Music Making Tips - Tip 3 - Vary Your Sound

One of the common reasons for so called "writer's block" in music making are relentless attempts to squeeze juice out of the same instruments and samples over and over. Sounds familiar? Damn yeah!

Say, you have made a couple of tracks that you are really happy with using Ableton's Operator as your main synth. You've made solid baselines and amazing keys and lead harmonies. It all sounded oh so great. Now you want to fire up your DAW and repeat that rewarding experience of making music with the same synth again. However, it just does not sound good anymore! No matter which presets or tweaks you apply it will sound dull and tedious.

Why is that? The answer lies within the human body. After many days or weeks working with that sound your ears are so used to its character that no matter what you do it will sound boring. Your ears are plain simple tired of it and need time to reboot. It's the moment you have to stop torturing yourself.

Instead, start spending time looking for new instruments and samples. I am not advocating for spending tons on new VST's, samples, or hardware. Not at all, sometimes small investments make a huge difference. If you research it well you may end up spending as little as 30 euros and get yourself fully busy with the sounds, synths or effects you bought for the coming month. More often than not professional makers of virtual instruments and effects like Waves, FabFilter, Arturia and many many others offer huge discounts on their top line products.

You can also get products that have fantastic reviews from less known brands. All you need to do is take your time off making music and do some research on the Internet. If you're into hardware you could look into getting used stuff. You'll be amazed at how many people are willing to get rid of their hardware for cheap. Alternately, just look around in your DAW. Are there any instruments you didn't explore yet? Even if you come out with nothing you have already won because you've given your ears time to rest.

Lastly, listen to other peoples music, different styles and genres. Go to live music concerts, watch videos about your favorite artists talking about their lives, workflow, and sources for their inspiration.

Have you got any music making tips to share? Please share them in the comments section!