keeping it fun??

tedstryka · **Joined:** Tue Nov 17, 2009 8:32 am **Posts:** 181

last night after "working" in ableton and maschine for the better part of 3 hours, i found myself feeling stressed out and exhausted. my ears were ringing, nothing i was doing sounded right, nothing was "gelling", everything sounded like a watered down massive attack/portishead rip off etc...i felt frustrated, overwhelmed, tired. and then it hit me:

"isn't this supposed to be FUN? aren't i supposed to be ENJOYING THIS?"

so i figured i'd present this conundrum to some musicians artists and beatmakers i respect, ie the sp forum fam:

how do you balance/reconcile/negotiate your artistic goals with having fun?

i think i have so many goals/desires to get what's in my head OUT that this adds a tremendous amount of pressure and frustration to the process. i understand to some extent stress in the creative process is unavoidable, even necessary (no pain no gain), but many times this defeats what is for me one of the main purposes of art: therapy, elation, joy, elevation etc...

"that which nourishes me destroys me" goes the saying, but do we have to accept this?

any thoughts are much appreciated...

jetson · **Posted:** Tue May 29, 2012 2:28 am

I can't escape the nagging feeling that performing live is what makes it fun. I know that's not true for everyone, but I haven't performed live in so long, I miss it.

It was really a lot of fun, and gave me the chance to be somebody for an evening.

Rabot · **Joined:** Fri Apr 03, 2009 9:31 pm **Posts:** 779

Performing is defenitly the fun part.

But yeah i learned that i need break every hour when i create stuff otherwise i end up stressing or finding my shit sucky.

Just going outside and read a magazine for 15 or some shit.

I also then to leave more track undone and work on them a week after. Sometime i drop them.after.hearing them sometime i just get new ideas.

Also, i make sure i keep my shit.simple and my head clear when i create. One step at a.time.

JZTR · **Posted:** Tue May 29, 2012 8:02 am

I find when I get to that frustrated stage I just have to stop and go do something else. Come back later. Sometimes that groove just isn't there but I know it'll return.

yo-yo crunch · **Joined:** Wed May 09, 2007 12:49 pm **Posts:** 577

i like to have 3 or 4 beats going at the same time and just flip between them every 20-30 minutes or so. that way hopefully they won't get too stale...

blavatsky · **Joined:** Fri Jan 28, 2011 8:35 pm **Posts:** 708

yeah if its not gelling after 30 minutes or so , sometimes gotta turn that shit off and go do something else...can't force creativity and if not having fun whats the point.

I also have a tendency to really like what i'm working on at the time, then a day/week/month later I've found weak spots / parts I don't like and feel like "well on the NEXT track i'll get it right"...which is good in a way I guess to stay motivated but I'd like to think one day I can make a batch of songs I like a year(s) later

YellowT · **Posted:** Wed May 30, 2012 8:39 pm

Got this advice somewhere else.

Quote:

“The advice I like to give young artists, or really anybody who'll listen to me, is not to wait around for inspiration. Inspiration is for amateurs; the rest of us just show up and get to work. If you wait around for the clouds to part and a bolt of lightning to strike you in the brain, you are not going to make an awful lot of work. All the best ideas come out of the process; they come out of the work itself. Things occur to you. If you're sitting around trying to dream up a great art idea, you can sit there a long time before anything happens. But if you just get to work, something will occur to you and something else will occur to you and something else that you reject will push you in another direction. Inspiration is absolutely unnecessary and somehow deceptive. You feel like you need this great idea before you can get down to work, and I find that's almost never the case.”

― Chuck Close

still, if you are really stuck, for a longer time and are tired... taking a break is a good move.

admbmb · **Joined:** Fri Sep 03, 2010 6:06 pm **Posts:** 477

I try to have fun, first. Its best not to create with an idea that this will be marketed, sold or shown to anybody. Just make stuff that if you didn't know that you made it, you would think it was the absolute shit. Then, after you had your fun...go back and listen, maybe show it to some folks. For me, if it turns out that other people like my weirdness, its an added bonus. And I'd like to agree with the live thing...its like extra fun on top of the fun.

And if I am trying to make stuff and nothing is gelling...just a bunch of crap, its best to just shut down and do something else. Sometimes I shift from creative mode to study mode when this happens and study up on sound synthesis or read tutorials...little things to play with and make more happy accidents later.

keeping it fun??

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