Developing a consistent style vs doing whatever you want

[recursion loop]

I'm a typical bedroom producer with a couple of releases here and there and no really ambitious plans, doing music mostly for my own pleasure but I still want my musical output to be interesting to someone else besides myself, which most probably requires having a recognizable style.

 

I used to be mostly concerned about learning the technical side of things, mixing, sound-design etc, while as regards the musical content I am pretty disorganised - like, when I stumble upon a great track made by someone else, be it full-on, or psyprog, or goa, I think "whoa, that's cool, I must try doing something like that". That's good for learning different techniques but probably not so good for developing your own artistic language.

 

On the other hand, ideas like "from now on I'll be doing only 134-137 bpm prog with these and these sounds and forget about anything else untill I become really good at this kind of prog" sound kinda depressing for me - but this seems to be the way most known producers are doing their things, Protonica always sounds like Protonica, Electric Universe allways sounds like Electric Universe. Digicult always sounds like Digicult etc.

 

So what do you think? What's your own experience?

[MultiV3rse]

I am going through the exact same dilemma, if you will... I have my own unique style which others can distinguish when i make a track, but i actually like trying out different style and/or techniques that make the listener go "how does he do that?" or the type of sound that even producers can't wrap their head around.

 

I believe that even trying to mimic or "copy" another track loosely will still end up being your "own" style in the end, because you will still make your unique touches to things you didn't like in the track, (i do anyway) and it always ends up sounding like me, maybe you are not aware that everybody has a unique fingerprint, its the same with their music and creative outlets - it's just what you are most used to and comfortable with and that i believe is what makes you, you.

 

I actually go through phases and try out different styles, different keys i normally would not produce with (lots of majors) and even try adding cross styles into my tracks, because i like bits and pieces of a lot of music, that happens to not be psy trance.

 

It is confusing, and i am glad that i am not alone in thinking this way, sometimes it feels you lose your way, especially when you haven't had a good original idea, or when starting a new track and trying something fresh - i say whatever you do, just roll with it, and it will end up being you no matter what unless you force yourself to sound like someone else completely, then i think that it will not sound "organic" or natural, even to you.

 

Just my 2 cents.

[recursion loop]

Thanks for your input! Indeed the question seems a bit weird so it is good to know that I'm not the only one bothered about things like this

 

Actually it may be that my preferred kind of psytrance is considered cheesy and dated by many, while "the real psy" actually doesn't inspire me much, that's why I don't feel 100% comfortable with what I'm doing (aside from the fact that my productions skills still are not that awesome despite I've made some progress in the last year).

 

Well, screw that, at the end of the day I'm the only one who actually cares about my music

[Rotwang]

I really like what I've heard of your style, rl. I reckon you should stick with it.

[recursion loop]

I really like what I've heard of your style, rl. I reckon you should stick with it.

Thanks! That matters a lot

 

Well, probably I'm just overthinking it.

[Oopie]

Each to their own of course! Depends of one's motives to make music in the first place. But let's say you're a producer who is in it for creative purposes, then I'd say do all kinds of weird s*** as long as you can, as it develops the talent for broader composition skills in the end. After making music for a year or a couple, anyone's bound to find their signature sound and tracks would automatically start to sound a tad more homogenic in nature.

[Padmapani]

like, when I stumble upon a great track made by someone else, be it full-on, or psyprog, or goa, I think "whoa, that's cool, I must try doing something like that".

 

i used to try to produce "a track like that", forcing myself to do proggy or psydub or whatever, but that inevitably ended in a failure (2 minutes of crap). now that i don't force myself and just do "a track like that" without fixing myself on a genre it always turns into newschool goa . so when i just do whatever i want, it turns out more consistent than otherwise

[Djuna]

Yeah, the topic title suggests that there is only a choice between these two things, while in fact one aspect influences the other. You should always create whatever you want, that is consistency! Thinking about what genre or scene you'd like to be in doesn't help for creative impulses imho.

[recursion loop]

Thanks for the replies! Well, seems that developing my own style by doing whatever I want makes the most sense

[Cynos]

Yes, doing whatever you want is really helpful for forging your own style. You can experiment with new techniques, atmospheres or even other genres, but then, these things will sound yours, and that's how "forging your own style" works.

 

Also, focus more on what you like instead of pleasing other people.

[Panoptes]

experimentation vs stratification. Do both, add some method to your madness