advice

1. Like Kraftwerk, have a non-music day every week or so (Anonymous computer musician)

2. If things go wrong, just maintain that you were playing jazz (Max/MSP enthusiast)

3. Play less (Guitarist, and lots of other people)

4. When learning to play a piece of music, play it first so slowly that you don't get a single note wrong. Then slowly increase the speed. Then, play louder than normal at the proper speed and you'll play more confidently (A bass player and a synth tweaker)

5. When editing, don't cut the breath off before someone starts talking or singing (Guitarist)

6. Finish the first draft (Bass plyer)

7. It's essential to begin every recording by asking 'Are we Recording?' (Guitarist - is that you, Peter?)

8. Before you start for the day, go for a long walk (Computer musician)

9. Listen. Listen very carefully. No. REALLY listen. (A guitarist, although 115 people used the word 'listen' in their tips)

10. Wear earplugs (Drummer)

11. Hit it hard, ye massive ponce (Drummer)

12. Grab some string and bend it. If it doesn't sound right move up a fret and try again. (Guitarist)

13. Start now, don't wait (Keyboard player)

14. Get into the groove / Boy, you've got to prove / Your love to me (Guitarist)

15. Retune your guitar, so you don't know the notes, then try making music with only your ears as guides (Keyboard player)

16. Tune your guitar, play in time (Guitarist)

17. Do it in triplets! (Programmer)

18. Make, go sleep and check again tomorrow... (Synth tweaker)

19. You may think you're playing your instrument, but what you're really playing is the audience (Studio engineer)

20. Keep your cigarette lighter away from my drummer - He'll set fire to anything that burns (Nord Modular enthusiast)

21. Do something every day. Even if all you do is make a beat or write some lyrics or a bassline or whatever, do something. Even if you just have a few minutes a day to spare, the material you have quickly builds up (Field recordist)

22. "Play more things that make me dance around and less things that make me sit and look miserable in a plastic chair" - Brian Eno (Guitarist)

23. Learning any instrument is about scales. Scales. Scales. Scales. The trick is to make learning the scales interesting. Which is hard. And I've never done it. Which is a shame (Studio engineer)

24. Never listen to the same loop for longer than 10 minutes (Beat maker)

25. Write as many songs as you can and pick the best (Guitarist)

Lately I've been telling my friends to "hit the fucking record button!"

After weeks of repeating that my next advice is typically "finish the fucking thing!"

19. You may think you're playing your instrument, but what you're really playing is the audience (Studio engineer)

that studio engineer just called bedroom electronic music masturbation. fuck him, I bet he's like a wiccan or something and believes in auras.

'' write as many songs as you can and then pick the best ''

This is obviously wrong what you should infact do is ensure the music you are writing is as good as its physically possible for it to be as you are writing, and if it isnt, try the fuck again.

  pcock said:

'' write as many songs as you can and then pick the best ''

 

This is obviously wrong what you should infact do is ensure the music you are writing is as good as its physically possible for it to be as you are writing, and if it isnt, try the fuck again.

I don't know if thats the best advice for people who are having problems making music. Infact I think thats just about the number one cause why people have problems making music from my observation.

what do you mean by problems making music?

as in stifled creativity, not being able to come up with an interesting idea in the first place?

Have you never had any problems making music before?

I have a grip of friends who get stuck in this loop where they are constantly doubting themselves and making little 30 second "demos" that they end up sending to everyone and never finishing. Its something I've noticed quite a bit actually and slightly drives me nuts as I wish I had more albums by my friends in general.

I don't think any of them have stifled creativity to a certain degree. I notice lots of really bad loops that people get into while making music (no pun intended):

...never pressing the record button and just running thru ideas constantly until they are worn out

...spending too much time in the piano roll trying to move around and re-edit notes

...spending hours going thru all their synths and/or samples trying to find that "perfect" sound

These days when I'm working with people I insist they just record every idea that they end up playing with for more then a minute and archiving it. Sometimes we will go back and use it, otherwise we will come across something nicer as you indicated, but if they never recorded any midi tracks because it was not genius enough or if they kept looking for that perfect pad sound for hours nothing would get done.

I'm not sure how you work, but I'd be very interested to know how your work flow is and how you know what you are making at all times is the best you physically can do?

I sit, close my eyes, and begin to imagine the tone, the texture, the overall harmonic effect of the music i want to create, then slowly mull over possible melody lines. then i will go to the piano and sit and work out a solid theme that i am happy with and can listen to on repeat without tiring of any aspect of it.

then i just go to work playing with it in any number of the infinite possibilities available to you once youve got a theme to work with.

what i kind of mean is that as i write, i will start with a single sound, and continue working till that single sound is as i want it. then progress, never goin beyond the point where everything i have scored is exactly as i imagined it.

its taken me a year to get this honed down a bit, but yeah i hear you with what you mean now.

seeking the approval of others by desperately attempting to get 30 seconds demos down in order to prove to them that they can infact write 'music' is whats slowly diluting music with shite.

if your not absolutely convinced what your imagining is a million times better than anything youve ever heard, why are you even writing it?(unless you getting paid)

ps: im just mulling on my own thoughts here, im not directing this at you.

nice read thx

i also found this which is going into another direction but is helpful for some people being stuck inside a loop:

  kaini said:

24. Never listen to the same loop for longer than 10 minutes (Beat maker)

well, that's ricardo villalobos fucked then

lol