How to Sound Original
“Good artists copy, great artists steal,” - Pablo Picasso
If that’s your first time hearing this quote, it may sound pretty jarring. Hear me out.
When I have new students join the Music Production Bootcamp, we hop on a Discovery Call. This call is focused on understanding the direction we want to take your music for the next 12 weeks of the program.
I always ask a simple question, “Who do you sound like?”.
About 60% of the time, I get a pretty solid answer. But for the other 40%, this is what I get; “I don’t sound like anyone else, I sound completely original,”.
While yes, the focus of what you create should be original, this statement is actually hurting newer producers who are trying to navigate their sound.
Let’s look at a quick example.
Whether you like them or not, The Beatles are arguably one of the most original bands to exist.
Except…they aren’t.
If you listen to A Hard Days Night, it sounds like Roy Orbison.
If you listen to Help, it sounds like Bob Dylan.
If you listen to Rubber Soul and Revolver, it sounds like The Beach Boys.
By the way, I’m not making these comparisons. The Beatles themselves have openly said they were inspired by these artists.
The goal isn’t to copy directly what another artist is doing, but we want to use sounds that inspire us to navigate our original sound.
Fun fact, this is why I put artists’ names in the titles of my videos. I’m not showing a tutorial on how to sound like these artists, I’m showing who is inspiring me to make this music.
So, coming back to the title of this newsletter, how do we sound original?
- The first step is to openly identify your inspirations. Who do you want to sound like, why do you want to sound like that? Don’t just analyze surface level; use deep listening to understand what moves you.
- Recreate their music in a separate session. I’m fully well aware that I’m a broken record when it comes to advocating for remaking music. This is going to help you understand how your favorite artists’ make your favorite sounds.
- Once you understand how to make those sounds, then you can tweak and add different taste. I’m a big fan of the mk.gee gutiar tone, but I don’t want to completely rip off the sound. Since I know how it’s made, what can I do different? Maybe I can add less reverb, maybe play the guitar higher instead of baritone. Don’t stop experimenting.
- And lastly, understand that your sound will constantly evolve. One thing that makes “original sounds” great from other artists is that they aren’t afraid to explore outside of their comfort zones. If you ever listen to Dave Grohl talk about the drumming on Nevermind, you’d never guess that there was disco references in the drumming. Don’t be afraid to explore the unknown, you’ll never know what you may find.
Just remember, an ‘original sound’ is not a destination, it’s a journey.
