Establishing A Sound

wensley · Post by **wensley** » Mon May 12, 2008 2:55 am

Hi,

Got a bit of query I would like some opinions on.

I've been producing Dubstep for about 4 years now and I sat up last night and listened to a dozen of my tracks one after the other, from my first piece of work to my most recent.

I suddenly realised that my sound has chopped and changed sooo much over the last 3 years, its pretty scary! When listening back to certain tracks I can pick out the dubstep influences i had at that time. It would go from a really dark kind of Vex'd sound, to a deep and chilled out Mala ting, to a progressive Benga stylee and then back to a glitchy boxcutter vibe. Hopefully you can see what i'm getting at?!

I understand peoples styles will change over time, but it seems the big producers in dubstep have done so well because they have established their own sounds and have consistantly used certain elements to keep a rapport within the scene without straying from their style.

I just wanted to know what people think about this side of producing?

Any tips on establishing a style and sound?

Obviously originality is the key, but consistancy is the other. I'm just struggling to find a nice mix of both. Your thoughts?

xthewiddler · Post by **xthewiddler** » Mon May 12, 2008 3:07 am

my two cents is

your sound will always come out no matter what

even if you try your hardest to make a benga track, it will still be in your style

so what i would say is, if you wanna sound unique, try and find the bits and peices of things you are good at and you know is different from anything you've heard and go with it

but make sure your being natural with the music, dont try and think to hard about your style or someone elses, just let the song happen

legend4ry · Post by **legend4ry** » Mon May 12, 2008 5:18 am

Yeah I agree with Widdler, all my tunes, even from my first have a certain sound to them, I make tunes what I want to hear, if that makes sense? I ain't going to make a tune I don't like just so it captures a certain audience, I'd rather make a tune no one likes apart from me cause its my sound and its original, at least to me, even in a my 'hype' tracks I can hear elements of my style in my 'mellow' tracks.

Not saying I am a big producer AT ALL but I like what I do and think it has 'my sound' in them.

Doesn't matter if you don't think you have 'your own' sound as long as you enjoy what you produce!

I mean, some releases out there have one absolutely obvious tune from that producer and the flip is like.. "Wow, thats a totally different sound to their other stuff" maybe thats more interesting then having your own sound?

little boh peep · Post by **little boh peep** » Mon May 12, 2008 6:20 am

xTheWiddler wrote:your sound will always come out no matter what

Agreed, the way you arrange things, and your ear for selecting which sounds to use in a track is always going to shine through.

I've tried writing a tune in a specific producer's style before and can't, it still comes out sounding like me.

Agreed with this too:

Legendary wrote:I mean, some releases out there have one absolutely obvious tune from that producer and the flip is like.. "Wow, thats a totally different sound to their other stuff" maybe thats more interesting them having your own sound?

darkmatteruk · Post by **darkmatteruk** » Mon May 12, 2008 6:27 am

i saw a comment aimed at beginners in computer music, which was to pick your favourite track from your fave genre and try to emulate that sound to help further your learning curve

two oh one · Post by **two oh one** » Mon May 12, 2008 6:33 am

Nothing wrong with changes and evolving. Those who sound the same year in, year out are stagnant either because they have no new ideas or they feel they have to please their fan base of, erm, 20 or so people. I like the idea of different periods with groups of tracks. Something I'm happily exploring myself.

Explore, explore, explore.

daft cunt · Post by **daft cunt** » Mon May 12, 2008 7:38 am

two oh one wrote:Nothing wrong with changes and evolving. Those who sound the same year in, year out are stagnant either because they have no new ideas or they feel they have to please their fan base of, erm, 20 or so people. I like the idea of different periods with groups of tracks. Something I'm happily exploring myself.

Explore, explore, explore.

xthewiddler · Post by **xthewiddler** » Mon May 12, 2008 7:49 am

i agree with 201 also

having your own sound or style though doesn't mean you cant explore different types of sounds with your style

miss_molinari · Post by **miss_molinari** » Mon May 12, 2008 11:56 am

to me, your style or your 'sound' is just your limitations. if you dont push yourself then your limitations will never show, you will not find them. and conversely, if you constantly push yourself up against your limits, then this will come through in your music.

this can be both good and bad. if you limit yourself to copying some else's sound for example, you set an artificial limit on what you are doing, i.e. only what s/he is doing, and this in turn comes through in your work also i.e. you have a 'sound', but it is someone else's. you simulate thier limitations. you accept thiers as yours. deep stuff

on the other hand it can be good. because if you push yourself to your own limits and this is how your 'sound' comes out, then this is all that can be asked of you.

also, this is why an 'authentic sound' changes slowly over time in direct proportion to the ever (but slowly) expanding boundaries of someone's technical/creative limits.

it sounds to me like you have the same problem as i had up until about christmas. i was so taken by what i heard that i couldnt help but emulate various artists. this was bad because i limited myself to only what they were capable of, rather than doing what i do now, which is invest all my energies not spent sleeping and working on music and production. this way i genuinely find my lmiits and consequently, whatever styling of music i attempt always at least sounds like 'my sound', whether this be under my extremo-breakcore moniker or my house alias or here on dubstepforum. if i wanted to be 100% authentic i would be ignoring genre/format boundaries also but i have a liking for at least some degree of accessibility (the archnemesis of authenticity if we are strict about it)

anyway, imho this is it in a nutshell. please forgive my modesty.

peaches.

ps: lessons learned? spend lots of time trying. lots...then look & ask if you cant figure anything out. this is why the internet is ace if we're honest

__________ · Post by **__________** » Mon May 12, 2008 3:41 pm

i think to develop your own 'sound' or 'style' you need to know what it is first - its up to you at the end of the day.

personally, i make my tunes a little bit fucked up, with unexpected changes or bits that sound 'wrong'
i like making tunes that are raw, change genre half way through, or change time signature, or use samples that take the piss out of the vibe of the tune.
i use quite a lot of lo-fi samples recorded through headphones, or samples from when i've put a mic in front of someone in a k-hole.

this is probably much easier than trying to have a 'half-step-minimal-bass-to-shake-the-roof-down' style like loefah for example, but its what i enjoy making.

shonky · Post by **shonky** » Mon May 12, 2008 3:42 pm

Styles and sounds create limits and so aren't really that useful in creative endeavours. I think regardless of what it sounds like outwardly, there will be certain giveaways that will point out it's you, whether in note choices, rhythms and arrangements. If you listen to most artists that have gone through many stages in their history, it's interesting to note what changes and what stays the same

slothrop · Post by **slothrop** » Mon May 12, 2008 7:34 pm

Shonky wrote:Styles and sounds create limits and so aren't really that useful in creative endeavours. I think regardless of what it sounds like outwardly, there will be certain giveaways that will point out it's you, whether in note choices, rhythms and arrangements. If you listen to most artists that have gone through many stages in their history, it's interesting to note what changes and what stays the same

Or, as a wise man said

Styles tend to not only separate men — because they have their own doctrines and then the doctrine became the gospel truth that you cannot change. But if you do not have a style, if you just say: Well, here I am as a human being, how can I express myself totally and completely? Now, that way you won't create a style, because style is a crystallization. That way, it's a process of continuing growth.

Be water, my friend...

Now, how do you make a wobble, again?

canis major · Post by **canis major** » Mon May 12, 2008 7:41 pm

you could try not listening to any music for a while, cos in my experience if im not listening to music regularly i just make up tunes in my head, could be inspired from anything... a bus engine, ice cream van.

i just have a problem getting the music then going on in my head and putting it down onto paper... but don't we all.

misk · Post by **misk** » Mon May 12, 2008 8:05 pm

I agree with 201 here, I think you'll always have a signature sound, but theres no reason you cant explore different types of arrangements and styles. Think of Noisia. They sound great, but once the inital hype wore off, i realized that a lot of their stuff sounds the same. now think of someone like alpha omega, or amon tobin. They definitely have unique styles, but their music, over time, changes so much. I find it refreshing!

Littlefoot · Post by **Littlefoot** » Mon May 12, 2008 8:08 pm

I try hard to not take direct influence from Dubstep producers but other music I like which doesnt fit the same format, if that makes sense?

also note how most dubstep producers ever have Dilla and Madlib above the dubstep stuff!?

dj vision · Post by **dj vision** » Tue May 13, 2008 2:54 am

I dont understand how you can NOT have your own sound

i mean, you know what you like, and you know what sounds good to you, so thats what you are gonna make

that is your style

even if you try to copy somebody elses style, the way you synthesize, the way you arrange, all that kind of stuff is gonna come out

stier · Post by **stier** » Tue May 13, 2008 6:30 am

I and myself made 3 LP's, and they differ vastly in style and sound. It was all tekno until we recently found out about the break. Now I am totally confused about what to do next. Go for dubstep, my main listening music, start doing traditional music with my accordeon or produce some britney-spears-clone and get rich...

He says I should stick to my inner self, no matter what.

You know what?

Fuck him!

wensley · Post by **wensley** » Tue May 13, 2008 12:31 pm

Some interesting opinions put across. Seems the general consensus is to do your own thing and and to keep pushing your limitations.

I'm pleased to hear people agreeing with styles changing and evolving but I still want to find that trademark to let people know that thats my tune! Supose its finding the right crossover, which i'm gonna work on. But yeah, nice one for all the comments.

misk · Post by **misk** » Tue May 13, 2008 1:44 pm

you could put the same vocal sample in every one of your tracks and call them all a remix of the same song...

wensley · Post by **wensley** » Tue May 13, 2008 1:50 pm

Misk wrote:you could put the same vocal sample in every one of your tracks and call them all a remix of the same song...

Lol, not after that sort of trademark. Although I've got a really cool time streched spoken sample that i could use. surely that as fucking original as you can get right

Coooooccccckkkk cccchhhhheeeeeessssseeee pprrrrodduucccctttiioooonnnsssssssssss ! ! delay, delay delay . . . . . . . . .

Problem sorted

Establishing A Sound

Establishing A Sound

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