Musical Inspiration?

[timaeus222]

Where do you find your musical inspiration?

[Chimpazilla]

Where do you find your musical inspiration?

From you, dude! And from other power producers, Zircon and Theophany come to mind. (oh and I just love video game music) Plus that crazy unidentifiable inner urge to just make awesome sounds.

[AngelCityOutlaw]

Girls, mostly.

Or just hearing badass music.

[theshaggyfreak]

Everything. No limits.

[Frederic Petitpas]

I sampled my farts yesterday so I really don't have a clue where it comes from.

[SonicThHedgog]

From my favorite artists or songs to anything that sound great.

even so, its more important to listen to every type/ as much types of music than you own or same old usual things you would listen to. Not that you have to appreciate everything you listen to, just that you can find lots of favorable/great sounding things that could inspire in your own way kinda like how george lynch inspires some of my house songs xD

And its more important to listen to new music than to lock your self in a room or studio trying to make a hit.

and even taking walks to cool places or out side can easily inspire you. that's why I carry around a voice recorder app with Soundcloud when I have cool ideas so I can hum to the recorder!

I kinda think inspiration comes from anywhere as longs as your not ignorant, imo ;D

[Rozovian]

I've stopped thinking in terms of inspiration and more in terms of ideas and discipline.

Ideas - this is the concept, the thing that makes we want to write something, or the thing that I'm trying to write. Or it's just a silly challenge, like only using FM synths or remixing a four-note song.

Discipline - this is the hard part. ideas are cheap. Just sitting down with the idea and writing stuff until I make something usable, whatever the idea, that's hard. Sometimes, this results in new ideas, sometimes it's just a whole lot of fluff trying to space out an idea or two.

The sudden compulsion to sit down and make music comes and goes, usually when I'm nowhere near where I can actually do that. You can't rely on that.

[Dj Mokram]

I've stopped thinking in terms of inspiration and more in terms of ideas and discipline. [...]

The sudden compulsion to sit down and make music comes and goes, usually when I'm nowhere near where I can actually do that. You can't rely on that.

^ This, pretty much. It probably has to do with music as a whole being an escape from life's constraints.

Personally, it's about whether an idea is worth pursuing or possible to realize with the means at my disposal.

Nowadays, frustration comes more often from a lack of instruments or a prod issue than from writing itself.

Perhaps this is the positive side-effect of being exposed to a 'production-oriented' community like OCR.

[Cody Wedel]

Mazedude's probably the biggest inspiration in terms of creativity. His Bound Together tracks, Hot Air Penguin, Dead Raggening and Tangerine Fever are stellar tracks and I find them impossibly hard to listen to without a smile. I'm sure I'm missing a few gems given the dude has 50+ remixes but his music definitely captured my heart. I've sent a million little WIPs of random tracks to Emunator throughout the past few years and he can definitely see the Mazedude influence

Then there's Michelle Branch. I love her music, especially the Hotel Paper album which sounds melancholy in nature. My dream is to create a remix which captures the mood of the track "Where Are You Now?" and combine it with elements of Mazedude's style. Too bad that probably won't happen for a few years

Recently though, Japanese producer Tsunku's been a huge inspiration; his style is so diverse and melodic. It's definitely why I fell in love with the Rhythm Heaven trilogy anyhow. Seriously, just YouTube "Chorus Men Summer" or "Twoside" and you'll see how great of a composer he is. So beautiful.

[jnWake]

Whenever I'm really out of ideas I find inspiration in other music. Listening to music you really enjoy and analyzing the musical ideas they use is great for inspiration. Or, listening to styles that you don't usually listen to is also a good way to get inspired.

However, I agree with Rozovian. Making music is more about ideas and discipline than inspiration, since you never know when you'll get inspired!

[Garpocalypse]

When I was in college i read a lot of biographies from various composers. My favorite ones were probably Holst and Mendelssohn. Seeing how they lived was fascinating back then and if only the cost of living weren't so high these days i'd be doing the same thing.

But i gotta have my DAW. Which needs a house. Which i'm renting, Which needs electricity too. Gotta have some software. To replace the musicians that are no longer needed. Stick my food budget in there somewhere. and since i have gone this far why not play some games too? Steam wintersale you say? Looks like i'm set. .

Before i forget, Brahms was and still is, the friggen' man.

[timaeus222]

From you, dude! And from other power producers, Zircon and Theophany come to mind. (oh and I just love video game music) Plus that crazy unidentifiable inner urge to just make awesome sounds.

Haha, thanks a lot!

From my favorite artists or songs to anything that sound great.

even so, its more important to listen to every type/ as much types of music than you own or same old usual things you would listen to. Not that you have to appreciate everything you listen to, just that you can find lots of favorable/great sounding things that could inspire in your own way kinda like how george lynch inspires some of my house songs xD

And its more important to listen to new music than to lock your self in a room or studio trying to make a hit.

and even taking walks to cool places or out side can easily inspire you. that's why I carry around a voice recorder app with Soundcloud when I have cool ideas so I can hum to the recorder!

I kinda think inspiration comes from anywhere as longs as your not ignorant, imo ;D

Yep, I try to listen to many different genres, as long as the production is acceptable. If it's completely ear-splitting, of course I'm not going to listen to it. But yeah, I tend to like lots of genres, like dubstep (sparingly), ambient, electronica, hard rock, metal (sparingly), world, chiptune, etc. I tend to stay very flexible.

The sudden compulsion to sit down and make music comes and goes, usually when I'm nowhere near where I can actually do that. You can't rely on that.

Exactly. Usually my best ideas are while I'm away from my house. Like my Tornado Man remix---I thought of that while grocery shopping, and I couldn't go home for 3 days because my parents took the car. I'm surprised I managed to keep that idea intact and finish the whole track. I did replace a section, but what I had inspired me enough to replace a section with a new and better one.

Nowadays, frustration comes more often from a lack of instruments or a prod issue than from writing itself.

Perhaps this is the positive side-effect of being exposed to a 'production-oriented' community like OCR.

That sometimes happens to me. I tend to think of ideas that require some types of synth sounds that I don't have, usually ones that I don't even know how to make or know where to find in what plugins I have (like those crazy wobbles zircon can do with FM synthesis in Massive; actually, I haven't touched Massive in a long time because it just loves to crash on me and create random rendering muting glitches). I just want to someday have a go-to whatever for any song I choose to write. Like a compressor for drum punch. FerricTDS and TesslaPro MKII are decent, but I need a better one, like The Glue ($90) or Rough Rider (apparently, free!).

Mazedude's probably the biggest inspiration in terms of creativity. His Bound Together tracks, Hot Air Penguin, Dead Raggening and Tangerine Fever are stellar tracks and I find them impossibly hard to listen to without a smile. I'm sure I'm missing a few gems given the dude has 50+ remixes but his music definitely captured my heart. I've sent a million little WIPs of random tracks to Emunator throughout the past few years and he can definitely see the Mazedude influence

Then there's Michelle Branch. I love her music, especially the Hotel Paper album which sounds melancholy in nature. My dream is to create a remix which captures the mood of the track "Where Are You Now?" and combine it with elements of Mazedude's style. Too bad that probably won't happen for a few years

Recently though, Japanese producer Tsunku's been a huge inspiration; his style is so diverse and melodic. It's definitely why I fell in love with the Rhythm Heaven trilogy anyhow. Seriously, just YouTube "Chorus Men Summer" or "Twoside" and you'll see how great of a composer he is. So beautiful.

Thanks! That's the more conventional answer I was looking for.

[Argle]

From music all over the place, at OCR or in soundtracks or my mp3 library. I hear something that impresses me and think, I gotta try that. And of course I never copy it very well, but I usually learn something in the process.

Other than that, I find inspiration in Reaper, which lets me work a lot faster than I did in Sonar. I feel inspired to sit at my computer, because I know my workflow has been tweaked nice and efficient.

[Esperado]

From you, dude! And from other power producers, Zircon and Theophany come to mind. (oh and I just love video game music) Plus that crazy unidentifiable inner urge to just make awesome sounds.

i will say i find alot of inspiration from remixers on this site, and all the people willing to share the love they have for this hobby.

[Rukunetsu]

Various sources honestly. Artwork, certain shows, other types of music (From old school rap to some obscure VG track), other artists, daily occurrences in life, random thoughts...things like that.

[Xenon Odyssey]

Anything and everything.

Pretty vague, yeah? Well, it could come from an lick I hear on the radio, or from an idea I stumble upon while doing something like taking out the trash. I could be at work and have to keep an idea in my head long enough to locate a piece of cardboard/paper/something to write on to assist me in transporting the idea to a location where I can flesh it out into something tangible. I could be inspired by listening to the latest release from any profilic artist, mainstream or underground, or simply from playing some video games, from the past to the present. Inspiration can strike at any moment, and it's up to you to be able to capture those moments via paper, recorder, or some other medium so you may be able to flesh out those ideas into pieces that inspire other people.

In a perfect world, obviously, inspiration would strike when it is most convenient. However, we don't live in a perfect world, and therefore, we must handle our inspiration the best we can, even if that means sacrificing an idea or two in order to live our lives.

But in my experience, enjoying life is what spurs my creativity. And sadly, that's advice I need to follow myself.

[Garrett Williamson]

Girls, nature, Michael Jackson, and Paul McCartney, and an action-packed movie.

Weird combination.

Seriously, though, everything and anything can be an inspiration.

[CC Ricers]

Anything and everything.

Man, to have come up with those sources for sound, I have no idea how they started. But seeing other people working in the studio really does it for me.

[FertuX]

Creativity is valuable when you compose music, but by listening to the music of other artists, it´s hard to not get inspired.

A nice trick is it to remember your favourite parts of other songs and then recreate them out of your head. You won´t be able to duplicate the part 1:1 and so create something new. Vary some details like the melody, harmony and rhythm and voila!

[Haha_YouAint]

Whenever I lack inspiration or even emotion, I listen to Koichi Sugiyama's compositions from the Dragon Quest VIII Symphonic soundtrack. The one that inspires me the most is "Sky, Ocean, and Earth". The way the song begins makes me think of running/escaping and freedom. The song makes me feel free for the couple of minutes that it plays. When it ends, I start it all over just to capture that feeling again.

Another song that greatly inspires me is "Liz On Top of the World" composed by Dario Marionelli from the Pride & Prejudice soundtrack. If I could, I'd swallow that song in order to keep its essence inside of me. "Sky, Ocean Earth" makes me feel free and reminds me of freedom, but "Liz On Top of the World is freedom in audio format. It gives me the most inspiration above all others.

I guess that's why I love music so much. It makes me feel things that even people can't make me feel.

[timaeus222]

I usually don't find any inspiration from orchestral music---I don't write orchestral stuff, so it doesn't help me to listen to orchestral music for inspiration.

[Theory of N]

I usually don't find any inspiration from orchestral music---I don't write orchestral stuff, so it doesn't help me to listen to orchestral music for inspiration.

If you're looking to write music, you can translate musical elements from any genre into inspiration for another. I listen to orchestral music frequently for inspiration into my electronic stuff. You won't find better examples of musicality than in the works of Gershwin, Debussy, Ravel, Brahms... the list goes on.

Saying you can't draw inspiration from orchestral music because you don't write orchestral music is like saying you can't draw inspiration from jazz because you only write ska. If that's the case, then you're listening to the wrong parts of music. There's more to music than just genres and instrumentation.

[timaeus222]

If you're looking to write music, you can translate musical elements from any genre into inspiration for another. I listen to orchestral music frequently for inspiration into my electronic stuff. You won't find better examples of musicality than in the works of Gershwin, Debussy, Ravel, Brahms... the list goes on.

Saying you can't draw inspiration from orchestral music because you don't write orchestral music is like saying you can't draw inspiration from jazz because you only write ska. If that's the case, then you're listening to the wrong parts of music. There's more to music than just genres and instrumentation.

That's just how I am. Whenever I try listening to orchestral music, I don't hear anything that gives me inspiration. I just like it and move on.

The "I don't write orchestral stuff" being a reason is just a theory. No big deal. I tend to find more inspiration from more nuanced sounds, ones that can be synthesized with the more modern synthesizers, like some stuff that comes from Zebra or FM8 or something similar. Yes, orchestras can sound nuanced, but not in the way I'm thinking of.

It most definitely is true that I can appreciate orchestral music for its harmonies, articulations, dynamics, arrangement, and all that, but it just doesn't bring any cool ideas to my mind that I find worth pursuing. That comes from my previous experiences, not hypotheticals.