For the past 120 days I composed and recorded an original studio quality song. Now everything I am about to say is only credible if you believe the songs don't suck. You can listen to an example here, or just take my word for it.
Below are some helpful tips I used to stay creatively motivated when taking on this daunting task on my own. I truly think these tips are all unique and useful, nothing you may find on wiki-how when you search “How to Stay Motivated” between binge watching 30-rock for the 10th time. Here it goes...
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Your Schedule is Your Friend: Before I started to project, I had literally ever hour of my day planned out from January 31st to June 26th. This was crucial. If the schedule is set up for success, and you follow the schedule, you will be successful.
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Involve Others in your Process: I decided to livestream the composition process. This held me accountable, as well as provided a sort of time stamp for the songs. Despite there only being a handful of people watching, it forced me to stick to the schedule as to not disappoint them, or sacrifice the integrity of the project. If you are one of the people who tuned into the livestream everyday, from the bottom of my heart thank you. I truly believe I could not have made it through without you.
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Tell Everybody About It: I take a lot of pride in being somebody that does what they say they are going to do. I blasted the project on Social Media, told everybody I knew despite sounding like an insane person. If the next social gathering I attended a fellow comrade asked me how to project went and I had to say “I didn’t finish it because insert bad excuse here I would feel like a totally nimrod, and would literally want to die.
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Sleep Less: There are only so many hours in the day. When I first began the project I would strive for the 8 hours. I found myself accomplishing far less, and my stress levels were much higher throughout the day. Little tasks add up. Sleep Less.
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Drink Less Beer: I am not against drinking my any means. However, what I found throughout the project that it was subtly hindering me in a way that only made things unnecessarily difficult and stressful. For example, when I would start mixing I would crack a warm one alone. Not getting hammered or anything, but this could turn a 3 hour task into a hour without even realizing. Even more importantly, (referring back to tip 4) it affected my work the next day. If I drank a fair amount the night before (which was most nights) I was not able to wake up at an efficient time, or with a fully functional brain. Trying to be creative when you are hungover is near impossible.
I hope you found that useful, please keep reading if you are interested in the dirty of the actual project.
My Process
Every week I would write 6 songs. The instrumentation is purely one acoustic guitar, and a loop pedal (with some suspended cymbal). I took Monday’s off to relax and catch up on anything in my personal life, although in the end it just turned into working on the project. At the halfway point I took a week off to regain sanity and finish up a record with my other band [Shit Ghost.](shitghost.bandcamp.com)
This was my average day:
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Livestream the Composition Process (30–60 mins)
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Record: (2–3 Hours)
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Mix and Master (2–3 Hours)
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Upload and any Miscellaneous Butt Work (30 Mins)
On average it was a 7 hour daily commitment. When I started the project in February, I was excited and somewhat mentally prepared for what I was trying to accomplish. What I did not expect was the intense mental toll that it would take on my brain, and the physical toll on my body. For those 7 hours, both the right and left side of my brain felt like they were going full bore. While writing and arranging the song took a lot of creative energy, the recording/mixing/mastering really worked my analytical side.
The first week went well, the second week went okay, but by the third week I had reached a point where I felt it was never going to end. My personal life was beginning to suffer, due to the massive time commitment. It was difficult to remain mentally present around others, for my mind was always thinking about what I had to do next for the project.
I began having massive mood swings. The smallest thing would send me over the edge. I would scream at the top of my lungs exactly like the Tourettes Guy (only real), when I could not play a part right, which was often because if we are being honest my guitar skills are sub par.
I was tired all of the time, I had no sex drive, I would barely eat, and I was having trouble communicating effectively. Like I couldn’t speak in coherent sentences. I operated in this state for the next 100 days.
On the very last stream, as I was playing this final melody that I like to put into many of my songs as a symbol to close the project, I started to cry. I still don’t know what emotion it was. Kind of happy, sad, relieved, but I cried.
It was the most artistically drained I have ever been. I do feel it was a turning point for me to grow as an artist and a person. I was able to find a unique sound of my own. If I would have done one thing differently it would have been taking better care of my health. I would regularly go over 24 hours without eating and basically only are coffee and rainer.
As far as what's next, I am compiling a "best of" album for the project, that will feature 15-20 songs. I won't re record anything, but I will spend a good month or so mixing them so the sound quality is much better. If you are interested in that you can preorder it for a $1 on Bandcamp as well as download the entirety of my discography (132 songs) for $1.20.
I wrote basically this same post on Medium if you want to read it in a non-reddit format as well. If your into the tunes I would be honored if you would follow me on Spotify, the support really goes a long way.
Any questions please message me. Thank for reading!
Submitted July 01, 2017 at 10:47PM by horseboob http://ift.tt/2sytiYO
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