for most of my life my thought were to always be on my workstation and jog my self to create hot stuff and even tho some stuff would be okay the other stuff has just lacking. Ive gotten really dependent on sampling and it seems most of the good work I've done was from flipping samples and i felt that this was my main strength. Doing sampling for a long time i got very bored of it and it is so time consuming finding the right samples so i decided to sell my main sampler to focus on composing. I honestly have no created a whole song that i could say was ready for lyrics and mixed for whatever reasons instead i have been practicing piano to strengthen my weakness. So its been like a few months I've been working on keys and i am also wanting to create a lot of my own drum sounds and perhaps synths as well but this is very time consuming as well. I wonder how many other people have taken the time to just step aside from the music and practice on creating there style and let time pass and wait for when your ready. Can someone with similar experience in this matter give some opinion?
I do this in parallel, with my music making. I have always taken the time during the week (daily would be ideal) to practice. And by practice I mean practice everything. Stuff that would seem a no brainier but takes a bit of effort.
-listening journal (this one is the no brainer) if your out to create music you must know what music you like and why (sounds dumb I know) but can you explain to your self why you like a piece and why you don't, you'd be surprised at what you find. Being a sampler I think you know what I'm talking about.
an example:
-Beethoven's pathetique op 13 piano sonata besides the fact that it has 3 movments, slow, slow, fast...or sad, happy, angry
https://www.youtube.com/results?sea...0.0.86.1043.13.13.0...0.0...1ac.1.SoLmvaQZ6Lo
- I use new
iPhone's notes app to add new entries all the time, you'd be surprised how many "bad music" entries I have (most of them are today's so called "popular" music or "Radio friendly") this.....really informs you about yourself and your interests.....and your seriousness....about music in general.
-Instrument practice. This one is "it" really. Your music skill will inform everything else plain and simple. There's too much to talk about on this subject. except pick a genre, and try to find music out there that will inspire you to practice everyday.....or compose everyday......even small 2,4,8 bars ideas can grow and grow.
-Creating sounds is a experience in itself. a singular experience. I suggest listening to minimal texturists like Aphex Twin's Selected Ambient Works or SAW I and II or anything by Boards of Canada. You might not like the Genres of music but these guys know how to paint sound with created sounds.
Aphex Twin - Lichen - YouTube
Aphex Twin - Rhubarb - YouTube
I step aside all the time.