MAKE YOUR OWN SOUND

[K3WRO]

Didn't notice it looped, til now

[ChromaticChaosPony]

Oh god, I derailed yet another thread!!! I'm the worst...

[HMage]

Just add the saxophone, instant effect. Lasts long!

[JoshMono]

Hmm, I disagree. If it were really true that what makes people like your music is its uniqueness, then avant-garde music would've been the most popular thing ever. It's rather unique, after all, to make 'music' with banging household items together or playing seemingly random chords and arpeggios. The truth is that, while it's incredibly unique, there's only a small amount of people who genuinely like the music.

If you're too unique, you will very quickly be thrown into the corner of pretentious snob artists. That's just simply because nobody can relate to the music. What provokes an emotional reaction in music is the familiarity. There needs to be something familiar, or people won't get the music.

Now, that doesn't mean the music has to be boring. Pop music is generally really quite conservative and stays in the familiar zone. Because of this it appeals to a lot of people and thus it is really succesful, and they're obviously having a good time.

I'm a jazz musician myself and I have little interest in pop music. I appreciate complexity in music. What I will recognize, however, is that pop music is insanely effective. It might not be very complex, but that doesn't mean you should shun it. Quite the opposite, actually. Listening and studying pop music shows what's effective, and you can use that knowledge in your music while building upon it at the same time. There are some basic 'rules' in music theory that are just known to work, like how the V7-I progression is an incredibly strong progression, which is incredibly important for establishing tonality.

I think people are really quick to judge electronic genres. I myself don't like electronic music, but I won't throw the genre in the bin just like that. Even though I don't like electronic music, I actually own a couple of synths to see what it actually takes to make sounds.

I really like the possibilities there are with synths. They're so incredibly versatile that they'll basically fit into any genre. They can go really hard, but also make a really smooth background pad. To design those sounds you need a very clear picture of what it is you're looking for, and to me it seems like a constant "trial and error" kind of thing. You're starting out with a very basic waveform, and that's it. Work the oscillators, put filters on it to shape the sound, automate the filters, add effects to make the sound bigger, and all that. It's incredibly complex.

Of course you could just load up a preset, but that doesn't automatically make you a good musician. It does take effort to make electronic music. You just don't have to deal with all the physical technique like you would have to when you're playing guitar.

I kind of lost my train of thought, but it's a shame to not post such a wall of text. I was going to say something about how you can venture outside of the musical comfort zone, but you should not strive for being unique, because this will only make you pretentious. You should strive for expressing yourself through your music in the most effective and true way.

[HMage]

Yeah, whatever you do, do it the way that's natural for you. That's the secret for "your sound" right there.

Just don't forget about saxophones, there is never enough saxophones in music.

[JoshMono]

Saxophones are saxy.

[ChromaticChaosPony]

Saxyphones. That is the best idea I have heard in a long time.