Best time to write music for you?

ichabod

ichabod

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As I have todo a 9to5 job I'm pretty much restricted to the evenings... I've always wished I could have a solid month off some time to get properly into it , but recently I've started to doubt this would work. On the rare occasions that I do get to do music during the day my productivity is virtually zero :Sad: I just cant seem to make any headway - I sit there messing around with stuff then at the end of the day realise that I've not actually got anything to show for it.

Annoyingly I seem to only be able to work properly after about 10pm - this sucks - I can't do all nighters because of work so I find I only get a couple of useful hours of music making.

Does anyone else find this problem? Is there a remedy? Proffesionals must have the discipline to be able to write all day (and make progress) - what's their secret?
 
ahh to be a student again!
or maybe I should try and get a month off between jobs some time and 'go nocturnal'?
 
i have the same problem. Now ive started working I cant find the time. Weekends are really the only chance.

I find it helps if you get someone else around to make tunes with. If there is someone else there then your more productive cos u dont mess about trying to make sounds so much as its boring for them.

If im hung over i find im the most productive, because i cant to anything else anyway and it helps me get over the night before.
 
i seem to be in the same boat - finished my undergrad degree this year & back into full-time employment... sadly shocked at the blatant time-thievery that being a corp-whore entails.

i'm finding that rather than struggling i'm almost overwhelmed at the moment; when i do sit down, sometimes a week's worth of creative energy comes steaming out, resulting in over-complexity & over-involved wankery :Wink3:

there's been some great advice in this thread; i'd been thinking about writing ideas down, i'll definitely give it a go.

i tend to find that i'm most productive when i'm at my happiest & least time-pressured. this means making time in which to make music, but also not being too insistent on achieving / progress; what happens will happens, and you often can't rush a creative endeavour.

my temporary fix-it is to do a master's... :Wink3: actually i'm pursuing academia because i enjoy it, and more time for music is a wonderful side-effect, as it were!
 
ahh im glad someone else mentioned this as its something I spent years asking myself. My best work was always done 3am when all i really wanna do is go to bed. i could never work out why until a while ago.

i realised that when im tired I dont think about what im doing so much intellectually, everything just flows. so instead of writing bits and thinking "does this sound ok?" then going back, deleting it, rewriting it again and doing loads of bits here and there but not really getting much done, when your tired your actually in a more spiritual mindset, you feel more, your mind is shut down, less inhibitions etc.

its the same with meditation, its easier when your a little bit tired as your mind is more shut off. I dont even bother trying to make music in the daytime anymore, mainly because I learnt that anything i did in the morning would sound utter shite when listened to in the evening.....but was always waking up in the morning finding that Id made some blinding toonage the night before, and was so tired at the time that id actually forgotten most of it.

id suggest meditating before hand if you really had to make it in the daytime,
you need to unclutter your mind

well, thats my version anyway, maybe im talking bollox
 
I definatly agree with silky about meditating beforehand. I am lucky enough to have a relativly stressfree job so I can switch to music mode quite well. I think its evolved from hideing myself in my studio every time my other half switches eastenders,big brither etc on.
 
Continuum said:
I just gave up :Smile3:
Click to expand...


and i think i know why as im in the same boat > work, kids, missus (will they ever understand?) hehe leaves *very* little time for much else :Sad:

when i never had afore mentioned responsibilities i would regularly bang at it all night and noticed a regular creative period between 2 and 5 am...wicked!

nowadays, to save myself and ma wee fam from the moody frustration of me badly wanting to be on the case but not having the time or physical or mental energy for it, ive pretty much resigned myself to not writing anything at all then as and when i can (like tonight. mrs mak in devon, boy with aunty ...whopyeeahhh!!) its a much more relaxed approach and seems to be a positive one thats rubbing off on my writing :Smile3:
 
i am a slave to my creativity (but a devoted and loving slave i am). Have no optimum time for workin...... sometimes it flows, other times it doesn't. Sometimes write from 9 to 5 like day job. Sometimes i wake up at 3 A.M. and have to get in the studio and make noises. And sometimes nothing comes out from a 6 hour session.

my main pooter in the studio is a kikass laptop. where i go, it goes. So when i get that creative twitch, can whip out laptop and phones and off i go. switching from desktop to a laptop really helped my creativity. cuz as long as i have it, can make moosik where ever i am. obviously not the same as being in the studio with good monitors and other kit..... but you can still get a lot done. and being out of the studio can be very libarating. :Wink3:

:party2:
have fun....

Beat-Root:rolleyes:
 
When you are with your friends!
 
I find it nigh on impossible to start any work before about one in the morning which doesn't help with my 9 am lectures. Any ways of dealing with this would be much appreciated for the next academic year :s
 
It seems that most people do find nocturnal music sessions more productive like me... I wonder if rather than it being due to tiredness somehow helping it is actually due to the complete lack of other distractions at night? No one else is up in the house, there's no chance of going to the pub, its dark outside and you are safely ensconced in your studio (=bedroom for a lot of us I suppose). It somehow allows you to get properly locked into the task. I also find that my appreciation of music in genreal increases hugely at night - it just sounds way better! Could people have an increased artistic 'sense' and ability by night?

I really like the idea of taking a notebook around with you (the paper kind), its true sometimes when you are out at a party you get some amazing ideas inspired by the music you hear (and never remember them). Might feel a bit strange wipping out a notebook in the middle of the dance floor though! :Smile3:

Meditating also sounds like a great idea - I've never tried doing this before writing music. Maybe this would help me achieve a 'night' type mental state even in the daytime?
 
i don't seem to have a night-time / day-time distinction going on - but maybe this is because i have almost always been creative during the day?
 
I'm pretty lucky, I've managed to sort out my job so I work 3pm-11pm on weekdays....I live in an apartment, so making heaps of noise at night is something I try to avoid. So, yeah, basically....I get up at about 9am, have about 4-5hrs working on tunes...and then off to the daily grind.....

I've found this works well.....I can crank the hell out of my setup and am yet to have one complaint. The downside is that often I'll just be on a roll with something, and really need to stay put and get it sorted...but I have to make a mad dash to the office. Consequently, I haven't arrived early for work in a very long time.
:yawn: I would love to find some hot psy-friendly sugar-mama so I could just quit the fuckin job and really get on with it!!!
 
I manage it but I wish I could get back to non-nocternal just as easy
 
oh yeah - that's another problem.

music without reefer is pretty difficult for me... it's not that it's a crutch for creative energy but i just automatically skin up whilst working...

on more than one occasion i've been lost in music & realised i was late for something; headed out the door & only then acknowledged that actually i was fucking stonered beyond belief :Grin:
 
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