Totally agree! Photography has had that role for me as an alternative to music over the years, but it just so happens that for different reasons I haven’t been able to do much photography lately either.
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The correct answer is: get an Octatrack
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And sample with it, slice to random LFO and see what happens. Resample it. Sing the groove.
Hi !
I’m 40Km far from Lisbon 
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Late last year and early this year, I had a relatively productive period responding to monthly creative prompts via Knobs Patreon (sadly shuttered due to other obligations). This was followed swiftly by a six month rut. I decided not to fret about it and gave myself permission to get on with other things until the desire to make music returned.
On the latest Why We Bleep Podcast, Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith discusses the strategy of failing exercises and making intentionally bad music to get it out of her system and discover potential seedlings for new ideas.
A simple but fun semi-generative thing to try with Elektron boxes (other instruments and DAWs too) is using multiple tracks of varying lengths with less than 100% probability on all or some of the trigs. Start out by restricting each track to play the same sound but a different note from a chord, place some trigs on each track with 50% probability, adjust the length of each track for a nice mix of odd and even steps. Press play and adjust trigs to taste. The different tracks lengths and probabilities will reduce the chance of repetition and give the effect of a constantly evolving melody which you can record and search for those happy accidents.
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it’s easy to punch in a 4-on-the-floor kick and build from there. i was doing that too much, too… similar results all the time.
i bought a few synths that really lend themselves to noise, more so than “music.”
i’ve been finding new endless realms with noise. …just get a bunch of weird stuff going in a looper and i can hear different beats than the steady 4. then i’ll start putting the beat to it.
another angle that helped me was to get a few things that i have to play versus sequence. so, nord 3p, 404mkII and roland handsonic really brought ‘playing’ back to my studio. i’ll still add sequenced stuff to my weird sound soups
i’d recommend playing whatever you used to play in your rock bands through some weird FX and get loops going that way in your deluge. find some odd timed measures and try getting the digitone sequenced to it.
it should be fun, whatever the result
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Maybe you just need a break? I take a lot of breaks from making music, come back, and often ideas just pour out.
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I’ve used this trick for electronic music without lyrics in the past. Try to blatantly copy, as close as you can, one of your favorite songs at the moment. What tempo is it at? What type of Bassline sounds are used and what is the rhythm doing? What drums / samples were used? As you go through the process you will start learning a bit of how that song came to be, maybe not all of the process, but some and in the end you will come up with something that is different but similar in style. Almost as if you were letting the song be a skeletal structure or guide, but your own style will take you somewhere that is uniquely you in the end.
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Definitely something special to dropping a tab or taking a few puffs of dmt to get the creative juices flowing.
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Although I said this earlier, I just wanted to report progress.
Made a ton of tracks with a particular configuration, and recently decided to switch things up.
I’m using the AK for drums, with multiple outs to my mixer
T1-kicks
T2-snares
T3-hats
T4-anything else
FX-SlimPhatty
Using my RYTM for bass and melodic stuff, and samples.
Mixer sub outs to my OT for live sampling/mangling.
I’m limiting myself to only 1bar patterns, using conditional trigs to evolve things.
Took a while to get into the flow, but now I have.
Started making a mess of dub tracks.
I’m also collaborating with a friend, so what I make needs to be simple and leave enough space for him to work with.
It really pulled me out of my creative rut.
I’ve started to get the fever for making tracks, and it feels great.
After releasing an album last year that I work on for YEARS, I really needed a break, but the break had become what felt like a lull.
Feels good to be coming out of that all the sudden.
I’ve definitely used a lot of what’s been suggested in this thread and it appears to be working.
No need for new gear, just changing things up with what I have, and collaboration on a specific genera I’ve been meaning to dive back into.
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This suggestion often makes we wonder…there are lots of successful creative duos in electronic music - BOC, autechre, crystal method, dust brothers, countless others.
And I wonder why, in a forum so seemingly fertile with creative people, there aren’t more instances of two forum members getting together and saying “hey let’s become a thing and make tracks together, long distance relationship style”, or maybe unbeknownst to me these artistic marriages are happening all over the place. I guess I make it sound easier said than done. Although I’ve yet to ask someone to prick their finger and pledge to be my musical partner for life.
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I don’t know your background at all, but I always find studying music theory, practicing different scales or chords on a piano, or analyzing drum breaks or whatever helps break me out of a rut.
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I’ve been meaning to try that.
Especially the music theory and practicing cord progressions.
Something I haven’t done much at all.
“Happy accident” and intentionality, always in conflict.
Similarly, I love the idea of modular, but the distance from purpose-driven makes it difficult for me to finish a project.
Yes, the answer is often to always be recording and assemble in retrospect. But i can iterate forever so it’s often less liberating than it should be.
Neurotype may vary, of course.
Any tips there would be appreciated, I’d love to get more remixes or less intimidating production collabs.
A lot of us do reach out to locals, and most of my results have been of the variety of “HEY WE HAVE A ROCK BAND YOU CAN DO COVERS WITH US” or people who are overrun with time and I keep pinging back every so often.
If my friends made electronic music with any proficiency, that’d be great!
Technically I have friends who are composers and do soundtracks, but getting involved with professionals is even more difficult than finding someone who wants to have fun.
Being in my 40s and not being as involved with the live scene under Covid also necessarily restricts my available collaborators.
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Something I’ve been doing is jamming to a song. I just run the music though my mixer and then start the jam. I also have been using samples more; drum breaks mostly, and layering samples to create really funky rhythms.
But I think the big thing a musician can do to break out of a rut is find new music to listen to. And just spend more time listening to different music. Expand!
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I feel your pain there, and not having to rely on anyone for anything is part of the beauty of being a bedroom producer so to speak. My point wasn’t about locals though. I meant literally two Elektronauts, forging a long distance musical partnership where they mutually respect each others artistic decisions and just make tracks, teamwork style, via email or whatever. Not a collaboration between separate artists but a new singular thing all together.
Yeah, I think everybody should grab a buddy and make some tracks! 
I used to have a buddy but he’s dead now. Sorry, for the dark turn of events.
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Of course! I meant more that it’s easier to forge creative relationships with those closeby and sharing a physical space. I’ve found a few 'nauts interested but busy 
I should start a fun low-pressure collab thread or somethin’.
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Personally I’m into the idea of random online collaboration - but the issue for me is balancing time and expectations and not having a lot of confidence in my output - like I can make snippets that sound cool but fitting it to a project with intention not so much.
I’d love some kind of mandala sandbox environment that people can come and layer stuff up just for the sake of doing it, not necessarily to try and ‘make something’.
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