2016/03/17 07:22:32
Jesse Screed
craigb
 Then I'm sure GAS pains will return hard and heavy. 



If the GAS gets really bad you might want to call your doctor.  It could be a sign of something more serious going on.  My friend mentioned that one of his symptoms was excessive GAS, but he figured it was the food he ate.  If you start having a blood in the stool it is time to see the doctor for sure.
 
I can't wait to hear your new music!
Jesse Q. Screed
2016/03/17 08:27:14
Guitarhacker
I didn't read all the post replies... I read a few up top....
 
Is it time to call it quits? 
 
No way.
 
A few things..... as long as you are still alive and have your mental facility in tact for the most part, you can write music. Look at the people who have no arms who paint beautiful art by holding a paintbrush in their toes or their teeth. It might take longer but they still express their art.
 
In another forum ...Band in a Box.... there is a member there who is disabled and in a wheelchair and apparently has limited use of hands, and can't speak anymore.  Yet he still composed music using the BB software and posts in the user showcase from time to time....and is active in the rest of the forum.  Your description of yourself isn't quite to his level of disability, so based on what he's doing in music, you don't have a good excuse.
 
There's always a way....
 
So...another short story. I attended a songwriter's convention in LA a few years back and got to hear the great songwriter Jeffry Steel as well as several other hit writing songwriters including Jason Blume.   Steel spoke about his songwriting and said that he writes every day even when he feels like he doesn't want to. In other words, he forces himself to sit down and put the proverbial pen to the paper. Others above have mentioned working with a collaborator. There are a number of songwriter sites where people are looking for musicians to put music to their lyrics or vice versa.  Some of the better songs I have written and been a party too have been collabs where someone sent me some words on a piece of paper...or via e-mail. It's amazing sometimes to see how simply reading the words someone else has written can very often, ignite the spark of creativity in yourself. 

A bunch of my songs are co-writes with Pat Bishop. I also have a number of co-writes with some other writers, but pat and I have done probably a dozen songs or so. We met through a collab with a 3rd person many years back. We're worlds apart politically and philosophically, but in the same groove when we're writing a song, and that's all that matters. She's a lyric writer and sends me her lyric ideas. About 1 in 5 or so turn into a finished song. It's magic when you realize that you're witnessing and involved in that special moment at the birth of a new song and the creative juices start to flow and the song starts to take shape from the simple written words of another person.
 
So there you have it.... find a way to get back involved. As long as you're waking up every morning, you can be writing and sharing music and being a part of the creative process.
 
 
2016/03/17 10:14:46
rbecker
I went through a slump a while back that lasted a year or more. Didn't write - Didn't post to the forum.
 
I'm in a little mental slump now, and am thinking of quitting music for a while and take up painting with acrylics. My wife has all the gear, so it would be easy to get started. I have some ideas....
 
Musically - Think about how many famous, famous music-writing duos there are...Rodgers & Hart/Hammerstein. The Gershwin brothers. Paul and John...It goes on and on. So maybe a collaboration would be the ticket.
 
Also - for lyrics - Have you tried looking for poetry that would lend itself to being set to music? Many, many famous tunes were inspired by poetry: Carmina Burana comes to mind right away. There are zillions.
2016/03/17 10:19:40
57Gregy
I haven't finished a song in several years, but have ~20 in progress.
Some just needs lyrics and maybe some more cowbell, and I intend to finish the more worthwhile projects... someday.
I still find myself listening to them and adding more stuff or changing the instruments, thinking what might sound better or what can be removed, so even though I'm not finishing them, I'm still making music.
2016/03/17 10:53:00
michaelhanson
I agree with pretty much everything that Herb has stated.  We all go through these slumps, but for me, the best way to fight through it is to keep on attempting to write.  Put something down on paper.
 
I think what happens to me, from my own personal experience, I want to continue to top the last song I wrote and if I don't, I am discouraged that it was not as good as previous works.  I am trying to get away from that mind frame and just write.  
 
Similarly to you, I can pretty much write the music at will.  I can come up with chord patterns and melodies fairly easy.  Words I struggle with.  It's not that I can't put some words down, but I want the words to be meaningful, powerful, poetic and make a statement.  Sometimes, I just don't have anything that I want to say.  
 
Collabs are a great way to keep writing and recording.  Scandalous Grace is the collab/ virtual band that I am involved with, founded here with members from the Sonar forums.  We have 3 members (Gracers) and I have witnessed all 3 of us struggling from time to time on getting our songs written and finished.  Having the support of one another to bounce ideas off each other, is extremely valuable and leads to new ideas and en devours. 
2016/03/17 11:23:02
henkejs
michaelhanson
Collabs are a great way to keep writing and recording.  Scandalous Grace is the collab/ virtual band that I am involved with, founded here with members from the Sonar forums.  We have 3 members (Gracers) and I have witnessed all 3 of us struggling from time to time on getting our songs written and finished.  Having the support of one another to bounce ideas off each other, is extremely valuable and leads to new ideas and en devours. 



Not to derail this thread, but I'm wondering about how people make these virtual collaborations work. The mechanics like file-sharing, etc., are straightforward enough, but how about the trading ideas part? My collaborations have all been face-to-face where you can suggest a lyric or play a riff and get immediate feedback. Is there an efficient way to do this online?
2016/03/17 11:26:27
57Gregy
Phone, Skype, Facebook video chat.
2016/03/17 11:36:25
jamesg1213
henkejs
michaelhanson
Collabs are a great way to keep writing and recording.  Scandalous Grace is the collab/ virtual band that I am involved with, founded here with members from the Sonar forums.  We have 3 members (Gracers) and I have witnessed all 3 of us struggling from time to time on getting our songs written and finished.  Having the support of one another to bounce ideas off each other, is extremely valuable and leads to new ideas and en devours. 



Not to derail this thread, but I'm wondering about how people make these virtual collaborations work. The mechanics like file-sharing, etc., are straightforward enough, but how about the trading ideas part? My collaborations have all been face-to-face where you can suggest a lyric or play a riff and get immediate feedback. Is there an efficient way to do this online?




You just...do it.. Easy enough to throw MP3s and emails back and forth to trade ideas. I collaborated for years with a guy in in Connecticut before I met him face to face. There's a band called 'Distant Towers' who frequent these boards who rarely (AFAIK) meet in person. They have 5  excellent CD's under their belts so far.
2016/03/17 11:53:10
michaelhanson
jamesg1213
henkejs
michaelhanson
Collabs are a great way to keep writing and recording.  Scandalous Grace is the collab/ virtual band that I am involved with, founded here with members from the Sonar forums.  We have 3 members (Gracers) and I have witnessed all 3 of us struggling from time to time on getting our songs written and finished.  Having the support of one another to bounce ideas off each other, is extremely valuable and leads to new ideas and en devours. 



Not to derail this thread, but I'm wondering about how people make these virtual collaborations work. The mechanics like file-sharing, etc., are straightforward enough, but how about the trading ideas part? My collaborations have all been face-to-face where you can suggest a lyric or play a riff and get immediate feedback. Is there an efficient way to do this online?




You just...do it.. Easy enough to throw MP3s and emails back and forth to trade ideas. I collaborated for years with a guy in in Connecticut before I met him face to face. There's a band called 'Distant Towers' who frequent these boards who rarely (AFAIK) meet in person. They have 5  excellent CD's under their belts so far.




Exactly.
 
It's not as efficient as face to face, but you make it work.  I find you have to be honest, not easily offended and open to ideas and suggestions.  Reece set up our own Forum site just for the band to communicate from.  Each of our songs has its own thread and we all keep up with conversations via Smart Phones, iPads and computer.  I actually frequent that forum more than I do this one.
 
We have just recently been talking about different ways to possibly interact in real time.  It would be nice to work out ideas in more of a direct method.  However, I will say that I think it would be a challenge, with all of our busy schedules, to actually Skype or Face Time.  Sean usually works late at night.  I usually work really early in the mornings.  Reece is probably the most flexable, but he's is involved with a lot of stuff, with many irons in the fire. Even a few other collaborations.  
2016/03/17 18:55:53
eph221
craigb
Serenarules
craigb
You're missing the most obvious answer:  Collaborate with someone who writes lyrics!  There are definitely some who currently think chord progressions and melodies are hard, so it would help them too. 




This isn't too bad of an idea, fundamentally. I think maybe because I've been on my own so long, I tend to think of things from a personal perspective. In that, I mean, the music and lyrics have all come from within myself in the past. My songs are all very personal to me. It feels... odd... to have run out of things to say. I suppose I could do some collaborations, but would I feel the same about the results?




Well, many don't have the decency to stop once they run out of things to say, so I'd say you're ahead of them! 



ha
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