst in that part of my brain then usually when I switch over to the other I feel fresh. But I used to only write forever, only started making beats this last year...when I would hit blocks the best thing I would just put it to the side...worst thing you can do is keep trying when you aren't in the groove and just get more discouraged.

When I'm in a slump I'll just process drum hits... Sample a bunch of kicks/hats/snares etc. either from a drum machine or records, into different samplers with different sample rates and different effects (especially on the 404) and basically build myself some dope drum kits, then when I'm feeling inspired again I'll have some custom sounds ready to go..

ur brain is just rechargin we all go through it. nothing to trip about cause once ur back in that mode ur crankin them out.

well a good tip is to try sampling different genres of music
to those who've always been sampling soul and funk, try something different, like classical music, or video games.

yeah this the type a shit i usually do..get a bunch of sounds proccessed so i can use them later...i just ask the question cause i figure its a good topic...taking a break is always neccessary, but it doesnt mean you have to stop designing sounds. listening to vinyl is prob the MOST important for me. i just run out of my gems and have to sort through all my lesser albums...which in a way is good cause i find overlooked cuts that way.

if i get in a "hip hop" slump i make soundtrack music for imaginary movies instead

do u always gotta sample from records??? anything with a sound source can become a sample especially with a 404 with all the efxs.

i use other shit, its format wont stop me from samplin it as long as its ok quality not to shitty..i usually only get voices or movie shit though from the net...i sample movies, whatever that has a sound i can hear an ill groove to..
my biggest thing though is whats actually AVAILABLE to me...i have a bunch of vinyl and i buy it all the time so i might as well not waste it...i collect records for the purpose of sampling, plain and simple...i also get lots of motivation by listening to OLD sounds and music that prob nobody else has/or will sample..and diggin is a whole other addiction...sifting through dirty, greasy, moldy old vinyl has somthin special to it to me. it makes it that much more fullfilling. but anyway, im high as fuck samplin one of my fovorites in the collection right now hehe..