When did it stop being fun ---- when starting to read this thread. I see that musicians have not changed.

 
 

 Don't give up... I just listen to the radio for a few minutes on any given pop station and then  realize that almost any kind of rested effort can be better than that....ok at least in my opinion and without the pricey engineer sound :)
 
 I'm a lot like you Craig ( in this respect)...when I'm in a "zone" I devour every little bit of information I can find on whatever it is I'm locked into. I don't know when to stop and then it goes cold and I drop it for awhile. I tend to get moody at anyone approaching within 10 feet of my studio door. I have snapped about hearing the crinkle of a wrapper in the kitchen. Then I apologize...it's a vicious cycle.
 
 Last night part of me really wanted to go into the studio, pick something up and play it...I realized I was tired, then I realized I would be unproductive so I watched an old film on Sasquatch, ok I only half watched it...I was tired, better than any sleeping pill. I'm starting to be more alright with taking a breather. I won't force myself to do it if I'm tired,have commotion all round' or don't feel particularly motivated. This is how I have fun. I don't live by it. I do it when I feel like it. If someone starts paying me real green money to do it then that could change, but I would almost miss the opportunity to do it when the mood strikes me.
 
 I have music responsibilities every week and sometimes it can get old knowing I HAVE to be there to do it.Usually the feeling goes away and it isn't all the time, I basically enjoy my weekly music thing...still knowing that in the studio I make the rules is nice.

This forum is a great place. After reading what you all have said I realize what I am encountering is not
Unique to me. Somehow that does tend to take the heaviness off.
Thanks to all for your comments.

Now there is light....

Actually, we lied to make you feel good.  It's really just you.
 
()

dxp
This forum is a great place. After reading what you all have said I realize what I am encountering is not
Unique to me....

Not unique at all. In fact, this is almost as reassuring for me as it may be for you.
 
I spent so long singing/playing live 6 nights a week, that that is what I enjoy more than anything else - at all, including here at home which is the only pace I do that now.
 
 
But even though my studio is actually finished, and I've spent years learning to play & have V-drums, guitars, bass & piano plus have all the software, plugins & hardware that I'll ever need, it seems like a major effort - like real work - to sit down and actually record it all - even though I consistently tell myself "Get your songs down already!"
 
And yet 98% of the time, I continually opt for just sitting at the piano singing away for 2-4 hours at a time or more, because that's where the fun is for me - even though all I really need to do is fire up the computer & hit record - knowing that I can keep or discard anything I want anytime.
 
And yet - I just want to play. I like the spontaneous moments of it all, and don't wish to turn it into work!
 
The 4 minute songs are like short individual movies delivering art, mood and are always very cathartic, leaving me with spiritual feelings of connecting with my God whom I believe has given me the talent, ability and set up to even do so in the first place.
 
Where as recording is like writing a very long book - some now, some later, a bit here, a bit there, then having to proof-read it all over again.
Sure I'll like the results and be extremely happy when it's all done - but for now, I'd prefer to just sit at the piano & do about 60 'short 4 minute songs first' - much more fun!   
 
I'm thinking that others can probably relate.

craigb
Actually, we lied to make you feel good.  It's really just you.
 
()

    dude that was cold.... FUNNY, but cold...  LOL
 
 
@ jimisic  -  ya, I bet others here will relate to that. Isn't it odd how that record button
just seems to change everything sometimes?
If you've mastered that ability to just sit and play and not even care about whether you
recorded it at all, well that's pretty cool.
 

Oh it was a ball. Smokin weed and too much reverb.
Then I thought "Pfft .. cough... I should make money doing this" and so I did.
I ran the studio commercial for 6 or 7 years, quit smokin weed (and now Maui Wowie is legal in Colorado) <roll eyes>
 
It made a good buck but burned me out. If ya wanna kill a hobbie, do it for a living....
 
I can't really get back into it.
 
.....Maybe I should get some weed......

I can think of only one time in my life when working on music stopped being fun because of an impossible deadline and overall exhaustion. And that lasted a few days.
 
Otherwise, I don't remember it ever stopping being fun. But I did have to pull the plug on the musical activities for various reasons a couple of times. Weeks, months, years at a time.
 
The best option for me is to find something I can dive into w/ the same amount of dedication. The first time I took a break, I went on to study art history and painting. But that was still too cerebral. I've since found that physical training of some kind is the best way to channel my obssessive-compulsive nature.
 
Incidentally, that's also the time when I'll listen to more music and read more books. I become a receiver more than a transmitter, and I recharge the batteries and absorb new influences.
 
When I fall back into making music, I have very little time and energy for any of that and I kind of need to close myself to distractions and outside influences.
 
Time off is definitely a good thing - as much as I hate to have to take it when I have to.

I'm kind of in a funk too. Have the studio all up and running great, but no inspiration. Bored with music, turned off by greedy concert promoters, and greedy musicians....I'm feeling like I've grown out of it all.
 
It all started when I had a few extra concert tickets, and tried to sell them at the concert. The cops at the venue threatened to arrest me if I sold them and forced me to either give them away or just eat them.
 
Next I started getting cramps in my left hand every time I tried to play my guitar...real bummer.

I still have fun playing music.  Listening to music, and in general, "loving music."  That said, I think I am in a big break from actually composing music.   I'm sort of interested in rounding out my skill set, and incorporating some other things into my life.
 
Perhaps try the same?  and get back to music, when you are ready?  Ergo, do not stress the dry spells; they are there for a reason.