Tips to get back into your flow
As creatives, producers, musicians, beat makers, singers, rappers, we are expected to constantly manifest our thoughts into a piece of art. Creating round the clock can be really exhausting and draining our creativity.
Inspiration becomes hard to come by, we feel stuck, we overthink, we get frustrated, we feel dull and bored, we fail to translate our ideas into music. Unfinished songs turn into three or four and that can leave us with self-doubt or lack of confidence.
This all can feel scary but, mind you, it is natural and happens to every creator. Whether you are doing music for fun or full time, you are going to have good and bad days – so try to not stress it that much. Sometimes after a string of horrible days we end up with something great and that is what makes it all worth. Ultimately it is part of the growing process.
Fortunately, breaking out of beat block is not impossible. Here are my top tips to overcome it and get you excited about music again.
Take a step back
Maybe it is the last thing you wanted to hear but sometimes the best thing you can do is another activity that has nothing to do with your work. Take some time off to clear your head, just enjoy life. Spend some quality time with your significant other or family, meet up with friends or go out in nature. Getting outside and some fresh air can be really beneficial to you because most of the time we are locked up in a room.
Visit a museum to check out other art forms, go out for dinner or lunch, take a walk, meditate, treat yourself well. Taking breaks and getting rest really can get our inspiration rolling again. If you are too exhausted, you are very likely to be in a bad mood. Emotional stability is a key factor in creating and composing incredible music. However, it is for sure possible to create great art while being frustrated or in a horrible mood, every human deals with those feelings differently. But on a long-term emotional stability can become a deal breaker.
Clean up your studio space
Your space is often a reflection of where you are at mentally. If my studio is messy, chances are high that my mental state is disorganized as well. Working in a messy room really hinders your flow. Make sure you have immediate access to all of the tools you need. Cleaning up can help you feel like having a blank canvas to work it. More importantly it can help you to clear your mind. Also decorate your room with a few personal items that are a reflection of who you are and what you love.
Record audio only
Limit yourself. Firstly, recording MIDI can lead to editing way too much details. Secondly, limitations can work in your favour. When we have thousands of drum sounds, VSTs, more presets than we could listen to – it can be hard to get even started. Thirdly, and most importantly recording in audio can speed up our workflow. Moreover, having to nail that recording and not being able to edit much, can feel really liberating. Pick up an instrument or microphone and just play and record.
Listen to some new artists
If you are experiencing beat block your ears are likely to get tired. Do not forget that you are supposed to enjoy creating music. Key here is checking out music that you are not aware of yet or to pull out some records that you have not listened to in ages. In fact it will give you fresh ideas and more importantly a change of air from a tedious pattern of making the music over and over again. Dig through some playlists for hidden gems, explore new genres. Lastly if you are in the need of a good playlist you can check my milk crate – it is a playlist featuring all kinds of genres and play time close to 48 hours.
Be more creative
I do not mean this in a condescending way. I mean it more like, misuse your instruments, do the opposite of what you are supposed to do. Create some weird percussion, drums with things laying around in your studio or home and just go with it. Try making a beat out of kitchen items. Try experimenting with granular synthesis and throw in some samples you normally would never.
Try new instruments
Sometimes all you need to do is pick up a new instrument. Learning a new instrument can easily inspire you and give you a different approach for creating a song. In conclusion, learning new instruments is going back to our roots.
Creative FX
Excessive use of FX really can get your creativity flowing again. Slow something down, speed it up, throw on reverb, delays, saturations and tweak these knobs like you normally wouldn’t. Pitch things down or up, the options are endless. Anything that dramatically alters a sound usually works the best for me.
Create another genre
Go out of your way to be more open-minded to create different genres of music. It is good to break the monotony of sticking to one particular genre. Maybe you are experiencing beat block because you are stuck in a rut. Learning how to produce new genres can lead to new skills and that enables further progress. In addition, experiment with creating genres that reflect your current mood or hour.
Flip some samples or loops
Having some other person’s idea as a starting point can easily get us into the flow. Flipping samples or using loops can help us getting out of beat block. Attempt recording around a loop or to manipulate a sample in a creative way. Eventually you can just buy a new sample pack or download a free pack. Feel free to try out some of my free loops or samples of one of my freebie packs.
Rearrange or remix old projects
Every so often loading up projects you made previously and swapping out lanes, melodies and instruments will do the job. After all you can change it enough that it does not even sound like the original anymore. Rearrange a song that you deemed not to be good enough to proceed. As an alternative you can scavenge lanes from an old tack you enjoy and just go from there.
Educate yourself
From time to time acquiring new knowledge can stimulate your creativity. Learn about music theory, for example tricks like negative harmony or voice leading. Transcribe songs or master production techniques. Additionally you can study new progressions or do ear training. Improvise over chord changes and practice various scales. In the end knowledge is free and options are endless.
Power through it
Ultimately if nothing from above helped you battling beat block you can still try to power through it. Try starting with isolated parts of your songs, sometimes it easier to progress that way. Keep at it, be confident and work through your beat block.
Additionally here is a freebie for stimulating your creativity. Whether you want to loop it and relax or to create something with it. I hope at least one tip helped you with overcoming beat block.
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