stupid slumps...... what do you do?

[Cold Truth]

well, it has been about 2 1/2 months since i made the leap from hardware to a completely software driven setup, and i have just about finished things up (i need monitors and my midi keyboard is arriving soon), i got a ton of vst's and cubase and now....... i am just stuck. i know there is a natural curve when learning a completely new way of doing things, but the concepts are the same and the sounds are excellent...... but i am just stuck, and i have a three track disc due at the end of the month to a friend of mine (its kind of a pride thing; i told him i would have it within 30 days after i got the pc) but i havent been able to make one decent track yet. i ind up using the same chords over and over again and using the same style (i use a lot of ep stabs now for some reason) over and over again.......................

so, any of you who have made the jump to software from an mpc or those of you who have always used a pc, any suggestions? it just isnt the same, although i have a more powerful setup i just cant get the music going.....

 

[Ominous]

I don't have much room to talk here but...

I keep a collection of my favorite songs in a playlist to listen too to get me in the mood. I have them on my computer in an mp3 playlist. Most of the beats I create come for some sort of mood I am in or want to be in. So I listen to songs that are in the range of emotion I am in to help get the ball rolling.

It's like watching a boxing match and you get hype and wanna start throwing punches...When you listen to some phat beats, you start wanting to make some phat beats...

Sometimes you have the time to make beats but you don't have any good ideas at the moment, that's the best time to dig for samples to maybe use later because they help inspire melodies and drum patterns in your head.

That's how it works for me anyway....

 

[voorheezMP]

I listen to my old tracks to. When I get blocks. It works at times. You can't force it thou, it won't work like that. Good luck my man I'm sleepy, P.E.A.C.E.

 

[Shonsteez]

Truth - I think you just have to start becoming comfortable with how your new system is going to work now and as soon as things dont feel so foriegn i promise you that you will be making some hot tracks.
I look at it like snowboarding: The first session or two is so wack it makes you not even want to try umless your really in tha mood for eating shit, but then tha next session or two is dramatically different and all of a sudden everything clicks and shit starts to get fun.
Just keep learning your sequencer and how to achieve what you like to do before on your mpc but now better on your more flexible system.
You can do it man!...Its like you said though, "there is a natural curve when learning a completely new way of doing things"...and thats fully true - you just gotta give it time and try not to rush it even though you put yourself in a bind and you have a deadline now.
If anything maybe your friend can reconsider having it done a little later, given he is your friend and of course he wouldnt mind if you tryed to master your software a little better so that you make both of you guys happy.


Hope i helped a little?



Steeze

 

[God]

Truth Told:

Wait until your keyboard comes. It usually works. The way I make music is by sitting down at an acoustic instrument, like a piano, and making a melody on that, then transfer the ideas to the production lab. If you know an instrument it will help, otherwise, wait for the keyboard, it will give you greater musical mobility.

Sincerely,
God

 

[vitaminman]

Hey,

Covers, covers, covers.

When I'm in a slump, I pull out a track done by someone else and try to replicate it with my own gear. In the process, I end up adding or subtracting enough stuff that my own track starts to emerge, and then I take it from there.

What's nice about this is that it gives you a template to work from instead of having to do the whole thing from scratch.

Take care,

Nick

 

[Ominous]

^^^ Damn, that's a pretty good idea...

 

[Fade]

I say that you should concentrate on a very small part of your new setup and work with that. If you have tons of software to play with, then only use 1 or 2 programs and nothing else. You'll eventually realize that your concentration is on the music, not what you have.

Years ago when I first bought Cakewalk Pro Audio 8, I also had a drum machine, sampler and a keyboard. I tried to use all 3 together with Cakewalk but I kept getting stuck so I stopped using the gear for a while and concentrated just on Cakewalk and in not time I was back on track.

 

[Cold Truth]

i have a keyboard, but it needs to be replaced because its a cheap casio with no velocity or aftertouch or anything so everything sounds.... well awful...... plus i am using headphones to monitor but i cant get a stereo signal (tried all the stupid little adapters) at all and its like those to pieces kind of irritate me..... i made stuff with my motif using the same things, without stereo and with the same keyboard, so thats not it, but it sure would help.

i have sat there with the key editor and made drum tracks quite a bit, but even then i cant get the drums to sound as tight as they did on the mpc... i know it sounds wierd and like a bunch of b.s. but there is a old of difference with the sequencing to me, unless i paly the drums live, which really isnt very attractive to me.....

 

[Shonsteez]

Hey...

OK this comment ISNT to spark that old argument that begins everytime once someone says something about the mpc vs software because thats not what im trying to accomplish...hence,

OK - Truth....What is it about tha mpc that made your drums sound 'tighter'??

 

[Cold Truth]

i dont really know.... the timing is just more precise..... maybe i am just not used to it and it has been a while..... i dont really know..... maybe its just me..... i dont know.. it could just be an illusion, you know? may be because of all i have seen and heard about and preconceived notions.... it just seems more precise for some reason...

 

[Cold Truth]

ok, here is one thing i figured out:

the mpc step sequences by numbers; you have 95 possible steps per measure, so it goes from 1.00 to 1.95, and so on.

cubase, as far as i can se only allows 64 steps and that creates time issues when i try and do certain things i did on the mpc, such as drum rolls. i will have to learn how to do it differently, but it

 

[vitaminman]

Get on topic, please, or start a new thread...

Thanks

nick

 

[soundboy2]

I get out the lab and go somewhere and be around people and sounds, and or ride around and listen to a weird radio station. I just let it go, and don;t try.

 

[MadScientist]

I beat my head against a table until I see stars then go back disoriented and start over. LOL .....:lol:

 

[Cold Truth]

mad, for some odd reason i believe that..... mabe its the current picture you put up, maybe it was the man running in squares, but that is SOOOOOOOO believable.......

 

[MadScientist]

Yes!!!!!

 

[StressWon]

listen to some Premo,,,,nuff said!

 

[luxx]

come to illmuzik.com