I don't know something...

[Superology]

I don't know which kind of music I want to create. If I want any. Am I burned out? Am I bored with the covers? Am I a fooled dreamer? I don't know. Help me.

[Superology]

I think I am afraid of actual doing tracks.

[dioxide]

Then just play. Plenty of people just enjoy playing keys or experimenting with modular patching.

[Superology]

I think I know everything I need at this stage of my musical education. I just need to do it and see how can I improve after. Because I overwhelmed myself with tons of educational stuff and feel bad about it. I even don't believe deep in my heart that it will help or is usefull. What I need is to pick up a day and start working. One book is helpful I believe. It's Rick Rubin's book. I like his punk approach. And this is who I am as a creator. A hard working punk with no formal education.

[Aosta]

How about not having a goal and just enjoy creating and manipulating sounds? Something usually comes from that.

[Superology]

How about not having a goal and just enjoy creating and manipulating sounds? Something usually comes from that.

I was doing it long time ago. Don't want anymore.

[integerpoet]

There are lots of exercises which can break writer's block.

An example off the top of my head is to use an unfamiliar time signature. In the modern West, that's often anything other than 4|4.

But there are many other approaches you can find in a web search.

[integerpoet]

And if you're wondering what your musical voice is and it bothers you that you don't know…

All the great talents I have heard interviewed about this say they just blatantly copied someone else's style for a long time.

Their own voice only emerged from that after months or years.

So if you want an answer to that question right now… too bad! Get copying!

[dvdrtldg]

Copying is good. If I'm lost for inspiration, I sometimes set out to do something in the style of this or that artist I like. It never ends up sounding derivative, because I always end up going off on some unexpected tangent halfway through

[TritoneAddiction]

It's always nice to pick a theme for a new project. You know some sort of self created limitation. Otherwise it's easy to get overwhelmed and unfocused.
Here's a bunch of random ideas, just as examples. You can make up whatever theme/idea you want of course.

Pick ONE synth and make music only with that. You can even make your own patch library with it and then create tunes using your own patches.
My suggestion if you do, is to go with Europa. It's deep yet easy to use. A great all rounder.

Make a project around a certain mood or feeling. Fun, happy, sad, weird, creepy, dark etc.

Pick an image you like and draw inspiration from that. Try to make music that would fit the image.

Do things intentionally the opposite way to how you nomally do things. Shake things up a bit. If you typically make hard songs. Do something on the softer side.

Write a song in a day. Or set a very strict time limit like 2 hours for each song. The end result doesn't have to be good. A lot will be crap in fact. The point is, there's no time for second guessing or self criticism with a time limit like that. So you will have to spit out idea after idea, fast.
Do this 10 times and by the end of it you're bound to have some great ideas to draw from and actually make good music with.



Other than that, don't forget to have fun. Anytime we start worrying about how our music will be percieved or overthink things it's almost always a distraction from the creativity itself.

[bxbrkrz]

Shut your phone/pc, stay way from the internet (forum, socials I mean) for 7 days. Don't even reply to this thread.

[Superology]

Guys, you are amazing. Such a support. I feel like I'm not alone in these kind of problems.

Yesterday I felt like what I said was a problem. Today it's not. I just make myself do covers now. And it's fun, but also struggle. Because it's not as easy as I thought. I try not to give up and finish what I wanted. After every session I feel fueled with energy and self-respect.

All your advices are very helpful indeed. I will use them later. This period of time I am focusing on covers.

[integerpoet]

I once did a cover of "Enola Gay" by OMD. Because of course I did. Rite of passage, right? Two things shocked me:

• I thought it was simple just because it's dance-y and the production is spare in a vaguely post-punk-y kind of way. It's. Not. Simple. I mean, compared to a Rush track, it's simple, no doubt. But it's still way more complicated than I expected. Even a "simple" successful track has way more moving parts than any of mine did at the time. I know this now in a way I didn't before.
• I expected that I would be spending so much time with whatever track I chose that I would end up ruining it for myself because the mystery would be gone. I liked "Enola Gay" and I recognized it had been great but I already felt as if maybe I'd heard it too many times and it was not one of my most treasured cherished favorites. Nothing to lose, right? But while I worked I started to realize the effect was exactly opposite what I expected. Now I LOVE LOVE LOVE it. It's an AMAZING track. And knowing every god-damned note is awesome. (Or at least it was when I still did. )

Anyway, highly recommended. If you have not already done this, do it. Do it. Do. It.

By the way, this cover is better than mine was.