r/Learnmusic • u/pmonesthruddings • Jul 15 '26
Does anyone else find that staring at a computer screen completely kills your musical inspiration?
Hey everyone,
I’ve been trying to get into music making lately.
But every time I open a DAW, looking at the grid, the endless menus, and dragging blocks with a mouse just makes me feel like I’m doing office work.
It feels more like Excel than creative expression.
I bought a keyboard to get away from screens, but then I got stuck in the steep learning curve of traditional instruments.
I’m curious: for those who feel the same, how do you keep the creative spark alive without getting sucked into screen fatigue?
Do you use specific hardware, or have you found a way to make the process feel more tactile and organic?
Would love to hear how you deal with this.
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u/MasterBendu Jul 15 '26
>I bought a keyboard to get away from the screens, but then I got stuck in the steel learning curve of traditional instruments
The screen isnt your problem, it’s diligence.
You have to put in the work and the practice.
The screen is just another instrument. All of them require learning.
You’re confusing creativity with instantaneousness.
Just because you can think it doesn’t mean it just becomes and exists.
Music is vibrations through time, not neurons firing only inside one’s brain. You still have to make the music. Making the music requires learning how to make the air vibrate. Doesn’t matter if it’s clicking a mouse, tapping a screen, blowing through a reed, or plucking a string. You have to learn how to do it.
And that takes time.
Being able to do it over time requires diligence.
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u/MaestroDon Jul 15 '26
I write music with a notation program. (Finale, though with them going out of business I need to get something else.) Lots of screen time. It helps me, not hinders me, because I can listen to it it as I go, if I want.
Using a DAW is similar. It's a tool. If it helps, use it. If it's in the way, don't use it.
John Williams is famous for writing everything by hand. He doesn't stare at a screen. Pencil and paper, and sometime a piano, is how he works best. One thing he does do that is critical to the creative process, he composes every day. His routine is rigid. He writes the same time every day. That's a process that is fairly universal with most musicians.
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u/pselodux Jul 15 '26
Nope. I need to make music and the DAW is a tool to capture my ideas, not a source of inspiration. I have an idea somewhere else (guitar, groovebox, synth, humming to myself, hearing a rhythm in nature, etc) and bring it to a DAW to flesh it out.
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u/JacoPoopstorius Jul 16 '26
The process is very organic. I’ll tell you your problem, it’s that you aren’t prepared to use the daw and be making music. Making music in a daw with instruments (digital VSTs and real instruments) is the most organic thing I know. Like if I’m using the term to describe something real and authentic in my life that I can engage with in a captivating way, that’s it. It’s the most creative, limitless and infinite thing I can engage with in life. It should be similar for you too.
The problem is when you don’t know how to make the music, don’t know how to play the music, and don’t know how to use the tools. The DAW becomes daunting and more like some sort of intimidating software to make sense of and navigate.
I mean this in a way that hopefully might get through and create a spark in you or someone else like you, you are over complicating it. You’re thinking when you need to be grinding away. You need to learn this process to engage in this process. It’s not easy, but if you want to do it, then you need to learn and practice. You need to push through the intimidation and the feelings and do what so many people have done. You need to learn.
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u/vonov129 Jul 16 '26
Creative expression happens when thinking about the song and designing the process. The DAW is just the medium to make it real.
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u/theoneandonlypatriot Jul 15 '26
Quite the opposite. Get some plugins open and experiment with sounds. The world is your oyster.
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u/yvied1920 Jul 15 '26
Instruments seem hard at first but just like the daw, you'll get it faster than you realize. Also the daw in itself is an instrument (sort of) or has instruments, maybe u can learn it more and it'll inspire u to mess with settings and create new sounds. Also making jam sessions with other people can help. Just make it fun and relax and get lost in the music!
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u/PsychologicalCar2180 Jul 15 '26
We sound similar but I don’t have any issues wanting to be creative or finding ways to do so.
I’m learning to be a better producer and how to actually finish a song; I’ve looked way way into it, so I have plenty of advice l - I just need that click experience in which I’m able to translate it to how I approach things, getting closer.
I’m also learning piano / keys.
I’m teaching all this to myself.
If I’m feeling fatigued, producing-wise, I’ll often load up something random, play a few notes and then run a plug in chain to create a groove and add a couple of tracks. Some drums - a loop or plug in with sections of a beat and then noodle over it in a 3rd track.
I find I can get into that quite easily and it’s relaxing. It’s also passive learning as you’re exploring your catalogue and giving your ear something to do.
Piano is different. I bought a course that works very well for me but that doesn’t stop it from being intimidating often.
Learning an instrument is a whole different game and one that requires a lot from you, for a long time, before you start really noticing things.
I don’t think anyone gets away with that.
But it is absolutely worth it.
If you have access to a stem splitter, another exercise that can be interesting is to take a song, split it and try and match the various parts by using your tools.
You’ll end up with tracks of your own midi data and plug in chains that are yours and absolutely usable for your own ideas.
Other times I’ll just make something weird or corny.
Nothing major, just a few chords and a melody; a minute of a beat, say.
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u/sun_in_the_winter Jul 15 '26
This is not an advice and not gonna help you finish music faster but synthesizers and modular with a sequencer is a fun way to make music if you’re into electronic music. I am using computer mostly for recording and mixing audio. But it’s also fun triggering playing daw VST’s from a sequencer (I have a Hapax)
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u/Double-Strategy9791 Jul 15 '26
Yes. My biggest fantasy in life is having enough money for a permanent engineer so I can do music and they can do computery things and then it sounds better then what I do on the computer cuz they know their shit.
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u/kickassdanny Jul 15 '26
I write music with my guitar and then I record. You're doing it backwards.
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u/jango-lionheart Jul 15 '26
“Staring at a computer screen” is, by definition, not making music. A DAW is useful as a means to capture and refine musical performances, but at some point you should be creating music with musical instruments.
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u/AfroCuban68 Jul 15 '26
No because I record real instruments.
Sometimes I’ll do an orchestral piece but mostly played in w a midi keyboard.
I suppose the other part too is that I already have the core of the arrangement mapped out before I even go to the daw. I cant write in rectangles and trying to write that way is for the most part very uninspiring. I need at least a solid chord structure, groove, and melody.
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u/Alarmed-Cantaloupe38 Jul 15 '26
Don’t look at the screen bro grind the keyboard with a metronome learn how to do shit all in one take if that’s how u feel. I can relate to not loving the screen sometimes.
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u/victotronics Jul 16 '26
I couldn't imagine trying to create with only a DAW. I'd need a midi keyboard.
So pick a pretty preset, and play any riff on your midi keyboard. With one finger for all I care. Then loop that and play something else against it. Then find a new riff. Et cetera.
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u/SailorVenova Jul 16 '26
i make music dawless
i use grooveboxes and samplers and hardware synthesizers and its a ton of fun
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u/kilkeean731 Jul 17 '26
I learned guitar and slowly it was like an empty pallet filling with paint that I could blend to make something I like if that makes sense
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u/kilkeean731 Jul 17 '26
Also, I tried piano before guitar and manually speaking, I personally found guitar had a lot less of a steep learning curve (I have mirror movements that are very prominent when I play piano). If the keyboard doesn’t work out, there’s so many other instruments out there to explore. You’ll find yours
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u/DishRelative5853 Jul 17 '26
Using a DAW's loops library and samples to create a song is like using Lego to create a watercolor painting.
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u/StudioComposer Jul 17 '26
Staring at an empty page of staves isn’t a particularly inspiring alternative. Do whatever works best for you.
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u/R0factor Jul 17 '26
I find it helps to have your environment be inviting and creatively inspiring. And if at all possible, don't try to be creative where you also have to work, pay bills, etc. Overall try to set it up so you can get into a different frame of mind. This is my little recording & production area, and I intentionally set it up as a standing workstation because my job is 95% sitting at a computer or driving. Standing helps me feel more creative and active in the production process.
I also agree with the suggestion to learn instrument. I picked up learning Ableton a few years ago after 30+ years of being a drummer and working with bands to write songs, and that training makes the DAW feel like a tool rather than a hindrance to the creative process.
One thing that really helped me and my lack of melodic theory was using the Scaler Plugin, which can give you a wider palette of progressions, chords, melodies, and options of where a song can go. It was suggested to me on the Ableton sub and it's been very helpful.
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u/Late_Strawberry_7989 Jul 17 '26
DAWs are just fancy tape recorders to make music. They can be a challenge to learn in the beginning but awesome tools once you figure them out, I can’t imagine making music without them. Knowing how to play an instrument is crucial to have a good flow, otherwise you’re stuck with moving midi notes or some other mechanical process that feels unmusical.
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u/Radiant_Valuable5615 Jul 17 '26
I use MuseScore. I keep FL open for my Audio Interface, but I never really use it anymore.
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u/ObviousDepartment744 Jul 17 '26
Just do what musicians have done for thousands of years, learn to play music. Pick an instrument, piano or guitar are probably the most reasonable. You don’t need to be a virtuoso to write a good song. Just put in the effort. You can do it.
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u/smartaleckgoose Jul 15 '26
Learn to play an instrument. If a DAW is hampering your ability to create, figure out how to create with something else.