Do you want to write in the same general genre(s) as the artists on your website (Pineapple Lounge)?

I used to collaborate with a mate who was a prolific poet. reading his verses would always get a melody going on my head.

Ask a friend to write down some one liners or verses for you.

you'll soon pick up the rhythm from the meter of the words and perhaps the meaning of the words will inspire a melody of sorts.

I guess the one thing this thread is showing you (all of us really) is that there's a ton of ways to get some inspiration when the well has run dry so to speak.

Let us know how you get on.

BTW - Isn't anyone going to say, 
                                                        "this belongs in the Song Forum".

soens


Hey! Doesn't this post belong in the Songs Forum Coffee House forum?????

It's been done in the Coffee House before. I think the consensus was resort to Charlie Sheen's favorite H & B

My methods for overcoming writers block are:

1. Leave music alone for a while. Get away from the computer.  Go out for walks with a portable recording device. Speak any ideas / inspiration into the device. Record sounds. Listen back later.

2. Go to a different art form for inspiration. I go to book shops and look at the titles. They usually inspire ideas. The same works for art galleries / museums.

3. Read / watch / unrelated things.

Just my ideas. They work for me.

As others have mentioned, I think *not* sitting staring at a computer screen is very important. I absolutely never sit down to the DAW without already having an idea. Sometimes the idea is "mess around with this synth to see how it works for future reference", granted. But it's never "poke around and see if a tune pops out". I learned years ago that for me at least, that never produces anything worthwhile. Even worse, you end up over-committed to weak ideas just because you've spent a load of time on them.

One sure way for me to come up with material is to experiment with the arpeggiator.

Turn out all the lights and just play. Stop focusing on the mundane and let go your concious self. Let the force flow through you! LOL! Sorry about the humor but it may work.

Freex

NW Smith


+1 for shutting off the computer and playing music on guitar or keyboard. Whenever I have ideas for songs, I will record a snippet and put it aside. When I hit a block - I browse through my song idea files and usually find something to work on.

Recording snippets of ideas, is by far a way to go (imho), you'll always get something some where, and at some point you'll be listening back and hear something that helps you either continue with it or bounce off it to something different. Don't worry about words, just hum along and my word sounds, you'd be amazed how many times I've heard "words" in something I've recorded like this.
 
Or try messing with a new instrument, if you play guitar for example try a ukulele, you'll find yourself playing with different chords and progressions, and it's not a hard intrument to learn.
 
NEVER FORCE IT..... It's supposed to be fun!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I've heard this and tend to agree with it in one sense, but on the other, more important hand, it's not the best way to handle "writers block" IMHO.  


For writers like most people here, it's probably the rule we live by. The constraints of life tend to get in the way..... job, wife, kids, family things that need to be done, all these things and more need to be taken care of and that often leaves us with very little time to be creative. It comes down to this: How badly do you want to write music? 

If you want it bad enough you can and will find time to be creative. If it means carrying a small recorder with you to catch those ideas and melodies that happen in the middle of the day, on the ride to the job site, or in the middle of the night. 


I know and have met a number of writers of songs and music who have achieved what most of us here would consider a successful career in music. Some write for film & TV and others write for country artists, some write for pop artists. The common thread that runs through them all is that they have all told me they set down and write songs and music every single day. They get up, get a cup of coffee and head into their studio room and close the door and for the next 6 to 8 hours they write whether they "feel like it" or not.  The OR NOT is the important part. 


Jeff Steel: writer for Nashville artists, with over 24 #1 songs to his credit. Said his goal is to write a song a day, and get one or two a year recorded. 
Matt Hirt: writes for film & TV.... if you watch Dr Oz, Oprah, Dr Phil and other daytime shows you have heard his music. Same thing, he writes every day. Last I heard he had over 1000 songs licensed into one TV show or another. 
Big Barry Blue: Licensed 80 songs into one reality show and one of them is the title song to the show.

You can write every day and push yourself through the difficult/dry spells and still enjoy it. It's when you overcome those barriers that new and exciting things begin to happen in your writing abilities.

If one simply sets back, and when a blank page is encountered with no ideas forth coming..... one puts the paper away and the guitar back in the case and walks out to do something else because of writers-block..... it then becomes easier to claim writers block and walk away easier next time until it becomes a habit. Then one day you "suddenly" realize you haven't written a song in 2 years. 

Sometimes, we just gotta push through it. 

Last year I started the year with a goal to write one song minimum every 2 weeks for a total of 26 songs in the year.  I wrote over 30 songs and actually took several months off to "recharge" ...an excuse to be lazy and not write.  I did not post many of these online and very few were posted here. Several were signed by film & TV libraries. The point is, I set out to see if I could write at least one song every 2 weeks as my goal. Ambitious by the standards of many writers, but far less than others. Not only did this force me to write to reach the goal, but in doing so I had to push through the dry times and in the end, actually exceeded the goal I had set at the beginning of the year.

Try it. just write.

By the way..... http://lab.andre-michelle.com/crash/

Use space to clear

If you're an iPhone guy, I suggest you look into the app called FourTrack. It's a simple four track multitrack recorder with volume and pan controls as well as simple eq and compressors and the ability to bounce into a stereo track. Pretty much the same kind of general limitations The Beatles worked with but in a phone! I like experimenting with multple percussion sounds to create some interesting catchy thing so a little simple multitrack recorder on your phone is great. Beat-box a simple drum track and add little harmonies and things over that. Great way to test out harmony sounds and if they work well together. Oh, and never let anyone else hear what you record on there, it can sound very messy when you're beatboxing a drum sound to get and idea down or try something out...!

Probably more useful for certain styles of music, but could be useful for any style really. Check it out.

Wow so many awesome responses, a big thank-you to everyone who replied! I've saved both of these pages for future reference.

I do have an iPad and have downloaded a few apps this weekend; I'll be sure to check out FourTrack.

I'm going to try and write 1 song every 2 weeks and maybe have 2/4 days’ worth of musical discovery time in-between where I make some new synth presets or just jam out some ideas on guitar / keyboard.

I'm guessing most people have come across this from time to time. I have musical writers block :) I sit in front of X1 and nothing comes out, does anyone have any tips or strategies to combat writers block?

 
FWIW, When that happens (IMO) it's time to get away from the studio/music/etc.
Sometimes you simply need to "recharge"... or take time away to find new inspiration.
 
ie:  Writing Kontakt scripts can be tough/challanging (tedious)... especially if you don't have a background in computer programming.  I've spent entire days trying to get a particular aspect to "work"... getting frustated... staring at the screen when a solution just wouldn't present itself.  Oddly enough, when I stepped away from the situation (took a break)... an answer would usually come.  Often at the most unusual moments (driving, talking to my girl, etc).  The solution would literally just pop into my head.
Writing music is no different.  Sometimes you just can't force it.