Trouble focusing on individual songs?

[hm11]

Hello all,
I think I have a problem. It hit me about 15 minutes ago after starting an idea for a song in my DAW. For years I've been fighting some kind of "writers block" where I will feel really inspired to make a particular type/style of music but never finishing it, then moving to another type of music to then be on the same vicious cycle of not finishing it. Nowadays Ive been making time for writing music, making beats, etc in efforts to "rekindle" my creativity. I've been observing this pattern for a long time now and I believe this is a big factor that's contributing to my 'slowness' when releasing music.. When it will make the most sense to record the vocals of song X, I'm in the mood to record song Y, but song Y is not even finished, hence my constant battle. After organizing my works to better see where I'm at I was able to map out like about 3 EPs; all songs and or beats incomplete.. In the surface it looks like a problem with organization but its more like not being able to "stay on track" with one song, I would have a propensity to think about future songs, if that makes any sense.

The reason why I'm putting this here is to ask for advice on what should I do? How should I even release music when I would have plans for an EP but then ideas from out of nowhere would come, and to not grow cold I write them, then I start making the beat, hopefully finishing it, then recording it..
how should i manage this? and to add complexity to this, all the songs in the EPs do not stand on their own as singles (since I thought about maybe releasing singles too) but as part of a project.

This whole thing actually feels like when you try to speak but people constantly wont let you finish your sentence; they talk over you. This is as best as i can put it.

[RyanH]

I have a very similar problem, but no solution as yet.

In my case, I get an idea and start recording sketches of the parts, then start trying to perfect the arrangement and the sounds. At first it's a lot of fun, but eventually trying to fine-tune it gets more and more boring and frustrating. In the meantime, a new idea comes to my mind and I start working on it so I won't forget it. Then the cycle begins again.

I have probably 2-3 albums' worth of unfinished songs that I think sound really good, and a bunch of people I've told about how much time I spend on music but with nothing to show for it.

It will be interesting to see other peoples' responses to your post.

[tavasti]

Someone is selling $$$ courses 'make more music fast', and from his marketing material it is possible see that method is this:

1. Generate plenty of ideas / starting points for song. You have this part already covered
2. Export all of your ideas to audio files, so that you can listen every song without opening it in DAW
3. Listen your songs, and select few (3-5) which are most potential
4. For every of those few songs, listen them again, and make plan what would be next, doable step to make them better. Step should be something you can make in 2 hours or something
5. Go thru all of those few songs, and make those steps to make them better, and export them to audio files to make it easier to listen them
6. Jump back to point 4, or if you have something ready to release, jump to 3 for selecting more material for your looping.

[erlkönig]

...to escape that trap with sketches, i usually invite different people for helping to develop a song. I found (for myself) that the reason for not continuing working on ideas that lie now for decades on my harddrives and DATs is simply the loss of an perspective from outside. Of course, sometimes it's hard to see an idea evolve in another direction, but in the end it brings a big value for the music and usually we have a good time personally. And if i don't like the direction, i'm always free to stop it.

[Linuxmusician01]

You're describing everything in my life...

Anyway, some say creating something is 10% inspiration and 90% perspiration. As an example you may want to try to listen to Roger Waters' original demo of 'Money' (is it in the immersion box set?). And then listen to what David Gilmour made of it for the album. Getting an idea or inspiration is the fun part (10%). Then it simply becomes work and you must experience some "pressure" (external or internal) to actually finish it (90%). It may help if you're a professional and you must finish an album in time.

So some hobbyists do not try to make a song and just noodle.

[hm11]

Thank you all for your replies, they all really do help. From what i read it sounds like the solution lies in embracing the process and taking on the discipline, or rather a better word would be responsibility to see these ideas through.

[hm11]

You're describing everything in my life...

Anyway, some say creating something is 10% inspiration and 90% perspiration. As an example you may want to try to listen to Roger Waters' original demo of 'Money' (is it in the immersion box set?). And then listen to what David Gilmour made of it for the album. Getting an idea or inspiration is the fun part (10%). Then it simply becomes work and you must experience some "pressure" (external or internal) to actually finish it (90%). It may help if you're a professional and you must finish an album in time.

So some hobbyists do not try to make a song and just noodle.

Sounds like gold, ill check that out.

[Linuxmusician01]

You're describing everything in my life...

Anyway, some say creating something is 10% inspiration and 90% perspiration. As an example you may want to try to listen to Roger Waters' original demo of 'Money' (is it in the immersion box set?). And then listen to what David Gilmour made of it for the album. Getting an idea or inspiration is the fun part (10%). Then it simply becomes work and you must experience some "pressure" (external or internal) to actually finish it (90%). It may help if you're a professional and you must finish an album in time.

So some hobbyists do not try to make a song and just noodle.

Sounds like gold, ill check that out.

Even professionals jam and noodle just for fun.

Finishing a song is simply long and hard work that you may not enjoy all the way. Even some professionals find it boring. I think it helps if you must finish a song for an album. Take the example from the demo for 'Money' (by Pink Floyd from the album "Dark Side of the Moon") again (link Youtube). To me it sounds horrible! I wouldn't have used that for an album or a single! But if you're in need of a starting point to produce something in the studio, the studio costs a lot of money, you're on tour, you only have a day or two to decide what to use, your manager is bitching about time and money, you're tired, etc, etc. Well, maybe you have to.

Sometimes it doesn't really matter what you use to finish a song, as long as it's finished. We non-professionals (I carelessly assume that you are, sorry) have the luxury that we can postpone everything and anything and as a consequence we will.

Remember that every artist (be they painters, directors musicians, or who-ever) never considers the work that we adore to be "what they intended" or finished. Roger Waters re-recorded "Dark Side of the Moon" recently and it is the most hated album of all time. The original, may it not be to your or my taste, is unassailable the world's favorite. Same goes for Star Wars. To the world's eyes it's perfection. George Lucas however keeps on fiddling with it. They even tried to make a 3D version of Pac Man for crying out loud!

I guess we have to reluctantly work on something for a long time after the 10% inspiration. Even if it's in 7/4 time signature and you can't make heads or tails from from it. Turn it into a blues song, switch to 4/4 for the parts you add and get on with it. Worse case scenario it's that one song everybody skips on the LP, but at least you can move on to the next song and clear your To Do List.

Have fun making music and the best of luck to you!