How folks are making space for creativity in their lives

[SdC]

My dog is fine with singing, keyboard, and Guitar but when I play the harmonica she goes for me

Makes cats go crazy too! As well as clarinet!
 To get back on this topic: moments of musical creativity are rare for me. When I'm less busy in Real Life it comes more easily. Also, when I constantly have music around me (radio at work/car, parties, TV) it is harder to "think up" new original tunes; when I listen back to the result, it usually turns out to be a sub-conscious cover of something I've recently heard. My music comes out of silence.
Fortunately for the 99% of the time I don't feel creative, I am satisfied "just" playing tunes, improving skills and knowledge and listening to the posts here on bossbr.net!

[Geir]

Come to think of it, I've recorded vox the following places:

* Living-room, bed-room (best place!) and bathroom at my cabin
* Living-room, bed-room and bathroom at home
* My son's bedroom at nigh when he was at a sleep-over at a friends
* Walking in the city
* Walking in the park
* Walking in the woods
* In car at parking-lot
* In car at bus-stop
* Driving my car
* In the archive room at work

all of these have been posted here !

[Oldrottenhead]

pretty much the same as you geir but i think most of mine are done in the kitchen, you can hear the dishwasher and fridge in the background on lots of my stuff, also lots of my wife laughing in the background.

[Greeny]

Losing your job frees up quite a lot of guitar time, lol.

When I'm working, it's about making every second I get with the BR productive. That means being clear on what I'm recording and getting it down as quickly and efficiently as possible. That doesn't mean I rush things - I've just learned to do things right quickly and instinctively. I still remember recording songs in one take on cassette recorders - it was good training.

I record in any room where nobody else is. Even the bathroom if necessary. I don't have a cabin, but wish I did.

[64Guitars]

Here's an idea - a $30 Vocal Booth:

http://www.5min.com/Video/How-to-build-a-30-vocal-booth-26029003

Although, I think it would be better to convert a spare closet by lining it with sound-proofing materials and putting proper seals around the door.

Or, if you've got the time and money, and have some available space in a corner of your basement or garage, why not build a proper sound booth:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xbc9sckFw4M

I'd love to have one that was big enough to put my guitar amp in so I could mic it without anyone hearing me.

[OsCKilO]

Recording on the BR is like painting with Oils on a canvas.

You can Paint over mistakes with the next track.....

So Don't Delete that First recording for the sake of one F*ck up.....

[Geir]

Recording on the BR is like painting with Oils on a canvas.

You can Paint over mistakes with the next track.....

So Don't Delete that First recording for the sake of one F*ck up.....

That's the wisest thing said here in a very long time

[Diego Ayala]

Recording on the BR is like painting with Oils on a canvas.

You can Paint over mistakes with the next track.....

So Don't Delete that First recording for the sake of one F*ck up.....

That's the wisest thing said here in a very long time

This has been quite an interesting thread to follow - as usual, some of the threads get better by the numbers....

I am lucky - kids grown up - dog died - cat stayed in Nebraska - Have a multipurpose room were I sqeeze all my my music stuff plus assorted things.

My advice is - that in all the postings in here there are quite a few options -- I'll add => find a Church somewhere and ask them - the chances are they'll let you use a corner/room/basement/Sanctuary.

[Rickocaster]

I spend a total of 2 hours driving back and forth from work every day, and I use that time to make up lyrics and record them on my cell phone's voice recorder. Sometimes a guitar lick will pop in my head and I'll hum that into the phone.

I've found that it's really helpful to have a spot where you can leave your gear out and hop on it really fast when you get an idea or an urge to play. I have a corner of a room with a small desk that holds my BR-600, some small speakers and a Roland Micro-Cube. I can plug into either of those with or without headphones. Both units can run on batteries, so if the room gets invaded I can move to another spot.    I almost never fire up my "real" amps and foot pedals unless I'm at a gig.

Once a basic song idea is in my head I start laying down tracks on my BR-600 with my headphones - maybe an hour at a time.  I agree with the earlier comments that laying down the vocals is the tricky thing. It's hard to find a window of opportunity when I am alone and my vocal chords are willing to cooperate. Final mixing can be a challenge as well.

I like the idea mentioned earlier about posting photos of our creative space. It would be fun to see where all the magic happens.

[64Guitars]

I like the idea mentioned earlier about posting photos of our creative space. It would be fun to see where all the magic happens.

There's already a topic for that:

   https://songcrafters.org/community/index.php?topic=2782.msg24655#msg24655