am i crazy?sleep deprivation songwriting

[area510studios]

anybody do this? -sleep deprivation-
what i do is spend a good 6 hours straight in the studio.from 11ish to 8 ish in the morning.i just hang out and wait for my eyelids to become deadweights.then i struggle to stay awake and wait to hear music.what i hear is what you normally would hear as you are falling asleep.the noises in your dreams.you know they phase in and out until you are tuned in 100% to your dream and you are completely asleep.i have learned to tap into this with out falling asleep and controlling what my mind hears.i a can hear my amps buzzing in the room and then that cuts out and i then hear music or a melodie real quick and it cuts back to the amps or whatever noise my equipemnt is making.so while i struggle to stay awake i start copying what i am hearing.and by morning i have recorded all the music to one or two songs plus some melodies and mumbling lyrics to play with next time i come into the studio.
-and i dont drink coffee or use any drugs because this would obviously keep me awake or make me pass out completley.both of which defeat the purpose of natural sleep deprivation.
-does anybody else use this technique or am i just crazy?

?
if any body also works like this or decides to try it,post back hear and let us know how it went.

[Dom Franco]

Sometimes I'll wake up in the middle of the night with lyrics and I'll jot down a few lines so I wont forget them.

I have also heard a melody in a dream and woke up humming it, so I'll stumble downstairs to the studio and sing into a little cassette recorder that I use for song ideas.

I also have a little battery powered recorder in the car for those times when inspiration strikes.

I have written some of my best stuff while barely awake.

Dom

[fak]

I also write my best songs when barely awake (like 4 at night), when I was already lying in bed halfway asleep or even at morning when not really awake.
I think it's because then music just comes to you and you don't think about it too much.

FAK

[area510studios]

cool .thats two people that "cheat " besides me.didn't but i need a few more people to admit it before i feel sane.or at least reveal some unsual procedure you go about recording or writing a song.?-thanks for the replies.

[poo]

I always write my best songs when i'm underslept and pissed off! haha! It's the best type of fuel...

[Chris Shaeffer]

Yes and no.

These days I'm too busy to keep myself awake that long just to get tired and be inspired. I've done it a lot in the past though. College and high school were all just exactly that.

These days, though, I've found ways of calming my mind down enough without having to beat my body up so much by staying awake.

At least that's the way it seems to me: music and creativity are about feeling, inspiration, mood and movement. NOT about intellect, thought, and analysis. I've just found ways to give the thoughts a rest and let the creativity flow without having to wait until I'm just too tired to think "straight."

Take care,
Chris

[area510studios]

yea sometimes i try writing in the day and with a well rested mind but unfortunatley for me when i try to work that way i usually end up trying too hard or basically writng really seriously lame music that makes me want to quit and sell all my equipment.plus there are too many distractions(phone, traffic noise,neighbors,kids,.) i try to reserve my day time to cater to my family and leave the night for "me "time where i go into my batcave and explore my creative side.i am always happy with the results and really i only require six hours of sleep anyway.so with some number crunching i am able to pull off my moonlighting lifestyle.

[area510studios]

just to clear one thing up.
i don't write my lyrics in this state.i have tried it but the words that get put togther make no sence whatsoever.almost like talking backwards.so i neveer do this whlie in the tired state.i only write the melodies and chords changes drum beats etc.

i can hear music but not voices.i am not that crazy.
ok i do hear voices but its just my dream trying to kick in.i usually push myself to hear music.i do the lyric writing in the day when the house is empty or when i hear somebody say something realcool or inspiring then i'll write lyrics wherever i am whenever.

[crawdad]

I think there is something to what you are saying. The mind, especially the creative portion, seems to have a sideways logic of its own. How each person taps into it could be a long study in itself. I have talked to people that have dreamed about a song and woke up to record it on a tape recorder for reference. Being tired can break down the mind's logic and bring more of the subconscious to the surface.

For me, though, I can't write when I am tired. I like to feel fresh and I need to feel energized, so I can stay on task. If I write while tired, I'll settle for any old crap, at least till I see it the next day.

I do use the subconscious as a writing tool all the time. If I am having a lyrical problem, for example, I'll pose a question about it to myself and let it go for a while. Usually, when I come back to the problem, I can pick up that there are new ideas floating around. If I just listen and try not to be too analytical, the material will come--sometimes in small pieces, sometimes in full lines.

You know how they say we only use 10% (or whatever) of our brains? I think the other 90% is working all the time but that we don't pay any attention to it. I am leaning to drift laterally with the stuff under the surface. I'm sure its similar to writing while exhausted. Things rise up that would not normally be considered. So, you aren't crazy. I just think that there may be healthier ways to go about the same thing, if you could see that what you tap into in that state is something thats always there. Imagine if you could use the same resource and be really wide awake too!

[joro]

I just need solitude...tired or fresh...does not seem to be the issue...I just need to be able to concentrate on what I am doing...

I must be weird huh?

[jitteringjim]

When I'm drifting off to sleep I sometimes think I hear music... just on the edge of my hearing. Unfortunately, it sounds like Jazz, and as I don't write Jazz, I just ignore it.

However:

sleep deprivation and mescaline has worked well for centuries.

Personally, alcohol and solitude in small places works best for me.

[eyeslikefire]

Originally posted by area510studios
-does anybody else use this technique or am i just crazy?

You sir are a musician.

[chippedeggtooth]

check out this book of interviews of great songwriters, the interview questions are ONLY about the creative songwriting process and what sparks it, (no questions about fame and touring and crap)

It's called "Songwriters on Songwriting" by Paul Zollo (you can find it at Borders)

Anyways, it's comforting to go "oh phew Neil Young does that too" or "what did Dylan mean just then? I better reread it again" or "man, Leonard Cohen is just as as neurotic as I am" or "man Paul Simon has a lot to say about it (30 pages worth)" or "dude I must be obsessed, I'm taking notes"

all kinds of stuff like you're talking about on this thread, origin of the inspiration/muse, getting in a dream-state (David Crosby does this) ect, how specific lyrics came about, did the songs just arrive or were they painstakingly slow,ect.

[shveditall]

Paul Mccartney wrote one of The Beatles best songs this way. He woke up in the middle of the night with a melody in his head and went to his piano and played it, then stayed up all night and finished writing the song. The song became "Yesterday"

[chippedeggtooth]

Neil Young says he drops EVERYTHING to work on a song until it is finished. His friends all know they can count on him UNLESS he gets the inspiration, at which point he has to drop everything and pursue the song idea until it is done

[Axis]

I have done the same as most of you, What i hate the most is, i have an awesome song or something going in school that i can't get out of my head but i can't write it down because I don't have a pencil or paper (i always forget them) and i forget it by the time i do. My best songs have happened in my dreams.

[chippedeggtooth]

that's why I was looking into one of those pocket studios, Korg PXR4 or pocketstudio 5. then you can capture your ideas anyways. but I'm not sure if the technology is quite there yet, whether it justifies the price, ect.

[matty_boy]

I write best in the morning, when I am full of energy. Just me though. Kind of a morning person.

[gmiller1122]

I think I get my best ideas when I'm just falling asleep, but by morning, many of them seem stupid.

If I come up w/a chord progression I like, I'll play it over and over for a week or so until my wife gives me that look or until I get sick of it. The test of time is certainly worthwhile.

I heard Tom Petty did this w/ "The Waiting" -- he played the chorus over and over until his bandmates said "FINISH IT ALREADY"!

[agonyandecstasy]

Heres my theory on sleep dep writing. Most people tend to sum up the day just before bed in their mind right? Or else if something emotionally strong happened they might brood on that a bit and then sleep.
Sleep brings out some certain chemistry in your brain and i think that when you deprive from that sleep your mind eventually releases those chems anyway and all those thoughts of the day and such are now under a dreamlike influence and you can just sort of linger over a table top in a dream stupor while recording your trip.
It seems like that for me. Also there is just no distraction late at night...like NONE you know?

[RUXper1enced]

I'm extremely new to the world of music writing; as you can see, this is my very first post here. Last night I was awake until about 5am for no real reason, as usual. I just started writing lyrics (really some poems I guess w/o music)

Since I've started trying recently, I've had a hard time coming up with anything. My mind is often very busy, despite lack of job, and I have trouble picking out any words that are important to me. For some reason last night, it just flowed, topics I was concerned about, observations about my environment, etc. I'm hoping that coming up with music to go with them will work out well, hence my presence here.

Anyway, yeh I think when you are on the edge of sleep, your mind is a lot freer, the thinking processes are much simpler (or the opposite?), and with a little work you can apply the feelings to language.

Guess that's my first post, hope to make quite a few more.