Trying to cope with musical "negativity"

[Simto]

I don't know if the title is right for this thread, but i would like to know what some of you guys do when you think every thing you play or write is horrible.

The last year or so, i seem to not enjoy playing anymore, i've tried the usual stuff with playing different styles than i'm used to and not playing for a week to kinda come back with a fresh approach but it's like... i can play for an hour or so and then i'm done. Usually it's because i get too tired or maybe i get too frustrated with not playing good enough.
I used to just sit for hours and hours and play non stop and loving every second of it.

Also, the last two months or so, i've even begun to think my tone sucks. I used to love it, i mean, i have two Divided by 13's, a couple of Fenders and Gibsons, but now it's like the sound is hurting my ears and it sounds shrill hard. I like soft and juicy

And when it comes to songwriting... In my band, it's me who kinda the primary writer of the music. I build the arrangements, make riffs, chord progressions and so on. We're in the process of recording a demo of six or seven songs and last night we "finished" a new song. I heard it twice since last night and i just think it's rubbish. I try to listen and look at a lot of different influences to inspire me but i think it just went down the drain. I used to think all the songs we've finished so far were awesome and i was very very proud of them, but now i only like one of them.

There's nothing i want more in the world than being able to have "a nice" income from my music, i want my band to succeed so badly. My dream is just to fill a van or two up with all our gear and drive around in Europe and play gigs.

What do you guys do to "turn" the bad feeling around?

[Tweed335]

Maybe your pressing too hard.

I'm kinda starting to feel that to be a good song writer, you have to let the music flow through you, rather than forcing it out.

It sounds a lot easier to do, than to actually do it.

So many interviews I see with artists that I respect for their lyrics, melodies, and arrangemnets, emphasize that they don't know where the songs come from, nor do they attempt to identify it, they just let it come through them.

If you're not happy with the music you are making, maybe try to take a more 'passive' approach. Maybe take this approach with listening too, try to put yourself in another listeners shoes, you might enjoy a piece that you previously thought was garbage.

I HAVE to do this reset sometimes too. There will be a period where it's just nonstop ideas, and good ones IMO, then inevitably comes the dry period where I want so bad to write a new tune but it sounds a bit contrived. Now that I'm actually typing this out, it reminds of the cycles seen in nature(I know, totally hokie), but you have the dry season, where little prospers, then comes the rain, and BAM life flourishes again!

Wax and Wan

[Simto]

Thanks for the reply

I think you're right about trying to force it. I usually never try and force it out. I used to just "let it flow". I feel the music i write, you can tell in an instant if i just made it if i "tried to make it". It's too formuletic, repetitive and just plain boring.

I guess one of the things with pressing too hard is, i think my work is very hard and when i come home from work i'm 100% drained, i don't have a lot of days off either and it's like, i feel i really need to step up to the f***ing plate when i play guitar or try to write songs because i have so little time to do it. I just took a week off from work to psych myself up to the annihilation that is Christmas. i've just been playing all day, all week and it's just the same.

[TheReverendCommon]

tweed335 make some awesome points...

but i have always presented myself with challenges when facing those musical dry spells.

i used to have to write music for school almost every day, so i found little challenges to get me through, and it worked with band writing as well:

1) write something stupidly complicated or in an unusual time signature

2) we always tend to fall into comfortable keys and chord changes, break it up... write something unusual for you... look up basic pop chord structures and use those

3) i've also been known to solicit chords from random musician friends and group them together (no matter how weird) and write something based around that

my goal is to usually break myself out of my comfort zone, because when you get too comfortable, your brain starts to warn you and suddenly EVERYTHING you write --no matter how good-- becomes crap to you

if none of that works, try this:

after you work on a song, record a song, rehearse a song... WALK AWAY

i know artists who obsessively listen to their own demos and recordings looking for mistakes/problems...

if you listen to something over and over again, you will find something wrong with it

take a few days off from whatever it is you are doing (for me, it's usually a week, lol) and go back...

[amplifiedtorock]

I've got a few suggestions:

1) Record your ideas right-away to a DAW. I prefer to separate the verse, chorus, bride, solos, whatever. I'll just record one or two bars of each to different tracks as a sketchbook. Then go back and copy/cut/paste and essentially work out an arrangement and often *brand new* parts will come out of it. I've written my best songs this way. I love to play guitar and mess with tone, and wank and all that but I find that it distracts from the songwriting process. Just use the DAW (today's 4-track).

2) Play a different instrument and again, record simple parts into your DAW. I'm decent on keys and bass so I'll play along with a beat and just see what I come up with. Then the usual copy/cut/paste + fx to create interesting variations. Then, go back and play guitar on top of what was created. You guessed it, new guitar parts every time that you may not have normally come up with!

3) And since this is a family show I'll just ask, "What would Bob Marley do?"



Good luck!

[Simto]

Good stuff guys

The thing about writing something your not used too. I guess i should try and write some more simple stuff, because i think i try to make intricate stuff but trying to keep it not so intricate at the same time, if you know what i mean.
I guess i should try and write more simple stuff

Playing a different instrument is fun for me. I love playing drums too and whacking away on a bass is fun too. I think it's because they're not my "main instruments" and i don't feel like i need to be good at it, but i can really feel i'm getting better at drumming even though i don't really practice them, i just bang away so it fits with the song.

And about Bob Marley'ing, i don't do any of that stuff, but sometimes i wish i could because it looks like it amplifies creativity.

[Griz]

Originally Posted by amplifiedtorock

I've got a few suggestions:

1) Record your ideas right-away to a DAW. I prefer to separate the verse, chorus, bride, solos, whatever. I'll just record one or two bars of each to different tracks as a sketchbook. Then go back and copy/cut/paste and essentially work out an arrangement and often *brand new* parts will come out of it. I've written my best songs this way. I love to play guitar and mess with tone, and wank and all that but I find that it distracts from the songwriting process. Just use the DAW (today's 4-track).

2) Play a different instrument and again, record simple parts into your DAW. I'm decent on keys and bass so I'll play along with a beat and just see what I come up with. Then the usual copy/cut/paste + fx to create interesting variations. Then, go back and play guitar on top of what was created. You guessed it, new guitar parts every time that you may not have normally come up with!

3) And since this is a family show I'll just ask, "What would Bob Marley do?"



Good luck!

I especially agree with point #2. I would further recommend that you try creating with an instrument that you "can't play". Alternate tunings also often lead to musical surprises. And it helps if you let go of the need for a definite writing objective, and allow yourself to just play with music - as in creative play.

Another poster mentioned the importance of listening. This can be a great way to stir up inspiration, particularly if you include a lot of unfamiliar types of music.

Also , if you think you might be just wearing yourself out with too much work and not enough rest, try to restore the balance a bit if you can.

Best of luck.

[Seraphine]

That one song of the few you guys have recorded... The one you like? Keep it... have a committee meeting about putting all the other tunes in the recycle bin for bits and parts in other works...

Now take the one song.... and look for a second song... then a third... This recirculating of the "light" is a great process and often how it's really done. don't settle for filler on your album.. many MANY producers / Bands / writers have and it's not worth it really... heck man... if you need filler... make a 20 minute epic with time signature changes and fill in with an epic musical journey... That would be much better than a song built on a riff and a chorus and bang bang a radio friendly we want a hit song?

I'm not sure where you're at in this process... But I sense you feel conflict with what's happening and want to ditch some of the hard worked out songs... DITCH 'EM... Keep the good one and shoot for more GOOD ONES..

If you're not using an expensive studio approach as in Money / Time etc... Then it's little worry... Most songs should already be worked out anyway before that.. ah... that's the plan at least lol...

Have that talk with your band... Tell 'em we keep this song and recycle the rest... and shoot for the next songs till we really do what we are proud of.... and make it fun! Sometimes we NEVER will get where we want to go if we don't take 2 steps back... It's one of the easiest tricks and lessons to learn, yet sooooo many will never accept that... they think going forward is the ONLY way to get there... That won't work.... especially when it's easier to walk around a wall, than through it.

[lhallam]

Taking a break can help.

Go see a concert of a musician you dig. Every time I've seen Steve Morse, Frank Zappa, Joe Pass, David Gilmour, etc I got inspired and played just that much better for a bit.

Try changing up your rhythmic approach to everything. This can lead to interesting ideas especially when soloing.

Try figuring out every melody you can think of, anything from The Andy Griffith Theme to the Armour Hotdog ad, Pop Goes The Weasel, whatever. It's a fun little challenge and you don't have to beat yourself up while improving some skills.

Try a compressor and see if that will round out the tone for you.

Take a mode such as phrygian and write a melody only using that mode.

BTW - I hate my writing as well and no one ever hears it but I still compose for some reason.

[DannyS]

I find backing tracks to jam to that inspire me, figure out the chords and start composing! it's a good start for new music!

[Simto]

Great advice guys.

About ditching the songs i don't like. I feel i might do it with the last one song we recorded. All three of us actually had a hard time and mixed feelings about the chorus. It has some good elements but i'm not happy and i won't settle for mediocricy, i have an insane fear of failure so my mind is constantly working against me. I don't know why, but because, since i was a kid i didn't care if i won or lost anything, i just wanted to have a good time, but the last two years it's turned completely around, i'm a very sore loser and i won't settle with being mediocre.
Even stupid stuff like playing a game, i can get very angry and frustrated if i lose in a game.. i know it sound stupid and it kinda pisses me off that i get pissed so easy.

As of now we're still in the basement recording process, so it's not in the serious studio time right now, but when we have about six or seven songs we're going to a nice studio and doing recording a good demo.

Playing different tunings is also nice, i found to like DADGAD a lot.

@Ihallam: That's a nice challenge with trying to figure out melodies. Another thing, kinda similar but not quite, is just trying not to look at the fretboard while playing. Music isn't supposed to come from the eyes.

[The Guy]

im listening to queen of outlaws right now - sounds pretty good to me.

[Simto]

Originally Posted by The Guy

im listening to queen of outlaws right now - sounds pretty good to me.

Thanks man, i really appreciate it. That was actually the first song we finished. The song i like the most is the one called "Rosie". I think that's the song with the best arrangement, lyrics and melody.

[j2b4o]

Honestly sometimes the best practice is to leave it in the case for a week/month. Clears my head and most times I end up having written several things I can't wait to try once I go back.
Or sometimes if I'm sick of everything I play and feel like its the same old tired crap coming back again and again. I'll play finger exercises or scales or try and cop some lick I've been after and usually if I "push through" the unpleasant "I hate this" period than at the other end is some really great material.

It's sort of like meditaition the good stuff comes after all the thoughts like " what am I doing" "maybe I'm not doing it right" "is this it" and uncomfortable feelings urging you to stop. It's like a trial on the entrance to creativity.

[gillman royce]

After decades of playing & owning gear, I have one guitar/amp set up that never ceases to please, sounds amazing even if I'm only boringly playing scales and while I only use it for jazz, that's enough to pull my head around. My suggestion would be to go to various music stores and play what they have - sometimes you find a new gem; usually somebody will come up and compliment you on your playing. Either way, you cheer up.