Hi /adv/
I've had the longest writers block. 3-4 years I think. Been cruising from band to band, playing drums. It's been fun, but I felt like it was all to just hide behind the fact that I can't come up with anything on my own anymore.
I've also stopped discovering new music in a good while, but I think it just comes with the age (now 24).
I've just started a new band with some friends and I feel a lot of weight on me as the progression is rather slow, since I'm the driving force yet almost incapable of creating anything new of material. Should I just up and quit and become a washed-up coverband musician?
Anyone else experiences this kind of thing?
>>16786693
How the fuck do you write material with drums?
>>16786727
I write with guitars and bass. I play drums in bands. Easier to improvise with.
>>16786727
like this
>>16786740
Sounds like you need better band mates. You're doing all the work. Do you show them how to play what you figure out and then play drums to it? Sounds like they suck and you need new ones.
>>16786749
Because people listen to drums alone?
>>16786754
>Because people listen to drums alone?
no
but you can't easily write all parts of a song on a guitar either. doesn't sound like OP is writing a whole song on drums, but I could conceive of someone starting out with the drum part when writing songs esp. if their stuff is percussion-heavy
>>16786754
They don't suck, I'm just the kind of guy that usually fixes things on my own if others around me aren't up to my standard. It's just the writing part that I can't seem to get around anymore...
>>16786760
That's the opposite of what I do. Drums come after the main chords or riff. I don't think many people start with drums. Depending on the genre, keyboard or guitar comes first. Then the bassline, melody, and leads are written around the main chords. Even in percussion heavy bands the drums usually follow the guitar to sync up with it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nMixIqIysIU&sns=em
>>16786760
Actually. I have written entire tracks with drums before. I hoped to get guitarists to fill in the blanks, but to no avail. Is this a no way to go, or have I just been horribly unlucky in finding good musicians to work with?
>>16786754
Agreed with the first. You need people in the same headspace as you.
>>16786773
I don't think you've been horribly unlucky, but it might take a guitarist who's also a drummer to pick up what you're playing and write a good guitar part to it.
>>16786772
I agree it would be a pretty unusual way of writing. but then there is no one set way to write a song.
do you usually just write guitar/bass parts or are you having trouble with lyrics?
I play guitar as well but not in bands. after about 8-10 years I started to feel like I was in a rut and was just playing the same things over and over. taught myself a little bit of piano and was able to write some stuff on that. so maybe trying a new instrument would help. something fresh for your musical mind to work on.
traveling also seems to help, especially if it's somewhere I've never been or someplace from my childhood. the farther away the better. another country or at least cross country would be ideal.
the not-discovering-new-music thing happened in my 20s too and in my 30s. it will happen periodically where you're comfy with the music you have, and if you try to listen to new stuff, you can't really get into it. but at some point it will shift, you will discover something new (or something old), and you will be back to seeking out new music.
>>16786773
Dude, that's not what you do. You're telling me that you expect a guy to make multiple riffs to match up with your drumming? You should be doing exactly the opposite of that and matching drum patterns to riffs. Jesus fucking christ bro
>>16786807
I'm 23 and for me the best way to listen to new music is to switch genres. I'm fucking bored of rock so I've been listening to a lot of funk. A couple years ago I got into classic country. I listened to some industrial/nu wave stuff as well, got into 90s hip hop, old soul music, blues, etc.
Singing along with country and then funk has greatly improved my vocal timbre and range. I can sing along with this pretty well at this point https://youtu.be/Et9b7LWfnxQ. Having a multitude of genres also expands the ideas for syncopation and phrasing.
>>16786824
this works too, I've found a shit ton of good music in places I never thought I would
>>16786824
Oh I know how this works. I've played all kinds of genres up to this point. Jazz, blues, funk, hip hop, pop, classic rock, punk (mainly hardcore) and most of metal out there including black, grind, symphonic, thrash, doom, stoner... Not classical music though, but I was knee deep in that stuff when I was growing up with a step-dad who listened to Mozart all the fucking time.
