Like the title says... I feel like there's a lot more I can do but I just don't know how or I'm too lazy I dunno haha. I mean, I never compress my basses and don't even really know what that's for (I think it's so your bass can keep it's loudness and not let the bar go into the red?), I never make my own instruments or combine things or whatever, I never make my own arpeggiators or whatever they're called and who knows what else I'm not doing. I have ableton lite live and fruity loops also if I can incorporate these into reason somehow to make something new that would be cool Ive never really used them before. Any way, just gettin kinda bored with what I'm doing now and want to make something better, more powerful and more professionally done I guess.

Oh, and I really like the drums in most flashbulb songs and that's kind of something I wanna get into. I don't wanna copy him, but I want to make some new creative drums like he does.

I'm also curious if I should buy a drum machine or other hardware, as I've read hardware is basically a must to make good music. I've also read some things talking about some discountinued drum machines that are great. I think they were the Dr-707/808 or something? Should I be lookin to find one of these? The only hardware I have right now is my M-Audio Axiom 61 keyboard.

Thx guys!

lol.... alright... I'm not normally one to do something like this, and I mean, I can understand you're just frustrated and probably in a creative slump but I need to address some of your points and you might not likey.

"I've read hardware is basically a must to make good music".

No, no no no and no. I mean, there are going to be pieces of hardware that software simply CANNOT emulate (Virus and legacy Korg/Roland pieces come to mind) but you definitely don't need hardware to write good music.

You could slave Reason and FL to Ableton Live (though not the lite version), or, though I'm not positive, you could slave Live and Reason to FL but I don't think there's much of a reason to combine FL and Live. imho they are going to be doing basically the same thing (sequencing DAWs) so it's sort of like having ten chefs work on one pot of soup. Not to mention, the more things linked together, the more complicated it ultimately does become (god forbid there is 1 tiny problem somewhere, good luck determining what program is causing the issue).

"I never make my own instruments or combine things or whatever"

This is hands down the best part about Reason. The only other thing I've ever seen with this much flexibility is Reaktor (or Synthedit/SynthMaker etc etc). I just spent an hour today making some random patch, like just getting dirty and hooking things up and tweaking things, then accidentally stumbling on some cool routing is the most awesome. Ever since I found out the rack could be flipped, I've never wanted to use any other program, ever. And really haven't since.

Anyway, I'm sorry if this is rantish or whatever, it was mostly just your hardware statement that totally struck a red chord in me lol . I used to have a lot of hardware, and honestly, I've sold most of it. The pieces I have not sold are collecting dust. Being in a slump (which is what it sounds like) is tough to break, and sometimes it lasts a really long ass time. It's discouraging, for sure, but don't give up, and dig into this program because it does a LOT more than what it appears to on the surface.

Best of luck, and as always if there are any questions or anything there are a boat load of people (including myself) who are more than happy to help in any way they can

thx for the reply!

One more thing: if I could get some constructive criticism on some of my tunes that would be great!

My myspace is http://myspace.com/thetimedevice the 3 songs at the top are basically incomplete.

Hey, just read this post, and I've been listening to your music on MySpace. One of the main problems with writing music is getting the transitions between different ideas done perfectly, otherwise it'll sound amateurish, I'm still struglging with this after years... I think it happens to us all.

Amen to that, transitions are very difficult (at least ones that are cohesive lol). I listened and I like the top three so far

soooo basically just practice and working on transitions. thx for the input guys

I agree. Main problem I'm struggling with right now.

i like this thread -- lots of good stuff -- i think the first thing to know is that everyone gets stuck every once in a while -- sometimes when i am struggling for a song and giving myself a hard time, i have to remind myself radiohead took four years to make their most recent album and there are 5 of them -- then i don't feel so bad when an idea doesn't come to me right away

one thing i have to emphasize, though on the transition topic is KNOW YOUR THEORY -- if you understand the rules, you understand when to break them but you also understand when to use them to help you -- in places like transitions!! -- if you want to make a change, knowing what you have been doing -- what tones you are using, what modes/scales you are using and how you are using them -- can help with how to make that transistion!! frequently i like to experiment with music but when i have trouble with where the song goes next, i refer to theory and most of the time, the answer is right there!

I think i am sort of in the same position as you. I use only a piano and reason 2.5 and dont really wanna fork over the money for other stuff.

I think the only difference is that i am trying to tackle hip hop right now (electronica phase is over), and sometimes what has helped a little bit in the past, is try to emulate as much as you can bar for bar, a song that you like, and what ends up happening is that you discover something new and cool to mess around with. Check out youtube tutorials.

Also i like the third song from the top. But towards the end try to vary your drum breaks a bit. nice work