Now I want to code something up to create a “mystery box” or exquisite corpse style where one person assigns themselves a starting 4 bar loop and can make something with it, as exit criteria uploads the full track and a 4 bar loop from their track, which continues on where the next person can only access the ending 4 bar loop and no prior “tracks”, which are all unlocked and merged together.
I’d have to think about how it would be handled as a perpetuating thing without intervention though, maybe a set BPM (120bpm, 4 bars, 8s) and suggested time per track of under 2m?
With a set time per bar, could auto-chop the ending 8s to pass forward and all tracks could be merged automatically.
The only problem I can see is social, we all get busy and lose track of smaller commitments and even “unlocking” one portion would fall beyond the wayside.
I’ll look into how I can do this more easily with libraries and hosting, which will probably be the easier part over finding ways to optimize fun (the outcome that matters the most, because the end result of exquisite corpse tends to be a mix of silly, surprising, and occasionally cool)
There’s a power in a duo too, I think. It becomes more about where you meet in the middle on everything, whereas a solo act is all about you. If it’s just you you kinda have to be pretty damn good/interesting. But as a combo, it also takes that pressure of you being the focus. The meshing of two minds will always stand as a pretty mysterious and curious thing, I think. And it becomes more about the conversation, why we did a thing, how things interacted, who was responsible for what. Whereas a solo act is much more me me me, my history, my decisions, my impulses. Duos strip the ego a bit. But they’re also difficult to maintain ie schedules etc. Also, a committed band/act on a real base level will always speak to the idea of friendship, something everyone can relate to and admire. But u can also look at someone like burial, totally anonymous. Anti. It’s sort of the antithesis of the solo act
Take a break from trying to make music. I know it’s weird but it’s helped me come back with a fresh approach. Maybe take a vacation, try new hobby or new gear.
Another thing that comes to mind to counter the thoughts of…
Consider Aphex Twin.
I recognize his music, mainly because he’s kind of repeating himself.
I also like to think of it as, he’s sticking to his style.
There are things that he does that stand out a recognizable.
I don’t see this as a bad thing at all, it’s staying within your theme, perfecting it from time to time, continuously developing it.
It evolves over time, but what he created years ago is still apparent in his current music.
He has made so much content it’s incredible, and there’s tons of it to like, even when one track is very similar to another.
The Subharmonicon isn’t going to solve the problem, but once you wrap your head around how it works it can be a good starting point and a source of inspiration. Once you think you have a sequence that sounds good it might be a good idea to stop and listen to it again later (maybe the next day) and see if it still sounds as good as you thought it did before. Then you still need to find ways of creating variations because it’s not good to have the same thing playing through the whole song. It’s probably not for everybody, but that’s OK because “individuality” is a basic law of nature and we all have to blaze our own trail.
I have been (and will be) in the same spot as you are many times for many different reasons.
It is hard to “reason” the lack of inspiration as inspiration comes from the gut. Not the brain.
I have been going through this same process of acquiring gear to fulfill a void in my life. Sometimes it was music related, sometimes not.
I have learnt to deal with it (music wise). I do not see it as a bad thing. Imagine being inspired all the time, everyday of your life: the next thing you would worry about would be not having enough time.
I have learnt to “enjoy” boredom.
I said at the beginning of my post: “I have been (and will be) in the same spot as you are many times”. And I can only insist that it is like that.
New gear will not help.
Go through the process, learn from it.
Hope it helps.
This is spot on for me. In reality I knew this already because I’ve been through it many times before, but every now and then my mind forgets it’s just a natural process and starts looking for shortcuts to get around it.
Start multiple projects in different genres and try to stick to those genres. Concentrate on finishing songs and releasing material. It won’t necessarily hold, but using your favourite techniques and methods on multiple styles broadens your writing palette and also sharpens your personal style.
It’s normal to be tired and bored sometimes.
In my own experience I learned that most of my inspiration comes from two things: the music I listen & the interaction me-machine.
Look for some fresh new music to open your mind to new worlds.
Look at your gear: is there some feature/technic/function that you didn’t use? Something that you didn’t fully understand? If yes: focus on it, learn it, try it.
It helps me a lot.
Another tip: try to be minimal, to focus on only one simple thing. Sometimes it unlocks creativity. Too much stuff may be too much.
For me it always helps to just leave the studio for a couple days and get some nature. Don’t think about music at all.
Another technique is going to museums and see what you can learn from the visual arts – how would their techniques metaphorically map to those of electronic music? (I’ve learned a lot from early 20th century, Paul Klee, Kandinsky, Hannah Hoch etc).
Third: get out the cheapest gear you have and make a terrible 1 or 2-part jam. Mine of choice is a loop pedal and Microbrute: gets me back in touch with the basics of electronic music.
Well, it’s not much different from what I’ve done before, but at least I finished something.
I followed some of your advice and went back to basics: played keys on the Digitone mindlessly for a while, until eventually I stumbled upon a chord progression and melody that I liked and quickly built a little structure around that, using just the DN.
Nothing fancy but it certainly was much less of a struggle than my last jams have been.
Well, for me, everything that has got to do with inspiration has never initiated from the brain, rather from somewhere deep down inside (the gut). Then the brain comes in and processes it, makes it realizeable. Or not
