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Studio Cabin Fever

Calaverasgrande

Calaverasgrande

Apr 22, 2006
4,698
223
Not on Talkbass.
#1
I have had this issue for a while now. Basically I go pretty far out of my way to have a studio space. Usually a rental in a rehearsal complex. I fill it with gear. Put up posters, mood lighting, burn incense etc. Even when I am not in a band I like to have a place to "study" music, practice, jam and just keep my gear in a place where I can make loud sounds.
But a lot of the time when I get down to the studio I just want to get out. I end up jamming for a while then making excuses to leave. Feel like I am wasting money renting the studio!

Is there a methodology or practice to keep you productive in your studio?
Do you take regular breaks? Bring Snacks? Meditate?
I swear I almost want to pay some Feng Shui guy to shake a stick at my studio.
 
#3
yeah, I guess I was spoiled by living in large warehouses and barns in the sticks. Most of my life I've been able to roll out of bed and be playing drums or bass with my morning coffee. It's only in the last 5 years that I have had to rent a studio. But then now I can AFFORD to whereas before I only looked at living situations where a home studio was possible. Which meant rough neighborhoods (nobody calls the police about anything much less band practice). Or being far enough away from other houses that it didnt matter. Like when I lived in the country.
 
#6
Years back I rented a studio space to jam at. Seemed like just the drive over there and the anticipation of feeling the bass would get creative juices flowing.
After I bought a house and had a room to do this in but the buildup wasn't there.
What helped me was physical exercise. Get a rowing machine or stationary bike. Work at a piece for a few minutes and stop before you hit a brick wall do a little something something physical and go back.
Just the change in mental focus lets my creative muscle relax.
Doesn't work out in a social situation but solo its been great.
 
#7
+1 to switching b/w exercise and practicing/composing. A simple kettleball or a set of bike rollers at your rehearsal space can make a big difference.

Also, if you hit tough patches in practicing, it can help to have achievable short-term goals. Also, focused practice time divided into short chunks can be much more productive than a three hour block with no goals.

For periods when you are less motivated to compose (or simply less inspired), it can help to have regular sessions with collaborators. It can also help to get inspired by watching old movies, reading more, going to museums, taking a course (MOOCs are good for this), taking a camera and looking for photo ops along a theme (architecture, cars, people, or whathaveyou that look like they have an interesting story—age, violence, regret, unrequited love, etc). You might also try listening to Pandora stations playing unfamiliar genres or playing songs you don't know. Its also sometimes helpful for lyrical ideas to mishear other songs. Try listening to an unfamiliar set of songs (again, Pandora or Siriius, or somesuch works well) at a volume that's just too low for you to make out anything but the loudest bits. I find that if I catch a syllable or two, my mind will often rewrite a line to fill in what it can't hear. (For example, a line from the Police's "Spirits in the Material World" might be creatively misheard as "We are dusty and soul-eyed" instead of the original's "Where does the answer lie?"

Finally, a few books in which I've recently been finding good songwriting inspiration: Pat Pattison's Writing Better Song Lyrics (which suggests some useful regular exercises), Marc Sabatelli's Harmonic Language of Jazz Standards (especially for adding some outside colors to pop and rock songwriting), and Blake Snyder's Save the Cat (pitched for screenwriters and now a Hollywood cliche, but still useful to songwriters looking for ways to give more of an arc to their lyrics and song structures).

I hope some of that's helpful.
 
#9
I've already got the whole "studio in a bag" thing. I travel a bit, so I've gotten into the habit of always carrying a Zoom H4n when I do. It works as a recorder, or as a USB audio interface. Garageband also is not half bad as a DAW. Just wish it had the editing tools of it's big brother.

But getting back to my studio. Even when I play bass along to a drum machine I want it cranking out of speakers. Not brutally loud, but enough that I can get my amp into it's comfort zone. This is not compatible with most places that I can live at. Also, playing drums generally is going to be loud.
I think I may try and de-clutter my studio. It has a lot of books and electronics projects lying around. Maybe if I can shift that to my apartment and pick up a free CL couch?
I suppose I can put up a curtain to hide the clutter that isn't going anywhere.
 
#10
I make my rehearsal space / project studio so that the only stuff there is music related. No couch, no TV, no video games, just instruments and the items I need to produce records. I have limited time when I go there, so I always get right to work.
Have something in mind before you go.....what I do is take notes throughout the day about what I want to get done, in no particular order, so that way, when I do get a few hours at the studio, I have a list of things to knock out.
right now it has things like:
- write guitar harmony for song x
- adjust bass pattern for song y to match w/ new kick drum
- record organ solo at bar 32 of song z
- clean heads on tape machine
- inventory cables

Things like that. If I can knock out a few of these each session, songs come together much faster.

But yes, I do have mellow lighting and posters on the walls.
 
#11
Slough Feg Bass said:
I make my rehearsal space / project studio so that the only stuff there is music related. No couch, no TV, no video games, just instruments and the items I need to produce records. I have limited time when I go there, so I always get right to work.
Have something in mind before you go.....what I do is take notes throughout the day about what I want to get done, in no particular order, so that way, when I do get a few hours at the studio, I have a list of things to knock out.
right now it has things like:
- write guitar harmony for song x
- adjust bass pattern for song y to match w/ new kick drum
- record organ solo at bar 32 of song z
- clean heads on tape machine
- inventory cables

Things like that. If I can knock out a few of these each session, songs come together much faster.

But yes, I do have mellow lighting and posters on the walls.
Click to expand...

Slough Feg has organ solos now?:confused:

seriously though, yeah I have been kind of doing what you describe. I actually think that is part of my problem. I am kind of getting into this "work" mindset with my music and I am very aggressive when it comes to work! So when I run into obstacles that can't be brute forced or easily worked around I end up getting frustrated.
"okay I'll sit here and shift this drum machine pattern over by one measure, by erasing every measure after that and reprogramming it from scratch. "
Gotta love vintage analog gear right?
I've posted a similar topic on a few other forums,
and a plan of attack is starting to emerge.
I'm going to move a lot of my clutter back to my apartment.
Then I'm going to put everything that is stying here in some kind of large container, all the same color. My goal is to create a more visually homogenous environment.
I WILL pick up a couch on CL merely because right now the only place to sit is behind the drums or on the floor.
I'm also going to move my recording gear to the back wall and push the amps over by the drums.
I was trying to maintain more distance between them to make recording demos easier, but I use pretty darn cardiod mics usually so it doesnt really matter. It's also kind of annoying squeezing past the recording gear to get to everything else.

Long term, I think I need a studio with a window.
 
#12
Little bit of an update.
I'm pricing out patch bays (to smooth the edges of my workflow when recording) and I think I may be getting one of the Redco dsub-TT patchbays.
It adds up really fast though!
  • patchbay $500
  • 2-20' 8 channel snakes- $328
  • 2-3' 8 channel snakes- $220
So about $1100 yikes!
And that is the cheap patchbay.
 
#13
I'm worried about a similar situation. Presently I've got a fully treated studio in my spare bedroom. Monitor stands, listening position with full cloud, all of my instruments, mics, MIDI, etc. just down the hall. My wife and I have decided that we need more space in the house, and until we can get around to adding that second story, I'll likely be moving my studio to an off-site space that I'll be renting. The one I have in mind is a 5 minute drive from my house, but I worry about that separation, and the lack of being able to walk down the hall and do work if something strikes me. I'm optimistic that having a dedicated space where I'll set aside specific time to work will focus my efforts, but ultimately I have my doubts.
 
#14
An update
I moved half the gear in my studio around so that the DAW stuff in all on the far wall away from the drums, and the amps are next to the drums.
Not terribly practical, but less claustrophobic.
I also spent about $70 at Ikea on some of those black storage bins with lids.
So the random clutter on shelves is more organized and less visually cluttered.
I'm putting off the patchbay upgrade until I get my tax return.
My next step is to sell a bunch of my junk on CL so I have less stuff piled up in there.
I'm not even using 90% of the pedals, basses or synths I own.
Besides, I just bought an expensive Mac Pro. Need to pay that down now.
 

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