# How do you deal with the lack of inspiration?



## Christof (May 14, 2013)

Every composer knows this pain, but we don't like to talk about it:
No inspiration, no ideas, no melody, nothing.This can last days or sometimes weeks.

How do you guys deal with it?

Usually when I have this problem I start listening to music online (iTunes) to get some ideas, but I am never happy with this solution.

Or is there anybody who is never uninspired???

Christof


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## KEnK (May 14, 2013)

I've been at this a very long time.
I see inspiration as a thing of degrees, usually clouded by my own judgement.
(This includes both positive and negative)

Many times I've had things I thought of as crap or throwaways become very well liked,
even "hits". Gradually, I've grown to like them, or at least appreciate them.
Likewise things I thought of as "brilliant" or "great" have been greeted by a yawn,
even by my biggest supporters (or fans, if you will).

I see inspiration as a momentary interpretation of my creative process by 
a temporary mood I might be in, my psychological state at the time.

The Art or Craft is a separate thing from the mindset I was in when I created it.

I write and play music because I have to- it's like breathing to me.
I continue to Breathe regardless of my frame of mind.

k


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## EastWest Lurker (May 14, 2013)

I look at the stack of bills on my desk and I become suddenly inspired.


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## Kejero (May 14, 2013)

I find that just messing around with instruments, real or virtual, can be not just fun, but inspirational as well.

It's the enemy of originality, but when under time pressure, going through some of your own old ideas/sketches/rejected demos/whatever (if you have them) may spark some inspiration as well... You never know there might be something there you'd completely forgotten about that's perfect for the occasion.


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## passenger57 (May 14, 2013)

> I look at the stack of bills on my desk and I become suddenly inspired.



Haha totally!
:lol:


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## germancomponist (May 14, 2013)

Kejero @ Tue May 14 said:


> I find that just messing around with instruments, real or virtual, can be not just fun, but inspirational as well.
> 
> It's the enemy of originality, but when under time pressure, going through some of your own old ideas/sketches/rejected demos/whatever (if you have them) may spark some inspiration as well... You never know there might be something there you'd completely forgotten about that's perfect for the occasion.



+1


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## Daniel James (May 14, 2013)

Christof @ Tue May 14 said:


> Every composer knows this pain, but we don't like to talk about it:
> No inspiration, no ideas, no melody, nothing.This can last days or sometimes weeks.
> 
> How do you guys deal with it?
> ...



When I lose inspiration I strip shit back until I get inspired. Sometimes it even goes all the way back to talking to myself.... WHAT is this music supposed to be? Tense and Scary....well whats tense and scary....well in its basic for, dissonance. How can I make dissonance? String clusters...naa I did that last time, how about if I get a meltalic ish type thing and mess with it to make it dissonant. Normally once I get that 'tone' down, or what I need the music to do in its most basic form I just build on top.

FAILING THAT: Just wack up a piano/string/synth patch and just play SOMETHING, anything in, live. Its easier to tweak something than to write it from scratch, your brain can pick away at the crap you played live while its subconsciously building ideas over it. Once an idea becomes formed enough you will put it over or replace what you have already.

Thats just how I go anyways 

-DJ


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## Tanuj Tiku (May 14, 2013)

When I completely loose inspiration, I start doing something else completely. I wont even touch my keyboard or run Cubase.

I will watch Monty Python or Family Guy...or something else....just go out somewhere...

and then suddenly, when you have been away from things, you get the urge once again ....to write something....that's it...

I have not faced long periods of lack of inspiration. So far its worked out. I dont think too much about these things. 

I am also not afraid of deleting something thats not good. This was very difficult earlier. I try different things now and scrap something completely. Fresh approach - but then a lot of times, I will retain something that works from the previous idea and think of something new. 

Its a lot of problem solving I guess in music as well. You have one awesome part but that just does not go anywhere or work with anything else. Then suddenly, something happens.

When I think too much about it, it usually gets fu**ed up! 

As Daniel said, walking around thinking about things and talking to yourself works really well!!!

But I do feel its important to disconnect. Other times, you are on a roll! Ideas just come out pouring. 


Good luck!

Tanuj.


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## Brobdingnagian (May 14, 2013)

Kejero @ Tue May 14 said:


> I find that just messing around with instruments, real or virtual, can be not just fun, but inspirational as well.
> 
> It's the enemy of originality, but when under time pressure, going through some of your own old ideas/sketches/rejected demos/whatever (if you have them) may spark some inspiration as well... You never know there might be something there you'd completely forgotten about that's perfect for the occasion.




I agree. I also use craft to get me back to that magic place. Sometimes it is as simple as "pulling a Jack Smalley" and finding a good starting pulse for a cue, randomly picking a tonal center and playing something....anything remotely appropriate. Inevitably, as we are creative and inquisitive souls to begin with, this mucking about leads to a spark....

My 2p. Your mileage may vary. Hang in there, as we have all been there.


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## Nick Batzdorf (May 14, 2013)

Plagiarize.


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## Greg (May 14, 2013)

I usually stop writing and start transcribing, it re-opens your senses to more possibilities then eventually new ideas start budding. Especially helpful if you write a lot of music and keep having your old ideas stuck in your head.


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## Madrigal (May 14, 2013)

Go out, take a walk, do something else than music for a while. 

Then, grab an instrument you're comfortable with a go play it in a place you're not used to: in a park, another room of your house/apartment, on a balcony or a roof, etc. 

For me, writer's block often comes from always trying to create in the same environment with the same tools. Nowadays, it's worse than ever given the time we spend in front of a computer. 

Second biggest factor is not living enough stimulating experiences. Do one thing that scares you everyday, that should keep a certain form of inspiration going. 

You can't always fight writer's block, but those tricks have certainly helped me a lot in the past. 

Good luck!

-M


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## Tatu (May 14, 2013)

I wonder how often "the lack of inspiration" is about all but inspiration itself? I'm talking about general boredom, or you might be tired and stressed out because your wife/girlfriend keeps telling you how you spend way too much time in your studio "playing games". Or perhaps deep inside you don't feel satisfied about your career and that tired, dead eyed reflection of a composer in the mirror every morning might seem like a dead man walking towards his early grave.

I mean, if you're experienced, all you need to do is sit down, pick a note and build from it, and eventually it grows in to something that fits the purpose. And by doing so, you continue in that limbo, gaining both satisfaction and despair.

Wow, thinking all that, I should get back to scoring picture. :|


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## Rob (May 15, 2013)

not sure what inspiration is... once you have set the boundaries of what you have to write, form, style, tempo, mood, speed, instrumentation etc just use your mentality and what you've learned, build like the woodworker makes a table...


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## Christof (May 15, 2013)

> not sure what inspiration is... once you have set the boundaries of what you have to write, form, style, tempo, mood, speed, instrumentation etc just use your mentality and what you've learned, build like the woodworker makes a table...


I think it takes more than that, we are also creative writers, not only craftsmen.


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## Rob (May 15, 2013)

yes, but creativity is a function of mind, not a beam of light that comes from above... you choose to create, and think, or you're just being lazy...

btw, there's creativity in making a table


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## Kejero (May 15, 2013)

Sometimes, out of nowhere, you get the idea to try _this_, in stead of _that_, or on top of that... Something you've never done before, something out of your regular writing style and set of devices, out of your comfort zone. I like to think that's inspiration.


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## korgoasys (May 15, 2013)

I either leave the keyboard alone for days or play the multis in various libraries--if something sticks OK; if not, so be it. I appreciate I'm only an amateur hobbyist but inspiration affects professionals too.

Regards,
Patrick


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## Rob (May 15, 2013)

korgoasys @ 15th May 2013 said:


> I either leave the keyboard alone for days or play the multis in various libraries--if something sticks OK; if not, so be it. I appreciate I'm only an amateur hobbyist but inspiration affects professionals too.
> 
> Regards,
> Patrick



no wait... you can't compose if you don't narrow the possibilities of what to write... the process you're describing is too vague, the possibilities are endless. It gets too difficult to choose... 
Maybe the best thing to do in such cases is to pretend you've been commissioned a work that has certain requirements, and hold to them, like write a piece that lasts 2 minutes, with a dreaming feel, simple harmonies, using flute, harp, tuba and pandeiro...


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## re-peat (May 15, 2013)

korgoasys @ Wed May 15 said:


> (...) but inspiration affects professionals too.(...)


Let’s not generalize. I know quite a few professionals who are completely immune to inspiration.

_


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## Rob (May 15, 2013)

re-peat @ 15th May 2013 said:


> korgoasys @ Wed May 15 said:
> 
> 
> > (...) but inspiration affects professionals too.(...)
> ...




:mrgreen:


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## Guy Bacos (May 15, 2013)

Just once I was lacking inspiration, when I was doing a transition to exercising regularly, for about 2 months it was painful. But adapted and it was ok after. So other than that, has always had inspiration.


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## EastWest Lurker (May 15, 2013)

re-peat @ Wed May 15 said:


> korgoasys @ Wed May 15 said:
> 
> 
> > (...) but inspiration affects professionals too.(...)
> ...



That would be me 

Seriously though, the reason we train is so that we do not have to rely on inspiration to work on demand. When inspiration fails, fall back on craft.

If you do not have craft, this is why you need to develop it. Otherwise, you are at the mercy of a muse that comes and goes as it pleases.


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## JohnG (May 15, 2013)

Nick Batzdorf @ 14th May 2013 said:


> Plagiarize.



This word has such pejorative connotations though...

I look at other art -- sculpture, design, painting. I find it gets me going.


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## Anonymous (May 15, 2013)

You find inspiration, it does not come to you.


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## Guy Bacos (May 15, 2013)

EastWest Lurker @ Tue May 14 said:


> I look at the stack of bills on my desk and I become suddenly inspired.



That always works. Even for the more successful composers, those Oscar polishers are expensive!


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## Inductance (May 15, 2013)

JohnG @ Wed May 15 said:


> I look at other art -- sculpture, design, painting. I find it gets me going.



Yes! This works for me, too. I've been doing a lot of reading lately (mostly sci fi novels), and I find that this usually gives me musical ideas.


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