All depends..... on a number of factors. 

During the school breaks...Christmas, spring and summer breaks...when my wife is home, I tend to not get in the studio much unless there is a project that needs finishing. I try to spend time with my wife during those weeks. 

It also gives a much needed break to me from the studio and music... to recharge and get some new ideas.


When I have the time to hit the studio, without the demands of the family intruding and breaking a thought or idea..... I can easily get the music flowing and actually look forward to firing up the studio and writing. 

Mod Bod: Dave.... I've heard that many of the hit writers actually analyze the newest hits for their chord progressions, use of new/different intercessor chords, groove, and several other factors to keep on top of the newest trends in the music biz.  Kinda like a surfer scouting the sea for the next big wave coming his way so he can ride it. In the music biz.... all you have to do is catch one or two of those waves to make a huge difference in your life as a writer. Needless to say, I'm still looking that wave myself..... but I don't give up. 

Yeah, the progressions are pretty much the same ones over and over.... it's the melody and the words that make all the difference in the world.  That's what they pay you for. 

I love the process of writing, and when I'm on it, I have no problem being motivated to get in the studio. 

Currently, I'm getting ready to get back in gear as everyone heads off to college or school. (empty nest in 4 weeks)

My motivation right now is in understanding what in bejibbers I am doing ...I AM the lab!!!! 

For me it isn't about motivation to get into the studio. It is much more about the level of creativity once I'm there. I'm in my studio every day, though whether or not I'm being creative is pretty arbitrary.

As others have pointed out there seems to always be something I can be doing...like learning new techniques, testing acoustic guitars and mic placement (that in itself seems to be a never ending quest - ;-) ). Occasionally it will all gel but more often than not it is perspiration and not inspiration. I'm ok with that because what I have found over the years is that five years from now I will do something completely in flow that was based on all those hours I spent leading up to that point.

So what I do is just schedule my time. If it is studio time then I am in the studio.

Regards,

to the OP: I completely sympathize.  Sometimes, especially at the end of a long day, it is impossible to find that motivation.  A lot of times it's just lack of energy.  Scheduling studio time (like Mike says in post #13) is a great idea, and one I'd like to try.

Just recently I've made an effort to get my music area (most of one room in the house) completely organized, so I don't have to think about that, and instead I can just make music.  I surprised myself by making a decent-looking wood-framed rack case.  Side note - this was part of the agreement with the wife - I can take over the one room for music, but it's got to look nice.

To Mod Bod: absolutely agree with your take on the Billboard Top 5.  My kids and I will listen to the latest hits on the radio, and it's nothing but more of the same.  One of the kids asked, "Dad, what's with that keyboard part in the middle of the song?"  That's so Rihanna can dance in the video, honey.

If commercial radio is killing you, try whatever college radio stations you can get in your part of Florida.  The college stations I get out of Boston and Providence play some of the craziest stuff, things you'd never hear on Top 40.

+1 all: Another great thread, IMHO.  Yeah, the DAW is life for us all.  Many of your/my mixes are paintings of 'brush-stroke' performance samples; perhaps 90% is sculpt and polish.  For moi:

Fortunately, the studio travels everywhere (an HP Envy lappy, UA-4FX interface, AKG 701 cans, and a dynamic sm58 mic).  On the road the mouse presides over any MIDI controller (despite my fanatic passion for keyboard and guitar)

Unfortunately, one can't really run the UAD stuff on the road with today's USB ports.  Like Bitflipper, Studio Recordings are done mostly at the office ... between day-jobs.  (I have to bounce the UAD stuff)

But, like some of you 'honestly' allude: without inspiration, love, hope, etc. ... the whole DAW thing is dead. 

Then its time to perform publicly (for many of us) where, perchance, the muse gets fed a bit.

I love doing this kind of work - minus the drum portion. Usually once I record the basic idea. I need to get the drums right. Not a strong suit! I have various tools including ezdrummer (Nashville), Sonar's offerings, and also bought a large pro sound loops bundle a few years ago. But the one size fits all is limited for the type of songs I write, so I stall sometimes trying to get the sound right. Been tempted lately to try one of the online drummers offering to play real drums to my songs. Really not wanting to fork out $125 a song yet...

Summary, drums are my hold up sometimes for getting started on the finished product.

Man, I'm trying to work out how to get *out* of the studio.

musicroom


I love doing this kind of work - minus the drum portion. Usually once I record the basic idea. I need to get the drums right. Not a strong suit! I have various tools including ezdrummer (Nashville), Sonar's offerings, and also bought a large pro sound loops bundle a few years ago. But the one size fits all is limited for the type of songs I write, so I stall sometimes trying to get the sound right. Been tempted lately to try one of the online drummers offering to play real drums to my songs. Really not wanting to fork out $125 a song yet...

Summary, drums are my hold up sometimes for getting started on the finished product.

Try Jamstix.   www.rayzoon.com It does all the heavy lifting for you. I use it on some of the stuff I do these days and used to use it a bunch in the past. I also like Band in a Box drummers.  More money but pretty cool at times. 

So I take it that most of you have purpose built studio's?

Spare bedroom for me Dappa