As a musician, it can be hard to find new ideas, especially if you've been producing music for a long time. Here are tips and tricks to help you find inspiration when you feel creatively stuck.

Limit yourself

I once tried to use a Roland JS-30 as my sole sampler. The JS-30 is a very limited sampler from the 90s, and by trying to get the most out of it I learned a lot! When I came back to my computer, I had a new set of skills and a better understanding of sampling techniques.

Analyze music that is new to you

As a listener, it can be easy to stay in your comfort zone. Exploring music you wouldn't normally be interested in, giving a chance to varied genres of music, and analyzing what you hear will help you find new ideas.

Being as open-minded as possible is key to getting the most out of listening sessions.

Remove distractions

As human beings, we have limited attention spans. Fragmenting it with constant distractions makes it harder to finish what we started. Going back and forth to something is just more demanding.

What you want is to focus as long as possible on making music by turning your phone off and asking your relatives to respect your work schedule.

Create your own world and make yourself as comfortable as possible to let yourself go into creative mode.

Take ideas from other forms of art

I'm a graphic designer as well as a musician. I noticed that there are a lot of similarities between the two art forms. For example, I like to add grunge and texture to my designs, I feel it gives it an edge compared to super clean designs. Why not do the same thing with my music?

The trick is to take something you like in another art form and ask yourself how it could be translated into musical form.

Read

It might sound like weird advice but I noticed that when I take the time to read, my mind just works better. You can read anything as long as it's challenging enough to force your brain to think and pay attention. Reading the news won't work. I read books and long articles, then go to sleep, and it completely refreshes my mind.

That's it for today!

Have a great Friday!

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