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Greg_L
Banned
Grim is inspired to write the longest posts imaginable. 
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RAMI
Guest
+2.
If you TRY to write a "commercial song", it won't work.It will sound contrived. If you try to write a song that's "kind of like (insert your favorite song here", it will never rival that song.
I spent a lot of time doing both of those things years ago. While it was part of the learning process and might have helped me in a way I haven't realized, they were never good songs because nothing about them sounded natural. They weren't me.
I'm not going to say I write good songs now, because that's subjective. But, I like my songs way better ever since I just started trying to write stuff that I thought I would listen to, as oppsed to worrying about whether "this part" sounds like "this artist", etc......
Another thing that helped me, and I still learn from, is recording a cover for every 5 or 6 originals I do. I've never not learned something about either recording, mixing, writing, etc.....by doing a cover. It could also rattle some ideas around that are sitting in your brain.
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Greg_L
Banned
All this X100000000 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
kcearl
I see deaf people
Grim is inspired to write the longest posts imaginable.
Lol.....
kcearl
I see deaf people
For synth and electro stuff ableton lives a great tool for sketch and getting ideas going...just record a simple eight bar loop, i normally start with a simple beat and bass and just start layering different melodies.
When you get half a dozen tracks start arranging them out and start thinking if how you would arrive at that busy part of the song/tune, is this part the chorus, the verse, the breakdown?
Force yourself to complete simple projects...they may inspire bigger pieces of work
Some of the Brit music mags come with samples and loops...load a loop up, recreate it with your own instrument...see if it gets you going, try midi files, deconstruct your favourite tracks, make drumloops to use later, write synth patches...
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moresound
Loud Sun Studios
Just do what all of the pros do ..... purchase a song from a song writer.
JimmyS1969
MOODerator
Or go to the Famous Dave thread...lol
grimtraveller
If only for a moment.....
Grim is inspired to write the longest posts imaginable.
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soundchaser59
Reluctant Commander
Best way to become inspired to makeup music??
Stay ALIVE! Then write sounds that describe that life. Make things up, doesn't have to be a song. Record what you believe a sunrise sounds like if it were a musical instrument. What do the movements of a freeform dancer sound like? What does breaking up with your girlfriend sound like? What does losing your virginity sound like? What does eating a steak dinner sound like? What does wishing for world peace sound like?
Saying it is terribly underrated is terribly understated!
Never turn down in invitation to jam with other players, especially players who are willing to show you how to play their cool riffs and chord changes! It was fun while it lasted, but then what? When the girls leave, the drugs wear off, and the rock n roll becomes monotonous, that's when the real writer in you comes out. ARRRGH! I can't listen to Inna Godda Davida again, I have to make my own sounds or I'm gonna go nuts from that crap. If certain songs or albums only keep your interest while you are stoned, then those are the ones you probably don't want to derive inspiration from. (not judging, been there, done that, BUT......drugs while writing/playing is not much different than drinking and driving! Sure it's entertaining to watch a drunk driver on an obstacle course! But think how much better you can drive when you are sober!)
Self Doubt is the most worthless thing you can hang on to when making up music. A white canvas with a single stroke of red paint on it is far more art worthy than a canvas that is still white and untouched. If nothing else, make coffee and vow to spend the day mastering the art of pitch bender. Throw in some delay to make it interesting. One self-induced project I did was to see how many different delay times I could use and still have each part keeping in time with the drums. Then to make it intersting I used different numbers of bars for each part. 4, 7, 8, and 14 all go evenly into 56, so I had one riff that was 4 beats long, one riff was 7 beats, one 8 beats, and one riff was 16 beats long. every 56 beats the parts would all land on the same downbeat......all with coinciding echoes in time with the music. I called it Echolalia.
Unfortunate, but true. You should be doing something that you don't have to force yourself to do. I have to force myself to stop playing and go take care of real life some times.
Or, the fact that you are asking means you have become ready. Some people think "I don't know" means "I can't" while other people believe that "I don't know" means "Where do I start?"
I have single lines or riffs that I've had memorized for years, and I practice them religiously because I love playing them and hearing those sounds. Jam with it. Some day when you least expect it another riff will come along and match it. Next thing you know you have a backing part for a verse or a chorus.
Someone else here said to jam with drum tracks. That is an awesome thing to do. You dont have to write every song on your primary instrument. Challenge yourwself to write a song on the drum machine, then create chord changes and bass lines that match the drum track. Write a song on the bass while jamming with drum loops, then find strange new chord progressions that fit the bass line. Experiment, make coffee, eat steak and dark chocolate, then experiment some more. Record everything!
A better version of crap is better than a better version of nothing.
Very true and pertinent. Ideas are easy, if you are willing to take the challenge of using whatever comes along. You don't have to write a Mozart concerto your first time out. The hard part is turning your inspiration into a recording with parts and arrangement and instrumentation. There are many more people with inspiration and ideas than there are peopel who can execute andput those ideas into something others cna sit down and listen to.
What I've been thinking all along, and here Monroe already said it. A cancer patient wrote a song called "Live Like You Are Dieing" and it was a huge hit.
When I get in a rut I start cranking up the Edgar Winter, Steely Dan, Yes, Led Zeppeling, Beatles, and any fusion or acid jazz album I can find. Try to mimic them without copying them. I get people all the time asking me "Who did that song?" when it was something I did that was merely but deliberately influenced by a classic album.
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Iamstevieb
New member
Inspiration?
Get totally crushed by a girl you were head over heels in love with. That usually works pretty well!
Get totally crushed by a girl you were head over heels in love with. That usually works pretty well!
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SmithULTD
New member
I'm actually working on a 101+ list for this very thing. One of my favourites is to mess with the rhythm. Say you have a melody on the guitar and it sounds good, but you just don't feel inspired in a way that continues the song. Take that same melody and experiment changing not lengths, taking a note out and throwing in a rest, moving the whole melody back a beat, etc. Just tweaking many different things will help you look at what you're doing differently.