your own worst critic

[kaboom]

i'm working on a song on my computer (reason) right now and i keep deleting every new part i try to write, OR if i actually like a new part, it makes me dislike an old part.

i'd take a break, but it's to the point where i get like this pretty much as soon as i come back to the song. what you do you when (if?) you get yourself into spots like this?

[kbit]

Maybe try just jamming to the piece for a bit, just having fun. Or work on/play/do something else and let it stand for a while. Trying to rush it probably won't help.

& maybe it doesn't need anything else?

[kaboom]

it's still a skeleton right now. it's an 8-bit/fakebit version of this song. i've got a frame to work off of and plenty of ideas to borrow from, but it's like i have dozens of tiny little ideas floating around between my ears that don't sound right when i hear them out loud together.

[Bellyheart]

Yep it happens a bunch. Usually I settle on a part that I feel works, than I write the whole song out. Eventually, after hearing it a few times I find how the song moves and it changes itself naturally, you just have to settle on something. Later, you'll start appreciating everything. It really takes a while to be content really. That's the way of the beast.

[sonidero]

When I get stuck I go and do hood-rat shit with my friends then come back to it later... Just finish one sound or track or whatever all the way through and don't spend too much time doing fifteen little things...

[Bellyheart]

I'd go do hood-rat shit if I were you.

[dubkitty]

1. put this song aside totally and work on a different track. i always like to have two or three things on the computer at once so i can switch from project to project if i burn out on working on a particular track, which i ALWAYS do at some point/s.

2. keep a bunch of parts whether you like them at the moment or not. you've got loads of tracks to use up, yes? try four or five different things, and then compare them. wait a few hours or overnight before comparing.

3. play with a radically different tone or style than usual, or play a different instrument. i find it particularly heplful to switch between guitar and keyboards/MIDI keyboard controller.

4. don't assume that the part you're working on now has to be Just Exactly Perfect. think of your current process as using a sketch pad. embrace the uncertainty.

[madmax1012]

i do this all the time. even when people tell me that it sounds good, i refuse to believe them. so when i need some ideas i usually just try to jam out some newer ideas, listen to some new music, smoke some ganja, etc