Why motivation is ruining your work ethic

Howdy! Today I want to take a bit of time to talk about creative motivation, where to find it when you have none, and why it might not be necessary to begin with.
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#musician #musicproducer #motivation

[@VenusTheory]

Now get off KZbin and get back to work 😅 🎼 Hooktheory! ► hooktheory.com/venustheory

[@JCrashB]

Hei Sensei!

[@MatthewSwasta]

hahaha...stop bustin' muh balls man, I'm takin' a break right now...😜

[@jennyheidewald5006]

Wait, how did you know I was on here.... *haha* Love your videos, I'm just starting out, they are very helpful. :)

[@ermitec]

Inspiration exists, but it has to find you working. - Pablo Picasso

[@GabeWilliams]

Oooo that’s great

[@boybianchi]

Wow this hits home

[@martyrx3436]

He said that because he stole from unnamed African artists and didn’t credit them lol…

[@ermitec]

@@martyrx3436 "Good artists copy, great artists steal" as Steve Jobs said which was stolen from Picasso...who stole it from Stravinsky and the list might go on! :)

[@7wheels]

Agree

[@Shadowbait]

As a solo indie game developer doing music, art, and game design, I really appreciate that almost everything you say in these videos applies to just about any creative field.

[@akshaydabhadkar851]

Hey, I'm a professional music composer myself and have been looking for game designers to collaborate with. I see you do music for your games yourself but still I would love to connect with you! Let me know if this reaches you.

[@sovka8394]

“Amateurs sit and wait for inspiration, the rest of us just get up and go to work.” -Stephen King

[@gatergates8813]

Stephen "I can't remember writing that one, I was drunk and high" King found inspiration through whatever means necessary

[@john_smith_john]

i guess RR martin is an amateur.

[@MikeRenouf]

I tried making one track each day last month. I did pretty well, but fell far short of the final target. Just showing up every day was a huge part of getting me anywhere near my goal though. The other learning experience was that most tracks sounded better in the end than my sense of musical taste suggested while I was working on them. (I managed 16 tracks in 18 days.... then took a break!)

[@sovka8394]

Some people find sweetspot in 1 finished track every week. Or you can higher the amount of days to the point where you feel chalanged but simultaneously comfortable enough to finish quality and complex track.

[@ChristopherOrth]

Congrats! That's no small feat! One suggestion though... "the goal" should never have been a fixed number of tracks. It should be "showing up every day and writing songs"! So you succeeded. Keep going!

[@MikeRenouf]

@@ChristopherOrth Good thinking! Will keep that in mind for next time 👍

[@saxongroove5898]

One track per day for 7 days was the longest 'challenge' I've ever done. Just having your gear set up well, so that you can swtich on your computer, not have to start plugging things in, have a template in your daw with all routing already set up etc, makes it less daunting. You can get straight into it. As for getting into a flow state, the devil's lettuce works best for me.

[@JSprayaEntertainment]

it sounds funny , but .. find your way to Jam , keeping the music going for hours like a. DJ... learning that way creation and just pressing record when the time is right ... That Helps me a lot , just because i find it Fun , compared to how i use to program music in a DAW

[@Adymus]

I can't even begin to explain how this is EXACTLY what I needed to hear, word for word. Thank you, sincerely.

[@VenusTheory]

Glad to be be of service!

[@FuZZbaLLbee]

I found that having less time sometimes words better then to much time. It forces you to do it right now, instead of thinking I’ll do it later

[@VenusTheory]

For sure. Whenever I fall it a bit of a rut one of my sort of go-to challenges is 'track in a day'. Really makes you get your shit together and actually focus on progress haha.

[@PowerRedBullTypology]

I used to drink coffee right right before doing creative things and being a person who is sensitive to caffeine, I woud feel a lot of inspiration fom the effect of coffee. This helped me greatly in the past when doing such things as it would basically always work. However, a downside of being sensitive to caffeine was that at night, many hours later, it would give me a nervous feeling that was hard to get rid of and made it hard to sleep for me. So eventually I stopped drinking coffee. Lately I sleep better, but I still miss the optimistic and hyped feeling I got from the caffeine. In the end s many things are just biology, which makes me wonder if there is some other trick that I could use that might work.

[@starleopard]

Try watching a video or listen to a song that captures that feeling of optimism? Or, my personal favorite, meditate. Less "hyped" but I can reach some really wonderful states of mind through various forms of meditation. Breathwork can also produce a big energetic shift. And of course, exercise produces endorphins so maybe dance around your room for half an hour before a session. Happy explorations to you

[@sludgebucket3042]

Have you tried working on music when you first wake up, so you have the most energy possible? Lots of people wait until night to work on music and you might be too tired to do your best work, hence the coffee...

[@choisam20]

That’s very like me. But I still micro dose caffeine from time to time. Just a few sips can do it for you.

[@sludgebucket3042]

Oh yeah you might try decaf as well. For some people, decaf can have a placebo effect that gives you some of the effect of coffee but its only psychological, very little actual caffeine

[@choisam20]

@@sludgebucket3042 whether decaf or caffeinated, I can feel crash afterwards. Don’t know if it’s a placebo effect or my body is sensitive to even micro amount of caffein. For me, about 3 days of consecutive coffee drinking yields the best result(productivity-wise). But I need to be off caffeine for the next 4 consecutive days. You just have to find a sweet spot. Oh, and green tea caffeine doesn’t get me excited like coffee. (I think that has to do with coffee taste and it may be purely psychological. And not like, coffee has a special form of chemical compound that makes my brain feel that way)

[@MrMarcLaflamme]

Knowing your tools is a huge factor - if you're constantly running into snags (workflow workarounds, or just "how do I do this?") can really derail any chance of getting into a flow and can really push back the motivation.

[@JSprayaEntertainment]

i plan to learn and grow with these tools for ever ... i think knowing how you like to work is crucial also , from the start, now i set up audio flowing threw a kp3 thru an fx pedal , to my SP-404 mk2 ... so its all TEMPO synced , before i do anything ... using this youtube video as source audio it would sound good to drums just because of the setup and TOOLS. like you said ...( just thinking about old ways i would makes beats is draining )

[@Mike__G]

Jumping into using a new DAW or a new controller has been, for me, an avenue of renewal. Forces me to learn new stuff, and there’s no shortage of new things to learn.

[@casualdiscussionenjoyer3303]

"Do you like the idea of making a track or do you want to put in the effort" Nothing more satisfying than all of the effort and time coming together into a cohesive work of art. Gotta plan what's next while the paint dries and the next day you pull back the blinds and see the fruit of your ideas and skills. You see the mistakes you made and you learn from them, you know how to properly layer and blend, you know to avoid making another smudge mark like that in the future. It's always important to keep tabs on your growth and stay invested and willing to learn, THAT is passion

[@ken2all]

This comment just got me up off the couch and back behind the mic.

[@SonicVibe]

My problem is more having time to make music inspiration never been a problem it’s more got bills to pay lol

[@MaxKusari]

@@n00dl3 If you only have 15mins of freetime a month, you really should considering changing something about it, If it is a problem.

[@oldhom5038]

Fr. Between working, homeschooling my kid, and whatever else random shit is thrown at me around the house everyday I’m tapped. Been trying to finish mixing a four track tape for like a month and a half now.

[@sleeptwitch8950]

And when you finally have time, you are too tired, don't feel like making music or just wanna sit on the couch and spend time with the rest of the familiy

[@oldhom5038]

@@sleeptwitch8950 yuup. That time when hitting “New Project” feels exhausting. Finally I don’t feel alone🥹

[@rogercabo5545]

You have to try getting a picture of the whole song in mind and prevent to start with a drum and bass beat. If you have a melody in mind, sing and record the melody at first to your mobil device or whatever. Then think about what other song gets close to you melody. Wait for some days and start with the melody, chords and background ear candy. Believe me, without drum and bass, you get a strong and outstanding picture in mind and your extremely excited to start with drum and bass. Try! 💡

[@ChristopherOrth]

Great words! As the old saying goes, "most people don't recognize opportunity, because it's dressed in overalls and looks like work". This is how most of us (knowingly or not) formed live bands back in the 90s. Every one "wants" to be in a band, but almost nobody would put in the practice time to get the songs down. So... you book some live dates, tell a bunch of people you are forming a band, and set firm practice hours/days. At the end of 30 days, anyone who kept showing up knows all 40-50 songs, and is in the band. If you stay focused and keep working during practice hours, everyone who isn't willing to keep up with the work goes away.

[@synthoelectro]

I find myself making music 80% of the time in my head, with beats, with voice, beat boxing my drums, then eventually I take it all to paper, MIDI Controller and turning those drums into electronic ones, that is ableton live and it becomes an album. One tiny brush stroke at a time.

[@1998Cebola]

Going from student to getting a dayjob has done wonders for my creativity as I now just have to do music when I have time instead of waiting for music to happen

[@adroitsynthesis]

It might sound crazy but the largest single factor in how easily I enter flow state is the amount of sunlight I've been exposed to over the previous few weeks.

[@leosoundtrack]

That's not crazy at all. The radiance of the sun literally carries light particles into your physical being, thus infusing you with positively charged, creative energy.

[@ultrajayme]

Emotional connection to yourself and being honest with who you are can be a huge factor

[@BrofUJu]

Totally. Sometimes you're just distracted, tired, stressed.

[@ultrajayme]

@@firstname713 😆

[@yeahthatkornel]

@@firstname713 what

[@ultrajayme]

@@yeahthatkornel I know

[@mattbondcomposer]

@@firstname713 What’s this got to do with song writing and introspection 😂

[@thatshittrey9500]

Man ever since Iv ran into this channel Iv done nothing but better. I owe you a thank you for this content there’s no one out there touching on these aspects of music and writing. I feel like your talking directly to me sometimes. Your “how I turned anxiety into a album “ is probably the only reason I’m still pursuing music. thank you for all your advice and sharing your experiences

[@HOLLASOUNDS]

Creating stuff is not the problem for Me its what to do with it after, IE release it for others to hear.

[@VenusTheory]

Well hey thanks so much! Glad to be of service. Really happy folks have gotten so much out of these videos lately and it's been nice to be able to talk about some of this stuff that's a bit more uncomfortable - important stuff that we all need to address!

[@_mickmccarthy]

When I was first getting the hang of playing a keyboard I subscribed to a service called Melodics, and it had a great feature where it recorded your daily streak of playing for longer than 5 mins. So you'd invariably open it up for your daily 5 mins of practice and come away 30-60 mins or so later. Compared with the ease of slacking off because you "don't have time to spend 30-60 mins practicing", it's a remarkable difference.

[@FrozenLonesome]

My most consistent creative bursts are during February Album Writing Month (FAWM), where the goal is to write 14 tracks in February. Part of the drive to complete is because I’m part of a community of artists with a common goal. It also helps that I have used a theme during FAWM to guide my creativity. Good tips on how to make the most of your creative moments.

[@natan4195]

That sounds really interesting, do they have a discord server?

[@the3dotsguy...610]

Usually when i want to create something but have no ideas i go for a long walk with out headphones and try not to think... Usually i will always start to sing in my head gibbirish to the rythm im walking and it evolves eventually something good... Buy try not to get too far cus otherwhise u gotta keep humming the whole time back so u wont forget it

[@Teeb2023]

A metric f**kton of good info here. I resolved to my own form of discipline in sticking to a timetable, something very important when you've only got 1.5 days at the weekend to do anything. Week nights are a bust for me, as I'm usually absolutely spent after lugging computers around a warehouse all day, and only have between 8pm to 11pm to myself when I get home, usually ending up with me face-planting the desk with sheer tiredness around 9pm.

[@VenusTheory]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@jasongravely7217]

That 5 min rule works like a charm. And Steven Kotler’s books are amazing. Love these videos dude, you have been killing it lately please keep making great content for us!

[@ClintMoody]

This is genuinely one of the best videos on creativity and flow state regarding music production that I’ve ever seen. Wow. Nice work!

[@donaldpriola1807]

The act of actually doing is what matters. Even if you "fail". There is no magic involved here. Consistently work, and you'll find you improve. "Flow state" is nonsense; that just what happens when you have a good day.

[@ScotDykstra]

Ok so this is for sure different for everybody but I feel like a schedule of writing is one of the worst things I could do to produce or achieve this flow state. Doing music full time for the last 4 months, for me if Im struggling to get in that flow, I listen to some music to pump me up and if I still feel lacking, I try to reproduce a song from memory (and my memory is poor) and always end up making a unique track from it, and is almost never a copy of what I was "aiming for". Im also a person who rewatches movies for the first time bc of said terrible memory! One big thing thats probably helping me is that I only started recording and producing in a DAW a few months ago. So while I have a solid drumming background, Im learning as I go every single time. So learning to write melodies on top of learning to mix just enough to make a decent sounding track. Its been incredible. In probably the worst year of my life, starting with losing my mother suddenly, to my newborn having undergo serious surgery on his skull, its been an incredible tool to help sort through my feelings and regain my confidence. Thanks for the video, I always love watching!

[@alexmoscatelli149]

5:48 Something that Earl Nightingale and Dr. Proctor used to say (may them rest in peace) was "Actions trigger feelings such as feelings trigger actions".

[@AdamGarrett72]

My secrets are having my TD-3 plugged in and ready to go and always having chopsticks available when brewing my morning coffee! Really, though, a lot of my creative process stems from listening. I'm always hearing bits of something I'd like to recreate, say just a groove, or even a single drum fill. When I work on stuff like that, ideas really do seem to fall out of thin air.

[@composingtips]

A tip that I often give is "be ready to be creative." By that, I mean that when it's time to make something, you don't want to be doing system updates, authorise plugins or even load your basic instruments in your DAW. Use a template, have the shortest way from idea to realisation that doesn't involve tech and non-writing activities. Just sit and play.

[@Psyshimmer]

this is a good one. For me, the switch from Reaper to Bitwig inspired a burst of creativity because the path from 0 to 1 became that much shorter as a result of taking advantage of the DAW's workflow.

[@Battledrone]

I never have inspiration and that is no problem, I just start fiddling around and sometimes I get into the flow state within minutes because some sound, some chord, some rhythm inspires me. I just love to sample things and then mess with the samples and see what comes out. The rare occasion where I do have inspiration never goes anywhere because I'm rubbish at creating the stuff that is in my mind.

[@Ko1de505]

Been almost a whole month for me of 'coming back to do this later'. I sit down, start something then after awhile I get up and forget all about it... it sucks at times cause I do want to do music but my discipline n work ethic needs to improve BIG time. I work alone n my late brother was always motivating me but since he got called back home, I've been having a hard time trying to make music in one setting. Your vids help out alot my guy 🤓👍🏽

[@madatrash-streamsememes5734]

Here perfectly on time for "Why am I not doing music why am I looking at KZbin instead?"

[@skelhain]

I love how you always manage to give food for eye-opening thought. Btw, in times of nill creativity I personally find it very helpful to take a break for one day and completely forget about music production. I'm not sure why, but most often I feel refueled with ideas the next day.

[@marc.lepage]

Stephen King has said, of writing, that you have to put your butt in the chair and work at it for 4 hrs a day, whether it's flowing out great, or struggling, or barely at all. Some days will be good, some not so good, and some barely worth it. But you gotta do it, you can't just give up to try later, because trying consistently is how you get the good times.

[@sludgebucket3042]

Showing up is the biggest thing.. plan out when you will work, how long ahead of time, then do that. Don't wait to just feel like doing it in the moment, if I did that, I'd never actually finish any music at all. I was just thinking how your expectations of what you can get done increase as you do this though, so you never really feel like you're 'killing it' for very long before you come to expect that output from yourself. This morning I was thinking, hmm I didn't really feel like I got much done on music this weekend, but in reality I had re-written some promo stuff, I wrote a brand new topline to a track, and I did a mix session on another track I'm finishing up.

[@orchidsvoid]

From my perspective I would say that biggest killer of "flow state" (actually every productive state) is anxiety. And while things we do for pleasure usually helping to hide from anxiety suddenly stop working when level anxiety became too high. And you can experience so called "block" as anxiety paralipsis. I don't have a special technique to deal with it. Maybe meditation/ healthy livestyle/sport if you have mild anxiety and Psychotherapy/medications+ everything mentioned above if severe anxiety.

[@JohnMark61355]

Thanks for the video. When stumped, I usually find chord progressions I enjoy and fit the purpose of the piece. If creativity does not immediately come, I start operating in the realm of music theory. Usually, some degree of creativity starts. If not, I at least have a technically sound start for the creativity to emerge at another time.

[@seanemmettfullerton]

Thank you for this! Cameron... (sigh) interruptions: calls, meetings, calls about meetings, calls interrupted by other calls :) Arrrrg... being a night owl has helped solve this for me - work while everyone in your time zone is sleeping :) 🔥

[@mrpuppette7055]

I've been writing music on and off for 30+ years, there's a lot of "muppets" trying to teach you music production on you tube. Mostly talking AT you without offering much useful advice. I like venus theory though as he is well read and the videos make a lot of sense. well done kid, box on!

[@TheBiggerNoise]

Would love to get your thoughts on creation vs instrument practice. Are you able to drive all of your instrument time in creative directions or are there times when you just need to bang out scales/rudiments/whatever? If so, how do you balance the effort?

[@lorcazola]

Testing equipment and VSTs always TRIGGERS my Creativity. It TRICKS me into JUST Doing IT. Kris Noveselic would go to the pawn shop and get a used guitar and give it to Kurt Cobain. Nirvana usually got a song out of Kurt.

[@Death_By_Media]

Imho creativity never really goes away , but it’s a mix of left brain and right brain cohesion that has a broad scale and can and dose easily get in each others way . Figuring out how that works in you and creating a modular, productive micro frame work that keeps it flowing and in some cases tease it is beneficial within a scheduled macro framework . Example For me writing “riffs “and “beats “ is often a session onto itself , arranging them into full songs is a separate session . Mixing is absolutely a separate session at the very end . If during the writing and arranging part I hit the wall then instead of trying to force it it’s time to hit Init and start crafting patches for later use and either that will reignite the muse or I got a new fresh library of sounds for the next session lol .

[@BrianFunkMusic]

Right on! Inspiration follows action. We tend to believe the opposite, that we have to be inspired to act. That's too rare to rely on. Start working and if you're lucky, you'll get inspired! Very well said!

[@treyhudson73]

I highly recommend everyone read "The War of Art" by Steven Pressfield. Edit: 😆 should have waited to comment. As well, the new book by Rick Rubin sounds amazing.

[@blkb33]

‘Failure’ is the most valuable thing you can encounter

[@tobins6800]

One problem that I have is really annoying. I'll have an idea, riff, wtfever, and I don't have a way to get it down because I'm at work talking to somebody, driving. Or, if I can keep it long enough to crack open the DAW, first note struck and it's gone...POOF.

[@TheBiggerNoise]

Right there with you. My son in law has been coaching me with this (he's an actual musician, I write software). He got me to pare down my tools and just get used to opening them and putting something down even if it sucks. The idea being that if the tools are automatic, the elusive stuff is easier to hold on to.

[@zzayuh]

Open your phone and sing the idea best you can in your voice memos so you can come back to it later

[@Rhekluse]

"Action inspires action" Ya damn right. Just getting into the Studio and starting is key to getting the ball rolling towards a productive or flow state like session. It is also important to remember that not every session is going to be a 'winner'. Have fun and do other things when the thing you are working on has completely destroyed your motivation. Great vid, Cam.

[@christophertew7893]

“If all else, you learned what not to do” , so true and so failure is just a step on the road to success.

[@DerekPower]

Yup. If you depend on emotions, that will only take you far at best or spin you around the car park most of the time. Goal setting certainly works. For myself, I ended up making three EPs this year because 1) I enjoyed the process of making them and 2) it helped to keep the creative momentum going by working on something that's just as quick as a single but also a bit more substantive like an album. It also afforded me opportunities to challenge my process, and utilize either newly acquired things or things I hadn't really used yet.

[@WayneParker]

Every word you spoke can be applied to visual media too (painting, drawing etc). Of course I do both music and art and can be a bit of a perfectionist at both so I needed to hear this and you offered GREAT ideas on how to move forward. Thank you bro, this was right on time. :)

[@VenusTheory]

Haha thanks - really been trying to frame these videos to be useful beyond just the context of music. So much of these struggles is consistent across all creative fields so it's nice to know that the videos are helpful for more people!

[@SarahSchlongfeel]

A strategy I sometimes use when I'm feeling uncreative, is I will just set out to write something so stupid it's funny, just to goof off and have fun. Try to create something that makes you and your friends laugh. You'd be surprised at what comes out sometimes. There's usually a little nugget of a melody or chord progression where you'll think "hey I could actually use this part in something." I think it's because you're creating without being overly analytical. You're removing the boundaries because the result doesn't matter anyway, and therefore you're going to be laying out ideas that you wouldn't normally. I'm not kidding when I say some of my best material has come out of a session that started as a joke. Btw I love anything that has to do with the flow state. I was hoping Steven Kotler's name would come up when I heard the intro. I love this channel man.

[@slash196]

This is a great idea. There are all sorts of good "unblockers" you can use, typically some kind of arbitrary constraint or simplistic task that gives you something to build off. I think Brian Eno has a whole box of cards with these sorts of commands. Like if you normally play sitting down, stand up. Flip your guitar upside down, or cross your hands on the piano. Write a nursery rhyme, play in a random key...these kinds of things gets your brain moving along a different groove. Frankly the biggest cause of lack of motivation in my experience is BOREDOM. Find a way to do something different and you might just break out of your funk.

[@drawntothefire]

If you think it's hard to find inspiration when you're a full-time musician/creator, imagine being a hobbyist with a very busy family life and a full-time job with extremely limited time to make music... My 1 hour when I can grab it, experienced through very tired eyes, isn't always the most inspiring mindset. Bring on old age and retirement so I can spend all day doing what I want in the few years I have before I die at that age!!

[@MistyMusicStudio]

My nerd senses tingled when you said "use dice to write progressions" lol, must try. Great vid! Coffee certainly helps too ☕

[@philf4086]

My experience with the flow state has not been in music, it has been in the work setting. It has hit me during individual tasks when I was doing some heavy engineering tasks (it probably could never hit me in a group setting). Great feeling when it happens.

[@AnthonyMcBazooka]

The thing that kept me from simply starting to work was the sheer amount of musical ideas I collected throughout the many years of music making and never made into finished songs. I didn't know where to start, so I often sat there and did nothing than listening to all of these ideas again and again. This year I came up with a plan. Usually I name my musical ideas with the date I had the idea. So I decided that every idea has to become a finished song at the anniversary of the idea either 25, 20, 15, 10, 5, or 1 year(s) later. Some songs can't be completely finished yet because they belong to a concept but those need to at least have a complete structure and theme so it will be easy to fit them into the concept. It works so great, I might have quite a lot of releases next year with all my music projects.

[@normapadro420]

I don't create music when I'm motivated. I just turn on my laptop. Look for certain sounds then I begin to set sounds on top of those. I mix it as I go along then I render it. The same if I want to create an atmospheric song. I turn on my laptop. Look for any of my synths. Pick a preset. Begin to play. Once I like the style I hit the recording button, and begin playing a song. I mix it. Make sure that everything sounds beautiful, render it. That's how I create a song. Motivation had nothing to do with it. It takes me 2 minutes to create a song. Everything that I decide to create it's all ready for me to begin. Sounds, presets it's all there. No confusion, or need for hesitation. I put on my headphones turn on my laptop, and that's all.

[@theschnooks]

For me, it's jamming with other people. That's what broke my lack of motivation/creativity/desire. I've been playing music for well over 30 years now, but the last several have been mainly on my own. Everything I've tried to inspire myself had always failed, until I was finally able to find somebody to jam with. What a fresh perspective can do....

[@els1f]

I've been trying to ignore this video since you posted it, but every time I pick up my phone to scroll through KZbin like 😶 I keep seeing you staring at me like, "HEY! STOP FUCKING AROUND!" 🤣🤣🤣🤣

[@bocchilit]

don't stop with this amazing content

[@chrisporter84]

I am a producer and beatmaker, and i totally agree about the 5 minutes rule, even i'm feeling uninspired , i open my Daw and start with working on creating a drumkit, it's not the sexiest part of the creating process, but the five minutes fly away quickly, and once i have have a beat, or something else, i love to compose long ambient suites, i have a more precise idea of where i want to go. but here is the difference in my creative routine. I have ADHD, so it's really hard to stay focused more than an hour, and frequent pauses are almost mandatory, even with my meds. if a work more than the time period, It sometimes create an "alternative flow state" in a kind of hypnagogic feeling, half awake, half dreaming, were the final result can be total shit because i messed it up in the mixing process, or when i create the structure and the patterns, it can be awesome, and i often don't even remember somme parts of the process. Great content, as always, thank you!

[@blkrbbt]

See, I'm not very good at making music yet... I've only started less than a year.... I love it, but it's kinda stressful as I struggle with my own inexperience and learning the gear... I love what I make, but the process is a fight for me right now, and I feel mindblown by the end. Way better than boredom and stagnation though.

[@synmaticmusic5494]

I'm actually going through this at the moment. Excellent video!

[@VenusTheory]

Glad it was helpful!

[@CRASS2047]

I describe it as a faucet. Sometimes I turn on the faucet and a few drops of rusty sludge comes out. But occasionally……the most beautiful, clean water flows.

[@TraxtasyMedia]

Just had that. I was working on a project, for months by starting out fantasicly, working properly awesome and than I returned again and all of the dust of creativity was completely gone. I tried to approach this song from a different perspective, with different instruments and different chord progessions, just to realize, we will never be as good as in the beginning, so I took a heart and deleted the complete project, with all of his states and approaches. I tried to solve and find the issue why I can't continue on that song and the more often I heard it, the more it made me frustrated. I also tried the 20 minutes trick, to achieve something, but even this didn't match up. So I haven't found the issue, that makes me boost again.

[@dedicatedspuddler7641]

Another really helpful video, thanks! I have read Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi's book Flow and also found it most helpful. I also find, as you mentioned, that just starting doing something kinda gets the ball rolling regardless of motivation or inspiration. I must confess that for me, most of what I do musically comes from just fiddling around and trying things out, not some premeditated plan.

[@SubtoneTV]

Great book. He's written some off shoots which are also fantastic such as Creativity: The psychology of discovery and invention. Very cool to see a video about the flow state.

[@iantanner7579]

Cheers appreciated, your videos always help me think a little differently. Being a fulltime carer for my 89yr old mother, who is in constant pain due to lung disease, bone infection etc, really makes it hard to switch off and relax, - luckily I'm retired, and music, for me, has only ever been an expensive hobby / creative outlet. I"ve tried late night sessions, when she's resting but I'm usually just too tired emotionally. I use to use weed as a creative catalyst, but I don't trust my old ears anymore, even when I'm lightly toasted these days, I just lose my sense of perspective regarding tone. And being a very empathic individual, I just feel kind of guilty being musically creative while she's awake, - doing something I enjoy, while a loved one suffers, just feels so wrong to me, somehow. So, I've just spent the last year+ creating patches, sample programs, experimenting with all the outboard I've acquired over the last 40+yrs, and while I'm not actually writing any music, I know that when the time comes and I feel I can relax fully again, I'll have plenty of new, original and inspiring tones, textures and instruments to work with... love to ALL, feel no hate

[@639dida]

Motivation + Action = Motivaction

[@DavidLilja]

One thing that can kill motivation is energy. And one thing that can kill energy is family. What?! How can you say that? Well, it’s true - isn’t it? I miss spending time in my studio when I’m not tired. I work a 9-5 desk job in the cybersecurity field and it can really take its toll on the mind some days. Then there’s my family, which I dearly love, but it just doesn’t leave any time, energy and hence motivation to compose. It’s at least a lot slower these days and takes longer to get out of my blocks. And when I finally hit my flow state it’s 1am and way past bedtime since I need to get up at 6:20 to get through the next day. But a little now and then I get to sit in the studio during the afternoon and evening (I’m a night owl) to compose music. And these last couple of nights I’ve pretty much composed a new chillout song. So, hang in there. Find where your energy is going and make sure to save some for yourself. Thanks again for another great video. I really enjoy these philosophical videos that necessarily doesn’t have to do with music production directly.

[@MattiasHolmgren]

Awesome video Cameron! Ineed inspiration is ebb and flow, but if you work with deadline (ie. hired to compose for a film / game) you have to deliver. Showing up on time (actually sitting down, putting down the hours.) and using great inspirational material has been key to my own writing and creation of content on milestone deadlines. It' becomes like any other work, the only thing that changes is; sometimes it's really fun, and sometimes it can be boring projects but...hey it pays the bills. Working without a plan / deadline can be a real creativity-killer and things stall pretty quickly. We (humans) are lazy by nature, so we need the goals...the carrot! 🥕😄

[@alemusicgirl]

have you ever tought to work in cinemas as dubber or speaker... your voice is so deep and captivating you could also work to create audiobooks

[@dgsoundCA]

I resonate 100% with your thoughts, Cam! The only explanation for me is that I might have identical amplitudes of my superior harmonics as you.. 🤓 Jokes aside, you have my 100% respect and gratitude for making another essential video for our community, hope I don't speak just for myself. 🙏🤘

[@DThompson55]

THE FLOW STATE!!!! When I was a kid, just learning to program, time would often evaporate. When I decide to learn how to draw a couple decades ago, once I got absorbed into a project, time would evaporate. Nowadays when I work on even a short musical piece time can still evaporate. Those are examples of my flow state. The difference for me with music is I find I have to go back a few hours, or a few days later and ask if it really sounds as good as I thought it sounded. But none of it goes straight to flow state unless I first start, which is another of your important points. Also, consuming a lot less coffee helps to keep me from jumping around from task to task and settle into focus. I love your youtubes. I find them quite inspiring.

[@elliotr9095]

This video is timely, concise, and super informative even for someone who thinks they know how to be productive! This is what professionals do to get quality work done, and if you want to be a professional, learn to do what's in this video!

[@noisyshaun]

This arrived in my feed at just the right time, suffering from procrastination and indecision to finish tracks lately. I am going to try the 5 minute rule, great idea 👌

[@ascensionrecordings]

forced 30tracks in 30days once and on day 31 i kept going because its was part of my day by then. lasted for weeks

[@Arkansya]

art is a craft that triggers emotions. but it's a craft

[@twilso12]

This exactly. You get into flow by dedication and persistence, if you are crazy about music, it will come. I didn’t understand this until this year when I finally achieved the ability to reach flow almost automatically

[@chris-hu7tm]

"Action is the foundational key to all success, and motivation is the spark that ignites it." - Pablo Picasso

[@rhinoskin7550]

How long did it take you to make your first track? I have been working at it for about 8 months straight.. Haven't completed a track.. Idk..

[@illegaloli]

When I'm away from home I have all the Angry Granny Emmy Awards ideas. But when I'm home and about to start music production - whoosh. Empty brain.

[@philmarsh5593]

Cannot like this video ENOUGH. That all makes so much sense. Saving this to my "useful music creation tips" list. The only thing I might argue a bit with is that artists get better with susbsequent albums - get better at defining themselves perhaps but quite often an artist's earlier albums are the ones held in most regard. So there's something in those earlier ideas/working methods that hit the spot. But regardless - this is such a great motivational video; great for repeat reference/reminders, thanks.

[@iseeu-fp9po]

One thing is inspiration. Another thing is depression. It's sort of on the sideline there somewhere making it difficult to do anything at times.

[@SoleSpiritMusic]

aaaand as always...this video gave me some great advice like: stop scrolling through social media and get back my *^#< in front ot my keyboard and continue the work! 😅 thanks a lot Sir!🙏🏻🎹 /Cameron the Wise/

[@tasenova2717]

hey venus theory. I have this wierd feeling of life. all of this social media, or friends, or pretty much anything distracts my creative process. I'm just curious how you go about your day to day. I just feel I'm trying to have this unique perspective of life, and the world constantly battles it.

[@BadbitStudios]

Awesome points as always man! btw.. I finally read "The War of Art" after seeing it laying on your desk in one of your videos... it's a game changer.. exactly what I needed. Thanks for all you do Cameron.

[@defenderstargate1447]

Great info! Another tip I have found that works for me is if it is one of those times that I am not feeling it, I sit down and play a bunch of repetitive things, like practicing scales. Doing this for awhile seems to lull the mind into a different state, and it can get bored of playing them so you naturally start to play around and improvise other, more interesting things. And now you are creating.

[@calebgalvan6278]

Thanks for this, dude. Seriously. This was exactly what I needed to hear right now. Stay awesome 🤙

[@ExsultoMusic]

2:41 😳 Cameron, I hope you never stop making videos. You inspire me a lot.

[@brandtreppond2167]

Jump before you look? "Aim for the bushes" lol

[@jacobl7451]

I noticed that no matter the field, the principles of being at your best (and worst) is the same.

[@latheofheaven1017]

My problem is never having that first bit. Golden touch? Nope. It's always been a slog!

[@notwasnot]

Hum , interesting video . Here is my flow . I spend all week preparing without ever making a track and then friday comes around and I let mister gummy bear take my hand for a wild ride. Magic

[@bahl1031]

Wow...this buries most other motivational talks Theory vs Practice...Design vs Application...Technical vs Fundamental...Yin vs Yang Action always ends up kicking motivation into action...and we need both!

[@BoBeats]

A great vid, just one small complaint: Motivation is not a myth. "The dedication to consistently put in the work" is you describing motivation. That is what motivation is. Or at least a qualitative form of motivation. Its also motivation to NOT put in the work, its simply the motivation to do something that isn't productive. Then theres a complete lack of motivation which is typically associated with depression where one can not see any reason to do anything what so ever. The world becomes dark, meaningless and hopeless. So motivation, in both its good and bad forms, is simply the regulatory process behind goal oriented behavior.

[@laxplanet6046]

My psychiatrist said to me many times, art is 10% inspiration, 90% perspiration

[@mikaellillback2177]

What is the grey/greenish (in this video) analyzer/limiter plugin I see on almost all your videos?

[@pierre-julienpeyroux26]

'the flow state' !! Exaaactleeey! I keep saying dont stop my flow when im FINALLY in it !!

[@Bernz66]

Thank you for this…….. it’s something I needed to hear after years of floundering…… I used to love the process of writing the song and was a bit sad once I recorded it…… then my focus shifted to the finished product instead of the process….. time to get back to writing and recording!

[@mrmaison4924]

Always good advise here. Thank you. I wonder if knowledge also plays a factor in getting things done. For example, I keep hitting a brick wall trying to make an orchestral version of one of my songs I can play with my eyes closed but have no idea how to arrange and break the music down for different instruments so I keep getting stuck on the piano. The lack of knowledge can deflate confidence. One day I'll get it.

[@westernnoir4808]

Try Christian Henson vids. He's the co-creator of Spitfire audio(orchestra) He also makes free sound libraries called Labs. Cam here did one on the foghorn.

[@mrmaison4924]

@@westernnoir4808 Thanks! I forgot I started watching him a while back. Gonna re-watch and pay good attention this time.

[@disklamer]

It can be helpful to write out all the actions you would need to take to create a finished work. I have this little piano melody, so I need arrangements for that, choose instruments, variations, define the atmosphere, tune a reverb, figure out a rhythm section if any, I want some tempo and key changes, all things to think about that for a minute that help you focus on a certain aspect.