Members Mr. Bluesman Posted March 23, 2008 Members Share Posted March 23, 2008 This has probably been covered before, I'm sorry. I'm not sure how exactly the quote goes, but Picasso said something in the lines of "If inspiration comes to me, it's going to find me while I'm painting", implying that he doesn't rely on inspiration to materialize his work. Do you agree with this? My experience has taught me the exact opposite. I have had some ideas in the past, but these would just NOT work out. I could sit for hours working on lyrics, but eventually, nothing good would come out and it would be a waste of time. On the other hand, when some things started happening in my life a while after, songs just started coming out. Whether it was love trouble, nightmares, bad luck or whatever, if I had a strong emotion and was feeling a certain way, the songs would just come out on their own. I actually wrote my first real song in a matter of a few minutes, without even thinking too much about it. The words just came out on their own and it felt sooo good. The past few months have been really dynamic (for the lack of a better term), a lot of stuff has happened to me, a lot of things have happened in small intervals of time, I've had strong emotions, and as far as songwriting goes, this has probably been the most fertile period of my life. So, what do you think? Can you force ideas? What's your situation? Are you 'on your own'? Do you write regularly, not relying on inspiration, or do you just wait for it to slap you in the face, then make a song out of the blue? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members kennychaffin Posted March 23, 2008 Members Share Posted March 23, 2008 My take on this is that you have to provide the framework for inspiration/creativity to take root and that is what Picasso was saying. I don't believe in sitting around waiting on inspiration to strike. I think (as in my sig) that one must study/learn/work at what one one wants and be aware, be open to inspiration/the muse/creativity. Inspiration alone is not enough, you have to have the skills to use the inspiration to create the end product. As an example I have several pages of ideas for songs, concept albums, etc. in the electronica/new age genre, but currently simply don't have the skills, knowledge, technique to create the end result. I'm working on it though. Strive on with awareness. KAC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Mr. Bluesman Posted March 23, 2008 Author Members Share Posted March 23, 2008 Thank you! I was thinking the similar thing... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members rjt Posted March 23, 2008 Members Share Posted March 23, 2008 I think there is a balance between inspiration....those (for me) rare moments when a tune jumps out at me and working/learning how to compose. Most of the time, I am learning about programming sounds, harmony, making music more interesting....and some of it is (IMHO!!) OK. I think that helps prepare you for the times when you feel inspired. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members eeglug Posted March 23, 2008 Members Share Posted March 23, 2008 For me, "it" happens all sorts of ways. Sometimes I work seemingly without inspiration and "force" it. Other times complex ideas pop out unaided - ideas that are inconceivable in those sweaty times when I'm forcing it. I never know when inspiration will hit...it sometimes comes at inappropriate moments while at my workplace or commuting or as sleep comes over me. Sometimes I need to really go with the inspiration and bring it to conclusion. I can't tell you the number of times when inspiration has hit me and I do a half-assed job of documenting the moment only to come to it later and find myself wondering what the hell it was that was so great about this doodle I made. I do believe in the idea that one must place oneself in conditions to allow inspiration to arrive. Sometimes it means having to still the conscious mind or somehow making the conscious mind "step aside" to allow "something else" to come through. I think this is why good ideas come to people as they are falling asleep or at odd moments when the brain is disengaged somehow. To a certain extent this probably ties into artificially altered states induced by drugs or alcohol but I would never ever advocate the use of these things, which I think would only wind up becoming an ineffectual crutch to the user. But hey, what do I know - I only occasionally drink and have never used recreational drugs. My process is that when I have the time I do what I can. If inspiration is there - great. If not, I'll try to "force" it anyway but if nothing's working I let it go. Sometimes listening to other music or just strumming songs on my acoustic will help put me in the mood. Sometimes nothing comes at all so I just open my DAW and fix some drum programming or play with a mix - or I post idle ramblings like this on the internet. BTW I find that the morning is not that great for my creativity in general. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members wwwjd Posted March 23, 2008 Members Share Posted March 23, 2008 I don't agree with any of you. I think it's 100% inspiration, 100% talent, 100% random luck, 100% just plugging away at it.... in other words, it is all of that or none of that or parts of them or just one.... it's anything. That magic can come from anywhere. Be it WORKING for long hours just to stay in the activity, or a soul momentarily touched out of nowhere. To say THIS ONE THING is the best method, or these 5 things are the best methods, is STILL putting it inside a box. Some people may work better THIS way, while others THAT way. In the end? It's ALL good, but it's our upbringing to find the BEST [perfectionism] and the top or favorite of things [competition], that removes the spice of variety from our lives and leaves us in a dirt filed garden with only one flower. I force ideas, fix bad ones into better ones, allow random inspiration to flurish, work on purpose, get possessed on accident and embrace the kaos as how life was really meant to be. Most of our life seems to be designed to SUPPRESS emotions and feelings [dont show emotion at work, be strong blah blah blah] and yet we are capable of doing/feeling all these different things! Like a bird that is told he should live in a hole in the ground and never take flight, we live suppressed. When you wake from that sedation, you can find another whole universe of creativity Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members blue2blue Posted March 23, 2008 Members Share Posted March 23, 2008 My best work tends to come when I'm feeling "inspired" (I have no doubt that this condition would show up distinctly on a PET scan or other live, chromatographic representation of the brain)... But inspiration can come and go so quickly... I've found (perhaps parallel to the Picasso story above) that keeping my participation in music and music making at a high level tends to foster an environment where, even if the moments when inspiration pops up are still not as common as I'd like, at least I've created an environment that may help me draw the moment out and get the most work out of the brief period of inspiration. Then I go back and use my conscious brain to refine and edit... When things are cooking, sometimes I can parlay that into a back-to-back period of writing-refining/editing and then writing again... Not always, of course, and that's when I try to work on existing material, shaping and refining, or just plain practicing. The one thing I know is that brief periods away from a period of musical activity can be good and productive -- since my subconscious is still working on music. But if I don't pick up a guitar or sit down at the keyboard for too long a period, inspiration will often hit me only fleetingly... and be gone, sometimes, before I can even get a guitar in my lap. For me, it's a matter of creating a nurturing environment for those moments of inspiration. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Chicken Monkey Posted March 23, 2008 Members Share Posted March 23, 2008 I've never been inspired to finish a song, but I've never started one without being inspired. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members DeveryHarper Posted March 24, 2008 Members Share Posted March 24, 2008 I think you all have good points. I really couldn't argue against any of them. For me, I prefer being inspired. I am a type of person that will go through "stages" in my life. Sometimes, I will focus my energy and time on my music, on my writing, etc. When I do this, nothing but the best comes out of me. Other times, my mind gets, I don't know, maybe bored with that, and I go to something else. Whether that something else means video games, working on the house, studying languages, etc. If I try to write music when I am within these other "stages" then my writing is artificial--canned. I write in spurts. If I forced myself to write all the time I figure everything would sound uninspired, insipid, and pretty much cookie cutter.I definitely need to write under the influence, of inspiration that is! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members MalusAranea Posted March 24, 2008 Members Share Posted March 24, 2008 So, what do you think? Can you force ideas? What's your situation? Are you 'on your own'? Do you write regularly, not relying on inspiration, or do you just wait for it to slap you in the face, then make a song out of the blue? Can you force ideas? Sure, but you shouldn't. - spidey Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members ProgRock11 Posted March 24, 2008 Members Share Posted March 24, 2008 I don't think this is a matter of agreeing or disagreeing because inspiration comes in many forms. It can come and go in the blink of an eye. It's like asking, "what's the best way to write a song?", there are so many different ways to write a song, it ultimately comes down to what works best for you. In the same terms, inspiration can come while fiddling around at the piano or guitar, or one may come up with a really great lyric which inspires the rest of the song as a whole. Many people are inspired by their emotions, while others are inspired by events, places, people, or simply a memory. Hell, Brian Wilson (of the Beach Boys) wrote some really great songs about his CAR...haha! Inspiration for a songwriter runs through the same vein as a poet's inspiration...they draw from the world around them. My suggestion; try doing the same. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members thepalpitations Posted March 24, 2008 Members Share Posted March 24, 2008 I think it's got to be a mixture of inspiration and perspiration, because either extreme on it's own doesn't really make sense to me. On the one hand, if all you do is struggle and work at your songs - and never give yourself a chance to recharge, get new ideas, experience new things - your work will obviously lose vitality. One the other, if you can only write when something dynamic is happening in your life . . . well, that might be nice, but for some of us who need to be producing songs at a relatively consistant pace, it's not particularly practical. I think the key is learning to find inspiration, not just waiting for it to show up and smack you in the face. Sure you need to have an idea, to be inspired, but you can draw ideas out of everyday life or conversation. You shouldn't have to wait for your girlfriend to dump you or your favorite team to win the pennant to write an inspired song. We need to be able to find sadness and joy and love and hate and everything else in our daily lives, then translate that into art. Really, isn't that the whole crux of being an artist? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Bryer M. Posted April 20, 2008 Members Share Posted April 20, 2008 I think if the song is going to be serious, then the insparation should come from your circumstances. But if your just gonna do something silly (like sadie hawkins dance by: Relient K) then you might me able to force it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Dean Roddey Posted April 20, 2008 Members Share Posted April 20, 2008 I don't really find that I need anything happening in my life to come up with good ideas, a lucky thing since nothing ever happens in my life. The world is full of great stories, problems, joys, sorrows, etc... It's all ripe for the picking. The fact that it's been picked a lot already means nothing. It had already been picked a lot when the people who came before us made amazing songs from these same issues, and the people before them and so on. It's all in the details of how you present it. If everyone only wrote about the things that actually happened to them, music and books and movies would be pretty boring, ya know? Personally, I'm an excessively empathetic person, so I don't find it very hard to put myself into someone else's shoes and feel their pain really. I even find that like those 'meta-songs' type of songs a lot as well, which aren't about something but about being about something, like Blues Traveler's "Hook" and that sort of thing. It's a recursive commentary on commentary. There are so many avenues like that to explore. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Stackabones Posted April 20, 2008 Members Share Posted April 20, 2008 I'm not sure how exactly the quote goes, but Picasso said something in the lines of "If inspiration comes to me, it's going to find me while I'm painting" I guess I'd paraphrase it ... "If inspiration comes to me, it's going to find me while I'm musicking." Making music can be done anywhere, anytime (for the most part). I'm primarily a guitarist, but I also sing. The voice is the root of all musicking. But I spend the majority of my working daily hours involved with music (teaching, gigging, writing) and inspiration often strikes during that time. Though I've had inspiration come while I'm dozing off, during dreams, or in other odd moments that are harder to describe. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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