Finding your own 'style'

[Iron Keys]

How would you guys suggest going about finding your own 'style'.



I find my style follows what sounds and feels 'right' to me, of course this is going to be a big problem, if this influence comes from a small number of producers and their style is very obviously theirs... you end up sounding like you're just replicating their stuff.



How does one avoid this? I've tried listening to different genres of music, and even non-music influences, it just doesn't seem to help much.



Input much appreciated...

Love
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~2Fly

 

[Relic]

Good question...

Have you tried listening to nothing but what you have done for a while?

Seperating yourself from what is out can help, however unfortunately part of music is knowing what is what people want to hear and part of that is listening to what is out... So you see the conundrum..

I suggest nnot listening to the radio for a few weeks and continue to make what YOU think sounds good.
I have to actually make myself listen to the radio so I can know what is going on and adjust accordingly. For me no matter what I do whether it sux or not is going to come out like "me".
I think I have the opposite problem that you have actually lol.

 

[Iron Keys]

Yeah, man. I find one big problem, is pitch bending string sounds. It's like 'instant storch'.

The other thing is, I was playing some guys my tracks, and one producer/rapper was like 'I can instantly tell who your influences are... Dr Dre / Scott Storch.' And thats straight up, it is. Was a little flattered someone recognised that. However, I don't think biting off Dre / Storch is gonna be a good move (regardless of it being largely accidental).

Either way, he wants one of my Dre-like tracks, and one of my Storch-like ones. So all to the good.

Love
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~2Fly

 

[thedreampolice]

It depends on your goal really, if you want to sell beats then you have to sound like what is hot NOW and that is a moving target. You can always throw in your own flavor. If you want to make it as an artist I would really try and have YOUR sound. Of course you can mix both.

 

[UNORTHODOX]

I started to get into a deep description but it really boils down to is: your songs gonna be the sum of your influences. There's no completely original idea. there is only a unique combination of of styles already done. Change your "perspective" on the music you make, AIM to be different and try to see the world in a slightly different way then others today. Be adventurous when creating.

 

[Shonsteez]

I think the simplest answer is - make what makes YOU happy.
Stick to that and I guarantee you will develop your own style eventually.

 

[wrightboy]

i agree. just keep doing you. eventually your sound will evolve into something different without you even knowing it. it'll just become "normal." i think that with all music, and all producers, you can hear who their influences are. that's not necessarily a bad thing.

 

[Precog]

I remember I asked wings of an angel the same question on here a few years ago. At the time I had no style whatsoever all my beats sounded different and I didnt like that, I wanted my own memorable style. He told me to keep experimenting and eventually a style did emerge as I would take all the aspects that I liked of these different beats and put it all together. So I would suggest if you wanna make your own original style, you should mess around a bit with making beats you wouldnt normally make, still dope but just different, it will force you to be original cos your not making what your used to.

 

[hanayalator]

I think you have to create your own style, and be aware of what you're doing. I like to use the example of jazz musicians. Jazz musicians, when first learning to play and improvise, choose a few heros that they love, and go on to learn everything about how those heros play, phrase, solo, etc. After years of studying these heros, the jazz musicians start to pick out what they like best, and start to change the things that they don't like as much, and they start to develop their own sound. I think the exact same thing happens with producers. You have to have a few heros that you love and model your beats after. You have to figure out what makes their beats work, and then you have to try and make the same thing happen in your own. After a while of doing, you'll come to a point where you know what you like and what you don't, and what you're trying to accomplish with every track. Another mistake is to copy beats that are 'hot now'. That's exactly what you don't want to do, becuase by the time you get yours released and aired, it won't be that hot style anymore. You want to come up with something new and fresh that hasn't really been heard before, so that when it does come out, it'll be the new and hot sound.

H

 

[Sucio]

Even if you sound similar to a popular artist/producer...

You can still differentiate yourself from them because your style is unique.

DO what feels right...and make yourself more versatile...

 

[Iron Keys]

A lot of reallly good advice here, much appreciated.

Mad Love
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~2Fly

 

[samuelock]

honestly, if you just keep on making beats there's absolutely no way your own style won't develop. everyone likes their little nuances differently, and it'll come naturally if you just make beats over a long period of time

 

[skidflow]

Developing your own style is only staying true to what comes naturally while one is in the creative process.(not being continuous that you are imitating someone else's techniques or methods I think) The only thing is that when you develop your "own" style one tends to use sounds and techniques that are "simular" on damn near every track...which turns one into a "copycat" producer...where one find themselves trying to mirror their own sound everytime a beat is produced. Lil Jon is a perfect example of developing an "own style" morphing into a copycat producer. I think developing your own style is a great concept...but one also needs to strive to be versatile just as much...being versatile gives one better chances at longevity in the music biz.

 

[eldiablo]

theres a few different ways to do this.
1. take a break from producing
2. get a new piece of gear that your not familiar with
3. try different approaches to making a beat. like for instance do things in the opposite order you would normally do them.
4. work with different people
5. if your sample based try making beats from scratch, and vise versa.
6. stop listening to hip hop for awhile
7. find new influences
8. get new sounds
9. learn to play a new instrument.

p.s. if your taking the break approach doesnt mean you cant stay busy. theres always a 1000 other things you can be doing instead of producing. marketing, working on your contacts, show promotion, booking, finding new talent to work with. etc etc etc..
hope this helps.
peace

 

[dacalion]

I cosign with skid, the thing that I find others do a lot is once you find "your sound", it's hard to like or credit someone else"s sound or you put your own ideas on what they are doing and I don't agree with that mindset. I think you should look at what the other producer is doing and trying to accomplish with their sound before putting your own flavor on their beat. For example Pete Rock has his style, Rick Rueben has his...Pete shouldn't knock Ricks style just because he doesn't do things like Rick. He should acknowledge that Rick does his type of music very well and let it be what it is...imo.

I see this a lot. Cats just forget that we AREN'T trying to sound like each other, we're trying to sound differently. It happens very much in the Sample Flip and Showcase threads. Thats why it IS important to be versatile, it makes it easier to understand what direction others are trying to go without thinking what they SHOULD have done instead. Now maybe thats ok if the 2 have similar sounds but if not, its not OK. I dont really know what the correct answer is but thats why I try to give positive criticism when I'm judging a beat or whatever. I think its only fair to cats just starting out. They don't know what direction they are even going yet, so telling them to change this and change that isn't truely helping them. It's putting your own flavor on their work unless they ask for that specifically.

 

[2infamouz]

if u ever listen to other peoples music and think "this should happen here" or hear a change in the melody that isnt actually in the composition you're already developing your own style...i always thought if u can think of ways to improve other peoples music you can make your own tracks...sometimes making what sounds "right" could b a bad direction to take because u pick stuff up subconciously and u could really b re creating someone elses work and that's why it sounds right to you... making something perfect in a sense is making what everyones used to...try making your beat off a little and different, not the norm. whatever sounds/ feels good, feelin the music is always better to me than hearing it. a lot of times i hear melodies in my head that i've heard on the radio or in songs...but that's me so i guess if you're trying to find "your" style then my best suggestion would be to make something that you like , instead of trying to please other people. forget about peoples reactions and criticism for a while, and focus on what you like about your music...criticism can be helpful but focusing too much on it will have u making other peoples music instead of yours.

 

[Sucio]

Also what diablo said, listen to other genres of music (if you don't already). My biggest influence (in terms of genre) in music is rock/metal. A lot of my tracks have rock influenced drum sequencing. That's pretty much all I listen to when I just wanna vibe out and get away from hip-hop...I mean I go IN on it...