My Songs Sound The Same!
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@dukongp100 Mar 2022
A little thing I just thought of. Some music has familiarity as a signature, ( AC/DC, Pitbull, Maroon 5, Five Finger Deathpunvh are mentioned ) and that works it seems from a marketing perspective,
However, I’d like to propose that it is okay, that it may be your songs sound the same. I feel some cultures push people to work hard, even at the detriment to health. When a slow and steady race can be run too, with less detrimental effects on our physical and mental health.
I could make music that’s original all I want, but in the end if it’s causing me to drop other commitments to seek this original, epic, experimentally every song is different thing in and of itself… I can relax more and know that the uniqueness in each song can simply be the little differences, the subtle alterations.
I feel this is something that is a common thing in popular culture. No matter if I’m doing for my own reasons, such as putting less pressure on myself it may just free me up to do what I enjoy doing. Making music.
This can be applied to other things. Writing, art, specification in a team role, being good at only one or two things and just doing those things. -
@nadine Mar 2022
Welcome to the curse of originality. If you write lots of songs sounding the same, everybody will recognize you. And if you try real hard to compose new chord progressions, start new genre, experiment with sounddesign, then people say that you haven't found your style.
I struggled really hard with that topic and I decided, that I do music for me and not for my audience. So yes, I am okay, if I jump between the genres, if there are different vocalists, different lyrics and nobody knows what comes next. But hey that's me!
Learning guitar I figured out how many songs are the same. Some of my favourite artists used the same chord progression in 4 songs and I did not even notice, because the sound and tempo were different! If you never watched the Axis of Awesome 4 chord video I highly recommend to do it now!
All in all it's a personal decision and a part of your musical journey to accept what you write. -
@highmountain Mar 2022
I guess there's a tension between the "exterior" and the "interior". Often beginners start out imitating different styles in order to find that "own voice", that perhaps is nothing more than a developed and found out "interior" (your own personal beliefs and attitudes). When this is done, the artist may "branch out" in different experiments. And experiments can fail. If they lose contact with the "interior" they experiments will sound construed, boring and lifeless. So I guess my conclusion is you are on the right track! Many great artists keep on writing the same story. Honesty beats diversity. Skip the trumpets until you really need them!
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@highmountain Mar 2022
... "interior" thE experiments"...
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@metalfoot Mar 2022
Yeah, eventually you find your own thing and there's no shame in running with it. Also, no shame in breaking out of molds once in a while.
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@lemonsmoke Mar 2022
Made me remember an experiment I did with Disturbed. You can take any of their songs and throw 12 of them into a pile and you've got a cohesive album. Not only is their style/sound the same, but their approach during recording is virtually identical in all of the albums.
I have this internal battle with trying to branch out to be a "well-rounded musician", yet I can listen to anything Disturbed put out and have a blast. Same goes with Five Finger Death Punch as you've said. I guess I just don't make sense :) -
@nadine Mar 2022
@lemonsmoke lol these are some of the bands I've been talking about for the very same reason :D I decided to give up on my signature sound and do what I want.
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@bithprod Mar 2022
My approach:
1) Make the songs that I want to make.
2) Organize the songs in folders according to style.
3) When I reach 10-ish songs, release them as an album under a new "band name".
4) Sit back and watch nobody listen to the songs.
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@kiffa Mar 2022
Every musician/songwriter has to do what feels right for them, but for myself, I like changing things up and I like when other people do it too. If I didn't try to branch out, sure, I might increase my output and be able to 'win' FAWM (which I haven't done since 2008), but I'm much happier writing a handful of songs that don't sound anything like each other than I would be writing 20+ songs that are more or less interchangeable. If that makes me hard to categorize, I'm fine with that (FAWM is pretty much the only time that anyone's listening anyway lol).
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@lemonsmoke Mar 2022
@bithprod "4) Sit back and watch nobody listen to the songs."
Oof that hit hard. haha! We are all gluttons for punishment. -
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@metalfoot Mar 2022
The local radio station does have a 'local talent' thing where they will play songs by local artists. Once in a while I'm tempted to send them some of my stuff. But I never get past the 'tempted' part.
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@highmountain Mar 2022
I have started out in my town (300 000 inhabitants) to host evenings in a Café on Fridays evenings called "Two [something] and a bard", me always being the bard. It's a concept perhaps worth copying. Singing four songs each during one hour, starting off with some friendly, humorous speech, you pool resources into inviting the guests, keeping it short and concentrated to catch the audience, moving to quick to bore them! (Hopefully.) :-)
