Anyone else procrastinate from writing for this reason?

[deathmetaldan13]

This is a great thread. I like reading everyone's story - it makes me feel like I'm not completely alone.

I have had an interesting history with writing and practicing.

For years, I never did any writing. I had this foolish notion that every riff I wrote had to be interesting to play (i.e. technical). It was only very recently that I was able to rid myself of that thought and allow myself to write with the only criteria being "do I like this?" and it's been quite liberating. I'm having a lot of fun with it.

However, something I'm struggling with now, and have always struggled with , is being able to both practice AND write. Typically, I either practice for a while and don't write. Or in times like right now, every time I pick up the guitar, I am writing neat riffs and songs, but I'm never improving the technical aspects of my playing. I really want to try to nail down a routine whereby I give myself time to do both things so I don't neglect either.

 

[innovine]

Here is an interesting test.
From scratch, ie, NOW, start a timer running and see how long it takes until you are able to record a riff into your DAW (either clean with reamping, or just a good tone).

If you have to faff about with booting machines, wiring up stuff, moving mics, chanrging batteries, prepping VSTs, tweaking routing in your DAW, getting drum tracks together, etc etc, then you really, really need to look into solving all of that once and for all. Use templates. Use presets. Have backing drum tracks ready. Improve your start up time so it is measured in seconds, not minutes or hours. You just wanna be able to hit record and get that idea down. The alternative is usually an hour or two of messing around, then recording a few bars and saying "that sucks" and getting too tired to do more, turning it all off, and returning to doing the exact same thing the next day.

 

[Mr. Big Noodles]

That's the reason I use paper.

 

[TeeWX]

On that: you can use this realization to multiply your music. I like to use contrasts in my music, so if one section has characteristics x, y, and z, then all I have to do for the next section is -x, -y, and -z. Example: the A section is fast, loud, and marcato. The B section, by that model, is going to be slow, quiet, and legato. And, since the idea is to contrast, each section will be in a different key. By writing out one, you get the other. This is an extremely efficient way to plan your music.

Out of curiosity what genre of music does what you write fall into? And by changing the key are you going to a relative mode or completely changing everything?

 

[Mr. Big Noodles]

I've been writing "classical" music exclusively for the past couple of years. I've hardly had a chance to touch the guitar during that time. I have some output that falls into the progressive rock category as well, but it's old and I'm a better musician now, so I don't like it anymore.

I do free improvisation at clubs with a friend when I have the time. I play guitar, mandolin, and a variety of toy instruments, the other guy sings and plays the flute on rare occasion. That stuff is polystylistic and is meant to be morally offensive while sonically interesting. Whatever I can think of, I do. Imagine Frank Zappa or Captain Beefheart, with only one instrumentalist and one singer.

For keys, I don't know, it's whatever. Each key relationship has its use. I try to keep things moving, whatever the case; something that sounds boring in one key will inevitably be transposed to another.

 

[stuglue]

Here is an interesting test.
From scratch, ie, NOW, start a timer running and see how long it takes until you are able to record a riff into your DAW (either clean with reamping, or just a good tone).

If you have to faff about with booting machines, wiring up stuff, moving mics, chanrging batteries, prepping VSTs, tweaking routing in your DAW, getting drum tracks together, etc etc, then you really, really need to look into solving all of that once and for all. Use templates. Use presets. Have backing drum tracks ready. Improve your start up time so it is measured in seconds, not minutes or hours. You just wanna be able to hit record and get that idea down. The alternative is usually an hour or two of messing around, then recording a few bars and saying "that sucks" and getting too tired to do more, turning it all off, and returning to doing the exact same thing the next day.

That is great advice. I'm going to create some templates in Studio One.

 

[Wings of Obsidian]

Man, glad I know that I'm not alone here. I share the same story as many of you all. This is a very liberating thread that has some good tips for improvement and self-discovery.

I must say though , I just wrote and finished recording the debut EP for one of my projects. I wrote and performed all instruments (guitar, bass, drums, keys, synths, programming, sampling, effects and production, etc.) and my buddy merely wrote the lyrics and provided vocals. (The EP was engineered, mixed, and mastered by the legendary Jonathan Carpenter of The Contortionist.)

We have a second project in the works, and my vocalist buddy is roaring to get it started and he is constantly bugging me for new music. But I don't think he understands two things: 1.) I'm burnt out from writing and performing everything from the first venture (the EP). 2.) I have this feeling that like everything I write has to be at least mildly interesting or technical. If it's not, then I don't write or pursue it. Sort of like what Fiction and DeathMetalDan13 said.

I ....ing hate it.

And when you're writing for solely yourself (I mean, we don't have a band to go out and "perform" with and we don't have numerous viewpoints/inputs obviously) it does rather make it harder to write music since only one brain does all the work and...well...the brain gets tired and burnt out. Leveebreaks summed it up exactly. It's harder when you're writing for only yourself.

 

[Adam Of Angels]

SW: I don't know your lingo, so excuse me if the answer is either logical or obvious, but what is "form" in this context?

 

[turbo_4i4ka]

Hey guys, I just wanted to share my story as well.

So, I've been playing guitar for 6 years on and off, the first three with the help of a private teacher. I really enjoy the concept of improvisation and just noodling around, even though my knowledge of theory is quite modest - I just sit with the guitar in my hands, starting a random melody and observing where it will take me from there. This is also how I come up with musical ideas. Anyways, I always wanted to record instrumentals, but I never got down to it. I mean, I have set up reaper with the VST's ready to go, but the task of recording and mixing guitar tracks, programming drum tracks and tweaking VSTs is oh so daunting. Recently, I started listening to instrumentals arranged by remarkable musicians such as Plini, Sithu Aye, David Maxim Micic, Jakub Zytecki, Deely and so forth and I respect them not only for their musical prowess, but for their unwavering dedication as well, required to fit all the pieces together.

Dedication, which apparently I do not possess, because no matter how many times I try recording something, I just cannot seek out the drive to evolve an idea into a complete song. The most common excuse I give myself in order to avoid any attempts at recording is that "I do not have the required time or technical skill" when clearly that is not the case. Also, I mentioned the daunting aspects of creating tracks and mastering them because I have never recorded instrumentals before.

You will most probably say, "Well, just don't do it then, nobody forces you." The problem, however, lies in the fact that the urge to write something is so strong that I cannot seem to ignore it for longer periods of time and it seems to me that the only way to alleviate it would be to actually go with it and create a tune. Procrastinating does not help either - it only deepens this urge, which in turns deepens the general discontent that comes with it. But then, the fear of failure and the potentially wasted time kick in and dishearten me even further. So, I'm stuck in this never-ending loop, hoping that one day I will muster the courage needed to achieve my goal.

I guess I am overthinking this way too much, but that's something I tend to do. I have to say though, your comments here really inspired me to try again - some really useful tips were suggested by the forum folk. I really hope for my own sake that I will get through the whole process this time around...

 

[Winspear]

^ Have you tried to notate your work? Everyone varies and I'm quite sure I'm in the minority but I find the idea of composing a piece that's anything beyond basic in the DAW and recording on the fly completely absurd haha. It takes longer and can potentially be more daunting to record when you are done, but I find it much better to compose in a tab/notation software and work on the composition and layering from there. Then when you are done you know exactly what parts you have to record, can import the notated drum MIDI + tempo to the DAW and get going.

 

[Mr. Big Noodles]

^ I'd also like to add that recording/mastering is a completely different skill from composing music. A long time ago, I recorded myself to keep track of my ideas and attempt to write music. However, I'm not as interested in the technology as I am with the actual music. Nor am I as fluent with recording. I am much comfortable with putting my music in score form so that I can skip over parts that are giving me trouble, or go back and insert things in between later. Finale has been my chief composition tool during college, and I have a number of books filled with manuscript paper, as well as loose-leaf and a music-lined Moleskine notebook so that I can take down sketches wherever I am. I think I'd lose ideas if I practiced and recorded every little thing that came to my mind.

TL;DR - If you struggle with recording setup like I do, and your urge to write is strong, focus on the writing so that you don't feel completely unaccomplished.

SW: I don't know your lingo, so excuse me if the answer is either logical or obvious, but what is "form" in this context?

Sorry, I didn't see this when you posted it. Form is the organization of musical ideas in time. Most often, I use it to refer to sectional organization. This might be verse-chorus-verse-chorus-bridge-chorus, it might be exposition-development-recapitulation, it might be theme, variation 1, variation 2, variation 3... You get the idea. Separating music into sections based on its rhythmic, harmonic, melodic, and emotional materials, as well as every other little thing you can think of, so long as it means something and has an identity. This is most often abstracted into shorthand in which you can see the shape of the music at first glance. For instance, ABCBDBCEB. You can see that B comes back a lot in that form. I don't know what's in that shape, but B must have some sort of significance to return so frequently. Or this one: ABCDCBA. That form is symmetrical, and, more importantly, palindromic. How about AABA? There's a lot of A, the B's basically there to give our ear a bit of relief. Form tells you a lot about how you should contemplate, interpret, and compose music.

Rush - The Fountain of Lamneth


The form and textual content of this song reinforce the idea of life as a cyclic phenomenon, of the link between birth and death, how our aspirations and our paths develop. Maybe a comparison between the frailty and helplessness of an infant as compared to a geriatric. Compare the beginning of the song to the end of the song (18:47). Same music, no?

You make a statement with your forms. I can't think of a stronger example in rock music than the above, regardless of how the rest of the composition goes. A parallel example in literature is Hermann Hesse's novel, Siddhartha, in which a cycle is initiated when the young Siddhartha leaves his home in quest for spiritual fulfillment. Another cycle is begun near the end of the novel when Siddhartha's lover passes away and their son runs away from him to find his own path in life. That is a marker of both works, and really the essence of the forms: suggestion of cycles, return to the beginning.

Form also refers to the organization of motivic materials in music. This is frequently done through sectional organization, but may also have deeper structural implications. The themes of Béla Bartók's fourth string quartet, for example, are all built on the melodic frame of an arch: there is an ascent, and then a descent. This pattern is presented in the first movement and is present all the way until the last movement. The only exception is movement 3, but there is a reason for that.

Béla Bartók - String Quartet No.4


But wait, there's more! The form of the first movement is a modified sonata form: Theme 1, Theme 2, Development, Theme 2, Theme 1. Or, if you prefer letters to describe forms: ABCBA. This is called an "arch form". Notice the structural similarity to the arch shape of the themes. This is expanded on a macroscopic level to the hyper form of the entire piece. The first and fifth movements share melodic, formal, and character similarities. The second and fourth movements both focus on different instrumental timbres (2 is played entirely sul ponticello, and 4 is played entirely pizzicato), and both are in meters based on the number 3 (2 is in 6/8, 4 is in 3/4). The third movement is removed from the rest on account of its melodic content as well as its tempo and character. It is part of Bartók's "night music" output, but I won't get into that right now. Anyway, if you line up all of the corresponding movements, 1 2 3 4 5 looks like ABCBA. Hmmmmm.

Wagner famously interlinks pretty much everything through the use of evolving leitmotifs in his operas. I have a good CD somewhere that explains how one leitmotif becomes another, but this will have to give you an idea for now:

A First-Timer's Guide to Wagner's Ring

Valhalla -- This motive is first heard to signify the castle built by Wotan, and comes to stand for Wotan himself and the power and glory of the Gods. It is usually played by the brasses, and sounds solid and major-keyed and kind of churchy. Notice how the first phrase is kind of U-shaped; it goes down, then up.

The Ring -- You would expect the motive that signifies the Ring to be powerful and assertive, but this motive is frail and mournful and a little pathetic. It sounds vaguely minor-keyed, but its actual key is ambiguous, which gives it a feeling of elusiveness. Contrast those characteristics with the Valhalla motive, which is the exact opposite. Then notice that the Ring motive has the same U-shaped down-then-up structure as the first phrase of the Valhalla motive; it turns out the two motives are essentially the same music, only one solid and assertive and the other weak and furtive. What does that suggest about the relationship between Wotan and the Ring?

 

[C2Aye]

I kind of feel like I've had the opposite in that I've been writing so much that I think it has had a negative effect on my playing ability. For instance, when I could be playing to a click track trying to really hone my technique, I would be noodling about and trying to write something instead.

Anyway, there's some really good advice going about in my thread and I feel like sharing what has helped me get through my writing ruts:

- Using whatever tools you have available. Be it guitar pro, a piece of paper, a portable recorder, anything. Any piece of gear or equipment that get your ideas out of your head and into a more concrete form so that they're there for reference.

- If you start writing something and start thinking 'this isn't that great' or whatever, push through and finish it to completion. One more song written, regardless of whether you think it is any good or not is another song to add to your writing experience. Also, any sections out of that piece that you like may be reused in further compositions.

- Try not to limit yourself stylistically. Even if you play in a band of a particular genre, that song that's not technical death prog (for instance) is another song that can be used for another project or again, sections out of it may be useful for later songs as well.

- Try something different structurally. One thing I like to do is write with a completely linear structure in that each section of the song is unique as opposed to a verse-chorus-verse-chorus type structure. That way, you're challenging yourself to come up with new but related music to the previous parts of the track. And again, if you don't like the whole song but certain sections, they can be transposed and re-used at a later date.

Hopefully they'll be of some use to some of you guys. I'm in a bit of a rut as well as I have no idea what to do with the next track in this EP I'm writing so I'm hoping my own advice is useful to me

 

[turbo_4i4ka]

Wow, thank you for the replies guys! Those are some really solid tips. I will try and concentrate on the writing aspect and worry about mastering further down the road.
And thank you for your advice as well, Sithu Aye - I'm a real fan of your work and this post was just what I needed to break that barrier. I'm sure that you'll deliver an amazing EP as always, so I don't see any reasons to worry about it.

P.S. - Say hi to Plini from me!

 

[Hyacinth]

I'm loving how informative and helpful this thread has been! There's some awesome ideas in here that I hope will stave off my dry spell for a while. Thanks for all the great answers guys and gals!

 

[tripguitar]

Here is an interesting test.
From scratch, ie, NOW, start a timer running and see how long it takes until you are able to record a riff into your DAW (either clean with reamping, or just a good tone).

If you have to faff about with booting machines, wiring up stuff, moving mics, chanrging batteries, prepping VSTs, tweaking routing in your DAW, getting drum tracks together, etc etc, then you really, really need to look into solving all of that once and for all. Use templates. Use presets. Have backing drum tracks ready. Improve your start up time so it is measured in seconds, not minutes or hours. You just wanna be able to hit record and get that idea down. The alternative is usually an hour or two of messing around, then recording a few bars and saying "that sucks" and getting too tired to do more, turning it all off, and returning to doing the exact same thing the next day.

+1 and +1. THIS. THAT ^

I didnt realize it while it was happening, but i would be spending so much time setting up my Pro Tools session, and connecting cables that by the time i recorded a few ideas, i was out of time (busy busy busy), out of energy, or out of motivation...

I also didnt realize i fixed that problem until reading innovine's post! I thought about it, and the other day i wrote some of my best in years, and it was because i devoted some free time earlier in the week to simplifying/organizing my set up. i literally open a Pro Tools template, plug my guitar into the ipad (jamup/bias), and turn on my monitors. 3 minutes and im ready to go. WHAT A DIFFERENCE!!

 

[Konfyouzd]

I find myself reluctant to write instead of practicing and getting my chops up. I still write, but probably not as often as I should. The reason being is because I hold my writing to such a high standard that if it's not great, I won't keep it and I figure, "I'll write more then I get my technique up a few notches" And I know writing is a skill in itself, so I should write regardless of how shitty it is. So now my chops are good, but my writing has suffered because of it.

Anyone else get this?

I fall into the "Oh, I'm just uninspired" trap far too often. I know for a fact from writing fiction that sometimes you just have to push through the bullshit.

I have both of these... I will also get randomly inspired and I"ll hear the perfect next section to a song I've been stuck on for months. I try to sing it to myself into a recorder or just in m head until I can get back to a guitar and by the time I pick up a guitar again so many other things have transpired in the day that I just don't even know where my head was at anymore.

I also need to get into the habit of writing my music--literally. I need to either tab or actually write the notes because I'll either end up with the situation I just described, OR I'll record something that sounds amazing, have nowhere to go with it and then I'll find it later, love it and not know how to play it at all.

 

[straightshreddd]

I tend to write things that I don't have quite the technical ability to play sometimes, which makes me practice more to really nail the takes. But I'll play it slow and then speed it up on the demo versions of a track, just for myself.

This.

I kind of have similar issues as OP. I'm waiting on incoming 7, which I play pretty much exclusively, so writing 7 material is a little difficult without one. I do have a 6, so I can't complain too much. Sometimes, you gotta discipline yourself and tell yourself "Enough bitching, let's do this shit." and figure out the problem that needs to be worked on.

As for what Randyrhoads123 said, this is an excellent way to train yourself. I would write really technical, demanding pieces on guitar pro and practice the shit out of it until it became second nature. It's actually an awesome way to write, imo, because your current skill level doesn't limit what you write. You write whatever you want and whatever sounds cool and practice it from there.

Also, jamming with another really good guitar player helps a lot. Kind of lights a fire under your ass and gives you a feel for a different perspective on the construction of riffs.

 

[Konfyouzd]

I hear it's good to write things that push your abilities... For some it's a good way to progress your playing and writing abilities.

 

[FILTHnFEAR]

Have really enjoyed reading this thread. So much great advice/insight.

I jam with a drummer buddy of mine, just drums and guitar. He is pretty new to drums but a pretty quick learner and we have fun. But I find that I will play a lot things he digs but I'm always dissatisfied with and scrap it and start over. I keep telling myself that when I get better, THEN we will have something worthwhile. I realize that I need to push through and get SOMETHING down instead of nothing or that's all we will ever have.

I started playing guitar at about 13/14 yrs old. I never focused or learned the way I should have. It's always been an on/off situation with playing where I would get fired up to improve and expand my playing, but never really followed through.

I've been in a few bands, the last of which ended about 7 years ago. I made the most progress in playing/learning my instrument in that year with those guys than any other time in my life. After that band fell apart, life got in the way of playing guitar AND my interest in music in general and I barely touched my guitar till about a year and a half ago. Thanks to a friend that encouraged me to pick it back up. +1000 to him.

Shortly after I started playing again the bassist from my old band contacted me about a new project he and my old drummer from said band were involved in with another guitarist and vocalist. My old band mates never put their instrument down as I did. They GREATLY improved. I didn't.

Long story short...I just flat out couldn't keep up with them. They found another guitarist and started playing out. Humbling experience to say the least. Especially since they followed my and the other guitarists lead in our previous band together. It was really cool to see their improvement and I was proud of them. At the same time realizing my own failure. That situation made me more determined to improve so that should the opportunity arise once more to be a part of a musical endeavor I will not miss out.

I'm not sure how relevant to the original topic this has been but reading all of your posts and seeing that even though you guys are all probably amazing musicians and well beyond my level...that no matter how good you are you will still struggle to improve, and making those improvements is what makes this whole "music thing" so desirable and worth while to do.

Apologies, this post became much longer than intended, but I hope to have conveyed how positive your words have been for me.

Much gratitude, gentlemen.

Cheers.

 

[Mr. Big Noodles]

On a semi-related note, I bought my stepdad a collection of Alfred Hitchcock movies on DVD a few years back. I think I picked it up for $5 new at a big retail chain, and there are 20 movies in it. Do you want to know how it is that I bought so many of that esteemed director's films for so cheap? They're utter garbage, that's how. The latest production date in the collection is 1939 (except for the Alfred Hitchcock Presents material), so this represents the early part of his career. He had a rocky start, let me tell you. So for those of you who feel like they can't write anything worth listening to right now: you're not alone! Keep at it, and you will get better. Mind you, you need to work on your technique and learn how to develop your inner critic during your course, but persistence does pay off.