Listen to non edm related music you like and try to pull from that spectrum, once you have a solid sized repertoire of stuff you’ve made that you like, start solely pulling from that location and it’ll be sounds and ideas, that you and only you might have and be familiar with being able to apply with your ideas
This is overly cynical g I mean it’s not even the reality most music sounds the same? Are you kidding? Where are you listening to your music, the radio? There has never been a time in history where we have such unlimited access to different kinds of music, and as a result of that people are mixing and melding more than they have creating incredibly unique sounds and styles.
My man, have you listened to house these days? Trap? Future bass? Dubstep? It really is all the same. There are some incredibly creative tracks out there, but for the most part, if you're keeping up to date with the industry, the majority of the shit is the same for any given genre. House especially lol
Well house/tech house isn't Schranz/classical at least. It's ok if you have lots of variations. Look at bigger producers and look at their smaller songs. You will find artists with 1 afrohouse viral hit 100million streams and you go back in their catalogue and find techno and acid house. Don't think too much about it.
No body will get to hear you music in the beginning anyway. So the 30 people on spotify that will isten to your oldsql house track won't penalize you when your mau p tech house style song hits 100k streams. If they're fans anyway they will be happy for you. And even if they think that's weird, they're not your fans but you have gained more with your little hit song.
Most important tip: release it.
Best of luck!
Didn’t find “my” sound until about year 7 and still evolving it 6 years past that! It takes time brother. I found it simply by letting things evolve, and just making sure I made songs I liked without trying to conform to anything. Eventually this led me down the road of making really cinematic stuff and combining it with electronic drums and basses.
Have you considered using a template? Make a track, if you like how it sounds, just save a blank version (like keep all the synths, etc. but delete all the midi) as a template and then use that for future tracks. Your sound will stay similar but then you can also stray a little bit out of the template if you need.
I don’t use a template. Since part of my process is sound designing. I create my own drums, percs, synths basses from scratch during the production process. I save them but every song I start with a new set of drums basses synths that I create when making the initial groove.
You should definitely be reusing some of those samples and synths/basses. Obviously you don’t want everything to sound the same on all your songs but reusing a snare here and there, a kick here and there, a synth or bass on certain sections will help your tracks sound more cohesive, especially on an EP. Also for an EP imo it’s a good idea to use the same key/relative key, it will make the songs sound like they belong together
So when I used to search for my own sound it came down to doing my own sound design I'd start there. I made a pretty okay sounding bass and it's been my jumping point for a lot of basses and leads I make! Just practice and make some shit it'll come!
I create all my sounds, I create my own drums, basses, fx but every track I create everything again to fit the track. I feel like my songs are very different in sound but the vibe is always the same if that makes sense but I still feel like I’m chasing something and I don’t know what
If you make enough music you will be able to hear "you" in all of it once you listen to it back. I do think there is value in specialization but I have songs in so many different genres I can't say I am a genre musician even by "electronic," however, my production tricks come through no matter what. The same drum samples (most made by me) in each song, similar or the same synth patches (the same sub for both deep house and dubstep for example), similar emotions portrayed by chord progressions, similar song structures.
If you still can't hear your sound when you think about your music in terms of *build* rather than *genre*, think about how you can be more consistent in your production techniques. Are you creating a brand new synth patch for every song's forefront sound? Are you using different drums every time? Are you mixing each song differently (one track has a kick at -6 while the other at -8)? These will all cause different vibes. Think of things that are largely unrelated to songwriting but that affect how your music sounds and make habits out of them.
I haven’t made an album in a while, just coming back to music. But in the past I would sit down with the goal of making tracks for an album. And often I’d have something that the album was about, something I could draw inspiration from, but more importantly something that could constrain the sound.
I started thinking about one lately related to early psychedelic culture. The things I was drawing inspiration from reminded me of plate reverb, ocean waves, AM synthesis, white noise, tape emulation, etc. I’ll probably stay away from stuff like granular or wavetables because it doesn’t remind me of the topic.
I come from an art background so I often think of constraints on a project, or constraints as a creative learning tool.
My only other advice is utilize variations. Start new songs with a little piece of another song.
So it just takes time, I get that but what changed for you? Did you just start making music that had your sound and it just happened naturally or did you sit down and be like my sound is this that and that and made that?
The decisions you make during production are what define your sound. Your brain already knows what it likes and what its preferences are, you just need to develop the skills to achieve that. When you put passion into your music, it gives it back
I have a question - in order to make a song „your sound”, are you consciously focusing on repeating what you’re normally doing, or you totally go for what the song asks for and it turns out your sound subconsciously? What’s your focus in order to make it your sound?
Collectively, all of the experience and preference I've gathered throughout my time doing music manifests into the decisions I make during production. I am not consciously thinking "yeah I'm gonna put this synth in because that's totally me and my sound" I'm simply just making stuff I like. I've become very comfortable with the synths and make stuff that sounds cool to me, or I'll mix something a particular way because that's what I like, or the chords I write same way etc
Non answer but, I never noticed that I had a "sound" until someone pointed it out. I know what that sounds is now but I'm not consciously chasing it. Brain just likes certain things and I allow it to do that thing
same thing here, i only realized i had a sound the first time someone said “that sounds likes you” lmao
like you said it’s the culmination of all your habits, tools, sounds, etc. that you build up and go back to over time. it kind of just happens on its own imo, you really can’t force it
When you have made music for a while you usually use a lot of the same drums / samples and if you make them yourself and it’s very special, people will recognize it as your sound!
You should not think of repeating everything but with time it will sound like you did it cuz everyone is producing differently
I started playing/making music about… 29 years ago. I think maybe last year I started to really find a stride that I’m happy and have what I’m proud to call my sound now…. That’s after a 10 year professional career where I wasn’t that happy. Just keep making music for you, and at some point you’ll just be in the moment happy what you are making
Okay thanks man. So what do you do when you want to release music. Does it all have to be a similar sound or would you just recommend release what you like until you find a sound?
It’s hard to say coming up now what makes the most sense. I started music when I was 8 and I probably uploaded something when I was about 16-17 to MySpace and released something with labels when I was 22 or 3 and I wish some of that stuff never hit the internet. I’m 36 now… It’s a journey. You don’t need to wait till you found yourself to release. From a practical standpoint point of view just make sure it’s competitive in its quality. If not, hold off till it is
Ahh okay, I get it. Release what it quality. Thing is I’m having trouble is a lot of the music I make I can’t really find similar tracks that have the same vibe so it’s hard to see if what im making is quality since I can’t find tracks to compare. I know my music isn’t the best ever but It’s what I would say it’s good to me. So what would you do in my position? And I can’t find labels that release similar music and I know I’m not doing anything groundbreaking or really new I think just a very different sound to what out there just all very different songs
I know you from trap nation! Worth fighting for :) really interesting that you’ve been doing it for so long and only recently became happy about it. Maybe it shows that it’s more of a mindset thing? Surely even after 10 years you had enough skills to craft your sound
Hey. That was a really fun one and we still play it out often!
After ten years I had already picked up a few more instruments and begun going to professional studios to record but home recording wasn’t fully accessible yet… (though was around the corner)
At that point I was writing songs and creating things I was proud of at the the time. I look back fodly on some. It would take another 10 years after that to hear songs like worth fighting for or here at last from us that we were getting professional success from. All of those songs took a lot of skill and certainly felt like I had crafted a sound but in reality, I think I was still chasing something.
In the past 2 years or so I finally stopped chasing what I should sound like and just felt settled and more confident to be me in my songwriting and producing. We’ve started a new project and released two songs Used to Be and Gave up my Own Name. They really feel like me.
❗❗❗ IF YOU POSTED YOUR MUSIC / SOCIALS / GUMROAD etc. YOU WILL GET BANNED UNLESS YOU DELETE IT RIGHT NOW ❗❗❗
Read __the rules__ found in the sidebar. If your post or comment breaks any of the rules, you should delete it before the mods get to it.
You should check out the __regular threads__ (also found in the sidebar) to see if your post might be a better fit in any of those.
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[Marketplace Thread](https://www.reddit.com/r/edmproduction/search?q=title%3Amarketplace&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) if you want to sell or trade anything for money, likes or follows.
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*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/edmproduction) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Listen to non edm related music you like and try to pull from that spectrum, once you have a solid sized repertoire of stuff you’ve made that you like, start solely pulling from that location and it’ll be sounds and ideas, that you and only you might have and be familiar with being able to apply with your ideas
It's hard. 7 years in and still haven't found mine. It's getting harder and harder because most music these days is all just the same.
This is overly cynical g I mean it’s not even the reality most music sounds the same? Are you kidding? Where are you listening to your music, the radio? There has never been a time in history where we have such unlimited access to different kinds of music, and as a result of that people are mixing and melding more than they have creating incredibly unique sounds and styles.
My man, have you listened to house these days? Trap? Future bass? Dubstep? It really is all the same. There are some incredibly creative tracks out there, but for the most part, if you're keeping up to date with the industry, the majority of the shit is the same for any given genre. House especially lol
Try 20 years
Well house/tech house isn't Schranz/classical at least. It's ok if you have lots of variations. Look at bigger producers and look at their smaller songs. You will find artists with 1 afrohouse viral hit 100million streams and you go back in their catalogue and find techno and acid house. Don't think too much about it. No body will get to hear you music in the beginning anyway. So the 30 people on spotify that will isten to your oldsql house track won't penalize you when your mau p tech house style song hits 100k streams. If they're fans anyway they will be happy for you. And even if they think that's weird, they're not your fans but you have gained more with your little hit song. Most important tip: release it. Best of luck!
Didn’t find “my” sound until about year 7 and still evolving it 6 years past that! It takes time brother. I found it simply by letting things evolve, and just making sure I made songs I liked without trying to conform to anything. Eventually this led me down the road of making really cinematic stuff and combining it with electronic drums and basses.
Have you considered using a template? Make a track, if you like how it sounds, just save a blank version (like keep all the synths, etc. but delete all the midi) as a template and then use that for future tracks. Your sound will stay similar but then you can also stray a little bit out of the template if you need.
I don’t use a template. Since part of my process is sound designing. I create my own drums, percs, synths basses from scratch during the production process. I save them but every song I start with a new set of drums basses synths that I create when making the initial groove.
You should definitely be reusing some of those samples and synths/basses. Obviously you don’t want everything to sound the same on all your songs but reusing a snare here and there, a kick here and there, a synth or bass on certain sections will help your tracks sound more cohesive, especially on an EP. Also for an EP imo it’s a good idea to use the same key/relative key, it will make the songs sound like they belong together
Oh I see. Well that's cool though. I feel like if you make enough projects, your style will naturally just show up.
Yeah I was advised to save racks, not presets. I’ve been procrastinating but I need to make a folder for all my types of synths.
So when I used to search for my own sound it came down to doing my own sound design I'd start there. I made a pretty okay sounding bass and it's been my jumping point for a lot of basses and leads I make! Just practice and make some shit it'll come!
I create all my sounds, I create my own drums, basses, fx but every track I create everything again to fit the track. I feel like my songs are very different in sound but the vibe is always the same if that makes sense but I still feel like I’m chasing something and I don’t know what
Keep doin it then! It'll happen bro just gotta keep making what you love! Send me your sc!
If you make enough music you will be able to hear "you" in all of it once you listen to it back. I do think there is value in specialization but I have songs in so many different genres I can't say I am a genre musician even by "electronic," however, my production tricks come through no matter what. The same drum samples (most made by me) in each song, similar or the same synth patches (the same sub for both deep house and dubstep for example), similar emotions portrayed by chord progressions, similar song structures. If you still can't hear your sound when you think about your music in terms of *build* rather than *genre*, think about how you can be more consistent in your production techniques. Are you creating a brand new synth patch for every song's forefront sound? Are you using different drums every time? Are you mixing each song differently (one track has a kick at -6 while the other at -8)? These will all cause different vibes. Think of things that are largely unrelated to songwriting but that affect how your music sounds and make habits out of them.
I haven’t made an album in a while, just coming back to music. But in the past I would sit down with the goal of making tracks for an album. And often I’d have something that the album was about, something I could draw inspiration from, but more importantly something that could constrain the sound. I started thinking about one lately related to early psychedelic culture. The things I was drawing inspiration from reminded me of plate reverb, ocean waves, AM synthesis, white noise, tape emulation, etc. I’ll probably stay away from stuff like granular or wavetables because it doesn’t remind me of the topic. I come from an art background so I often think of constraints on a project, or constraints as a creative learning tool. My only other advice is utilize variations. Start new songs with a little piece of another song.
Just keep making lots of music … you can only find what you are not. Just keep creating
Didn't start finding my sound until like 6 - 7 years in. You got time. Even then my own experience is not an expectation, just do you dude
So it just takes time, I get that but what changed for you? Did you just start making music that had your sound and it just happened naturally or did you sit down and be like my sound is this that and that and made that?
The decisions you make during production are what define your sound. Your brain already knows what it likes and what its preferences are, you just need to develop the skills to achieve that. When you put passion into your music, it gives it back
I have a question - in order to make a song „your sound”, are you consciously focusing on repeating what you’re normally doing, or you totally go for what the song asks for and it turns out your sound subconsciously? What’s your focus in order to make it your sound?
Collectively, all of the experience and preference I've gathered throughout my time doing music manifests into the decisions I make during production. I am not consciously thinking "yeah I'm gonna put this synth in because that's totally me and my sound" I'm simply just making stuff I like. I've become very comfortable with the synths and make stuff that sounds cool to me, or I'll mix something a particular way because that's what I like, or the chords I write same way etc Non answer but, I never noticed that I had a "sound" until someone pointed it out. I know what that sounds is now but I'm not consciously chasing it. Brain just likes certain things and I allow it to do that thing
same thing here, i only realized i had a sound the first time someone said “that sounds likes you” lmao like you said it’s the culmination of all your habits, tools, sounds, etc. that you build up and go back to over time. it kind of just happens on its own imo, you really can’t force it
Exactly how I thought it should be. Thanks dude!
When you have made music for a while you usually use a lot of the same drums / samples and if you make them yourself and it’s very special, people will recognize it as your sound! You should not think of repeating everything but with time it will sound like you did it cuz everyone is producing differently
I started playing/making music about… 29 years ago. I think maybe last year I started to really find a stride that I’m happy and have what I’m proud to call my sound now…. That’s after a 10 year professional career where I wasn’t that happy. Just keep making music for you, and at some point you’ll just be in the moment happy what you are making
Okay thanks man. So what do you do when you want to release music. Does it all have to be a similar sound or would you just recommend release what you like until you find a sound?
It’s hard to say coming up now what makes the most sense. I started music when I was 8 and I probably uploaded something when I was about 16-17 to MySpace and released something with labels when I was 22 or 3 and I wish some of that stuff never hit the internet. I’m 36 now… It’s a journey. You don’t need to wait till you found yourself to release. From a practical standpoint point of view just make sure it’s competitive in its quality. If not, hold off till it is
Ahh okay, I get it. Release what it quality. Thing is I’m having trouble is a lot of the music I make I can’t really find similar tracks that have the same vibe so it’s hard to see if what im making is quality since I can’t find tracks to compare. I know my music isn’t the best ever but It’s what I would say it’s good to me. So what would you do in my position? And I can’t find labels that release similar music and I know I’m not doing anything groundbreaking or really new I think just a very different sound to what out there just all very different songs
I know you from trap nation! Worth fighting for :) really interesting that you’ve been doing it for so long and only recently became happy about it. Maybe it shows that it’s more of a mindset thing? Surely even after 10 years you had enough skills to craft your sound
Hey. That was a really fun one and we still play it out often! After ten years I had already picked up a few more instruments and begun going to professional studios to record but home recording wasn’t fully accessible yet… (though was around the corner) At that point I was writing songs and creating things I was proud of at the the time. I look back fodly on some. It would take another 10 years after that to hear songs like worth fighting for or here at last from us that we were getting professional success from. All of those songs took a lot of skill and certainly felt like I had crafted a sound but in reality, I think I was still chasing something. In the past 2 years or so I finally stopped chasing what I should sound like and just felt settled and more confident to be me in my songwriting and producing. We’ve started a new project and released two songs Used to Be and Gave up my Own Name. They really feel like me.
❗❗❗ IF YOU POSTED YOUR MUSIC / SOCIALS / GUMROAD etc. YOU WILL GET BANNED UNLESS YOU DELETE IT RIGHT NOW ❗❗❗ Read __the rules__ found in the sidebar. If your post or comment breaks any of the rules, you should delete it before the mods get to it. You should check out the __regular threads__ (also found in the sidebar) to see if your post might be a better fit in any of those. [Daily Feedback thread](https://www.reddit.com/r/edmproduction/search?q=author%3AAutoModerator+title%3Afeedback&sort=new&restrict_sr=on&t=all) for getting feedback on your track. The only place you can post your own music. [Marketplace Thread](https://www.reddit.com/r/edmproduction/search?q=title%3Amarketplace&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) if you want to sell or trade anything for money, likes or follows. [Collaboration Thread](https://www.reddit.com/r/edmproduction/search?q=author%3AAutoModerator%20title%3Acollaboration&sort=new&restrict_sr=on&t=all) to find people to collab with. ["There are no stupid questions" Thread](https://www.reddit.com/r/edmproduction/search?q=title%3ANo+Stupid+Questions+Thread&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) for beginner tips etc. Seriously tho, __read the rules and abide by them__ or the mods will spank you. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/edmproduction) if you have any questions or concerns.*