General Music Chat

Have you ever written something, end up having to wait to finish it until the next session/week/whatever and then kind of lose your mind during the time between sessions?


I was in the middle of this tune with LES and it ended up taking on this life of it's own.
I mean, for a solid week my stomach hurt and I was about stressed to the maximum. I was really starting to wonder what my major problem was and trying to avoid conflict because I knew I was ripe for it.


I showed at the next session and it's almost done, but won't be finished for another week yet. (next session) And yet now I don't have any of these symptoms, nor feel any anxiety..what gives?


It's almost like I accidentally got into it to the point that it was making me ill.
I still feel strongly about it but I am nowhere near as conflicted and anxiety ridden as I was, THANK GOD.

Anyone else ever experience something similar to this?

The next time someone tells me that we are staying in the studio until it's done, well let's just say I have a new respect for that kind of dedication.

The recent band changes were as close to drama or stress we have ever been.

Generally if I feel it might be stressful I just walk away from it.

My "day job" is enough stress for me. I'll not tolerate it in any other aspect of my life.

God willing I won't have to tolerate it there much longer either.

It happens to me as well. I switch guitars, maybe play some scales in the approximate tonality of the song I'm struggling with.

I have a song called "One of things that Smart Boys Do" which I wrote in '09 and finally was able to play towards the end of last year. I could hear it but I couldn't play. Had to learn a lot to do my own song.

Be glad you are able to do it at all. There are millions of people who never experience that. I feel for them. Truly.

Talbot

Have you ever written something, end up having to wait to finish it until the next session/week/whatever and then kind of lose your mind during the time between sessions?


I was in the middle of this tune with LES and it ended up taking on this life of it's own.
I mean, for a solid week my stomach hurt and I was about stressed to the maximum. I was really starting to wonder what my major problem was and trying to avoid conflict because I knew I was ripe for it.


I showed at the next session and it's almost done, but won't be finished for another week yet. (next session) And yet now I don't have any of these symptoms, nor feel any anxiety..what gives?


It's almost like I accidentally got into it to the point that it was making me ill.
I still feel strongly about it but I am nowhere near as conflicted and anxiety ridden as I was, THANK GOD.

Anyone else ever experience something similar to this?

The next time someone tells me that we are staying in the studio until it's done, well let's just say I have a new respect for that kind of dedication.

I get like that, when I have to fill out my 1099...

But seriously... One trick I have learned (when in creative Mode) is break and break often... We can get so absorbed that it turns into a python and suffocates us... Song writing is a lot like laying an egg...That's painful enough... But Then some bastard wants and expects us to produce it with the hollandaise sauce... That's Fing stressful... And it don't just apply to song writing...

Try a couple of bong hits.

BELIEVE ME, no bong hit or anything else would have moved that giant, boulder sized rock in my gut. I am just relieved that it took care of itself as strangely as it showed up.

I never dealt with anything even remotely close to that; performance-wise, LSAT, 1st time at the driving test, 1st date with a woman I reaaaaalllly liked or anything remotely close. It's a big mystery to me.

And I hate to say it but if I had that to expect every time I played out or otherwise, I would have to give it up as I don't think I could do a good job while afflicted and the pain isn't something I would consider "making the best of".

WRITING! WOW thats a deep subject. You are creating something from nothing.
You want it to be good but somehow you have no control of it yet it is
100% you. It makes you go places and think things in your mind that you
never under any circumstances would have done without that reason.
This sound in your head that came from your soul I guess. Lyrics that expell
feelings and thoughts from what seems like someone else. Yet it is all you.
You astound yourself all alone in a room writing. You find sounds and
combinations of sound that move you emotionally and hope others hearing it
will also be moved as you are. Sometimes in your struggle to wrap it all
into one meaningful entity called song. You discover or stumble onto or
into a secondary song that creates a conflict of which one to finish first
or put your energy into most.

WRITING! WOW thats a deep subject.
A gift to some. A curse to others that dread the turmoil and frustration
that comes with it. Others idolize and admire those that can. A juggeler
of emotions. A manipulator of hearts. The ability to absolutley grab the
attention of many, simutaneously and make them smile or tap their toes
or cry or sing along without choice.

Dont ever take for granted what you have been given.
Grow it and cherish it.
Carry it with you wherever you go and YOU will smile without choice.[/b]

I can't think of a single song that I have written that has not gone through multiple changes and revisions. I keep them all as 1, 2, 3, and so on. That way, if I should stray too far from the original idea, I can get back to it. The same with working out an instrumental. Sometimes getting too absorbed in the creative process may cause you to loose your way. At least that is how it works with me.

I get very hung up and upset by "the sense of completion".

As in, I can't revert back to normal until I finish.
Sometimes it's not an issue, other times it feels crippling.

It's like painting the outside of your house halfway and the feeling you get while you wait for the rain to subside so you can finish it.

(did the rain f**k it up)
(is the paint can sealed and covered)
(will I need the other guy to help finish the trim)
(are my brushes ok)
(are the neighbors calling the cops yet) lol

The only thing worse is a conflicting or contradictory influence.

i.e. That's a nice shade of blue, but green would look better to me..