you guys ever get in a slump?

[Unfolding]

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.

Haha, too true there dude. I get crap at work all the time, listening to my Ipod scribbling notes about when something sample-ready comes on (then missing phone calls & meetings constantly).

Every day my pockets end up full of post-its with song titles, times & descriptions of what I listened too. Found this really helps in a slump, just going back & rereading the notes & just working on those samples for a few hours, either that or just pick up a different instrument. Why struggle with building new breaks when there's a drum kit/synth/bass guitar asking to be bashed/tweaked/plugged?

[cauzwoah3E]

I find it important to go through slumps. They are something you have to work out of your system. Theres a quote in a kung fu book I read that sais "Lose yourself to improve yourself"

[crumbsucker]

I'm in a slump right now, it's been over month now.
Usually some new piece o gear can toss me out of the crisis but not this time. Some good de-slump techniques were pointed out here... Been burning the same green for some time now... and I got a feeliing this could be the cause for blocking my creativity... just realize this while reading this topic (thnx IIIII).
In meantime
I've been transfering some old tapes to digital, experimenting with different MIDI wiering... and I discovered how to convert Rebirth 338 2.01 songs to standard MIDI files. There's one more thing I must do
soon... to disconnect all the gear and clean the place up as it became a real pigsty.

[tape smoke]

my best de slumping is cleaning up and then smoke then throw on a record, but make shure everythings plugged in at the right time, this is my main distraction from making heat.

[cauzwoah3E]

True. your battle station must always be fully operational or some skywalker will hit your weak spot.

[dman5000]

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...

yo thats so weird i was gonna post about that yestarday. for me thats the best way also to get out of a creative slump. you got to do a bunch of other things cuz when you put off stuff it builds up in your head even if it was stuff you dont want to be bothered with like chores haha. but it builds up stress and tension which isnt good for creating. i cleaned my room last night! hahaha

[fauna]

i agree w/ e.simon and beardface....i find it really easy to be inspired to make beats when i'm nowhere near my shit. then i get home and am too exhausted. lol.

but i have an ipod w/ a "notes" feature. whenever i'm on the metro hearing something wicked, i'll make notes about it - types of sounds, mixes, panning info, etc. - so when i DO have the energy, i gotta list of shit to try.

i also find this forum can help me thru slumps....just hearing other guys' stuff and watching youtube / vimeo vids of how they build shit.

[fauna]

wait - i ALSO re-read this book about 3 times a year:

making beats: the art of sample based hip hop:

http://www.amazon.com/Making-Beats-Samp ... 22&sr=8-15

it reads like a guy's PhD thesis, cuz i fink it was, but there is a LOT of good stuff in here and it inspires the hell out of me every time. tooootally worth checking out.

[mainiakist]

True. your battle station must always be fully operational or some skywalker will hit your weak spot.

haha i like that

[dibiase 1]

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..

ur good then. some records dont strike u right away. maybe years later u hear something in that same record. a listener ear can progress throughout the years. im sure youll put all that vinyl to use tho.

[cartesia]

I'm just about always in a slump.. ehhh sucks.. dunno how to cure it..

I've stopped tryin to make beats all the time.. nowadays ill spend maybe a few hours a week, (and for a while i didnt do anythin for months)..

I dunno, just feels like I'm missing some secret voodoo spells or something.

[drewzle]

^ have you got rid of the computer? if you're not using it for tunes, don't even turn it on

[Les Braun]

^ have you got rid of the computer? if you're not using it for tunes, don't even turn it on

This is why I don't want to work with software in the near future.
With programs like Pro Tools there are so many possibilities, but if you want to make good music, you need some limit.

[cartesia]

^ have you got rid of the computer? if you're not using it for tunes, don't even turn it on

Nah man.. this laptop is like a cancer growing from the tips of my fingers.. goes everywhere with me

Need to throw it off a bridge or something.

The problem at the moment is until I get a hardware synth, I need the computer to make my samples.... need to get the synth ASAP.

[drewzle]

shit man, just get a pawnshop casio and mangle that ish in the SP

get the computer outta ya life!!
(don't stop posting tho!)