I’m sure many have run into this in the past or are stymied by it currently. I’ll no doubt have it again in the future. I may obsess over what has me stagnant. I have plenty of ideas, but am realizing that some ignorance of how to accomplish things in my DAW or that I keep second guessing some part of the track. I frequently visit https://venustheory.com/home and watch the YouTube offerings. It does help with realizing my hesitation or lack of motivation. I realize the answer is on me. No one can magically complete MY ideas for me. Well, I suppose AI or a ghost-bedroom producer, but then it wouldn’t so much be MINE/OURS. I trend towards mine as my associates are distant and occupied by other endeavors and priorities. I have no problem with that directly, but it has hindered my creative process some.
To keep this short, I will do what most of us have read or realized; set small goals with the end goal in mind. We should make bad music as Venus Theory has taught me. I take this as whatever you start out with, finish it, to the end, regardless of how it sounds,(looks, tastes, feels, etc.) It may spark something else or maybe somewhat works and the tweaking is the next step, not just frozen on the precipice. You may hate it, but that’s good, too. It’s a sort of constructive criticism on yourself and take advantage of that lesson.
To sum this up today, I’m going to create something tonight, in full and follow it through. I’ll release it one way or another and just see where it goes. I enjoy experiments and as I’m writing this, I am buoyed by the idea. Maybe it will be a nautically-themed track about buoys! Maybe at some point, we can make this a challenge. Stay well.
-SW