Ever feel like you're just a rippoff?

[Esp Griffyn]

Record some vamps and work on your improvisation for a while. Jazz fusion is the key to musical enlightenment, my friend

 

[JohnIce]

Record some vamps and work on your improvisation for a while. Jazz fusion is the key to musical enlightenment, my friend

*high fives*

Indeed, I don't think that listening to other music is the most efficient way, but learning other music is. Jazz fusion is awesome, but you could also try some Toto, Stevie Wonder, Queen, Celine Dion, something that's nothing like what you normally play and will be musically challenging to you for that reason. A broad music taste coupled with an ambition to learn is key to evolving as a musician.

But you should also (my opinion anyway) ask yourself what you actually want to sound like. If you want to make music like Meshuggah, you're obviously doing well already. But what other aspects do you want in your music? More melodicism? More textures or layerings? More groove and flow? More catchiness? More theoretically interesting chord changes? Find music that has that specific quality and study the living daylights out of it.

That brings me to learning theory, as theory studies in themselves have made me a much more creative writer and player. Because of studying it, I can hear a song at any time and place and start analyzing it, only to go home and try to play it. These "aha-moments" happen to me very often these days and they always tend to kickstart a new song or part.

 

[Konfyouzd]

just about every song i write i end up thinking that sounds just like <insert band name>. i think that might be the result of my ability to hear my influences in my own music but wanting to be completely original. other people don't seem to hear it a lot of the time so i think it's just in the artist's nature to be self conscious about this sort of thing.

Record some vamps and work on your improvisation for a while. Jazz fusion is the key to musical enlightenment, my friend

Amen... that's what i'm working on now. Jazz fusion is fun even though I SUCK at it...

 

[vampiregenocide]

Meh if you listen to my stuff you can definately hear my influences, but that doesn't really bother me. I play what I love, I don't care if I'm original and I don't care if I'm cutting edge. Granted, its nice to come up with something a bit fresh, and those are generally the ones that stick with you, but its hard to be original nowadays, so if I like it then I'll use it, unless its a blaitant rip-off of an existing song. I'm 18 anyway so I'm still developing my own style which I'm starting to find.

 

[Konfyouzd]

yea i mean inevitably your influences will come through in your music regardless. i think i just get a bit over critical of myself. i don't want someone else to hear it and say "that's clearly just a remix of __________'s song!"

 

[arthur1000]

you could say your inspired by them?but thats a cowards way out. i think my playing style sounds way to much like the bass player im inspired but like 'alex webster' but thats okay because i'm not going to change my style because theyre my heros and i can only jope to play like them, but i'm not a hero worshipper.

 

[skattabrain]

it's the same with everything ... i'm on a mission to not use pentatonics for a while!

a good thing to do is try to learn some skill/approach you don't have yet ... like fingerpicking or something ... try to work some hybrid picking into what you do. or get that awesome al di meola book on chords and turn your power chords into heavy jazz chords ... now "that" is texture.

everyone has their own favorite playing style, when i hear djent, it all sounds the same to me (everyone that does it sounds like meshuggah, not that i listen to it enough to have heard all the approaches) ... i don't think it's so much "you" as it's hard to do that style at all and not sound like them. i know people love meshuggah religiously and it's not a diss against the band.

i think anything that takes you out of your comfort zone is what you need to do ... when you play, force yourself to not do familiar things. not an option!

i also think the best way to approach ... ah hem ... for me ... the best way to approach the 7 is treat it as a standard six ... and use the 7 sparingly ... not as a root. just now and then grab these low notes and then your riffs truly sound big. the contrast makes it. my favorite heavy riffs from bands are not even played on a 7.

 

[vampiregenocide]

yea i mean inevitably your influences will come through in your music regardless. i think i just get a bit over critical of myself. i don't want someone else to hear it and say "that's clearly just a remix of __________'s song!"

Well I think theres always going to be people saying 'that sounds like ______' no matter how original you are.

 

[Joeywilson]

Learning theroy is such an eye opener, because it doesn't only apply to guitar/whatever you play. I have no formal piano training but since learning theroy I can sit down and fiddle around with it and maybe produce something creative
and like JohnIce said you can immediatly annalyze songs and figure out whats going on

I say this purley because I felt like the OP before I learned how music works (not to sound big headed, I honestly feel like I'm just scratching the tip of the ice burg still) Because all I knew how to do was to mimic what I listened to. Theroy opened my eyes to music that is just much more thoughtful than metal so I began to listen to electro-pop, jazz fusion, funk- essentally everything and my playing is miles better in a creative sense, I think anyways.

Also OP, maybe you are like me when it comes to recording. I have a sound that I want to acheive in brain that isn't coming out with my muddy 1527 pickups/pod XT live setup
I don't mean to blame gear but with what I'm using I cannot acheive the exact sound that I want so I never feel like it's good enough for teh internetz so I delete it.

But most of all, if you are playing music that you want to be playing- weather it is the most original/unheard amazing sounds ever or something that has been done millions of times- who cares if it makes you happy then just play it
it doesn't matter if it is horrifically original a good song is a good song (<----another thing that theroy made me aware of)

hopefully that is of some help.

 

[JoshuaLogan]

Blend all of your influences into one ideal sound. Say, for example, instead of the specific style of 1 or 2 bands... Try to combine various styles of maybe your 10 favorite bands that influence you. I'm into all kinds of shit... ambient and electronic stuff, spacey psychedelic prog rock stuff, melodic shred stuff, tech death stuff, heavy low tuned groove stuff, blah blah blah... I try to mix all of these things together into my own blend... It's not important to go out of your way to be completely unique and original... after all, you like what you like! But at the same time, it's very possible to wear your influences on your sleeve in a way that comes across as creative and well written without being a direct rip off of a particular style or artist.

It's not about reinventing the wheel... just making music that you enjoy and are proud of!

 

[t3sser4ct]

I never feel like it's good enough for teh internetz so I delete it.

Going slightly off-topic here, but this and similar remarks make me cringe. Unless you're running out of space, I say keep every recording, no matter how unoriginal, messy, or flawed it might be. You'll probably never want to let anyone hear that stuff, of course, but it's such a cool feeling to go back into your several-year-old collection of trash clips and listen to where you came from. You might even be re-inspired by an old silly riff and come up with some crazy variation that blows everyone away. (That's usually how I'm inspired; I hear a simple riff or progression and think "Wow... If they did this instead, it would sound so awesome." The same thing can happen with your old riffs.)

As for your polyrhythms sounding too much like Meshuggah, try listening to some math rock for inspiration. Try Hella, Tera Melos, Don Caballero, and Rumah Sakit (fanpage), which are pretty much all instrumental. Most of it is polymetric, not polyrhythmic, but you'll have some of both.

 

[Konfyouzd]

Well I think theres always going to be people saying 'that sounds like ______' no matter how original you are.

yea that is true

 

[Scar Symmetry]

most brilliantly original bands start off as ripoffs of their favourite bands.

look at Meshuggah - they started off as a Metallica homage band.

 

[Konfyouzd]

most brilliantly original bands start off as ripoffs of their favourite bands.

look at Meshuggah - they started off as a Metallica homage band.

is that why contradictions collapse sounds like that? i always said they sounded so much like metallica in their earlier stuff. wow, you really do learn something every day.

 

[widdlywhaa]

LOL didn't expect the thread to blow up while i was asleep sorry about that guys...... lol i've kinda been mesin with some Jazz and stuff lately and I'm think ing about going back to my studies as well cause i always feel there's something I can learn.

off topic:It's pretty weird that Mesh started as a talica homage........

 

[troyguitar]

Some of my stuff sounds like an Iron Maiden ripoff, but I think that's a good thing most of the time.

I have no desire to be terribly innovative or groundbreaking... the weird shit you have to do to be original these days is so bizarre that to me it sounds like crap, so I stick with the stuff that I actually like.

 

[JohnIce]

Some of my stuff sounds like an Iron Maiden ripoff, but I think that's a good thing most of the time.

I have no desire to be terribly innovative or groundbreaking... the weird shit you have to do to be original these days is so bizarre that to me it sounds like crap, so I stick with the stuff that I actually like.

This is a good point too. Some people try to force innovation and it sounds like shit. Music can be creative without being innovative. Usually, a group of people using their individual styles to make a band is enough to make something that stands out from the rest, as long as the songs are good of course.

 

[Scar Symmetry]

is that why contradictions collapse sounds like that? i always said they sounded so much like metallica in their earlier stuff. wow, you really do learn something every day.

yep.

 

[Joeywilson]

Going slightly off-topic here, but this and similar remarks make me cringe. Unless you're running out of space, I say keep every recording, no matter how unoriginal, messy, or flawed it might be. You'll probably never want to let anyone hear that stuff, of course, but it's such a cool feeling to go back into your several-year-old collection of trash clips and listen to where you came from. You might even be re-inspired by an old silly riff and come up with some crazy variation that blows everyone away. (That's usually how I'm inspired; I hear a simple riff or progression and think "Wow... If they did this instead, it would sound so awesome." The same thing can happen with your old riffs.)

As for your polyrhythms sounding too much like Meshuggah, try listening to some math rock for inspiration. Try Hella, Tera Melos, Don Caballero, and Rumah Sakit (fanpage), which are pretty much all instrumental. Most of it is polymetric, not polyrhythmic, but you'll have some of both.

that makes sense dude, However when I have re-recorded the same song with different arrangements/whatever it defeats the purpose because I am the type of person who knows exactly what I want to hear. But don't get me wrong, I completly agree with your statement.
note- I never delete things right away, it takes me a while to sort through things that arn't up to date (old arrangements of songs/songs that just in general kind of suck).
I accedentily deleted my entire summer's work about a week ago. I havn't been that mad in a long time haha.

oh, and don caballero

 

[Adam Of Angels]

Going slightly off-topic here, but this and similar remarks make me cringe. Unless you're running out of space, I say keep every recording, no matter how unoriginal, messy, or flawed it might be. You'll probably never want to let anyone hear that stuff, of course, but it's such a cool feeling to go back into your several-year-old collection of trash clips and listen to where you came from. You might even be re-inspired by an old silly riff and come up with some crazy variation that blows everyone away. (That's usually how I'm inspired; I hear a simple riff or progression and think "Wow... If they did this instead, it would sound so awesome." The same thing can happen with your old riffs.)

I can't give you enough points for this one - I completely agree. What I like to do is sit down, zone out, and just play a real proggy improv. Later, when I'm in a different frame of mind, I go back and listen to said improv and almost always find gems that inspire me to write something.