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Ben Elliot
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7/16/2009 7:26:19 PM
Do you let inspiration find you or can you find it?
I didnt want to just write a post telling everyone I have a couple of new songs up so I thought Id couple it with the starting of a proper thead. Lets get the self promo out the way, I have uploaded a couple of old songs that I have finished off after years of taking up space on my computer. They are called Only When You Sleep and Gradually, It would be good to get some feedback.
Anyway, the reason why I have only posted a couple of old songs over the last few months is that I have been severely lacking inspiration. Although I have had a pretty turbulant 2009 so far which should have given me a lot to write about, I am stuck. So far I am half way through 1 song, which I'm struggling with. So heres the question: Should I wait for the ideas to come back to me or does anyone have any suggestions on how to get them kick started?
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Hop On Pop
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7/16/2009 7:29:57 PM
---- Updated 7/16/2009 7:31:24 PM
When I go searching for inspiration, it has a way of hiding from me.
Maybe, it'll peek out from around a corner, kick me in the balls, and then run away; leaving me with only a part of a song that is even halfway decent.
At those times, I can hear inspiration laughing at me; mocking me from a distance.
So, most of the time, I just play my guitar and sing; waiting for inspiration to decide to come and pay me a visit again.
When it does, I just hope that I'm ready for it.
My advice:
Wait for it. Get your life in order.
Because if inspiration DOES come to visit you during turbulent times, you might not be able to accommodate it. And that hurts as much as a kick in the balls, as well.
Just keep playing. But keep your pen and paper handy just in case.
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Jeff Allen Myers
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7/16/2009 7:48:09 PM
In my experience writing songs, I have found they come when I am not "trying" to compose. It is always when I am relaxed and playing for fun that the ideas emerge.
I think creativity comes to us when the mind is free, and the conduit to the soul is opened. If you try to write, the mind is working too hard, this allows frustration to cloud the mind thus closing the doors of creativity.
It is almost magical when a new song emerges, almost like we are guided by a higher power. I know this is "mystical" but I have heard many Songwriters speak similarly of the experience. Many are surprised when the idea blossoms.... I know it is that way for me :)
Sorry for the new age rant :) Just relax, play for enjoyment and have something nearby to catch the ideas as they take shape. As Todd says..have pen, paper, and most of all a recording device. I have lost many songs by not recording the initial ideas. Sometimes they disappear just as quickly...it is best that you have a record. :) Try changing the environment in which you compose, take your guitar to a Park, the Beach, a quiet place. Free your mind and relax....
Good Luck, and happy creating.
Jeff
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Bryon Tosoff
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7/16/2009 8:56:23 PM
It comes when it comes as Coloured Vinyl song says.
I have three tunes scored out.
but just need to record. probably in the fall . or when ever i feel like it
in no rush.smoke a cigar and have a beer or scotch. sit and enjoy the day
go camping soon. or laze around my sanctuary I have made...pretty cool here at my Garden of Eden
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The Man With No Band
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7/17/2009 1:30:53 AM
hey Ben ... I find a lot of inspiration does "come when it comes" ....
but I also think there are ways to kick it into gear sometimes ...
Mental excercises such as creative writing ... anything to keep your mind full and busy ... without thinking about inspiration ...
Imagine looking at the world or a certain situation through a pair of animal eyes ...
Roll a pencil on a piece of paper and see the words appearing in your mind ....
Visit a busy street corner and listen to find how many sounds you can hear and then imagine the ones you can't ...
Doodle ... take a dip in a pond ... make a boat out of a newspaper ... try to count the skin cells on the back of your hand ....
Sit in a rainstorm ... and wait for the perfect drop
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Dick Aven
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7/17/2009 2:22:08 AM
---- Updated 7/17/2009 2:22:57 AM
Hey Ben,
Try one or more of these; a new instrument, a new love interest (perhaps a new pet if you are married), or a new drug (natural drugs, no man-made bullshit).
Then get to work.
"Just as appetite comes by eating, so work brings inspiration, if inspiration is not discernible at the beginning."-
Igor Stravinsky
Good luck,
DA
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Kevin White
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7/17/2009 2:06:58 PM
What I do is simply sit down and doodle until I hit a pattern that strikes me.
K-
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7/17/2009 6:00:44 PM
Gosh ... I've done this so long now (writing songs, composing) that it is totally a biological thing that I am very in touch of ...
For the me the answer is both.
But you can never force it. You can never force yourself to write a song.
But you can steer yourself.
And, sometimes where there is somebody in a room with you (collaborator) you can come up with a song within an hour. As long as you both don't expect anything to happen.
For me creativity is bubbling under my surface all the time.
And I can start down different roads ..different instruments, or walking without any instrument. I can just will myself to drift.
I am a good drifter and lucid dreamer. And also a lurid dreamer.
I never amounted to much in life because I am addicted to the pheremones or endomorphines or whatever it is released into the blood when making music.
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Tony Vani and Debbie Hoskin
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7/18/2009 12:06:44 AM
Inspiration is everywhere; you just have to open yourself up to it.
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Richard Scotti
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7/18/2009 1:26:56 AM
---- Updated 7/18/2009 1:49:59 AM
I agree with Debbie. I also like Bryon's approach. Todd is on to something too. I don't worry about inspiration. It's always there. I just let it wash over me or I ignore it and go out and play! I feel inspired when I choose to be. I love life and because it's so short I try to enjoy it as much as possible. I used to only be able to write when I was in a good mood or in a good place in my life. But after suffering many of life's hardships I learned that inspiration can come from bad things things too. Anything that moves you is inspiration. I've conditioned the creative side of my brain to function independently of my mood or what is going on around me.
As Debbie said, inspiration is everywhere. I actually have to keep myself from writing sometimes because there are other things I want to devote time to. I've had the best and worst of what life has offered and I can draw on those experiences any time I want to write a song. I used to be a slave to music. Now I'm free because I have nothing left to prove. I don't let myself be defined by others.I write what I love and I love what I write. There are those who don't like what I do and others who like it.
I have no control over that and I don't let negative reviews bother me because I know who I am.
I just try to write and produce the best song I am capable of and let the chips fall where they may.
I can write when I'm happy or when I'm depressed. I have a great marriage and great friends and I have my share of problems as well. It's all grist for the mill.
The muse can come unexpectedly or I can invite her in when I feel like it.
Worrying or over analyzing where inspiration comes from is the enemy of inspiration. When in doubt, open your eyes, your ears, your heart and your mind and you'll find what you need.
Just being alive inspires me.
Ben - a turbulent 2009 is more than adequate fodder for a few songs. Let me share something that a very wise old songwriter once told me when I asked the same question you are asking. He said to me in an e-mail: "There is plenty of stuff in your life you can write about. Figure out why you're not writing about it and start writing. Don't filter or censor your true emotions no matter how personal or painful they may be. Writer's block is a choice when we make when we deny our feelings".
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Kevin White
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7/18/2009 2:25:45 AM
---- Updated 7/18/2009 2:35:13 AM
I find I usually free up creatively after taking a laxative.
Just saying ... being full of shit never helps, and that's no comment on any other comment ... only my observation of life.
That'll be my last comment on this subject.
Mick: Paul, you feeling constipated?
Paul: Yeah, I haven't written much lately.
Mick: Yeah, I can't get me no ... um, satisfaction.
Paul: Agreed. Seems like yesterday ... so far away. Now I fear it's here to stay.
Mick: Me too, I'm the midnight rambler.
Paul: Exactly, I'm a paperback wiper.
Mick: Okay, this has gone on WAY too long.
Paul: Agreed.
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Ben Elliot
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7/18/2009 11:52:40 AM
Excellent suggestions guys.. Ill be sure to give them a go and hopefully have something to show for it. I realised that I generally am ok coming up with a part of song but where I am lacking is turning the part into a whole song.
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Conversation Suicide
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7/18/2009 12:20:51 PM
quite a blog, Mr. Elliot, as usual.
my answer to the original question = BOTH.
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Ben Elliot
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7/19/2009 11:05:40 PM
Why thank you, I do like to provoke a few thoughts. I response to all the suggestions I have had I have spent all day in front of the computer attacking an half finished songs that has been troubling me for the last 4 months, and I have a pretty much finished version ready.. I think there may be a few changes to be made yet but if you want to have a listen you can do so here: http://iacmusic.com/songs.aspx?SongID=76819&ArtistID=40207
Thanks again everyone
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HunkaFunk
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7/22/2009 2:58:29 AM
I've been driving 80 miles to rehearsal every week, to play with my funk/dance cover band. I have been stuck in traffic on, and off, tailgated relentlessly, and was inspired to write a new song called "You are how you drive". I guess for me, inspiration comes from "non-music" aspects of life, as it goes whizzing past.
TF
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