How are you present in your music? A style, sound, way of working? A way it relates to your life? A cluster of inspiration sources that become you when combined? A twist you add to a preferred style? Anything?
This question is not to be mistaken for asking whether your music is unique. It does not have to be to mean something to us. However, even when going for specific formalized genres, we are persons, not robots, so we must be there somewhere.
Free associations and interpetations from here.
What makes your music you?
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- Banned
- 995 posts since 4 Feb, 2021
Tribe Of Hǫfuð https://soundcloud.com/user-228690154 "First rule: From one perfect consonance to another perfect consonance one must proceed in contrary or oblique motion." Johann Joseph Fux 1725.
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- Rad Grandad
- 38041 posts since 6 Sep, 2003 from Downeast Maine
me...not being a jerk, I say it often that when I am finished with a song it has already done for me all I expected. For half a century music and playing guitar is for my peace of heart and soul. One thing that is somewhat universal in my playing is the use of squeals, they are indeed exclamations of pleasure/enjoyment.
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- KVRAF
- 2989 posts since 5 Nov, 2014
Was told to have recognizable sound, even when I do different genres, guess I stick to same chord progressions, sounds and motifs, that reflects my personal taste, even if I totally miss to sound like particular genre, dunno, being copycat isn’t achievement in my book.
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- KVRAF
- 8074 posts since 9 Jan, 2003 from Saint Louis MO
The main thing that comes to mind is that in daily life, there's a certain level of conformity that I will engage in just to stay relatively comfortable and safe. But in my music I dispense with that and do what I like, without reservation. If people don't grok my music, that's totally okay.
That feels like a necessity to me. Not just to have an outlet, which is important to me, but also because my music tends to suck if I am trying to meet artificially imposed expectations. Sometimes even my own. Sometimes I think "wouldn't it be great if I did (insert creative idea here)" and the answer is usually no, it would not be great, it would sound like an imitation of someone trying to do that thing.
When I make music that I like, it always comes from a certain flow. I play with sounds and musical phrases, hear something that grabs me... and I do whatever instinct leads me to do next, and just keep doing that until it's done. I don't really know where it's going to go until I am there. I think of it like following a riverbed, the path of least resistance, in a sort of Taoist way. Or Todd Barton's phrase "follow the sound." When it goes well, I enjoy the process and then enjoy listening to the results later. When it doesn't work, I just have fun making some noises for a while.
That feels like a necessity to me. Not just to have an outlet, which is important to me, but also because my music tends to suck if I am trying to meet artificially imposed expectations. Sometimes even my own. Sometimes I think "wouldn't it be great if I did (insert creative idea here)" and the answer is usually no, it would not be great, it would sound like an imitation of someone trying to do that thing.
When I make music that I like, it always comes from a certain flow. I play with sounds and musical phrases, hear something that grabs me... and I do whatever instinct leads me to do next, and just keep doing that until it's done. I don't really know where it's going to go until I am there. I think of it like following a riverbed, the path of least resistance, in a sort of Taoist way. Or Todd Barton's phrase "follow the sound." When it goes well, I enjoy the process and then enjoy listening to the results later. When it doesn't work, I just have fun making some noises for a while.
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- Boss Lovin' DR
- 14312 posts since 15 Mar, 2002 from the grimness of yorkshire
The singing's always a bit of a giveaway... 
Apart from that I reckon;
Lots of extended geetar chords with lots of drone strings, often higher up (use the little finger you lazy f**kers..)
Bass chords - Not always, but where possible. 6 string bass (in Fiesta Red) of course
Bit of drum bombast. As Mr Rubin said words to the effect, get the drums right or don't f**king bother with the rest. Save the fancy shit on the snare for the rolls.
Lots of automation of well..everything. Keep them levels moving for dynamics
Some impenetrable guff for lyrics I churn out under duress in about 10 minutes flat. Often highly flippant.
Keep the other stuff like sinthesiser, strings, organ etc under control and low key.
Apart from that I reckon;
Lots of extended geetar chords with lots of drone strings, often higher up (use the little finger you lazy f**kers..)
Bass chords - Not always, but where possible. 6 string bass (in Fiesta Red) of course
Bit of drum bombast. As Mr Rubin said words to the effect, get the drums right or don't f**king bother with the rest. Save the fancy shit on the snare for the rolls.
Lots of automation of well..everything. Keep them levels moving for dynamics
Some impenetrable guff for lyrics I churn out under duress in about 10 minutes flat. Often highly flippant.
Keep the other stuff like sinthesiser, strings, organ etc under control and low key.
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- KVRAF
- 12206 posts since 7 Sep, 2006 from Roseville, CA
I guess I'm musically pretty fickle and don't really put most of my music out there under my artist name because it's all over the place, style-wise. It's pretty much a reflection of my wide musical tastes and influences. I really don't strive to fit into any particular genre and, even when I do think I'm working on one genre, it ends up quite a bit different when I'm done, particularly when the singer brings a completely different vibe to the song. The stuff I put out there under my two main artist names generally fall under the broad category of electronica, but range from chillout/downtempo to more triphop-inspired to house and trance, but mostly with more of a pop music vibe (so I'm often told), and almost all of it features female vocalists. I love collaborating with vocalists because they bring a whole new vibe to my music, which would otherwise be pretty boring in my own opinion.
I rarely, if ever, ask for advice on my compositions because I feel like the only people I need to satisfy are myself and the singer (or other collaborators). Other people have no idea what I like or want, so I'm not really interested in their opinions, and they typically want my music to sound like the music they like. That said, I always appreciate input on the mixing/technical side of things because that's always been my biggest weakness. Musically, I use a lot of extended chords and suspensions, and I generally tend to mix organic sounds and acoustic instruments with synths and sampled drums. Most of my compositions start at the piano or my bass with chord progressions and I make extensive use of hardware synths (in addition to software), not because of the sound, but because I feel more attached to the music (not to mention that my day job requires me to be at a computer for hours every day and my "other" side job/hobby [photographer] requires hours of photo editing, so it's nice to not have to stare at a screen when I'm making music).
I rarely, if ever, ask for advice on my compositions because I feel like the only people I need to satisfy are myself and the singer (or other collaborators). Other people have no idea what I like or want, so I'm not really interested in their opinions, and they typically want my music to sound like the music they like. That said, I always appreciate input on the mixing/technical side of things because that's always been my biggest weakness. Musically, I use a lot of extended chords and suspensions, and I generally tend to mix organic sounds and acoustic instruments with synths and sampled drums. Most of my compositions start at the piano or my bass with chord progressions and I make extensive use of hardware synths (in addition to software), not because of the sound, but because I feel more attached to the music (not to mention that my day job requires me to be at a computer for hours every day and my "other" side job/hobby [photographer] requires hours of photo editing, so it's nice to not have to stare at a screen when I'm making music).
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- KVRian
- 502 posts since 3 Feb, 2018
Hmm.. I suppose the fact that I honestly can’t think of anything that quite sounds like me or put a genre to it beyond ‘electronic’.
To me it makes sense though and it’s a coherent mix of styles. I guess the missing link for most listeners is that I’m massively into punk, hardcore, metal and I try to inject some of that aggression and abrasiveness… but not as obvious as throwing lots of distortion on a synth riff and treating it as guitar, derp. No shouty vocals either…
Also, I still operate like a hiphop producer most of the time: quick and dirty. My best friend is a clipper. I often spend time properly mixing a track only to go back to my second or first draft because I like the ‘energy’. Lately I’ve almost completely stopped bothering and just try to channel it a bit. I realized I spent my lifetime hating polished music so why try to make it. I especially dislike that overly polished, separated, loud but no impact edm/techno sound.. “dark but polite”.
I don’t really use a lot of samples anymore, apart from drums and some fx. But I still kind of mash unrelated, mismatched sounds together until I get a vibe that’s fresh to my ears. Which is also why it keeps getting weirder and weirder because I’m only out to surprise myself.
To me it makes sense though and it’s a coherent mix of styles. I guess the missing link for most listeners is that I’m massively into punk, hardcore, metal and I try to inject some of that aggression and abrasiveness… but not as obvious as throwing lots of distortion on a synth riff and treating it as guitar, derp. No shouty vocals either…
Also, I still operate like a hiphop producer most of the time: quick and dirty. My best friend is a clipper. I often spend time properly mixing a track only to go back to my second or first draft because I like the ‘energy’. Lately I’ve almost completely stopped bothering and just try to channel it a bit. I realized I spent my lifetime hating polished music so why try to make it. I especially dislike that overly polished, separated, loud but no impact edm/techno sound.. “dark but polite”.
I don’t really use a lot of samples anymore, apart from drums and some fx. But I still kind of mash unrelated, mismatched sounds together until I get a vibe that’s fresh to my ears. Which is also why it keeps getting weirder and weirder because I’m only out to surprise myself.
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- Banned
- Topic Starter
- 995 posts since 4 Feb, 2021
Very very nice guys. Thanks for sincerity. I knew you were there, and your answers are what I had hoped for.
I will add my own take on it for further inspiration to those who has something on their heart to the subject.
As for me, my music is at present about recollecting loose and lost ends of the past and make them meaningful as a whole. Ironically, this quest started when I returned to the shitty environment from which I escaped in my youth by educating my way out of it. Among other, I found an old lost friend after thirty years apart. He plays classical guitar, and we jammed for two years, where I was in a phase in which I considered all music I had made for 20 years inauthentic and pointless. Then one day we jammed up something that became our first release, and I realized that during the two years of jamming, I had not only recollected our way too short friendship from then, but also the musical events from that time. I banned standard dance drums and turned to percussion only and invoked my three years studies under an Afro-American percussion teacher, whose teachings I couldn’t say I had really honored. Now he was all over my rhythms.
In the same way, I turned from minimalistic dance themes to full melodies with more advanced voice leading. At first, because melodies seemed like a natural start for my guitar player as classical trained compared to e.g. fancy rhythm- or rock guitar. Suddenly five years of training in classical composition became alive again, and I dusted off my old books in godforsaken counterpoint. Yet, though tired of dance music and pure synth sound recently, I did grow up as a Synthpop, Berlin School, and EBM/Industrial kid in the 80s, so there had to be room for the electronics in our music too.
Only musical thing absent from my training is a little Jazz harmony and improvisation. Well, I did find it fancy to learn, but I am not really into Jazz much, so it will do. In all, our music will not get any more me than this, tho we are about to explore some darker moods to it, but within our style. Some important musical and relational losses from my life regained and reunited. So now I have to take or leave me, for this is it.
I will add my own take on it for further inspiration to those who has something on their heart to the subject.
As for me, my music is at present about recollecting loose and lost ends of the past and make them meaningful as a whole. Ironically, this quest started when I returned to the shitty environment from which I escaped in my youth by educating my way out of it. Among other, I found an old lost friend after thirty years apart. He plays classical guitar, and we jammed for two years, where I was in a phase in which I considered all music I had made for 20 years inauthentic and pointless. Then one day we jammed up something that became our first release, and I realized that during the two years of jamming, I had not only recollected our way too short friendship from then, but also the musical events from that time. I banned standard dance drums and turned to percussion only and invoked my three years studies under an Afro-American percussion teacher, whose teachings I couldn’t say I had really honored. Now he was all over my rhythms.
In the same way, I turned from minimalistic dance themes to full melodies with more advanced voice leading. At first, because melodies seemed like a natural start for my guitar player as classical trained compared to e.g. fancy rhythm- or rock guitar. Suddenly five years of training in classical composition became alive again, and I dusted off my old books in godforsaken counterpoint. Yet, though tired of dance music and pure synth sound recently, I did grow up as a Synthpop, Berlin School, and EBM/Industrial kid in the 80s, so there had to be room for the electronics in our music too.
Only musical thing absent from my training is a little Jazz harmony and improvisation. Well, I did find it fancy to learn, but I am not really into Jazz much, so it will do. In all, our music will not get any more me than this, tho we are about to explore some darker moods to it, but within our style. Some important musical and relational losses from my life regained and reunited. So now I have to take or leave me, for this is it.
Tribe Of Hǫfuð https://soundcloud.com/user-228690154 "First rule: From one perfect consonance to another perfect consonance one must proceed in contrary or oblique motion." Johann Joseph Fux 1725.
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- KVRAF
- 26033 posts since 20 Oct, 2007 from gonesville
the intrepidness
I tended to go whether others would not. for anything, foodstuffs...
I had a job where you tended to - should - make more money if you did more and harder things and could be counted on. Acid trips in the hundreds. probably, who's counting
I tended to go whether others would not. for anything, foodstuffs...
I had a job where you tended to - should - make more money if you did more and harder things and could be counted on. Acid trips in the hundreds. probably, who's counting
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- Banned
- Topic Starter
- 995 posts since 4 Feb, 2021
Aaah. Tell us more, Jan. The ingredients of your acid, plz.
And damn, cryo; went to your soundcloud and now I am thinking of what to buy to my girls for Christmas
But loads of nice stuff. Chill is not something I am good at, but a little music can take the top of the adhd, like yours.
And damn, cryo; went to your soundcloud and now I am thinking of what to buy to my girls for Christmas
But loads of nice stuff. Chill is not something I am good at, but a little music can take the top of the adhd, like yours.Tribe Of Hǫfuð https://soundcloud.com/user-228690154 "First rule: From one perfect consonance to another perfect consonance one must proceed in contrary or oblique motion." Johann Joseph Fux 1725.
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- Banned
- Topic Starter
- 995 posts since 4 Feb, 2021
Let’s hear the blatant self-mythologizing in shaman-language then 
Tribe Of Hǫfuð https://soundcloud.com/user-228690154 "First rule: From one perfect consonance to another perfect consonance one must proceed in contrary or oblique motion." Johann Joseph Fux 1725.
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- KVRAF
- 12206 posts since 7 Sep, 2006 from Roseville, CA
Oh wow, I didn't even realize that the Christmas songs were all at the top of my SC!TribeOfHǫfuð wrote: Thu Sep 30, 2021 7:06 am And damn, cryo; went to your soundcloud and now I am thinking of what to buy to my girls for Christmas
The funny/ironic thing is, anybody who knows me knows how much I hate Christmas music. I mean, I'm literally about to pull my hair out by the middle of November when I can't escape hearing it everywhere. But, Avonlea (the singer) asked me to do a cover of "Last Christmas" years ago. She's been a friend of ours for over 10 years now and used to babysit our son when he was just an infant, so I can't say no to her ever. Anyway, somehow she turned it into a Christmas tradition so now we do a Christmas song every year and, admittedly, I actually do enjoy it (but don't tell anyone). It forces me to step outside my comfort zone and do something I normally wouldn't do, so it's all good. Now, time to go rearrange my Soundcloud playlist...
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- KVRAF
- 26033 posts since 20 Oct, 2007 from gonesville
I have no idea what that is.TribeOfHǫfuð wrote: Thu Sep 30, 2021 3:33 pm Let’s hear the blatant self-mythologizing in shaman-language then
Someone once accused me of that, and it's true. I was self-amused at having said 'the intrepidness'.