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Hey guys,

I've been producing for around a year now, and I thought it would be great to work on a first EP during holidays.
However I'm facing the problem of "identity".

Most producers (at least known ones) have a distinct sound. Whether it's Noisia, Kill the Noise, Disprove, xKore, Flux Pavillion, Koan Sound, FuntCase, Skrillex, you name it.
They have a signature, a sound, a mood that you can find in most of their tracks (whether it's happy or dark).

Do you think it's something that just happens or do you think you have to chase after it ?

I'd love to develop my identity as a producer but I'm in between anything. I mean, Disprove neurohop twists my brain, but I like the dark mood Noisia has, I do think Skrillex has some nice arrangements, I like how FuntCase has a disgusting sound.
Picking an element of each would be too easy, because it's sometimes contradictory.

I can't seem to find myself, each of my tracks is different, and I'm afraid not developing a certain style and signature can hurt in the long run because every track is too different from the others.

Do you ever ask yourself the same questions ? If you have managed, how did you do ?

I'm fucking lost, and this lack of identity is hurting my motivation.

i'd be very surprised if anyone developed an identity within a year of starting making beats

chekov wrote:i'd be very surprised if anyone developed an identity within a year of starting making beats

exactly, a year in real terms is nothing and I'd be careful not to mistake lack of identity for diversity, without causing offense 'Kill the Noise, Disprove, xKore, Flux Pavillion, Koan Sound, FuntCase' these guys make very very similar music, maybe you mean identity as in Burial and Kahn who no matter what they turn their hand to it has their own sound, but that will come with producing and most probably is just a thing they've got going on.

Just keep making whatever tunes you feel like, it will come.

FAARE FACED wrote:I'm fucking lost, and this lack of identity is hurting my motivation.

stop whining it's not that bad

You will find your identity by creating all those tracks that seem to not have any identity to them. Each time you write a track or learn a new skill you are slowly defining your workflow and thus defiing and creating your "signature sound".

i've been writing beats for years and i think i'm only just starting to find any kind of identity or whatever

I only wanna write tunes I like. Whatever comes out of me banging on my keyboard, that's me. Even if people would compare it to something else. And while I don't think my shit sounds distinct at all, I've heard friends say that music sounds very distinctly me.

I also think there's a trap very distinct musicians fall into. They carve out their own niche so much that even if they branch out a little, their sound is just soo present and when you listen to them a lot it does get old faster.

So you know, having your own sound isn't everything. It's a fine line to me. Going to back to what I said. Write tunes that make you happy writing. Regardless of whether they're carbon copies of your favorite producers or the most unique shit in the world. There's only merrit in enjoyment, nothin gelse.

One day you'll find your sound. I've been producing for two years and I still haven't find mine.

Lichee wrote:exactly, a year in real terms is nothing and I'd be careful not to mistake lack of identity for diversity, without causing offense 'Kill the Noise, Disprove, xKore, Flux Pavillion, Koan Sound, FuntCase' these guys make very very similar music, maybe you mean identity as in Burial and Kahn who no matter what they turn their hand to it has their own sound, but that will come with producing and most probably is just a thing they've got going on.

I dunno if I agree with Kahn.

This

And

This

Sound like they're coming from very different producers.

Anyway, to the OP: save your best synth patches and drum loops (that you personally created). Re-use them. Not too much of course. Everything in moderation.

If you are more worried about "defining yourself" than what you personally get out of the music I don't know what to tell you. Sure, if you get to the point of commercial success worry about these things. But the drive has to come from what you get out of making music in the beginning, having thing has to start there. It can also stop there, personally I'm not working toward commercial success. I've another career and I though I like sharing tunes with people, I'm doing this for personal satisfaction. I tried doing what I love for a job, didn't turn out so well.

takes a long time to find your sound mate, I had this discussion with a producer mate of mine at college today. every track i write at the moment is completely different to the last one, and I've been making tunes for 5-6 years so don't sweat about finding your style after a year.

Some advice from DSF's good pal jrisreal/smalltock:
Stay the hell away from this "identity" stuff. Unless you like developing dependencies, keep your "signature sound" as nebulous as possible, without actively attempting to vary your style. I, for one, hate dependencies and would like to neutralize as many as possible.

smalltock wrote:Some advice from DSF's good pal jrisreal/smalltock:
Stay the hell away from this "identity" stuff. Unless you like developing dependencies, keep your "signature sound" as nebulous as possible, without actively attempting to vary your style. I, for one, hate dependencies and would like to neutralize as many as possible.

+1

Well yeah, once you've produced yourself into a box, you're fucked.

Not to mention, producing in a variety of styles will teach you a variety of techniques, thereby making your bag of tricks much larger.

Over time, your style will be guided by things you like the sound of and your favorite methods of achieving things. It'll develop naturally on its own but it takes time. Best you can do is to sample all the possibilities now, so you'll have as wide a palette to choose from as possible when it comes time for your personal style to actually coalesce.

Basically, do what sounds good to you and don't stop experimenting.

Identity and style are pretty interchangeable IMO. I had a dig through Search and found these which are relevant;

Style - http://www.dubstepforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=232453
The style thread - http://www.dubstepforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=192972
Choosing a producing style - http://www.dubstepforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=192767
A Change of Style - http://www.dubstepforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=184941
listening habits affecting your production/writing style - http://www.dubstepforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=162248
Do you have a signature style? - http://www.dubstepforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=94943
Finding Your Own Style - http://www.dubstepforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=248572

For starters

In terms of having a style/identity, I find that for me the overall style/texture of my tracks (particularly those on my Soundcloud) have a similar overall vibe to them, in terms of emotional content etc. Think that was probably a subconcious thing on my part though, not sure I'd set out to write things that sound the same.

Percussion processing as well I find helps, I have a particular mixer preset that goes on my percussion bus which adds a certain texture that is used on pretty much all of my tracks in one form or another...helps create a vibe that carries across the different pieces.

Compression as well, although I hardly ever use it, but a slight bit of 'gluing' compression on a bus to bring things together, again adds the vibe and gives things a similar feel.

The way you approach your productions I think also helps...I've mentioned on here before that I prefer not to start with drums or bass when beginning a project, and instead let the key/hook element evolve naturally to a point where the piece dictates to me where the drums/bass should fit around the core sound. So I guess this would count as methodology/stylistic approach/modus operandi in terms of identifying traits.

Although methodology isn't a trait as such, obviously.

Same with particular hardware/software...if a producer used only, for example, Massive to make ALL of their sounds (extreme example, but bear with me) then their sound would have a different vibe to it than a producer who use only an 808 drum machine.

Easier bit of identity grasping would be to get a more obscure piece of hardware/software (cheap synth from a second hand shop, particular VST they don't make any more etc) and learn it inside and out MAKING IT YOUR BITCH to get sounds out of it like no other. Instanity identity insanity.

The other day I was listening to Steve Jobs give a talk where he was predicting the future of computing, and he was bang on with many of his predictions. This was before the internet even existed. I know you're probably wondering why I'm mentioning this in an article about writing your own dubstep, but perhaps you might have a clue already. If you had to describe him with the first word that comes into your mind, what would it be? For me it would be 'innovator'. Sure, he has a reputation for being ruthlessly mean to people, but 100 years from now he will be remembered in history as a true innovator. The link here is obvious. Would you rather be remembered for making 100 songs that sounded like everything else or just a handful of songs that were completely in a class of their own?

^^ Interesting point here as well ^^

And take your influences from different places. If you're listening to Dubstep all day and making then Dubstep then wondering why the Dubstep you're making isn't as good as the Dubstep you listened to whilst making your Dubstep, you're dubstepping it wrong. In fact, don't listen to anything of the genre you want to produce. Drum & bass made by someone who only listens to drum & bass sounds generally shite. Drum & bass made by someone who only listens to psychobilly would be far more entertaining.

As always wub, spot on.

smalltock wrote:Some advice from DSF's good pal jrisreal/smalltock:
Stay the hell away from this "identity" stuff. Unless you like developing dependencies, keep your "signature sound" as nebulous as possible, without actively attempting to vary your style. I, for one, hate dependencies and would like to neutralize as many as possible.

completely off topic but why did you change your name to smalltock? i mean really- smalltock??

No real reason...could have continued as jrisreal. Smalltock is a general purpose alias I've been using. Thought it was kinda funny. Besides, you'll find my personality quite distinct from jrisreal's.

is it "jr is real" or "jr isreal"?

It was both, but was never really significant.

you dont have to be slash just have fun at what you are doing