The hugging/venting thread

[Magnitude Zero]

One thing you CAN do if you want (throwing this out here as i had a problem with my slower computer) is when you get to part where you can't handle anymore processing is turn your midi's into individual completed wav's once you have the notes/ instruments coming out of them you want. Your pc can handle 15 wavs vs 15 midi's with different vsts and synths and effects attached so you'll likely stop the glitching. I had to do a lot of projects started in FL and finished in Reaper this way and while I can't recommend it enthusiastically its still possibly better than giving it up as you might be able to stitch up a good finished track.

I... can't believe I didn't think of this, to be honest. I'll give it a try.

[Freewave]

oh awesome i was hoping that could help, glad it MAY.

[Big AppleDoom]

My mind is absolutely locked. I have no inspiration in making music. I'm on a hiatus and the deadline of Balloon Party is coming closer and closer.
Sometimes when travelling I get some ideas, but they disappear or I can't make the idea sound as it should.

Free MP3 download: WIP II.mp3

Free MP3 download: WIP I.mp3

[LunchBagMusic]

My mind is absolutely locked. I have no inspiration in making music. I'm on a hiatus and the deadline of Balloon Party is coming closer and closer.
Sometimes when travelling I get some ideas, but they disappear or I can't make the idea sound as it should.

There ain't a soul on this here forum who hasn't felt this.

Do you keep a journal? Whenever you get ideas, jot them down. Anyway you can. Draw pictures, or diagrams of what you wish to create or produce. Use words, anything. That way you can turn to it later and enter that headspace that you were in at the time of inspiration, but this time your at your workstation and ready to go.

Also, have you heard of the two-pages-before-breakfast trick?

The very fist thing you do every morning is write 2 pages long hand*. I heard this in a video that was posted a while ago here (be warned, the video is long). Every time that I have done it, I have been better at doing things. Doing everything was better, especially music.

Write on anything that pops into your head. The idea is that if you can let loose your thoughts so that they run in any direction, you will be more switched on and able to use your brain more effectively.

It works.

Hope this helps.

*I write mine the minute I get up; my pen and paper is on the bedside table. The earlier the better

[Freewave]

My mind is absolutely locked. I have no inspiration in making music. I'm on a hiatus and the deadline of Balloon Party is coming closer and closer.
Sometimes when travelling I get some ideas, but they disappear or I can't make the idea sound as it should.

There ain't a soul on this here forum who hasn't felt this.

Do you keep a journal? Whenever you get ideas, jot them down. Anyway you can. Draw pictures, or diagrams of what you wish to create or produce. Use words, anything. That way you can turn to it later and enter that headspace that you were in at the time of inspiration, but this time your at your workstation and ready to go.
*I write mine the minute I get up; my pen and paper is on the bedside table. The earlier the better

agree with this as keeping a journal of ideas helps a lot.

As people know i believe that looking to the show is a great idea as its taking ideas from the show and incorporating them into the music is essential in the early stages of making it rather then adding it after the fact. Look to show, think of ideas and concepts for a track that haven't been tried yet or by you, and see what gets you inspired.

[Magnitude Zero]

oh awesome i was hoping that could help, glad it MAY.

It totally did. I seriously can't thank you enough for that tip. Song shooould be done within the week.

Yeah, I work slow.

[Facade]

just lost a friend because he hates bronies
lost my girlfriend cause im an idiot who cant control myself
lost my dad cause he moved half way across the globe
i need some hugs :'(

[BeaM]

@Facade, ALL OF MY HUGS *hugs* You got skype?, cause if you need someone to talk to, I'm open

[Facade]

thanks yea i do add me: petrock580

[Warbalist]

Also, have you heard of the two-pages-before-breakfast trick?

You've read The Artist's Way? That book is all about this technique. Fantastic book if you are ever at a wall in your creativity.

One thing that always helps me is to write impressionistically (if I may use that word).

Ask yourself, "If this had a soundtrack, what would it sound like?" Even if your muse is a chair, you're bound to get something!

[LunchBagMusic]

You've read The Artist's Way? That book is all about this technique. Fantastic book if you are ever at a wall in your creativity.

One thing that always helps me is to write impressionistically (if I may use that word).

Ask yourself, "If this had a soundtrack, what would it sound like?" Even if your muse is a chair, you're bound to get something!

No I haven't, I got that trick from the video in the thread I linked, but I'm sure its popular. I'll read that book if I ever get the chance.

That sound track thing you spoke about is the one technique I've been using for ages. It works well, I agree.

--

Facade:
You wont be able to speak for a week after I'm done hugging you. So much bro(ny) support to you man

[Pickslide1992]

Well, guys, last week I participated in a contest at a church (I did the guitar solo category) and I got a certificate and a superior rating. That's the good news.

Now for the reason I'm here: despite some of the accolades I've been getting, I still feel like I'm not that great at what I do. I know the proof is right in front of me, but I don't know whether it's better to be humble than it is to be overconfident. I feel if I flaunt this certificate around and gloat, saying "I am the best guitarist since Tony Iommi," I'll look like a jerk.

The main reason I even participated was to get over my stage fright, and that alone was enough, but I don't want this certificate to make me into an overconfident douche bag.

[CWeissRun]

I feel if I flaunt this certificate around and gloat, saying "I am the best guitarist since Tony Iommi," I'll look like a jerk.

The main reason I even participated was to get over my stage fright, and that alone was enough, but I don't want this certificate to make me into an overconfident douche bag.

Well, even if you are the best guitarist since Tony, no need to go that far when talking about it You can mention how you're a good guitarist, and demonstrate if anyone asks you to prove it.
At the same time, I know what you mean about being too humble, since I can be the same way. I actually deleted all the old music I made since I thought it wasn't good enough, and I've spent the past week or so on just the bassline of a song, constantly deleting and starting over. Very, very frustrating

[Magnitude Zero]

Now for the reason I'm here: despite some of the accolades I've been getting, I still feel like I'm not that great at what I do. I know the proof is right in front of me, but I don't know whether it's better to be humble than it is to be overconfident. I feel if I flaunt this certificate around and gloat, saying "I am the best guitarist since Tony Iommi," I'll look like a jerk.

Well, in all honesty, you probably would. It's great to be proud of what you do, but when you take it too far you end up looking like an arrogant prick. That pretentiousness ends up overshadowing any talent you actually have. See also: "Boast Busters", "The Mysterious Mare-Do-Well", etc.

That said, I'd say you've earned yourself some bragging rights - not only for the certificate, but for overcoming your stage fright as well. Congratulations, and well done.

EDIT: I should also point out that the fact that you were wary of tooting your own horn says a lot about you. I wouldn't worry too much.

[AlicornBob]

Break up your time into different slots for music composition. Have certain nights dedicated to practice, and the others dedicated to song writing.

Earlier on I got stuck trying to program synths while composing, which makes you sick of your song (fast), and doesn't give you as much time as needed to actually learn the synths and other plugins.

Thus, have certain nights where you aren't going to write a song. Start with 1 synth and read tutorials on it, play with it, and get to know it. It's fine to have a song idea in your head.

What I like to do now is spend these practice nights programming all my synths and tracks, then working on a song using them the next day.

Thanks. That's great advice. I'll make sure I try that. First I got to finish my work for English class...

[Glitchhog]

Hm... no huge problems, but enough to make me feel like shit.

1. Car tie rods are rooted, meaning I run the risk of losing all control over my vehicle whenever I drive it. If you don't know me personally, then cars are my absolute passion next to music. I start going weird if I suddenly can't drive mine. I feel trapped, start becoming anti-social and depressed. Being a university student, I have no money to even fix it, so I'm relying on my parents.

2. Kind of completely disillusioned with music right now, which is odd considering it's my absolute passion.

3. My sleeping/exercise routine is severely out of whack right now. I'll aim to wake up at 9:30am, and when I do, my first thought is, "if I wake up now, what am I really going to do for the rest of the day?" so I just go back to sleep and end up waking up in the late hours of the afternoon. My car is too unsafe to drive right now, I have no money, my friends are all busy with their studies and my efforts to find a job have been ongoing for literally a year and 3 months now.

It feels good to get all of that out. xD

[Freewave]

Aw shoot man. Sorry to hear about your car problems as well. I hope you're not dealing with depression as too much sleep CAN be a symptom of that (but you be the judge). I find lack of sleep and late night hours can be the biggest issue in my life and others and that generally means i need to stop focusing on music and give it a rest and turn my brain off. I seem to be ON all the time rather than giving myself downtime. Just remember that you are loved and that people do care about you being around, make sure to find something that really makes you happy and give yourself a chance to recoup and feel better about things despite any routines or real-life pressures.

[Pickslide1992]

Hm... no huge problems, but enough to make me feel like shit.

1. Car tie rods are rooted, meaning I run the risk of losing all control over my vehicle whenever I drive it. If you don't know me personally, then cars are my absolute passion next to music. I start going weird if I suddenly can't drive mine. I feel trapped, start becoming anti-social and depressed. Being a university student, I have no money to even fix it, so I'm relying on my parents.

2. Kind of completely disillusioned with music right now, which is odd considering it's my absolute passion.

3. My sleeping/exercise routine is severely out of whack right now. I'll aim to wake up at 9:30am, and when I do, my first thought is, "if I wake up now, what am I really going to do for the rest of the day?" so I just go back to sleep and end up waking up in the late hours of the afternoon. My car is too unsafe to drive right now, I have no money, my friends are all busy with their studies and my efforts to find a job have been ongoing for literally a year and 3 months now.

It feels good to get all of that out. xD

1. I've been down that avenue before, only with other car problems, not really the one you mentioned. I hope things go great in that end.

2. Again, been down that avenue, but here's where the advice comes in. Maybe you're running on empty? You spread yourself out too thin around music that it doesn't bring as much excitement as it usually would.. We all have the times where we need refueling, reminding ourselves why we do music in the first place. Maybe it's to express yourself and your feelings, maybe you want to get a reaction from your audience, or maybe you simply want to make people happy.

3. Not sure what I can say here. I try to get to bed early on weekdays but live it up on the weekends, but that's just me.

[Ed Viper]

Okay, I can see me looking at this thread a lot until I get a real shrink ^ ^ but for now, a quick rant about my stupid-ass laptop.

Well, my laptop is actually awesome - but it has ONE fatal flaw, the screen. See, when I decided I wanted a laptop for college, I decided "Well, with the style of windows 8, it'll be really awesome if I have a touch screen, right? Yeah, I'll get the touch screen option!" BAD IDEA.

There is a built-in hardware flaw that causes random "ghost clicks" on my touch screen, usually in the bottom corners of it. It happens ALL THE TIME. I've had to click back to this page to finish my message at least twice now, because it keeps clicking the "show desktop" thing in the bottom right corner. It's also a terrible hindrance when making music, because it'll click on a random place on my playlist or in a piano roll, and I end up searching for whatever random note/pattern was just so rudely added to my song.

So, I decided I'd try and do something about it, so I looked for other people having this problem. As it turns out, EVERYONE who bought a Dell XPS laptop with the touch screen last year is having/had this problem. I believe Dell is fixing them for free, but they've discontinued manufacturing of the model with the touch screen indefinitely. Also, my laptop is too valuable to me (with school going on and all) for me to try and ship it to them. I'll just have to wait until summer, I suppose.

[Glitchhog]

Thanks guys. (: I actually woke up at a decent hour today, going to get an assignment done. I've got a friend coming over tonight to watch the new episode with and then a brony meet tomorrow, so it looks like a good few days ahead of me. Hopefully I can forget about the car for a while (although it is hard, I've been in and out of cars for the last year... I've literally had 5 first cars, haha). I have two currently, one '88 Ford Falcon and a '76 Mercedes-Benz 280SE, which I rarely drive for obvious reasons. The Falcon has the tire issues, while the Merc is more or less alright. I just can't drive it more than 40 days a year due to it being registered as a classic.

Either way, thanks for the concern everyone. (:

[Ed Viper]

Brony meet tomorrow? Not really too sure if I ever want to go to one. Anyway, have fun!

[Glitchhog]

Brony meet tomorrow? Not really too sure if I ever want to go to one. Anyway, have fun!

I never thought I'd end up enjoying them, but I do for whatever reason. I'm not really someone that takes ponies into my real life, it's more of an internet kind of thing (granted, I do have a sticker on my car), but just chilling with other fans is nice. Some are seriously hardcore though, and I'm normally pretty unsure how to handle them. It's still fun either way.

[Ed Viper]

I never thought I'd end up enjoying them, but I do for whatever reason. I'm not really someone that takes ponies into my real life, it's more of an internet kind of thing (granted, I do have a sticker on my car), but just chilling with other fans is nice. Some are seriously hardcore though, and I'm normally pretty unsure how to handle them. It's still fun either way.

Haha yeah I'm always worried about running into someone who's pretty hardcore into the show, and I wouldn't know really how to deal with them.

[Navron]

Meetups are fun and all, but what people don't seem to realize is this is still primarily a large geek following.

Meaning you'll meet some great, and some not so great people. You'll meet those who are fit, and those who can't even seem to wash themselves, and so on, and so on.

It's a large fandom, but it's still a fandom of geeks, myself included. Thus, most of us likely have some sort of introversion to our personality.

"Wait, a bunch of people who make music for a show about colorful ponies are introverts?"

I'm sure most of us are introverted, to some extent, otherwise we likely wouldn't have the patience to sit at home, all day, working on songs.

Some people don't understand that though, such as the video feed of Alex S playing live at BroNYCon. Comments included, "Man, that's a sick setup, but why the hell aren't people dancing?" "Wow, that's a rude crowd," etc.

We're geeks and introverts here. You can't expect us to get all crazy and throw down some intense mosh pit and/or grinding(molestVIAdance) moves, despite those playing being some of our favorite artists.

So I guess you could call that a semi-rant. For all of you who will be performing live at this upcoming BroNYCon, I'd highly suggest tailoring your show to be a fun, enjoyable experience, vs trying to turn the convention into a highly energized club/rave scene, which I'm 99% sure won't happen.

[Pickslide1992]

I'm in a creative slump. That season 2 finale inspired me to do some things to tide me over until season 3 begins, but I'm overwhelmed on what do musically. I have a lot of things I'm working on but I feel as if I'm running on empty and I don't want to spread myself out too thin so I give a crap effort in everything else. That and seeing how a lot of my work is getting me nowhere is frustrating while popular guys can record a collection of farts and get thousands of views in minutes.

It doesn't help I naturally have a low self esteem and I'm a perfectionist, two prime ingredients in a recipe for disaster. I want to take a break, but some of these projects (Like Balloon Party) has a deadline and I have other priorities that keep me from doing this a lot (School, stuff at home, etc). I'm way in over my head here. Feels bad, guys.