Repeating myself

[Ahornberg]

Have you ever thought about repeating yourself?

Sometimes when I listen to my own music I feel this "ouhg, that's just another repetition".

It seems to me that there is one abstract tune behind all my tracks ...

... maybe I can't even make something new because of this :frustrated:

What do you think? What are your experiences in repeating yourself (if you even have that)?

[S1gnsOfL1fe]

I think this is something that happens to all of us, even to the guys who have been producing for years and have sold tons of records. There comes a time when your creative process ends up more like a routine than "being creative" and the only thing you can do at that point is start experimenting.

When I'm stuck in a loop, I do a few things to help jumpstart the creativity again:

1.) Change the way you go about the same tasks. If you're laying the same synth part over and over again, try doing it differently. Construct the chord differently. Use more octaves or voice the chords a different way.

2.) Switch up the tools you are using. Dig into the ol' plugin folder and revive some old gems that still run on your system or synths that you don't use as much.

3.) Layer on the effects. Sometimes putting a filter on a synth, or reverb or delay can totally change the way something sounds. Try adding effects to stuff you never added to before.

4.) Experiment, experiment, experiment! Don't forget the key element is creativity is PLAY. Have fun with it and don't give up...your next discovery could be right around the corner.

Cheers and best of luck!
-S1gns

[DarkenedPines]

^
Im constantly going back to a lot of old recordings and changing things. Its actually waht I spend most of my music producing career doing. Just tinkering with sounds.
Im sure I have and may still repeat myself with things, but I guess it was just me exploring that one idea. When I first started making albums, the entire thing would be focused around this single idea I had for editing something. So i would record a bunch of shit a bunch of different ways, then post edit all of it into something awesome using that idea. Now I try to expand a little bit more. Add things I used to use to things I learned recently. Ive recently been getting plug-ins and shit like that for my programs too so I can see what else there is.
I actually got so much stuff I got a bit over whelmed and now Im always just messing with things again, not really being 'too serious' about what Im making. I really should spend more time exploring things before I call it quits. either way. Its just a really enjoyable learning experience/hobby. I dont find repeating myself that much of a problem.

[aoVI]

My take on repeating oneself is fairly close to DP's, though S1gns gave some great advice on getting out of comfort zones and seeing what happens.

I hear similarities in many of the things I make. Heck, the album I put out a couple days ago is 80% reworked pieces. :biggrin: I tell myself its my "sound". I can predict my next album will most likely contain plenty of over-reverbed decaying and modulated tape-emulated loops of piano-like sounds mixed with the high end rounded off like a cheap cassette left too many times in the sun.

Perhaps there is something you are expressing artistically that hasn't been expressed like your muse thinks it should. Or maybe it's like when you try too hard to fall asleep and can't. Relax and let go, don't focus on it.

I think it'd be good to find a balance between trying new approaches as S1gns pointed out, and not being too concerned.

[manducator]

Well, I sometimes too have the feeling that my music is too similar. But when others listen to it, they don't notice much similarity.

Yes, after some time you develop a certain way of creation (first sound design, or writing chord progression first) but that doesn't mean the end result is the same.

We can't be neutral to our own music because we know how it's made but others don't and they won't find similarities that easy.

[MaximumMovementTheatre]

there's some good advice up there. Above all do the music for you. And repetition? Klaus Schulze has lived off the same chord sequence and solo for years ;)

[Ahornberg]

reading all yours opinions I more and more come to the conclusion that for me the question behind is: Do I like my own style? :daydream:

[Ahornberg]

While listening to my older tracks and choosing some of them for my first album I realized that I'm not repeating myself all the time. I wish I could continue on where I was 10 or even 15 years ago, but that's not possible. I grew older and my music became darker and more extreme. The "nice times" are over. Maybe they are gone forever, maybe they will come again some day. I don't know and I don't want to know that now!

[windspace]

As another member wrote in his post "it is what it is". Celebrate it!

[seismic1]

Don't forget that repetition is how genres are born.

As long as you are happy that your music is progressing, or developing from one track to the next, I think that is the most important thing. There is bound to be some degree of repetition, whether it be a melodic or harmonic device, soundset or rhythmic component. As long as you are introducing new elements into the mix on a fairly regular basis, I think you shouldn't really be particularly concerned.

I find it quite interesting resurrecting older components and re-integrating them into new works in a different context at a later time.


I repeat myself when under stress.
I repeat myself when under stress.
I repeat....

[aoVI]

ha! the lyrics of Indiscipline would more or less work as a reply to the OP (replace look/see with listen/hear);

I do remember one thing.
It took hours and hours but..
By the time I was done with it,
I was so involved, I didn't know what to think.

I carried it around with me for days and days..
Playing little games
Like not looking at it for a whole day
And then... looking at it.

To see if I still liked it.
I did.

I repeat myself when under stress.
I repeat myself when under stress.
I repeat myself when under stress.
I repeat myself when under stress.

I repeat...
The more I look at it,
The more I like it.
I do think it's good.

The fact is..
No matter how closely I study it,
No matter how I take it apart,
No matter how I break it down,

It remains consistent.
I wish you were here to see it.

I like it.

[Maharg]

I do like King Crimson.

[seismic1]

When Indiscipline was released, I thought the lyrics related to a Rubik's Cube, which appeared in the UK at about the same time. It was only much later that I found out that it was about a particular piece of art. Those lyrics are certainly applicable to a lot of things that I do...not listening to it for a couple of years to see if I still dislike it.

[Ian Haygreen]

I find myself coming back to certain sounds again and again. Part of my brain says "you need to come up with a new sound." Another part of my brain says "but I like this sound at the moment and it fits." Occasionally to break this I'll use old VSTs which haven't been used in a long while or just make some new field recordings to muck around with.

[Ahornberg]

I find myself coming back to certain sounds again and again. Part of my brain says "you need to come up with a new sound." Another part of my brain says "but I like this sound at the moment and it fits." Occasionally to break this I'll use old VSTs which haven't been used in a long while or just make some new field recordings to muck around with.

you got it to the point