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Author Topic: How do you guys deal with ''Writer's Block''?  (Read 2789 times)

Offline KennyKen

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How do you guys deal with ''Writer's Block''?
« on: August 24, 2015, 10:20:35 AM »
This is a common thing for us guitar players, Maybe some of you guys can share  a better, effective  and more efficient tips than I can, but here's  what I do, when ideas doesn't flow well, I usually :

1. Copy a guitar riff  or solo from an album that interests me (or from a YouTuber) then I add my own twist to it.
2. I rest for a couple of days, doing movie marathon and not listening to any guitar-oriented music
3. Tumutugtog ng song-hits using my acoustic guitar  :-D
4. Lift weights


Offline red lights

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Re: How do you guys deal with ''Writer's Block''?
« Reply #1 on: August 24, 2015, 10:29:50 AM »


im into this "block" for a long time, sobrang wala talagang magawang bago  :-(
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Offline sonicassault

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Re: How do you guys deal with ''Writer's Block''?
« Reply #2 on: August 24, 2015, 10:36:58 AM »
This is a common thing for us guitar players, Maybe some of you guys can share  a better, effective  and more efficient tips than I can, but here's  what I do, when ideas doesn't flow well, I usually :

1. Copy a guitar riff  or solo from an album that interests me (or from a YouTuber) then I add my own twist to it.
2. I rest for a couple of days, doing movie marathon and not listening to any guitar-oriented music
3. Tumutugtog ng song-hits using my acoustic guitar  :-D
4. Lift weights

if strictly writing guitar lines, I find that this works well for me, and is especially helpful for rock/pop/funk bass too:

1. pick four notes. Only four notes, no transpositions, no octaves, just those four notes.
2. set a metronome to 120bpm
3. plug in to a recorder and start rolling
4. keep on playing anything with those four notes and don't stop until you're tired of doing the exercise. note that there's no fixed style or key so if you suddenly play into a different groove or time sig just keep doing it again and again as long as it keeps to the click. there's usually three to five really groovy riffs in there.

if it's lyrics wise, I just write about food then change the food-related nouns and pronouns into people. trust me, you can replace any song's contents to make it talk about food, so it means you can do the reverse to aid your songwriting.

https://soundcloud.com/sonicassault
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Turn up the sympathsizer and give me more waffle.
olive oil garlic tomatoes salt pepper basil oregano thyme chili

Offline KennyKen

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Re: How do you guys deal with ''Writer's Block''?
« Reply #3 on: August 24, 2015, 12:43:38 PM »

im into this "block" for a long time, sobrang wala talagang magawang bago  :-(

I've read in a forum that buying a new gear could somewhat create a spark or something...could be true though

Offline red lights

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Re: How do you guys deal with ''Writer's Block''?
« Reply #4 on: August 24, 2015, 12:46:38 PM »
I've read in a forum that buying a new gear could somewhat create a spark or something...could be true though

makabili nga ng les paul  :-D
Kahit na nasasaktan, Hindi pa rin mahindian


Offline KennyKen

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Re: How do you guys deal with ''Writer's Block''?
« Reply #5 on: August 24, 2015, 12:54:30 PM »
Pero sabi nila, pag ang musician daw nakaka-experience ng writer's block usually yung emotions niya nasa gitna ng spectrum (neither happy nor sad)  and I tend to agree with this....The greatest Rock songwriters are/were  somewhat Angry Bipolars...Creativity usually sprouts when a person feels something different than normal

Offline sonicassault

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Re: How do you guys deal with ''Writer's Block''?
« Reply #6 on: August 24, 2015, 01:07:46 PM »
I've read in a forum that buying a new gear could somewhat create a spark or something...could be true though

lahat binili ko na (phoebus na gitara, multi effects, Maschine Mikro, bagong drumsticks) hindi naman nakatulong  :lol: kelangan ata telecaster eh  :lol:

Pero sabi nila, pag ang musician daw nakaka-experience ng writer's block usually yung emotions niya nasa gitna ng spectrum (neither happy nor sad)  and I tend to agree with this....The greatest Rock songwriters are/were  somewhat Angry Bipolars...Creativity usually sprouts when a person feels something different than normal

mukha namang totoo yan, but not all the time. may mga block kasi na may gusto ka ilabas pero hindi dun sa original vision mo. contrary to popular belief hindi lahat kailangan ng inspiration or spark. minsan simpleng moment lang sya, na nagkataon na nabuo mo nang madali kasi dumating lahat ng elements nang sakto lang. alam nyo yung mga kwento na yung mga riffs galing sa drills? parang ganun lang, minsan kailangan mo ng ibang tao para ma-recognize mo na may nagawa ka na pala, i-build up mo lang sometime later.

personally, it took me a solid 5 years before I wrote my second original song. I just kept trying pero wala. then one night nakaupo lang ako sa liko ng FX stuck sa ortigas traffic. pagkatawid ng stoplight sa ortigas cor c5 tapos na yung kanta, lyrics, notes, chords (pero syempre naka-note lang sa notepad). wala namang inspiration or spark or strong emotion. it's my first non-food, "serious" song.

https://soundcloud.com/sonicassault
Quote
Turn up the sympathsizer and give me more waffle.
olive oil garlic tomatoes salt pepper basil oregano thyme chili

Offline red lights

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Re: How do you guys deal with ''Writer's Block''?
« Reply #7 on: August 24, 2015, 01:13:58 PM »


kailangan din siguro na active sa banda, kasi nung active ako sa banda halos kada week may bago akong materials, kaya naka-almost 20 songs din nagawa ko nun sa metal band ko. kapag nag-iisa ka kasi medyo walang flow din ng tunog na gusto mo marinig gaya ng drums and bass, mga fillers ganun
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Offline sonicassault

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Re: How do you guys deal with ''Writer's Block''?
« Reply #8 on: August 24, 2015, 01:38:29 PM »

kailangan din siguro na active sa banda, kasi nung active ako sa banda halos kada week may bago akong materials, kaya naka-almost 20 songs din nagawa ko nun sa metal band ko. kapag nag-iisa ka kasi medyo walang flow din ng tunog na gusto mo marinig gaya ng drums and bass, mga fillers ganun
tama din yan. andami kong hilaw na ideas kasi mahirap mag-further ng sarili mong idea. ang hirap maging Beck or Stevie Wonder.
https://soundcloud.com/sonicassault
Quote
Turn up the sympathsizer and give me more waffle.
olive oil garlic tomatoes salt pepper basil oregano thyme chili

Offline red lights

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Re: How do you guys deal with ''Writer's Block''?
« Reply #9 on: August 24, 2015, 01:41:06 PM »
tama din yan. andami kong hilaw na ideas kasi mahirap mag-further ng sarili mong idea. ang hirap maging Beck or Stevie Wonder.


siguro kung tamang acoustic lang, pwedeng makagawa agad eh, pwesto ka lang sa bintana at akustik, makakagawa ka na ng kanta
Kahit na nasasaktan, Hindi pa rin mahindian

Offline sonicassault

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Re: How do you guys deal with ''Writer's Block''?
« Reply #10 on: August 24, 2015, 01:49:47 PM »

siguro kung tamang acoustic lang, pwedeng makagawa agad eh, pwesto ka lang sa bintana at akustik, makakagawa ka na ng kanta

yun pag ganun na simpleng awit lang, kayang kaya yan!
https://soundcloud.com/sonicassault
Quote
Turn up the sympathsizer and give me more waffle.
olive oil garlic tomatoes salt pepper basil oregano thyme chili

Offline jm the mute

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Re: How do you guys deal with ''Writer's Block''?
« Reply #11 on: August 24, 2015, 02:38:53 PM »
dapat may struggle ka sa buhay


haha
"there is a fine line between art and mukhang T-A-N-G-A"

https://soundcloud.com/jm-the-mute

Offline shoegaze geezer

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Re: How do you guys deal with ''Writer's Block''?
« Reply #12 on: August 24, 2015, 02:39:23 PM »
try to find the most gorgeous girl you can possibly meet. try to be friends with her, ask her out and court her later on. i'm sure she will just turn you down coz most gorgeous girls are into hip-hop, djs and cars. of course they are not into guitar geeks like us.

so when depression sets in...that's the cure for this "writer's block" thing.   :lol:
"I look at yours, you laugh at mine. And love is just a miserable lie"

Offline sonicassault

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Re: How do you guys deal with ''Writer's Block''?
« Reply #13 on: August 24, 2015, 02:48:58 PM »
try to find the most gorgeous girl you can possibly meet. try to be friends with her, ask her out and court her later on. i'm sure she will just turn you down coz most gorgeous girls are into hip-hop, djs and cars. of course they are not into guitar geeks like us.

so when depression sets in...that's the cure for this "writer's block" thing.   :lol:

I don't think it's worth it  :lol: di ko naman kikitain sa kanta yung gagastusin ko sa chicks!  :lol:
https://soundcloud.com/sonicassault
Quote
Turn up the sympathsizer and give me more waffle.
olive oil garlic tomatoes salt pepper basil oregano thyme chili

Offline KennyKen

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Re: How do you guys deal with ''Writer's Block''?
« Reply #14 on: August 24, 2015, 04:50:11 PM »
I wonder kung merong nagbebenta ng LSD sa Pinas  :-D
Curious lang ako if it'll boost my creativity  :lol:

Offline sonicassault

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Re: How do you guys deal with ''Writer's Block''?
« Reply #15 on: August 24, 2015, 05:07:11 PM »
I wonder kung merong nagbebenta ng LSD sa Pinas  :-D
Curious lang ako if it'll boost my creativity  :lol:

yung mga drugs at substances na yan, parang captain america lang yan. makes the good great, makes the bad worse. so kunwari magaling ka sa metaphors pero sabog ang grammar mo, siguro wag ka na lang magdrugs.  :lol:
https://soundcloud.com/sonicassault
Quote
Turn up the sympathsizer and give me more waffle.
olive oil garlic tomatoes salt pepper basil oregano thyme chili

Offline KennyKen

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Re: How do you guys deal with ''Writer's Block''?
« Reply #16 on: August 24, 2015, 05:27:06 PM »
yung mga drugs at substances na yan, parang captain america lang yan. makes the good great, makes the bad worse. so kunwari magaling ka sa metaphors pero sabog ang grammar mo, siguro wag ka na lang magdrugs.  :lol:

But I wanna try  it.... a one-off acid tripping would be a cool experience  :-D

Offline sonicassault

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Re: How do you guys deal with ''Writer's Block''?
« Reply #17 on: August 24, 2015, 05:35:57 PM »
But I wanna try  it.... a one-off acid tripping would be a cool experience  :-D
alam mo paps para libre, mag freon ka na lang, tirahin mo yung mga aircon ng kapitbahay mo  :lol:
https://soundcloud.com/sonicassault
Quote
Turn up the sympathsizer and give me more waffle.
olive oil garlic tomatoes salt pepper basil oregano thyme chili

Offline royc

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Re: How do you guys deal with ''Writer's Block''?
« Reply #18 on: August 25, 2015, 08:36:34 AM »
Read mode lang coz nangyayari din sa kin yan :D

Offline red lights

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Offline sonicassault

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Re: How do you guys deal with ''Writer's Block''?
« Reply #20 on: August 25, 2015, 09:06:42 AM »

pwede siguro to dito


http://8list.ph/8-songwriting-lessons-you-can-learn-from-the-eraserheads/

+1 sa figures of speech. pwede ka makagawa ng kanta galing sa isang salita lang
https://soundcloud.com/sonicassault
Quote
Turn up the sympathsizer and give me more waffle.
olive oil garlic tomatoes salt pepper basil oregano thyme chili

Offline guitaricci

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Re: How do you guys deal with ''Writer's Block''?
« Reply #21 on: August 25, 2015, 06:16:44 PM »
Merong mga drum loops apps na may random beat generator. You can try that.

I forgot the name of the app (nabura ko na) pero kaya nya makapag generate nung "Purdie-Bonham-Porcarro" half-time shuffle. I get to play along with it and make my own riffs and licks with that shuffle.

Also, i try to learn the vocal lines of some songs and then use them to create new riffs and licks.  :-)
Its not the kill, Its the thrill of the chase...

Offline sonicassault

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Re: How do you guys deal with ''Writer's Block''?
« Reply #22 on: August 25, 2015, 06:38:23 PM »
naisip ko lang ngayon, pwede mo irecord yung performance mo sa play-along track, tapos patayin mo yung play-along, siurado there's a riff in there somewhere  :)
https://soundcloud.com/sonicassault
Quote
Turn up the sympathsizer and give me more waffle.
olive oil garlic tomatoes salt pepper basil oregano thyme chili

Offline charles55

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Re: How do you guys deal with ''Writer's Block''?
« Reply #23 on: August 28, 2015, 12:42:54 PM »
iba tlaga pag writing session kasama ng banda.

we can write riffs on our own, tapos i-present sa mga kabanda pag nag writing session. mas lumalawak ung idea.

Pero minsan ikaw lang may interes, ung ibang kabanda wala. haha

Offline treblinkalovescene

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Re: How do you guys deal with ''Writer's Block''?
« Reply #24 on: September 03, 2015, 12:28:27 PM »
When I hit a snag, I swap instruments or start writing for other projects. I've learned to not depend on my mood for inspiration because I'm clinically depressed, which is basically the emotional equivalent of eating mashed potatoes when you have a cold. I tend to write songs faster when I do the basslines first.
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