How folks are making space for creativity in their lives

[peterp]

I work from home (still employed, unusual for someone in North America in my IT field),
and the kids have all moved away.

But somehow I seem to have less and less time to myself. It is all taken up by either work, or house maintenance tasks, or "she who must be obeyed", or fooling with getting a post retirement (getting way too close for comfort) business running.

I find now the only blocks of time I can get is if I stay up late at night around 1 or 2am, and then cranking the volume is not an option.

As for writing I find the best time for me is in the tub, always take a pad and pen with  me.
Used to take the old underwood but that went away when ribbons became unavailable for it.

[T.C. Elliott]

I think I need time, not so much because of TIME (minutes, hours), but more to take off all the pressure. I can't stand this "I'm alone at home for 2 hours, I got to play and be creative", so I usually tend to do more covers than originals.

I'm the same. I need unlimited time to work on a recording so that my mind is not distracted by something I need to do an hour or two later.

For me it is different writing than recording. But sometimes it isn't. (Is that clear as mud?) So if I'm doing a recording that is gonna be shared with others (that's rare) I try to separate that part of the creative process and focus on it exclusively. That doesn't mean that I won't tweak a song that is already written or being polished, but I try to divide up my time accordingly.

And that makes me wonder. If you are limited on time to record would it be better to separate the recording into smaller tasks? If you only have two hours at a time (or even one hour) wouldn't it be better to set up the click and record one part. Say the rhythm guitars in that two hours. Then in your next block of time you'll do the bass, or the bass and the second guitar part. Then in your next two hours you'll do the drum track or the organ track or both. And then the vox or whatever. Then spend time mixing, but break that down, too. You're gonna get drums/bass close in these two hours. You're gonna get all the guitars close in these two hours. You're gonna focus on the vox in these two hours.

And the best part, if you break it down like that and you get "done" (it's never really done, right?) in under two hours you can start on the next thing. And eventually you might have a system that gets a lot done in a shorter amount of time.

[Satchwood]

hmm, very cool banter here!!  I've kinda of had to shift gears... a life shift right?   So i've been playing more often absolutely 100% sober, and getting way to anal with all the guitar stuff lol   But as soon as i can relax with a few brewskies... voila....   creativity!   I think i just need to lay my engineering-brain down and pick up my creative half!   and a few beers (or wine for piano) seems to work wonderfully!!

Sometimes i just find a backingtrack or drum beat, and just start noodling... trying to create a melody or two,... and then bingo a song is born!

[Blooby]

I guess I am lucky Hubby doesn't care and when he sees me with my cans

(snicker)

I'm afraid I am in a cycle where I come home from work and drop.  I have seen a few concerts, but if I pick up the guitar, it's for a quick noodle.  John and I only get together for gigs save for the odd practice.  I'm hoping school will settle down, but it never really does.  Have to focus on some time management one of these days.

I'm with Tony.  When I'm cutting the grass or doing other chores, I tend to find a little spark.

Peace.

Blooby

[Speed Demon]

There's a sign on the door to my music room. It says:

"When the door is closed, trespassers will be cooked and eaten".

Works for me. And it cuts way down on the weekly grocery bill.

[peterp]

Now there's an idea, and I just got a new freezer too!  

"When the door is closed, trespassers will be cooked and eaten".

Hum seem to be seeing this lack of time issue frequently in this thread.
I suspect this is due to time itself shrinking,
all the minutes are much smaller now than they used to be so you can't fit as much "stuff" as you used to in them.

Or you are simply trying to do too much.
Maybe time to simplify.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oqeSUAlI5uI

[ODH]

The baby's four months old now so I get hardly any time to pick up a real instrument, much less record.

But I got an iPhone a few months ago and some music apps which I can play with in lunchtime in work, so I now have a whole new workflow.  And the apps cost me a few quid as opposed to the £1k+ I spent three years ago on kitting up my man-cave (which is now called the Nick Cave).

When I know I'll have a couple of hours to record (usually a Saturday afternoon) I have to plan and plan and plan and plan.  Otherwise it all goes to shit.

[Greeny]

I work better under pressure. Because I only get limited time (often between midnight-2am), I have to make the best of it. It helps focus the mind and makes me grateful for the time I do get, rather than resentful for the time I don't.

It helps (as I explained on another thread) that I'm recording fully planned and written songs when I finally do get the shiny brick of dreams out.

And like Nick, I make use of travel time and other spare moments by using Garageband and Thumbjam as other avenues to explore. Sometimes I'll do the basic track on the MBR with regular instruments, then add virtual ones on the bus / train.

I pretty much mix everything directly on the MBR, but I do sometimes tinker with Audacity on my work computer (at lunchtimes, of course!).

I write my songs in little bursts generally. Ten minutes here and there on my acoustic guitar. I'll come up with a chord progression and let it ferment for a bit, then I'll slowly shape the rest of the song over time.

I'm lucky - my girlfriend likes listening to me play and sing, so I can do my writing / practising anywhere I like.

Note: In the last few years, I've had periods of gardening leave where I've had 3 or 4 weeks of potentially uninterupted song time. It doesn't work for me at all, as I can't write enough good songs to make use of that time. Also, it's tempting to just lie on the sofa watching Jeremy Kyle or playing Grand Theft Auto! So sometimes, time isn't everything.

[Oldrottenhead]

i write and record pretty quickly, so if i have a spare hour, i generally grab anything at hand and record something anything (i take my microbr everywhere). always under pressure,i am always busy and there is never enough time in the day for me, i have seen myself trying to finish a song 10 minutes before i leave for work.

generally i have no idea what i am going to do, occasionally i might have a riff or melody going round in my head. but i think the time between songs is just spent sucking in and experiencing life so when i do get some time, stuff just spills out of me.

i really wish tho that i had time to learn to play the guitar properly but i never have the time. hopefully i can get some lessons in norway.