When is time to quit?

VOLVO))) · June 24, 2012, 01:28:22 PM

Quote from: johnny problem on June 24, 2012, 01:25:49 PM
Maybe you're approach isn't the best? I know that solo artists, Brant Bjork for example, when recording Jalamanta, would lay down the drum tracks first and then add bass and guitar. This might be the reason you're having difficulty adding drums to your guitar riffs.

I saw that when I was watching the retrospective thingy, he had to write the songs beforehand, surely.. I'm roadblocked at the first step, lacking inspiration, I guess...

Maybe the new Om will help me, and i'll put out a crusher fuzzed out bass jam.

dunwichamps · June 24, 2012, 01:52:40 PM

Seriously move to ct alreadyy

everdrone · June 24, 2012, 04:35:12 PM

as you know, this type of music and most live music is stuff you cant make a living on. Wino, Phil Amselmo, Matt Pike are very famous and have generated tons of albums and did many live shows and are quoted saying they cant afford to make payments on their home and stuff, see movie at 1hour and 5 minutes to 1hour and 10 minutes:

so before you move, consider this is only a hobbie! you seem to be open to trying other styles, way more styles then me, I wont play any music that does not downtune to c# or lower. one thing to do is stop playing any guitar/bass for 2 months, then get netflix membership and rent a lot of practice video tutorials and expand your playing abilities. cheers!!

everdrone · June 24, 2012, 04:36:49 PM

doublepost

dunwichamps · June 24, 2012, 04:42:17 PM

I was jesting jake it's equally crappy here so I just build instead

everdrone · June 24, 2012, 04:55:56 PM

I moved to Austin TX thinking it would be better but it really was not...really hard to get a bar gig much less get a paying gig. they want to know how many people you can bring to drink, kinda like the pay to play places I was at when I lived in Orange County CA. in Austin there are a zillion musicians and even the really great original bands only play like once every 3 months. cover bands are a different story however... you can get gigs as a cover band as Danny G will testify to, I saw his shows and they work in covers. in San Antonio, cover bands really bring in their own crowd, and the dive bar goers that go to see live music without knowing the band are a sparse crowd...

Lumpy · June 24, 2012, 06:30:20 PM

Write songs now/work on your vocals. It takes a long time to get good at that, so start now. When you have the songs ready, you're most of the way there.

What if you were surrounded by great musicians right now, what would you say? "Lets just jam around, and hope something happens"? Or would it be better to say "these are my songs".

mutantcolors · June 24, 2012, 11:05:43 PM

I don't mean to semi-brag on my own shit or spam the whole jam room but I went solo and couldn't be happier. Just do everything.

liquidsmoke · June 24, 2012, 11:45:30 PM

Quote from: everdrone on June 24, 2012, 04:35:12 PM
one thing to do is stop playing any guitar/bass for 2 months

I highly recommend this. Or longer even. Maybe also stop listening to stuff that sounds similar to the stuff you play as well.

Discö Rice · June 25, 2012, 01:14:18 AM

Instead of playing with a drum machine, you could come to Brooklyn and play with a drumming machine ! (*flexes muscles in hypnotic manner)

VOLVO))) · June 25, 2012, 01:27:42 AM

Quote from: Discö Rice on June 25, 2012, 01:14:18 AM
Instead of playing with a drum machine, you could come to Brooklyn and play with a drumming machine ! (*flexes muscles in hypnotic manner)

Would be fun as hell! a 36 inch deep kick drum... mmm....

Discö Rice · June 25, 2012, 02:32:19 AM

Fuck yes it would be.

moose23 · June 25, 2012, 04:55:13 AM

Lumpy's answers seem to be spot on. What age are you?

mawso · June 25, 2012, 08:22:53 AM

can't you write by playing along with the drums in your head?

i can't play drums, or even really program them very well, so that's how i've written most everything

ryansummit · June 25, 2012, 08:41:54 AM

I've moved so many times in the past 15 years searchin for this or that, and ended up in some college towns that got pretty lame after a while. what i did notice there was always an older dude, that younger people had a stupid nickname for, that seemed to be stuck in that town,friends all gone, crappy job or on disability,only comes out right before the liquor store closes.

#1.try not to end up feeling stuck like him(move where a friend is if you have to,sometimes its awesome,some not so)
#2. ask that dude to jam, he always ends up rippin it on something,just hasnt been asked in 10 years
#3.move to the country to be a hermit only as last resort,after you're 37,someone somewhere needs those riffs

Pundan · June 25, 2012, 10:28:14 AM

I've been in your shoes. One might recalled that I had a topic about our old drummer, we sacked him and found a new one. We have to travel 2½ hours (one-way) just to jam with our drummer.
I'd rather sit in a car for 2½ hours instead of jamming with an asshole. So try to find someone farther away from you.

AgentofOblivion · June 25, 2012, 12:36:45 PM

This isn't exactly what you were looking for, but maybe it will help. Tips for getting out of a writing rut:

- Dial in a completely different tone than you're used to. If you typically play bass heavy, dial in some presence. If you play bright, roll the tone knob down. Cut some gain. I play differently depending on the tone. If you always use a pick, try playing with fingers.
- Set the mood with lighting. It sounds stupid, but it works. If you can dim all the lights and maybe put a visualization on a TV screen while jamming, it tends to help that mind frame. It might take 10 or 15 minutes, but droning stoner rock shit is hard to make if you're in a well lit living room next to a floral print sofa. Mood has a big affect.
- Don't go in with the mindset that you're going to write a cool tune. Just noodle around. If you're playing something that sucks, see if you can just improve it but without having the goal of using it for something. If it sucks enough that it's pissing you off, play a cover tune that's badass. If you're not being productive either learning how to improve something or creating something cool, then just make sure you play something you already know that sounds good or you'll get burned out. After all, playing should be fun, not just work.
- Learn a song from a band you've always liked but never have taken the time to learn before. Pick something that has a style or vibe that is missing from your playing. Try to figure out what it is about that riff that possesses the qualities you don't have. Then try to write a riff that completely rips off that song. Attempt to capture its vibe that made it unique or different from what you usually play.
- Take breaks from playing. Sometimes it just helps to not play for a week or two. The fingers take awhile to get flowing again, but that Pantera riff you've played a billion times always sounds a bit fresher and groovier when you plug in for the first couple times and let it rip.

The creative juices are not always flowing. In those times you should use the time to tinker and enjoy. Add more tools to the toolbox so you'll have something new to try when the juices are there. Also, those new tools often lead to new riffs because they give you a mental focus. Instead of sitting down, staring at a blank page, you have that first paragraph. And ironically enough, that's where the unique shit comes from. Sure, you won't use the riffs that directly rip off Brad Paisley or the Melvins. But later on when you play that gnarly Melvins riff with chicken-pickin on some middle eastern scale, you'll be thankful the juices stopped flowing long enough for you to learn some new shit.

xayk · June 25, 2012, 02:28:03 PM

I want to get a set of the Oblique Strategies cards: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oblique_Strategies. There's a few websites that list them, too, but I'm a sucker for the tangible. Sometimes I feel like a musical rut is indicative of whatever else may also be wrong with my life, so I like the idea of a third-party as a guiding hand on occasion. And why not let that hand be Brian Eno?

Discö Rice · June 25, 2012, 03:20:15 PM

Quote from: xayk on June 25, 2012, 02:28:03 PM
I want to get a set of the Oblique Strategies cards: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oblique_Strategies. There's a few websites that list them, too, but I'm a sucker for the tangible. Sometimes I feel like a musical rut is indicative of whatever else may also be wrong with my life, so I like the idea of a third-party as a guiding hand on occasion. And why not let that hand be Brian Eno?

Wow! That was my first introduction to Oblique Strategies. Very cool stuff. Will come in handy.

clockwork green · June 25, 2012, 03:42:04 PM

One of the things I've noticed with my noodling lately is that for the first 20-30 minutes I just sit there playing old, recycled riffs or dialing in tones. I'm not doing this consciously but it just seems to happen. Around this point I start to get bored and frustrated that I can't think of anything interesting. Many times I'll just put down the guitar and go do something else but I've found that lately if I push through this imaginary wall at around 30 minutes and keep going, that's when the riffs start happening. I record a lot of riffs on my phone and then dictate them in a tab like way on there so I won't forget them and I notice this trend of me coming up for 4 or 5 riffs I really like all in a bunch and all about 30 or so minutes after I start noodling. When I have down time and take the BART train to work I'll listen to the old riffs and make notes on them for later songwriting so I know which riff is a slow doomy one and which one is a aggressive metal riff or a quiet clean thing. It's really streamlined my writing. The other day I also used a chord dictionary app on my phone to just try a ton of different chords and I used that to come up with a new riff on a song I've been stuck on for 6-months and I really like it. I've done the same thing with scales before to help with phrasing or just to look at a giant scale mapped out on a guitar and make my own chords up from there.

fallen · June 25, 2012, 10:06:35 PM

I need to build a shower guitar / recorder. I always seem to get song ideas in there. Must be the water droning in Db or B.

Or maybe I need to buy one of those Indian drone machines like Om has.

EddieMullet · June 26, 2012, 10:23:19 AM

When you're dead.

Look at Jason Becker, he can't do anything but move his eyes due to ALS and he's still making music.

Noodling about on a keyboard sometimes works even a cheap ass Casio, find an random beat, a cool sound and just start hitting keys.

Learn random covers turn on the oldies station and learn the first song you hear. If its some old Motown or Stax tune there's a lot of knowledge in those old tunes.

VOLVO))) · June 26, 2012, 11:32:28 AM

Quote from: clockwork green on June 25, 2012, 03:42:04 PM
One of the things I've noticed with my noodling lately is that for the first 20-30 minutes I just sit there playing old, recycled riffs or dialing in tones. I'm not doing this consciously but it just seems to happen. Around this point I start to get bored and frustrated that I can't think of anything interesting. Many times I'll just put down the guitar and go do something else but I've found that lately if I push through this imaginary wall at around 30 minutes and keep going, that's when the riffs start happening. I record a lot of riffs on my phone and then dictate them in a tab like way on there so I won't forget them and I notice this trend of me coming up for 4 or 5 riffs I really like all in a bunch and all about 30 or so minutes after I start noodling. When I have down time and take the BART train to work I'll listen to the old riffs and make notes on them for later songwriting so I know which riff is a slow doomy one and which one is a aggressive metal riff or a quiet clean thing. It's really streamlined my writing. The other day I also used a chord dictionary app on my phone to just try a ton of different chords and I used that to come up with a new riff on a song I've been stuck on for 6-months and I really like it. I've done the same thing with scales before to help with phrasing or just to look at a giant scale mapped out on a guitar and make my own chords up from there.

I never break out of the "rut box" that you're talking about, in the first 30. It's so disparaging, sometimes.

RacerX · June 26, 2012, 11:40:29 AM

Did I tell you you could come outta yer room yet?

No?

I didn't think so.

JemDooM · July 03, 2012, 07:25:13 AM

Sunn I really like your stuff!

Musically iv been almost completely solitary, not through choice, I really have tried. Personally I find it to be a hard and slow process to write/record alone. Iv played with others in the past and its been a great feeling to create music with people that you have a connection with and its so much easier to write when you have other living breathing souls to bounce off each other. I know exactly how lonely it can feel going it alone. Whenever I feel frustrated or down in any way musically I remind myself that those feelings come from passion, its a positive source, and if the passion is there then its essential that you keep on going.....