I have this same issue and have been in that rut for a while now. I’ll fire everything up and start with a fresh empty song on my sequencer, play a bunch of melodies and beats into it, build something up and go “OK, I’m bored.” then turn everything off and go do something else. getting over the hump of just building one set of melodies in a four bar loop (or whatever) and creating transitions into what could then start to be constructed into a song is sometimes quite tricky. it’s hard not to get discouraged by this but I try to see it as a useful part of the process and try to take something away from each session. maybe I learned a new sequencer trick, explored a new patch idea, found a new sweet spot in an effects pedal, explored a key I don’t usually work in, etc… all of this should help me in the long run.
I feel that: I build up loops, and the moment I have them “done”, I already hate them, because they are boring, even if the type of music I try to archive is based around that concept of short loops, and I never understood, what I did wrong… I take them into the DAW, build a song structure around it, try to spice it up with some FX and modulation and am unhappy, because, while the track is a little bit less boring, it still sucks 
I recently invested into the Digitakt-Courses of Dave Mech, not because I don’t understand, how the Digitakt works, but because I love the Tracks he creates, that mostly only use one Pattern but mostly sound like much more than that, and hoped to find tips and tricks for that.
And I got exactly that. He doesn’t use one single feature, that I didn’t know and in 95% of the cases, he uses them exactly like I do. He also does not use some fancy special Samples, 2 of the 3 tracks are built around factory samples. But the ideas, he put into it, and the “problems” he solves with them, are so completely different and way more “complex” than mine.
Focusing more on playing around with a sound and the pattern instead of playing a melody and tune the sound engines is a real life-changer for me. With the upcoming time of trying and getting better in it, simple loops of max 64 steps will be noticeable more interesting.
My brain is not very good in finding solutions for something out of nothing. I am very very bad in transforming theory into practical stuff that I like. After 30 years of learning scales, techniques and licks on guitar, I still suck in creating my own. But seeing someone CREATE and explain why he does, what he does, pushed me further, than trying to understand tracks and watching videos over the last 3 years!
Yeah, I totally get this. I think some of it is about the rise in the idea that we are all supposed to maximize efficiency and output (“getting things done” culture, etc), some of it is about the misguided notion that adults are not supposed to “play”, and probably a lot of it is that we are getting older and time seems to speed up.
Also, the world has changed a lot in the past two decades with the rise of social media and smartphones.
While it’s a bit cliche, there really does seem to be something to the idea of trying to live in the moment and live more simply. Easier said than done, but something I need to work on myself.
that’s really interesting. I may have to check out these @DaveMech courses! I’ve actually searched for a while to find something similar for the OT. because for me that thing is absolutely brilliant at “I created an awesome four bar loop, now what?” and I’ve not run into any YT video tutorials explaining “this is how I work with it to actually make tracks.” which I know the main issue is me there, but seeing how others do it and use the machine to inspire them would certainly help. point being: for me, using samples is an even easier rut to fall into for track construction. versus sequencing synths. once I’ve mangled the samples into something cool, it’s hard for me to find a way to transition from that.
Enjoy making music for yourself! Not every piano needs to perform a concert or make a record.
Jon makes beats has some great content 
Another note for OP here. I think broadly, you can break the music production process in any genre down into 2 phases that somewhat overlap - the work and the play. It’s totally legit to stay in the play state and never commit to the work, if that’s what you enjoy. (And i should say that lots of folks enjoy the “work” part, just as much as some like designing synth patches as a priority.) Many of us here have time pressures, and commiting to the work is sometimes unrealistic or impractical. And even then the work is on a spectrum. You can have a basic mixdown done relatively quickly if you’re not precious about the details, or you can go the whole hog. If you have time constraints against you this may impact on the fun element. But I guess by thinking about things in terms of work and play, you can split your time in a way that works for you.
Thank you for this wonderful message 
so great to hear that the courses helped you overcome such a road block. Exactly what I aimed to do with the approach I take in the courses. That it was so useful to someone already well versed with all the functionality makes me really happy 
I’m a longtime lurker here and have been using the forum to help wrap my head around Elektron boxes before buying (finally decided I need to get my hands on a Digitakt).
This is my first post in this astonishingly lovely place and want to second what @Wolf-Rami said.
Looking forward to being more involved in this awesome community 
@Wolf-Rami If you feel the need to extend your loops into songs, you might want to take a look at this excellent book by Jason Timothy: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/59747263-the-process-for-electronic-music-production (you should actually have it in your bookshop 
)
Beyond hands-on knowledge, I’ve found it helpful to have a tool with a flexible workflow such as the 1010 Blackbox: quickly record, edit, mix and arrange. Total focus on music making and if something interesting comes my way, I only need to hit the record button.
I have this in a lot of ways myself. However aside from just randomly jamming with friends when I was in my early 20’s making music was not really my main thing. I loved the idea but really just messed with synths haphazardly.
I went through the gas phase for a number of years. Fortunately I somehow had a goal that worked out. A good all in one. Which for me is the OT. I have finally got to a place where mentally I’m doing pretty great. I’ve learned quite a bit regarding getting around on it in the 2yrs I’ve had it now. And I have just random sequences on it I wouldn’t touch now unless I was just going to mangle them to death.
But just today I listened to some recordings I did when I was just using a volca beats, microkorg, minibrute, & my minikaoss pad (the only piece I didn’t sell this whole time),
and though it was simple, it was cohesive.
So while I’ve tried more often to ‘live record’ beats, I just went with sequencing during playback and getting back to that structured start like when I used the volca.
I’ve got plenty of compositional ideas and now that I’m at a comfortable place with the OT I can see myself just sampling me beatboxing, and then putting it through the synthesis processing and getting to it.
I enjoy jamming and tweaking. And for now I’m still getting my disciplines in all of my life down while adjusting to my new job. The pandemic and my marriage were just a few of the derailing issues I had to sort out. So, if your feeling like your just pressuring yourself it’s really not worth it to force yourself.
However learning one way or another to structure a song from your mind to reality isn’t always the easiest with any kind of instrument, or music software.
And figuring out how to get a basic draft of a song out to work from is what I have kind of avoided doing just ‘Learning’ the OT. But I know how to linear record with it the way I want to and I think for me a beatbox for my output to be the base structure and then just sequencing samples over top of it is what I will be aiming for as I move forward.
Hopefully either those DaveMech courses can be of use to you or something otherwise shared here. Thanks for sharing your situation. Hope some of this is more than just me blah blah blahing.
Because an Electronic Musician is a Band in itself.
“The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second best time is now.”
Just playing with your gear in ways that are fun for you is perfectly valid.
That being said, if you have goals like finishing songs or releasing an EP, you need to add some planning and structure to your sessions. With rare exceptions, single ideas captured in a looper aren’t finished tracks, but you know this.
One thing I do: sometimes when I’m NOT in front of my gear, I take the time to plan what I intend to do during my next sessions. I usually do this in written form with bullet points and any additional details or ideas to try where necessary. I’ll often plan song structures, track usage, types of sounds, other inspirational music to draw from and more, all in an eDocument that I can have in front of me, once I do get into upcoming sessions with my gear. My most common time/place for taking these planning notes is at night, in bed with my iPad. A half hour or so of doing this planning makes any upcoming sessions so much more productive than if I’m just messing around to see what happens.
Hope this idea helps.
These could have been my words man! But last year I ran into some books about Buddhism and its ideas about meditation and mindfulness. Those ideas totally changed my perspective about this “problem” (and also about making music!). I really recommend diving into these topics if you are interested!
I’ll challenge you there.
No it hasnt.
All you need is a note pad and a pen. Scribble down which jams you want to develop into finished peices. Then go from there.
Once you’re happy with it Hit record on what ever you record with and be done. It really can be that simple.
Go for it.
Write down a to-do list with one entry on it - ‘make music’, erase all the others…
Do you enjoy noodling around with loops? If yes, then do that. There’s no rule that says you gotta make something sellable. I find jamming and noodling therapeutic. Thats enough for me to keep doing it. The obsession to commodify art is a capitalistic inclination. Art is art, don’t feel obliged to sell it. Cause lord knows theres nothing more creatively draining than waiting around for the final epk pdf to publish that ep for distribution. 
Why not record the MIDI data to daw? That way you haven’t commit anything to tape yet. You can then work on the song structure little by little, and other times work on the sound (sorry if this has been said b4, I skipped ahead).