As music producers, we all go through it from time to time – and it can be quite frustrating.
Here are my top three tips for combating “producer’s block” while working on your music production.
An excerpt from the tweet I received:
“Do you have any advice on when to make a beat? I feel like I’ve been forcing myself and I don’t want to do that.”
What is Producer’s Block?
Similar to a writer experiencing a writer’s block, I would describe a producer’s block (or “beat block”) as a point when it becomes very difficult for you, the beat maker, to produce or complete any new instrumental.
There could be a number of reasons why you may get “stuck”, and your creativity isn’t flowing like normal. But the good news is that there are a number of tips and strategies that you can implement to help you get past it and restore your creative juices again 🙂
**Here are my 3 Proven Tips to Combat Producer’s Block…
Tip #1 – Working on Multiple Sessions
In other words, instead of focusing your entire energy on completing a single beat from start to finish, try working on at least 3-4 sessions (or even more) that you can bounce back and forth between. This personally really helps me to keep my tracks progressing along nicely. If you ever feel stagnant or like you’re forcing your musical ideas for a given track, you can simply save your progress on the current session and move on to the next one. This way you can escape the “bubble” of the track that has you stuck, and you can keep the creativity flowing with a different concept.
Tip #2 – Listening to Music for Ideas & Inspiration
Getting ideas and inspiration by listening to various types of music, songs and instrumentals can also be a really great method for getting yourself out of a “beat block”. As much as we like to think our ideas are 100% original, as creatives we are directly influenced and pulling ideas from the music we listen to regularly. In other words, the music that you input is going to have a direct impact and influence on the music that you output.
Another aspect of your session you could be stuck on is the arrangement. In which case I would recommend watching the video I shot a while ago on how to arrange a hip hop instrumental.
Tip #3 – Music Cleanse
Sometimes you’ve just got to take a break! When the first two strategies aren’t working to help combat your beat block, it may be time to fall back for a short period of time. Maybe a few day or one week hiatus will do the trick?
Maybe you’ve experienced going on vacation or some other considerable period of time when you’ve completely taken a step back from making beats. And when you come back to the music, everything feels new and exciting again… and you’re ready to get back to make inspired, high caliber music.
And if you’re running your own music business and selling your beats online, you know that there’s a lot more business, marketing and administrative work to be done than the actual music creation. So unless you have strict deadlines or projects you absolutely must finish, it may be best to put the music away for a spell and work on what’s coming naturally to you at the time.
Summary
All in all, these are the few strategies that have helped me over the years to combat producer’s block – and I hope they can offer you some help as well 🙂
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About the Author
Travis Cole has been operating TCustomz Productionz, LLC full-time since 2011 and hopes for it to serve as a source to help many music artists, producers and entrepreneurs worldwide achieve their dreams of success.
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