Inspiration - The Elusive Vixen

[TheDirt]

Why is it that I can sit down and try to write a song for hours (or even days) and come up with nothing good, but when I wake up in the middle of the night at 2:15 a.m. on Monday morning I reach to the side of my bed, sling my guitar up to me and lay out a killer song. Why does Inspiration taunt me like this, and why does she not come when I beckon?

The real point - Is inspiration real? Do you have to wait on it, or can you force out something good if you sit down and try? Intelligence would lead me to believe work is what you need, but Experience is telling me she comes when she wants.

[aiwass]

I've never had that problem. As a rule, I can ALWAYS write a song if I have something good to start with. It can be a riff, a melody or a chord progression, but as long as it's good, I can work with it.

To get that first spark of inspiration, however, I usually just play (or write into a computer sequencer) completely random stuff, until something interesting pops up. Usually, it's not as much a matter of conceiving an idea, as it is to recognize it when it comes along. Use your ears.

[daveasdf]

I've got a feeling there's two types of tunes: technical and felt. When you spend two days piecing together different parts to a tune, I'd call it technical (the majority of your songs on your album inbetween your few felt tunes and those in which your real fans listen to while drug induced). A felt tune is one in which is based around the coolest riff that just somehow appeared and will more likely be a hit tune (applicable to those who listen to the radio).

[Edited by daveasdf on 12-01-2003 at 09:44 PM]

[aiwass]

Actually, to me, radio tunes are "technical" tunes, since they follow so much of a formula. If provided with a hook or a melody, they practically write themselves.

[daveasdf]

Yeah, that's what I meant except you said it backwards.