Elektron-Users

IIRC Tarekith had a blog post awhile back on this topic, or something close to it. He's pretty good at time management so it's probably worth reading through his entire archive for tips.

I fall into the same lifestyle category as a lot of previous posters -- wife progeny house dayjob etc. -- and lots of advice I'd give has already been said. A few other points I'd underline:

Make an agreement with your S.O. that you'll spend certain times doing things together, and certain other times in your studio. Mutual respect makes a good relationship.

Once you do carve out those time periods, use all your time management skills during the rest of the day so you can go into the studio feeling like you are free to be there, with no mental distractions.

Have a goal every time you start to work with your gear. If that goal is "play and have fun and not worry about finishing/writing anything", so be it; the word 'play' has more than one meaning. Other times, look at how much time you have and think of a piece of a project you are working on that you can reasonably finish in that time period. Even if it's just an hour or so and all you can do is get the levels balanced between your drum tracks on a 4-bar loop, you'll feel like you got something done. Little accomplishments add up over time, and the good feeling motivates you to do it again.

Lastly (and one reason why Elektron gear appeals so much to me): I recommend carrying a playable piece of your gear around with you at all times. Invest in a really solid carrying case (Pelican etc.) and make sure you never go to work or on a trip or anywhere without it. Maybe you won't get a chance to use it, but if you find a free hour here or there, grab it and get something else done.

It amazes me how many tracks I've sketched in cafes sitting with an espresso...

Thanks for this Dub, I just sold a bunch of gear due to the neglect of my OT. It's a dee deep machine and I have " Procrastibated" long enough. I think the OT will forgive me but may beat on me a bit along the way to get even
cheers...eddy

Great advice in here.. learning a lot and I'm recognizing things in your stories.

I remember some quote I read, it said "when you are young, you have all the time, all the energy, but no money. As you get older you'll have money, energy, but no time and as you age you'll have money, more time, but no more energy." you can never have all at the same time.

It stuck in my head for a while. I complain, but did some good studiowork, recorded some music and played great shows looking back over the past 7 months. I enjoy time with my girlfriend not thinking about, work, sound and music and I should turn my limited time spent home alone into pure studiotime! ( and offcourse time to help clean the house )

Ooh, and the tip about no internet in the studio is pure wisdom..

Ooh thanks for the nice words in this thread.

Lots of what is in here is my way- fun... internet less studio... record everything...

As for the initial problem, just focuss on the top half of this picture...

I'm in a similar situation myself. Well... let's say I've been learning for 3-4 years now how to overcome all that. GREAT GREAT advice here. I especially felt my strings vibrating when reading OldGearGuy and Nils but others too.




My personal current experience:

For years I've learnt about myself and I now know that my favourite time are the 10pm-2am hours. BUT... with the daily job etc, I often feel the need to rest in the couh in front of a movie or slack off on the internet or.. well. This is frustrating because I've spent the whole day planning a musical evening.

However, I feel I've found a solution, which has been mentionned here. A guy I sometimes play with once told me: "I'm more of the 'beginning', I prefer spring, morning etc". As I had pain to start playing at night because bed time etc, two months ago I tried to go to bed earlier -no matter I've not being playing. The aim was to be able to get up at 1am, play a couple of hours and get back to sleep. But as a result, I just wake up earlier in the morning and either don't feel I'm already running after my day or I take time to do cool things: play music for example.

Advantages: morning is way underrated!! When getting up, your brain is... muddy, ok. Coffee really helps to focus. Now, your brain is: empty. No troubles yet. No daily hassle from your boss, etc. You are NOW ready to create.
BTW I tried once that creativity stimulation exercise: once you've just gotten up, take a pen and some paper (or laptop) and have a 15-20 minutes page rush. Write WHATEVER gets in your head, don't correct, don't erase, don't think. Write what you receive, not what you (think you) create. Just try it. Anyway.
The expericence I had with morning music is that it does not matter if I don't finish things. No as much as at night. Plus it has me more motivated to continue when getting back from work.

And finally, I leave home smiling, thinking how lucky I am to have music, to have a passion, to have the time to fulfill it before going to work... to know how valuable are the mornng hours. And no kidding: my whole day is better!

You should try it, really.


[I'm so sorry this post is so long... but I think it worths being said, again ]



Now, I'll throw some important ideas -important to me at least- that have become my "mental shelter" (easy to say, not always easy to do... but worths beeing said ).

- There's a time for having things done, and time for having simple fun.

- Reading manuals, installing OS, selecting samples, achieving a great clap tonight: this is not necessarily properly "making music" but this is certainly "doing something for your music", and THAT may be what makes you feel better.

- If you won't play foar a while, it does not bother your gear.

- PLEASURE FIRST.

- Don't ever feel guilty.

- I find myself more at ease in a light set-up: keep it simple.

- The record-ready is important as said earlier: when ajmming around, at least, record a 3 minutes stuff, or a couple of riffs, patterns etc. You may shoot the frustration down that way.

- PLEASURE FIRST.

- Would you sell all of your gear and give music up?? Naaaaah! So be conscious you have the flame, even if you are not playing every day.

- huh... lower expectations?...

- and finally: PLEASURE FIRST.



My two grands (as weigh, not value). Sorry

Oh: please take a look at Lev Ylmaz' Tales of the Mere Existence - Procrastination clip on the tube

A few tips off the top of my head:

- Lower your expectations. Sounds bad, but it's not. Seriously, sometimes setting too high of goals when you don't have the time just sets you up for disappointment, and leads to more procrastination because you feel like you never get anything done. Break down any tasks you have into smaller chunks and just focus on a couple each day. Moving forward a little bit is better than not moving forward at all.

- Slow down. It's not a race, making music is about having fun, so there's no need to feel you have to rush to get a song done. Take your time, enjoy the PROCESS of making music, and don't put all your emphasis on how the end result will make you happy.

- Use your lunch breaks wisely. I would often use my lunch breaks to read new gear manuals, study music theory, research future purchases, check for software updates, etc. Use that time to get as much of the tedious and non-artistic parts of music making process out of the way as you can.

- Go portable. Get an iPad, iPod Touch, or some other portable device that will let you record ideas when you find yourself with some free time throughout the day. Looks for simple apps that let you export the midi or audio files you create when you get back to the studio. Great for lunch break music making too.

- Get rid of gear that is distracting you, use only the items you know well and truly enjoy using regularly. Having options is great but it can be distracting as well, too many choices can be almost as bad as not enough. You don't have to sell the gear you're not using (though I do), instead maybe just box it up and put it in the closet for now. Out of sight and out of mind, leaving you to focus on the tools you know really well.

- Start a collaboration with someone. Having a project in the works where two minds can contribute to the song is great for keeping yourself from getting stuck in creative ruts. It also helps to force you meet certain deadlines too, if you know the other person is waiting for you to finish your part of the song. Emphasis should be on bouncing the song back and forth often, with each of you contributing small parts on each go around. That way you're not feeling overwhelmed, and in my experience that kind of back and forth interaction gets things done faster.

- Set aside time. For a lot of people setting aside an hour each is just not practical, or perhaps they just don't get inspired that often. Instead try to plan for maybe an hour each week where no matter what you get your own studio time. Arrange it with your significant other, and make that time sacred. Have a plan mentally about what you want to try and get done during that time. It'll give you something to dream about while at work, and eliminate that feeling you get when you first get into the studio of "now what?".

Hmmm.... I think I know what my next blog post will be

^
excellent as ever T

Tarekith wrote:
- Start a collaboration with someone.
True, I forgot that one though I've just started something new

Expanded a bit on some of my ideas above:

http://tarekith.com/finding-time-for-music/

Spend less time on forums, and more time honing your craft and learning your instruments. I come here to gather info and sometimes give some insight when I can. I've been on forums where some people have over 9000 posts...then you listen to their music and it sounds like it's from the early 90's. Ain't hard to tell why.