Ever feel like you're just a rippoff?

[widdlywhaa]

Dudes, everytime I sit down to record some new material to work on with my friends it always comes out just sounding generically "Djenty". at least to my ears anyway.

I always seem to end recording by saying to myself "It just sounds likemeshuggah/textures/...." and delete it or just file it away in some folder with other failed ideas......

Do any of you guys ever feel like this? I feel ike i'm just spinning my wheels in the mud man it really bugs me.

I've even resorted to putting away my 7 and picking up a 6er and playing diff stuff, not even really "metal" stuff, just to get away from it and see if anything new comes out, but it doesn't. I just go right back into it.

 

[vontetzianos]

Oh man every time I try writing songs in that vein I also feel like a derivative of typical meshuggah etc. I really am not a very good riff writer by any stretch of the imagination, and I am much better at progressions and melody, so that's what I focus my music on. Its the reason why when I want to write I stay well away from almost all metal bands for a while, because it feels like I'm just writing their riffs and not mine.

 

[signalgrey]

i think everyone goes through this.

try forcing yourself to play without your comforts. perhaps dont use distortion, play clean. use effects you dont normally use. use an amp or setting that is contrary to your current one.

its frustrating i know.

if you have a pod or something like that use different amp settings.

if all else fail. put the guitar down for a few days, listen to new music (not metal). let it sink in. try again in a week.

that works for me when i think im a cop-out ahahha.

good luck sir.

 

[sol niger 333]

Try listening to different music man. I find the broader the spectrum of CDs I listen to the less generic and "one sided" my ideas are. Some things are really hard to escape though. Especially using polyrhythms without sounding like Mesh. Also take a break from playing too. It's just muscle memory thats making you play the same old shit. Give your brain some time to relax and let go of those "comfort" riffs that you keep going back to. Hope this helps

 

[widdlywhaa]

Alot of what I love about music like that is the hook and groove of it and building grooves and playing oddly around them is really my strong point i guess ...... Ont the one hand it's the kind of music I really want to play but the critic in me is just like "Dude, could you sound any more like Martin and Fredrik... are you even trying to be creative or are you just gonna ride there coattails...."



edit: wow I read that after I posted that.... i'm kind of a dick to myself lol

 

[sol niger 333]

EDIT: Oh shit!! SignalGrey beat me to it!!! Hahaa. Pretty much identical advice. Changing your tone up is a good point that I missed tho. Good luck!!! I think everyone gets this at some point I know I have

 

[signalgrey]

also. watch tv and play. dont think about it at all. just noodle around.

hahaha sorry Sol Niger...great minds...

 

[CrushingAnvil]

Well I never aspired to be Fredrik or Marten so...yeah I never have this kind of problem.

I do pity you though man, it must suck.

 

[widdlywhaa]

the tone things kinda hard cause my tone changes almost every time I play... i'm constantly trying to make it sound better through either EQing or mixing/changing amp settings i'm just a nerd like that.... i have tried taking a "Djent" break i've been playing stuff like Silent Force, kamelot, Iced Earth, Blind Guardian.. stuff I haven't really messed with since my late highschool leather jacket and flying V days (Oh memories) but nothing seems to work.


My work schedules not a set schedule so sometimes i'm forced to take an actual break from guitar all together and i try to hang with my friends regularly so that helps too.... Ugh i'm just at my ends with it.

 

[CrushingAnvil]

the tone things kinda hard cause my tone changes almost every time I play... i'm constantly trying to make it sound better through either EQing or mixing/changing amp settings i'm just a nerd like that.... i have tried taking a "Djent" break i've been playing stuff like Silent Force, kamelot, Iced Earth, Blind Guardian.. stuff I haven't really messed with since my late highschool leather jacket and flying V days (Oh memories) but nothing seems to work.


My work schedules not a set schedule so sometimes i'm forced to take an actual break from guitar all together and i try to hang with my friends regularly so that helps too.... Ugh i'm just at my ends with it.

I would have thought played Power/Speed metal would help heaps

I was playing Demons & Wizards, Stratovarius, Gammaray etc at the end of highschool

 

[widdlywhaa]

I would have thought played Power/Speed metal would help heaps

I was playing Demons & Wizards, Stratovarius, Gammaray etc at the end of highschool

LOL yeah a bit off topic; but i looked back on my highschool days (Only a few years ago really) of being a power metal junkie and man i looked ridiculous lol.

not to say i'm some fabulous looking character now but man those tight pants and the fuckin boots/leather jacket thing was just hilarious

I think the 4 bands I listened to the most were Hammerfall, Blind Guardian, Iced Earth, and Demons and Wizards lol...... which is kinda like listening to 3 1/2 bands really when you think about it.

 

[signalgrey]

the tone things kinda hard cause my tone changes almost every time I play... i'm constantly trying to make it sound better through either EQing or mixing/changing amp settings i'm just a nerd like that.... i have tried taking a "Djent" break i've been playing stuff like Silent Force, kamelot, Iced Earth, Blind Guardian.. stuff I haven't really messed with since my late highschool leather jacket and flying V days (Oh memories) but nothing seems to work.


My work schedules not a set schedule so sometimes i'm forced to take an actual break from guitar all together and i try to hang with my friends regularly so that helps too.... Ugh i'm just at my ends with it.

i mean do something TOTALLY different. listen to classical or something ambient or something Solo-less.

 

[widdlywhaa]

I guess i'm just gonna have to take a DRASTIC step and bust out the jeffree star and 3OH!3 lol.... nothing gets the creative juices flowing more than to remind me why i play what i play in the first place.

 

[XeoFLCL]

Are you recording alone? Try jamming with a friend or two who plays guitar/bass/drums, jamming with others brings out lots of creativity or so is the case with me.

 

[Scar Symmetry]

ALL of my material sounds like Meshuggah/Textures

 

[BrainArt]

When I tune to Open C Major I tend to write things along the lines of Devin Townsend, which is good because that's what I go for when I play in said tuning.

 

[signalgrey]

switch instruments

 

[widdlywhaa]

I could play bass... i'd be a total wanker in the end if i did from being a guitarist for so long..... and i'm about as skilled at drums as a bed ridden retiree

 

[Koshchei]

Don't have that problem. Do wish I had another arm though.

 

[Arminius]

Whenever i write something i sound like what i;ve been listening to recently, so i decided to stop listening to music for a few days while coming up with songs.