Any advice for one man musical projects?

To make a long story short, it is not really practical to get a live band going and due to my work schedule and the area I live in, it's quite difficult to jam with other musicians (apart from my wife).

I have all the tools necessary to produce music, the only thing I'm lacking is motivation and drive. What drove me in the past were my band mates and upcoming gigs. I have neither at this point.

Any advice?
 
Yes. It often happens when you buy gear to record yourself. You can get stuck in manuals and searching forums. Then motivation flies out the window. Remember your motivation, if any of this rings true. For me, music is in my hands, my mind and comes out of my guitar. I'd suggest playing a lot of guitar. Not searching for tones so much. Not trying to figure out why this program doesn't work right. Maybe an acoustic. Write a whole bunch of songs, if that's what you do, without using a DAW. Just guitar paper and pencil. Or learn a bunch. Then at the end of the month, you might have 10-20 songs. Or three! Now you have something to produce in your DAW.
 
I happened across this guy in a bistro in Rochester . The guy who ran the place actually asked him to turn the music up so the guys in the back could hear it better. I'd never heard that request before LOL. He really has his live thing down. Rhythm guitar, lead guitar, vocals, backing vocals, bass, percussion, uke, all built in real time with his looper



It works great live.
 
Having released a solo 1-man album a few months ago, I found it best to start composing with the rhythm section first, then add in guitar. I'd lay down a track with Logic Drummer, then compose with bass over it. That gave me enough to go on to create guitar parts that fit. Probably the one downside to this approach is that computerized drums cannot react to your playing....there's little in the way of synergy and playing off each other that could happen with a real human drummer.

For guitar and bass it was all Axe-FX, outside of acoustic guitar. A little unsolicited plug:

 
What about solo acoustic shows?
Doing those always motivated me to learn new songs and keep up with my craft.

I've gone down this road before and it basically just corners me into acoustic playing. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, but at the end of the day it's now what I'm trying to produce.
 
Having released a solo 1-man album a few months ago, I found it best to start composing with the rhythm section first, then add in guitar. I'd lay down a track with Logic Drummer, then compose with bass over it. That gave me enough to go on to create guitar parts that fit. Probably the one downside to this approach is that computerized drums cannot react to your playing....there's little in the way of synergy and playing off each other that could happen with a real human drummer.

For guitar and bass it was all Axe-FX, outside of acoustic guitar. A little unsolicited plug:



Awesome! How did you go about scheduling time for this? And most importantly, how did you stay motivated throughout the
 
Just keeping it to an easy pace. Truth be told, I had a personal stake in this. As a youth I played in a succession of bands that weren't very good. We're talking lacking the basics, such as tuning and timing issues. When I set to creating my own music, I made a vow to myself that I wouldn't release it unless I personally liked it. Also, I'd have to be realistic and ask myself if someone who wasn't my mother listened to this, would they legitimately enjoy it? So, personal pride and self-esteem played a big factor in motivating me.
 
I have recorded a few albums with bands, and also did a solo album. The solo album was the hardest, at least for me. I did all the composing, arranging and producing, but I did use a more experienced engineer for the recording and mixing. I have a couple of thoughts regarding your post.

As for time, you have to make the time, or it will never happen. I scheduled time for working on songs, arrangements, rehearsals, etc. For my solo album (Lifelines) I played many instruments myself, but I also used friends. Thankfully, without exception, they did not expect or want payment, although I did pay for studio time and did pay the engineer. The point being, I have always kept myself very busy, so I had to schedule the time.

As for writing tips, drum loops with various rhythms can be pretty inspirational for riffs. Playing songs backwards (reversing the chord sequences) can offer fresh ideas as well. When writing, I stop listening to radio, or any form of recorded music, otherwise I just rewrite somebody else's songs. Not on purpose of course, but it is easy to create a song that is really just a modification of another song.

My best songs write themselves pretty quickly, at least as far as the melody goes. After I have a strong melody, then I work out the details. Even before I have lyrics, I hear certain sounds or phrases that just have to be in the song. McCartney's classic "Yesterday" actually started life as "scrambled eggs". It may sound stupid, but it works as a writing tool.

When working on my solo album, I did not make any attempt to make it a "guitar" album. Most of the songs had guitar in them, but I tried hard to let each song stand on its own, some without any guitar at all. So, at the risk of sounding like a Nike commercial, just do it.
 
How did you go about scheduling time for this? And most importantly, how did you stay motivated throughout the
Make appointments with yourself. Put it on your calendar.

Then go to the meeting. When you're sitting there, staring at yourself from across the table with nothing on the agenda but writing and recording, get to it. It's surprisingly effective.

If you still find yourself not sticking to the agenda, ask yourself what the holdup is, and what's more important than the agenda. Don't respond until you've heard the entire answer. ;)
 
Thank you all for your insight. I hope this post didn't come off too gloomy, but I've pretty much reached the point in my musical endeavors where I'm indefinitely on my own.. after years of jamming with the same guys it seems as if that is all slowly dissolving.

At this point, I'm the only one making phone calls, trying to get people together to little or no avail.. The writing on the wall is pretty clear at this point.

Again, thanks for the support. It means a lot more to me than you realize.
 
I think much of the advice given in this thread is very good. I would just add this: beware the right brain/ left brain issue! Meaning that 'keep your creative time separate from your technical time'. That's why @henryrobinett 's advice of just guitar, paper and pencil is so 'right'. Nothing will chase the muse away like stopping to read the manual or figure out why your recorder is not behaving as you want.
 
I think much of the advice given in this thread is very good. I would just add this: beware the right brain/ left brain issue! Meaning that 'keep your creative time separate from your technical time'. That's why @henryrobinett 's advice of just guitar, paper and pencil is so 'right'. Nothing will chase the muse away like stopping to read the manual or figure out why your recorder is not behaving as you want.

I'm actually pretty good at doing the whole 'paper. pencil. guitar' thing except I tend to get really lost in my creativeness. This often results in a lot of writing but no retention of any of it. The simple solution is to record my sessions, which is fine for the short term. However, fast forward a week or so and I'm back at square one trying to get back on that cloud to recall exactly what I was trying to convey with those riffs. At this point, I usually abandon the original idea and try to come up with something better..

This cycle usually gets repeated until I finally gather and recall enough material to call a composition.. Mind you, getting to this point can take a good while on my own.
 
Yeah. Understood. But I've finally accepted that if I can't remember it, it might not have been worth remembering anyway. Wasting is ok. Good even. What you retain is what remains, which is what is worth remembering, worth keeping. I know that doesn't always hold true.

I just got very fast at writing down. I hated recording it because then I was stuck with whatever impressions I made when recording it. Imperfections, tempo, mistakes. If I played it back too much I became attached to the wrong, lame version, just because I played it over and over again. If I just play it newly on the guitar and think about it, the form can change. The key and tempo and riffs move around like it's alive, which it is because it's living in my mind. Much better place for it there. I like to keep the creative energy fluid and moving and creative. As soon as I record any form of it, it can become stagnant.

My two.
 
Find again the love in your craft. Wake up and do it again.....

p.s. It's always funner with real badass musicians, but
suck it up buttercup and milk those backing tracks....sad but true

oohh learn to use a looper, kills time... smile
 
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