The Ultimate Artist's Block.

[jubian]

I had been hungry all the years;
My noon had come, to dine;
I, trembling, drew the table near,
And touched the curious wine.

’T was this on tables I had seen,
When turning, hungry, lone,
I looked in windows, for the wealth
I could not hope to own.

I did not know the ample bread,
’T was so unlike the crumb
The birds and I had often shared
In Nature’s dining-room.

The plenty hurt me, ’t was so new,—
Myself felt ill and odd,
As berry of a mountain bush
Transplanted to the road.

Nor was I hungry; so I found
That hunger was a way
Of persons outside windows,
The entering takes away.

by Emily Dickinson, a poet who shares my artistic ambivelance.


Hello, fellow remixers.

The following is a bit of a narcissistic rant… I’m not sure whether this is the coffee (or lack thereof) talking, but I thought I may as well put it out here in front of people I’m comfortable around. Be warned, I'm about to sound rather pathetic.

Anyways, I’ve been having a bit of a problem over the past few weeks, which I’ve only really picked up on today. It’s one that’s troubled me many times before, and may have even troubled you in the past. What I’m talking about is an artist’s block – not a creative barrier necessarily (although I’m starting to run out of juice), but an emotional one. In other words, I feel like I’m lacking the self-confidence required to succeed within the artistic world. I know this may make me sound like a fragile prick, but let’s be honest, we all have our ups and downs. I’m not sure what’s triggered this lack of self-confidence within me – maybe it’s my perfectionist nature clashing with my imperfect works, or whether I’m just being jealous – but it’s starting to become too hard to ignore.

To add to the complexity of this dilemma, I also have to carry the heavy burden of the HSCs (equivalent to whatever high school degree exists in your respective country), made further difficult with parental and personal expectations. Not only do I (feel like I) have to put out music on a semi-regular basis, but I also have to juggle this with school and social commitments. I was fine at first, but I’m starting to feel it wearing me down, especially given that assessment week is just around the corner.

Either way, I don’t think I’m ready to push myself to thrive in the musical context, due to the aforementioned emotional and physical barriers. I’m considering taking up a hiatus until I’m done pushing through high school, maybe posting the occasional thing or two over school holidays – nothing more. Although I doubt I’ve disappointed anyone, I’d like to apologise on the off chance I did. As for projects that I’m already working on, I’ll at least try to get those out of the way by the end of the year.

Well, that’s the end of my rant, but for the purpose of encouraging responses, I will leave you with a question: What barriers have you encountered on your journey as a musician or artist, and what have you done to overcome it? Perhaps your suggestions may provide me some insight on where I should move from here.

Thanks,

Julian

[Dr_Dissonance]

It's unfortunate that you have this conundrum, but school is very important, so I know we will all support you in taking a hiatus!

I've had many musical blocks, it comes with the territory, but I just tend to listen and listen and listen to other pieces until a spark kicks! And not pieces you know, every piece must be new in order for the spark to reignite!

Have fun with your school work!

[jubian]

And not pieces you know, every piece must be new in order for the spark to reignite!

That might be one of my problems... I've only added about 10 songs to my iTunes playlist in the past three months. I'll get around to finding more music over the holidays.

[[voodoopony]]

I feel that way sometimes too. I find that a way to crush motivation is to either compare yourself to others or run off pride. That's a different story though.

Nothing quite fixes me up more than a week to month break. Normally it only happens because I can't bring my computer on flights but I think there's something psychological about gaps in production. I pick up slowly and gradually and eventually get back into that mentality fresh off.

School and my future have been a burden to me lately but I still feel full of juice. The hard part is keeping the juice from molding over time, maybe. Having a lot of intentions can drive me nuts when I try to sleep or focus at school.

[jubian]

I feel that way sometimes too. I find that a way to crush motivation is to either compare yourself to others or run off pride. That's a different story though.

Nothing quite fixes me up more than a week to month break. Normally it only happens because I can't bring my computer on flights but I think there's something psychological about gaps in production. I pick up slowly and gradually and eventually get back into that mentality fresh off.

School and my future have been a burden to me lately but I still feel full of juice. The hard part is keeping the juice from molding over time, maybe. Having a lot of intentions can drive me nuts when I try to sleep or focus at school.

Being the paranoid academic I am, I find it hard NOT to compare myself to others, which could be possibly thought of as my Achilles' heel... just one of the many things I have to work on, I guess. As for the break, I'm truly anticipating the (Australian) summer holidays, given that this first term of Year 12 has been quite draining. I may pick up music making again next year, but we'll just see if I'm up to it then. Either way, thanks for your advice!

[UnderpΩny]

I get jelly all the time. I see someone else's awesome song and how popular they are and it before I know it I'm all jellied up. But then I take a step back and think, "David, what are you doing? That's not the brony way!", and then instead get motivated to do even better. I guess what I'm saying is that by taking a positive attitude I can turn demotivational feelings into motivational ones.

[[voodoopony]]

I feel that way sometimes too. I find that a way to crush motivation is to either compare yourself to others or run off pride. That's a different story though.

Nothing quite fixes me up more than a week to month break. Normally it only happens because I can't bring my computer on flights but I think there's something psychological about gaps in production. I pick up slowly and gradually and eventually get back into that mentality fresh off.

School and my future have been a burden to me lately but I still feel full of juice. The hard part is keeping the juice from molding over time, maybe. Having a lot of intentions can drive me nuts when I try to sleep or focus at school.

Being the paranoid academic I am, I find it hard NOT to compare myself to others, which could be possibly thought of as my Achilles' heel... just one of the many things I have to work on, I guess. As for the break, I'm truly anticipating the (Australian) summer holidays, given that this first term of Year 12 has been quite draining. I may pick up music making again next year, but we'll just see if I'm up to it then. Either way, thanks for your advice!

Yeah, it's really overwhelming to try to predict your future musical capabilities or try to look at your entire life. I used to always interrupt my sessions by looking up a song by someone I want to be and getting crushed by their god like skills. It doesn't make me want to give up, though, it sort of makes me full of jelly, and then I strive to do something cooler [I'm not deep].

I don't feel it's humanly possible to determine what truly pushes you to create; all I've come across are obstacles that slow me down. My diagnosis would be for you to stop thinking about other artists [you'll eventually gain the confidence to prefer your own sound over theirs] and find out why you do it for yourself; it's a great feeling once you do and you have good energy.
Tips:
-Don't check email or internets while working; stay focused
-Gather essentials so you won't need to leave [drinkery, snacks, empty jug]
-Familiarize yourself with your DAW as much as possible, to execute ideas more conveniently [tutorials help with that]
-Basic music theory is a great way to kick start ideas quickly
Just have fun with it and don't fret if you haven't been as active.

[Interrobang Pie]

I get jelly all the time. I see someone else's awesome song and how popular they are and it before I know it I'm all jellied up.

This eight million times.

[PinkieGuy]

I get jelly all the time. I see someone else's awesome song and how popular they are and it before I know it I'm all jellied up.

This eight million times.

This as well, and it's a totally normal reaction. So, how do I personally deal with writer's block or with Better-Musician-Induced Angst (BMIA)?

I switch genres. Whenever I get to a point where I'm banging my head against a brickwall with a style of music, I just totally drop it and go do something I haven't done in ages, or never done before.

That's why lately I've done alot more metal and less dubstep. My dubstep felt stagnant, it was boring, I couldn't get anywhere. So I picked up the guitar for the first proper writing session of metal in a month, and the end product was This Night Of Ours. The reason I started dubstep was because I was sick of metal at the time. The reason I started back into metal the time before that was because I was sick of trying to write ska music.

Ad Infinitum.

This might not work for everyone, but it does force you to try and write outside of your comfort zone, listen to a bunch of music you wouldn't have before hand, and it's hard to feel bad about not being as good as your Idols if they all write dance and you're writing doom metal. Apples and Oranges, yeah?

[Calamus_Dash]

I get jelly all the time. I see someone else's awesome song and how popular they are and it before I know it I'm all jellied up.

This eight million times.

This as well, and it's a totally normal reaction. So, how do I personally deal with writer's block or with Better-Musician-Induced Angst (BMIA)?

I switch genres. Whenever I get to a point where I'm banging my head against a brickwall with a style of music, I just totally drop it and go do something I haven't done in ages, or never done before.

That's why lately I've done alot more metal and less dubstep. My dubstep felt stagnant, it was boring, I couldn't get anywhere. So I picked up the guitar for the first proper writing session of metal in a month, and the end product was This Night Of Ours. The reason I started dubstep was because I was sick of metal at the time. The reason I started back into metal the time before that was because I was sick of trying to write ska music.

Ad Infinitum.

This might not work for everyone, but it does force you to try and write outside of your comfort zone, listen to a bunch of music you wouldn't have before hand, and it's hard to feel bad about not being as good as your Idols if they all write dance and you're writing doom metal. Apples and Oranges, yeah?

I love this community, I thought I was the only one who got jelly!
jubian, if you feel like taking a hiatus, I support that, but I do hope you come back someday!
p.s. on the topic of being jelly: your beyond her garden remix was 100x better than mine, I just wanted to get that out

[jubian]

This as well, and it's a totally normal reaction. So, how do I personally deal with writer's block or with Better-Musician-Induced Angst (BMIA)?

I switch genres. Whenever I get to a point where I'm banging my head against a brickwall with a style of music, I just totally drop it and go do something I haven't done in ages, or never done before.

That's why lately I've done alot more metal and less dubstep. My dubstep felt stagnant, it was boring, I couldn't get anywhere. So I picked up the guitar for the first proper writing session of metal in a month, and the end product was This Night Of Ours. The reason I started dubstep was because I was sick of metal at the time. The reason I started back into metal the time before that was because I was sick of trying to write ska music.

Ad Infinitum.

This might not work for everyone, but it does force you to try and write outside of your comfort zone, listen to a bunch of music you wouldn't have before hand, and it's hard to feel bad about not being as good as your Idols if they all write dance and you're writing doom metal. Apples and Oranges, yeah?

Coincidentally, I was working on a jazz cover of Art Of The Dress, but I put that off in favour of remixes... I may take it up again next year! I'm actually getting a bit bored of dubstep myself, so it may be a change for the good. Thanks bro

I love this community, I thought I was the only one who got jelly!
jubian, if you feel like taking a hiatus, I support that, but I do hope you come back someday!
p.s. on the topic of being jelly: your beyond her garden remix was 100x better than mine, I just wanted to get that out

Haha, if you ever hang around artists, then you're never alone in that sense! And I liked your remix a lot The only reason it sounded good is because I sampled so much from the original...