Have You Found Your Sound?

[des]

What a great thread!

I'm trying to find my sound, or perhaps I should call it style, wrt Ambient music. It's been elusive though at times I feel I get a glimpse of it. Part of it is because I am trying to mostly use Chapman Stick to create it...and I've only been playing Stick a relatively short while compared to other instruments I play. The mechanics are a bottleneck that I am getting thru, albeit not as fast as I would like. With keyboards/synths the mechanics are not as much an issue.

I recently have been able to get the actual sounds I'm looking for but it's the compositional aspect that is eluding me: what chord progressions...if any...should I use. Stuff along those lines. I feel I'm over-thinking it perhaps. A recent 'breakthrough' for me was sitting down and figuring out the chords for Eno's 'An Ending (Ascent), which I find to be a very beautiful song. Basically three or four chords. But the way they're played...Brilliant! Interestingly enough, for many years I played cover material in rock bands...you learned the chords for the songs and took it from there. However for some reason I avoided learning any electronic music, not even the chord progressions. Oh you might spend hours trying to create the sound patch, but never took it further. That's going to change. Just the few songs I've worked on have pointed me down a path that I'm really looking forward to taking...

[sklawlor]

Hi. This is a very interesting thread and I remember, when I first started releasing music last year, my wife, who is an accountant, asked me if I considered what my brand was going to be? I had no idea what she was talking about and I'm still not sure I have found a specific voice or sound. I tend to create in different subgenres (dark ambient, space, drone, and even ambient concept albums) and after I released my waterless places album in January, I remember Jack Hertz said that I may have started a new subgenre called progbient. I don't know what people really think of a lot of my music because I guess I'm shy about asking. It's like that "describe me in one word" thing and it's a strange dichotomy because on the one hand, I don't do so well being in the spotlight so-to-speak in terms of getting attention but on the other hand, I work to release music because, I've always had a passion for the art. There are the people who say "Your music doesn't do anything" and I've always wondered what that meant because it's something that doesn't really make sense to me. I remember an email I got from Lucette bourdin and after hearing a draft of something that I wrote, she said that if I keep going on my path, I'll have a unique voice in the ambient community and that has always stuck with me as something to encourage me to keep exploring, trying out different things and just seeing what happens. Do I have any signature attributes? Probably a couple like using a lot of whole tone and harmonic minor scales and my production is probably not on the same level of other artists but I use that as a signature in that it creates a "lost archive" feel to the work.

[Eye Of Theta]

You've posed an interesting question. I am really not sure if I have found my sound yet. I had thought that drone styled minimalist music was the calling. Yet if that were true I wouldn't find myself constantly exploring other genres rather than doing what simply comes natural. That and I always feel like what I do produce/compose naturally sounds a little ... well, lack lustre. My most popular track, 'Old Me, Old You', is a good example of what I mean. It's literally just one big drone the whole way through with improvised tuning and tweaking.

So no. I don't think I have found my true calling yet when it comes to sound. I mean right now, I am working on some 'ambient/ethnic' styled work. And I'd say that is a bit more melodic than drone music. :P

[phrozenlight]

I have found my sound almost twenty years ago... just play your own stuff and try not to sound like someone else......

[Negative Spectrum]

Well, after my last comment in this thread, nearly a year and a half ago, I know I've found my sound. As long as it sounds dark then it works. In fact I've managed to narrow down my vst collection to 3 saving me a lot of money

[Under the Net]

I've lost my sound, somehow.

[MetaDronos]

Well, after my last comment in this thread, nearly a year and a half ago, I know I've found my sound. As long as it sounds dark then it works. In fact I've managed to narrow down my vst collection to 3 saving me a lot of money

And what are these 3 VSTs?

[Synthetic Aurality]

I've managed to get CLOSER to "my sound".. since I'm not great at synth programming, it's taken me a bit to figure out how to blend things to make a kind of dark/light yin/yang forever shifting thingie.. if that makes any sense..

It's an eternal process, I swear..

[Sky High Diamonds]

Interesting! I think I am in the process of finding my sound. Has taken time to develop and I have messed about in a few different genres to try things out. I always seem to come back to a haunting, slower melody that seems to suit my vocal and I feel comfortable with. I don't enjoy singing melodies and tempos that I'm not comfortable with, even if other people approve. Feedback from friends has pointed the way to my sound, getting feedback and being told what works, what doesn't is really helpful. As long as I'm comfortable with what I have done AND enjoy listening to my own sound (bloomin important that) then me and my sound are best buddies.:highfive:

[alias9593]

I don't know if it's MY sound but i know there are some sounds and techniques i like to use.
I have between 3 and 5 pads on every track, never more than 2 are synth made. All the ohers are field recordings, granulator, effects, etc...
I like to use hitted objects for my drums and percussions, specially metallic objects.
This is not a systematic way of doing things but i noticed you can find those characteristics in pretty much all my tracks.
So, is it my technic or my sound ?
I don't know ....

[Ahornberg]

I think, my sound has found me:dance:

[Sky High Diamonds]

I have, but beats keep sneaking into it.

I managed to get about 1 minute into my last track without any beatz. I went outside for a cigarette, and when I returned, there they were, acting innocent :eek:

ha, ha, yes, they are slippery little things those beats, have to keep a close eye, and ear on them! I can't help but slip them in at times. Some of my tracks are built up around beats.

[seismic1]

I have, but beats keep sneaking into it.

I managed to get about 1 minute into my last track without any beatz. I went outside for a cigarette, and when I returned, there they were, acting innocent :eek:

ha, ha, yes, they are slippery little things those beats, have to keep a close eye, and ear on them! I can't help but slip them in at times. Some of my tracks are built up around beats.

I am determined to complete the next track without resorting to any beats My current success rate is less than 8%, and percussion can take many different forms.

[Ian Haygreen]

I've been told I've got a sound although I hadn't realised it. Probably because of the VSTs and field recordings I use. I didn't set out to have a sound but it seemed to happen.

[CosmicCadence]

Time to find a new sound...

I spent countless hours composing for planetarium productions in the 90's and found my groove. Still love the warm synth sounds of my analogue gear and early digital modules, but am fascinated by the depth and complexity of the newer DAWs and synth engines. Time to find a new signature sound. I must say that I am blown away by the talent on this forum - a great inspiration!