I melted my brain and abandon my mpc. :(

I finally dug my mpc out of its box inside the larger box inside of an even larger box full of boxes.

It's crazy, I used to spend all day using this machine and now I cant seem to motivate myself to create something like the magical thing that existed in my brain a few years ago DIED in the sewer of my mind. lol

What do you guys do when you burn out? Some folks can make beats infinitely I make a bunch of ok things, never format them, abandon them and then just sorta swirl downward into the abyss of repetition.

I've prob made less than 20 beats this year. Since i don't release anything or work w rappers the motivation sometimes falls by the wayside

Ultros wrote:I finally dug my mpc out of its box inside the larger box inside of an even larger box full of boxes.

It's crazy, I used to spend all day using this machine and now I cant seem to motivate myself to create something like the magical thing that existed in my brain a few years ago DIED in the sewer of my mind. lol

What do you guys do when you burn out? Some folks can make beats infinitely I make a bunch of ok things, never format them, abandon them and then just sorta swirl downward into the abyss of repetition.

Well first of all give yourself a pat on the back for pulling your MPC out of all them boxes
Now, for getting back into making music, get your Nike on & Just Do It!

sometimes it helps to do things with the unit which are pure-for-fun. dial back the the balance of fun<->serious-work to the left, until you feel joy again.
break rules. if you have a routine "which always work", fock it, do the opposite.
do some skwee tracks
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jf_J9OKSK1Y

I'm on the spectrum which leads me to hyper-focus on one thing intensely for several weeks before migrating on to something else. My focus has always been music, but I flip between genres. Problem is, as I have started "working" for other people, I need to keep some kind of consistency going- and so the motivation ebs and flows, compounded by the fact I have around 10 hours across a week where I can actually do anything musical.

A couple of things that help me:

1: Allow yourself to get bored. Don't reach for the phone, don't doom scroll. Sit on your hands and let your brain rest. As boredom kicks in, I start thinking about things to do. If I can, I'll direct that towards a project. I don't jump straight on to the machine, let the ideas brew for a while... like a few days, then give things a try.

2: admin days - backup the drives, rummage through the folders, tidy up your filing system. I usually stumble across something abandoned that can suddenly spawn an idea.

DellAtreides wrote:
A couple of things that help me:

1: Allow yourself to get bored.

Interesting post, Ultros. One I struggle with too. I dunno, motivations change as we grow. I used to make music in the hopes of getting a record deal. I was younger, in tune with club culture, living the music. Now I'm 50, a widower (who just got engaged - POW!), and there really isn't a "point" to me making music apart from just to noodle around. Life changes us, man.

Love this advice about being bored. Boredom is great. Sometimes I might not even listen to anything in the car. I go through phases of this, kinda being bored for weeks, maybe even months, and then a little spark that I can't put out hits. Does it mean i finish projects? **** no! But I enjoy being creative until that spark flames out.

I was in a boredom phase last weekend and just decided to check out the new oscilator thing you lot have been talking about. It's GREAT! Anyway, that was enough to get me back into song writing mode. At least for now.

It's a journey for sure.

I had a period of producing a few finished tracks in the self-contained MPC, but kids have overwhelmed me - so now the purpose of my music instruments has become foolish live jamming with the kids, using one-knob-per-function devices... Just as good, but an entirely different activity. Embrace the changes, surf the wave of life !

I guess I now know why the synthdad stereotype exists.