How to move past the biggest roadblocks that can’t keep you away from producing

Sometimes, a few things block us from producing, and if you’re not active about moving past them, you can end up stuck, feeling unmotivated, or just eventually leaving your music behind because life got in the way.

So, here are a few things that you can do to move past these situations…

4 THOUGHTS FROM ME

1. “I want to produce, but I can’t find the time.”

Since you likely have a job and family, it can often be hard to find time to produce, especially since daily chores often get in the way, taking your DAW time away. To move past this:

1. Stop trying to find time. The first step to get back to your music is to commit to it, and instead of finding time, start making time for it. Book it in your calendar, adjust your schedule to produce while everyone sleeps, or even book a Zoom call with a producer friend and produce something.
   Be intentional with your music time, and not occasional;
2. Schedule Micro-Sessions. The second step is to schedule smaller sessions as they are easier to fit into your daily schedule. 15-30 minutes, and you can schedule 2-3 of them to hit one hour per day, and this will make it more manageable for you to make this time for your music.
3. Stack producing onto a daily habit. Another good practice is to schedule these sessions into other habits. “Once I’ll take my coffee, I’ll spend 15-30 minutes on my DAW”. This is a great way to connect these sessions to habits, and eventually make a new music habit with them;
4. Start saying NO to other less important activities. Regaining your time comes with saying NO to other less important activities. It’s all a matter of priority, and a big piece of regaining your time is saying NO to activities like Netflix and/or games.
   Additionally, it can also be a matter of changing your waking-up / going to sleep habit to avoid scrolling on Instagram or TikTok, so block them from your schedule during these times.
5. Do a weekly schedule audit. One of my favorite ‘making time’ activities is tracking my time, and you can use this weekly planner for it. On a per-hour basis, fill it up only with Free, Work, Sleep, Family, and then count how many free hours you have per week.
   n addition, install something like RescueTime, which tracks all your digital activities. This way, you can check if you’re spending your time adequately and how many hours you have to work, making it easier to rearrange your time and make time for your music (and avoid making time excuses about it).

2. “I open the DAW and have no idea what to make.”

Oftentimes, we have the time, but we don’t know what to do about it. It could be because you’re creatively blocked, or just because you’re stuck deciding whic genre to make or what to focus on next.

So, to move past this:

1. Use references and remake the songs you love. If you don’t know what to focus on next, it’s amazing to sit down and recreate the tracks that you’ve been listening to the most. If you’re a DJ, you can also use the tracks you play the most as references for what to make next. At first, don’t aim to be original, but aim to just work on something, as this can often build momentum. When it does:
   • Add your twist to this remake, nd consider changing the chord progression, melodies, percussion pattern… etc;
   • Use multiple references to avoid just copying one;
   • Copy the structure, and not the elements. Change the key and the main elements, and that can already give a new air to your song;
2. Use AI to help you get out of the rut. If you’re on writer’s block, use AI to make the idea for you. Go to Suno.ai, Udio.com, or ChatGPT and ask it to make something for you. Now, use that with the twists that I’ve just mentioned above to make it more unique. Again, the goal is just to get you to work, and keep doing this until you build momentum again.
3. Go back to your past ideas. Remember that idea that you always wanted to work on, but never did? Pick it up and start making something out of it. This will give you a head start as it will skip the idea phase of the creative process, and can spark some momentum to get you back to work.
   Later, when you’re feeling creative again, start collecting these idea starters, as they can be useful for when you don’t know what to do next;
4. Make a song in a new genre. You may be feeling stuck because you lost the joy of making what you were making, so trying to make one song in a different genre can make it fun to produce again. Pick a genre that you’ve always wanted to try, and just have fun with it. You won’t believe how fun it is to be a learner and make something new again.

3. “Why does my mix sound muddy? Why can’t I get this sound right?”

You might be feeling blocked because you have a technical issue and don’t know how to solve, and that sucks. It sucks because you want to work, but you don’t know how to move past an issue, and it keeps haunting you, enough to sometimes make you not want to produce.

So, to move past this:

1. Study Start-to-Finish projects in your genre. The best way to move past an issue is to see how a producer you admire does it in their songs, and you can do that by watching long ‘track from scratch’ sessions.
   Sometimes they are paid, like the ones I did for Production Music Live in Melodic Techno, Techno, Melodic House, or free on YouTube, like what you can find in our channel or at Basic Wavez’s channel.
   Watch it all the way if you have the time, or just skip directly to the part that’s bugging you. Regardless, it will show you for real how the PROs do it, and therefore how you should as well;
2. Collaborate with someone that you can learn from. Instead of trying to find a solution on your own, when you produce with someone who has already fixed what you’re struggling with, you’ll be able to learn from it and start doing it the same way. You can:
   • Study the project after the producer has worked on what you struggle;
   • Ask to produce together on Zoom, so you can see real time how it’s done, and eventually ask why;
   • Straight ask how they fix what you’re struggling with, and learn from it;
3. Hire a teacher or a mentor. As mentioned in this post about the fastest ways to learn, hiring someone to help you is the fastest way to learn because teachers can show you issues that you didn’t know existed, and also fix the current issues you’re having. If you’re looking for someone, get in touch with us and we’ll help you out;
4. Ask for specific feedback from your friends. Asking for feedback is a great way to discover issues in your songs. Not only will you discover the solutions, but you’ll be able to at least discover other potential issues with your songs.
   In addition, this is an awesome way to do a vibe check with your song and see if the song is good enough.

4. “I’ve been pushing so hard, and it doesn’t feel like I’m getting anywhere.”

The hardest block in music production happens when you have all the technical skills to make a good song, but they are not necessarily coming together to make the track what you want it to be.

You may even already be signed to labels, but you’re stuck wondering what else you can do to take your songs to the next level. So, to move past this:

1. Audit your last 5 songs, honestly. Pick your last 5 songs and write down what you could have made better. For example, when you compare your songs to your favorite artists, what is missing in your songs that your favorite songs have?
   In addition, what are you doing constantly that these songs are not? Write these things down and make a list of “To-Dos” and “Not To-dos” so you know what to pursue for future songs;
2. Make your next song 10% better. Now that you know what to do, it’s time to put this into practice and experiment with it. Be intentional with your list so you don’t “just make another good song”, but build intentional growth towards what you believe will make your song better, even if that takes you a step back now;
3. Ask your feedback friends to be brutal on you. You just don’t need feedback now, you need to have a WOW reaction every time, without any sugar coating, and that sometimes can be done by asking your friends to do that;
4. Focus on impact, not just output. Instead of just focusing on songs, what are you doing outside of your DAW to make people care more about you? Connect with them further so you can build a loyal fan base, which can sometimes make it easier for you to achieve your goals.
   • Focus on telling stories rather than just building content as people connect with stories, not songs;
   • Engage your social media in a way that it connects with your sound, so if your music brings nature vibes, take that to your socials as well.

3 QUICK TIPS FOR YOU

What other blocks can eventually get you stuck?

1. “What’s the point? No one’s listening anyway.”
Why do you make music in the first place? Reconnect with your inner WHY and focus on that beyond anything.
Sometimes, the lack of having fun with your music can bring this feeling, so bringing it back is crucial, and you can see how you can bring the fun back to your music in this post.

2. “I’m not really feeling it today. I’ll wait till I’m inspired”.
Inspiration often comes from action, and not the other way around. So, just get to your DAW, even if you’re not feeling it, and that can trigger your inspiration.
Or, watch a movie like Pump Up the Volume about the story of Electronic music, or even something like Michael Jordan’s The Last Dance, and sometimes this can retrigger your “Fuck, let’s do it” feeling.

3. “What if I spend hours on this and it sucks?”.
I gave you a lot of things to try today, and you won’t know how useful they are until you try them.
When practicing, experimenting, and trying to make something outstanding, you must be willing to make something that sucks. Embrace that. It may suck for one, five, or ten times until it becomes something you’ll be thankful for trying.