I think we're the last to spot our personal sound. We've got tastes and skills that other people recognize long before we do. Create music that you enjoy and there's your sound.
Art is about making deliberate/intentional choices. Art is both action and reaction. Also a reminder: if you are going to go against the grain, be prepared to be alone ... which will make any success you get all the more gratifying.
how i started to find my sound: - i found out what i don't like and avoided it, and tried to imitate the things i *do* like (for example: avoiding sizzle trap hats and rolls, opting for white-noise-y 2-step hats in my tracks) (other example: i didn't like when people used splice loops, so i made all my synths in Harmor - even though they were tonally simple, i could replicate a certain sound every track) - i started being cognisant of everything i did, every note i placed, every knob i turned in mixing - these hundreds of tiny decisions will inevitably act as a certain glue in your discography (and it is inevitable you will find your own way of doing things - there is no *one* correct way, you will naturally drift towards a certain sound if you're being honest with the decisions you make in the process. You will get into theoretical and technical rabbit holes, and come out the other end armed with techniques unique to you.) - setting limitations for inspiration (making a track with only sinewaves, without drums, using only one sample, using only one chord, using no tonal elements, etc..) (- other things, i'll add here when i think of more)
To be creative is to risk embarrassment. To be a true artist is to aim at an ideal beyond yourself, even if you never get there. Being great is sacrificing yourself to something higher.
Good stuff! It's important to remember to both be comfortable in your own tastes but also to explore to discover what things might be in your tastes that you weren't aware of.
I always thought that someone's style is one of those things we don't have control over. My theory is that it's a legacy from earlier days of learning a new medium, whether it's music, painting, etc. You're surrounded by chaos, have no idea what to do because whatever you do is just turning out badly. At some point, by accident, you create one small thing that you actually like, and your brain latches onto that long-awaited rush of dopamine. The next time, subconsciously, you'll try to make that your starting point. So basically, all further creative choices branch out from those small, successful accidents at the beginning of one's artistic path.
“Sometimes you just need to sit still and let the sound design do the work” - this is exactly why I’m not drawn to super complex wavetable modulation and so on. At that point, the evolving timbre itself is so overpowering I might as well play anything.
Great topic, good insight, excellent video! It’s like you’re in my brain, knocking things over 🤣 The rewards for ‘our own harmonic language’ are not there financially. The copy-cat techniques - enabled by technology - pay better. Of course, I’m not happy about it as a musician. But until the listening audience becomes more discerning about music, those of us true to sounding original, sounding like ourselves, we’ll just have to be content with our own results - even if there’s no audience to hear it 😌
The "copy cat" phenomenon usually only happens after someone has done something daring and achieved some degree of acknowledgement for it. So, I actually think there more long term value in exploring our own uniqueness.
Nice to see the prophet12 got myself one this year & love it, only downside is I’ve been enjoying playing it so much I forget to record! She’s definitely a keeper 😃
I am moderately afraid any tunes I come up with will be Tycho melodies that are ingrained in my subconscious ! I've been a 2D artist since I was 5ish. For any art form it's cool to see different styles, how things get processed through an artistic person's brain, combining different influences and inspirations to create something new that speaks to other people, and inspires them in turn. I'm used to seeing my art all in a glance, so it's harder for me to wrap my mind around music. It's amazing to me that I have the tools and opportunity to create music.
I've studied Indian classical my whole life, oddly I came from rock n roll and now I'm back in guitar and synth land. I'm anchored by my knowledge of Indian music, but love harmony, so sewing it together is my foundation. I play for myself because peoples approval or disapproval bores me. But of course it's nice if people like what you produce.
It’s so cool that one can recognise Marta Argerich just by the way she wears her bracelets :_) Great video, as always: you never fail to make me regret not taking the time to properly study at least some music theory when I was younger and had a more welcoming brain XD
I remember loving Prokofiev when I discovered him in my piano minor program at my university. Other artists I loved their unique and recognizable harmonies were Debussy and Mendelssohn. Thank you for this video. Inspires me to continue to find the harmony combos that resonate with me!
I noticed that I would sometimes compose in Phrygian mode or Dorian mode. This is apparently something I had been doing since I started composing music. It was never intentional, either.
all the more important now AI is here, trained and on everything we've already done, and very good at it. Our only way forward as artists is to go the 'Picasso route'!
You continue to illustrate these topics in a very informative and approachable way. Many thanks @JamesonNathanJones ! Curious--Have you had an opportunity to try the Harmony Bloom vst? It's a very unique pattern-generating sequencer of sorts that has been a huge inspiration for me in finding happy accidents in various scales (harmonal accidents?)
Yeah. In the last few years I stopped thinking about scales and begun to build my own by stacking intervals. Or experimented with borrowing chords, which is cool. I also learned and applied the basis of counterpoint motion, and even lost myself with scala/microtunning. but now I'm kind of stuck since a few month, not sure where I should go. Anyway I will just keep trying lol I would love more detailled and advanced content on harmony/creativity ! Thank you for sharing, I love your videos (and your music ^^), they are always inspiring
I've always had a style, but I just got it called unique today and it happened a few times. Your lil book on harmony was one of the many factors that created my style
The last point is so important. Timbre is such a constraint on harmonic richness. Starting out I wanted to recreate glitchy psychedelic versions of piece on the Well-Tempered Clavier. But I realized that it is very challenging to take those pieces away from the timbre of piano/clavier. Timbre and harmony is in such rich interaction. In the end i found that gated glitchy organs work well with my harmonic language
Just a stupid personal addition, I do weekly jams, make beats etc. I just 'changed' from an entire year of only using minor scales to doing some stuff in major. I just had it in my head that minor was the way to go for emotional. It's definitely not 😅
Great video! Interesting concept too. I am heavily searching for my "voice" and it's tough. I like many genres, from Metal to Synthwave to Filmmusic. And within Metal I like a lot of subgenres. But to glue them all together is tough. They do all have one thing in common and that is a certain feel or harmonic feel. Oh well, it's all just a hobby. 😂
I love your music - we seem to have similar compositional influences. Have you published the sheet music of your piano pieces? I'd love to buy a collection of your piano works - transcribing is an essential skill, but it also sucks. And I'd rather pay you for your work.
I'll never understand how it became cool to be like "I don't need to learn things about the things I love"🙃 Like if you were learning to paint and someone was like "nah I don't want to learn color theory or mixing paint. I never even learned the names of the colors" lol
"Try doing harder things" This. Listen to Frank Zappa, or Magma, or Gentle Giant or John Coltrane, or Roland Kirk or gamelan music. This will nurture your artistic self
I haven't finished the video yet. But I can say, I don't really understand the idea of trying to imitate someone elses sound. Sure, imitation is a great learning tool. But pursuit of an art should be some sort of self expression, or self discovery... right? These other videos, that show how to make 'beats' like, suchandsuch that last 3 minutes or so are so entirely pointless. They teach absolutely nothing about how to turn your thoughts and feelings into sound, only how to copy a pale imitation of someone else's. I can say I wholeheartedly value your insights, and philosophy present in your videos. Thank you for your time, and work.
To connect with instruments feels like learning and forming a new language, maybe even guiding instruments in a studio to have conversations with each other. Without a connection like that, it really seems to be missing something.
Depends. Sometimes it's fans of an artist trying to figure out how they achieved their sound. And of course, there are guns for hire and composers who might imitate on purpose (e.g a parody of James Bond).
Like this. Random thought. When I look for ambient music, it’s mostly all very similar and kind of boring and simplistic. Why not use a much richer harmony in a very long ambient piece but just slow it way way way down? Slow it down so the sound design can do its thing. Slow it down so the listener can let the music drift back to the subconscious while they focus on something else? Why am I writing this? Not sure. But your video just made me think, harmonically rich ambient music doesn’t exist (as far as I can see) and could be good.
So I didn't study organ or harmonies or Prokofiev ... but shouldn't I end up with my own harmonies if I just stick to what I like and avoid what I don't???
Going on the assumption that noone else gives a flying forte about your music is how you find your sound. For some of us thats easier 😅. Also stop listening to music during composition, aphex twin said in an interview that he goes through phases of not writing and listening, then becoming a dirty cornish hermit in the studio. Dont force it - be Dhao.
Tell me how to sound less like me: my problem is that I'm just too (or in?) there with my music, to the point that I fear it's not relatable to people. (:
theres an audience for pretty much everything. i mean, i dont understand why anyone would enjoy future house music, but alot do. about the relatability, if you make any music, people are going to relate to it. it may be millions, or ten thousand. but if your going to do this anyway, its better to make stuff that you love. stuff that has the most "you" in it. it makes it even more rewarding when people do love it. Imagine if you made art dishonest to yourself, then, there may be people who love it, but you dont love it. it hurts and i've experienced it times before. theres a chance you dont care about that, and you do want to make ur music less "you" well, the one thing you can do is copy other people, and try to avoid doing what you normally do. definitely would be different. you just may like it less.
What comes out depends on what goes in. If you feel your music lacks something, study and play music that contains the things you would like to come out in your music. Just make sure you let it emerge naturally, not as a contrivance.
Linkin Park is like that. That is the reason some "fans" were really upset when they've changed multiple genres in a row. But they kept their indentity throughout their journey.
Oh look it's that free Harmony guide the Billy Bob Thornton-sounding guy mentioned in the video... bit.ly/FreeHarmonyGuide
“Man, sometimes it takes you a long time to sound like yourself.” -Miles Davis
This is great. Everyone sort of settles into their own “zone” that speaks most to them and that’s what makes them sound like them.
Love you, Gareth.
Barry, my boy
Legend enters the chat
Thanks man! Absolutely
I think we're the last to spot our personal sound. We've got tastes and skills that other people recognize long before we do. Create music that you enjoy and there's your sound.
Art is about making deliberate/intentional choices. Art is both action and reaction.
Also a reminder: if you are going to go against the grain, be prepared to be alone ... which will make any success you get all the more gratifying.
Like when you said "Most people don't like doing the hard things."
That so true most people naturally walk the easy path.
It's human nature to want to stay in whatever state is most comfortable.
how i started to find my sound:
- i found out what i don't like and avoided it, and tried to imitate the things i *do* like (for example: avoiding sizzle trap hats and rolls, opting for white-noise-y 2-step hats in my tracks) (other example: i didn't like when people used splice loops, so i made all my synths in Harmor - even though they were tonally simple, i could replicate a certain sound every track)
- i started being cognisant of everything i did, every note i placed, every knob i turned in mixing - these hundreds of tiny decisions will inevitably act as a certain glue in your discography (and it is inevitable you will find your own way of doing things - there is no *one* correct way, you will naturally drift towards a certain sound if you're being honest with the decisions you make in the process. You will get into theoretical and technical rabbit holes, and come out the other end armed with techniques unique to you.)
- setting limitations for inspiration (making a track with only sinewaves, without drums, using only one sample, using only one chord, using no tonal elements, etc..)
(- other things, i'll add here when i think of more)
To be creative is to risk embarrassment. To be a true artist is to aim at an ideal beyond yourself, even if you never get there. Being great is sacrificing yourself to something higher.
Good stuff! It's important to remember to both be comfortable in your own tastes but also to explore to discover what things might be in your tastes that you weren't aware of.
Completely agree. As someone said, "we don't know what we like so much as we like what we know."
"The path is made by walking" - African proverb
I always thought that someone's style is one of those things we don't have control over. My theory is that it's a legacy from earlier days of learning a new medium, whether it's music, painting, etc. You're surrounded by chaos, have no idea what to do because whatever you do is just turning out badly. At some point, by accident, you create one small thing that you actually like, and your brain latches onto that long-awaited rush of dopamine. The next time, subconsciously, you'll try to make that your starting point. So basically, all further creative choices branch out from those small, successful accidents at the beginning of one's artistic path.
Yeah I think a lot of this exploration is really reliant upon intuition and experience and we tend to rationalize it later.
I find these coaching videos really inspirational. Cheers.
Thanks!
“Sometimes you just need to sit still and let the sound design do the work” - this is exactly why I’m not drawn to super complex wavetable modulation and so on. At that point, the evolving timbre itself is so overpowering I might as well play anything.
Great topic, good insight, excellent video! It’s like you’re in my brain, knocking things over 🤣 The rewards for ‘our own harmonic language’ are not there financially. The copy-cat techniques - enabled by technology - pay better. Of course, I’m not happy about it as a musician. But until the listening audience becomes more discerning about music, those of us true to sounding original, sounding like ourselves, we’ll just have to be content with our own results - even if there’s no audience to hear it 😌
The "copy cat" phenomenon usually only happens after someone has done something daring and achieved some degree of acknowledgement for it. So, I actually think there more long term value in exploring our own uniqueness.
Nice to see the prophet12 got myself one this year & love it, only downside is I’ve been enjoying playing it so much I forget to record!
She’s definitely a keeper 😃
I am moderately afraid any tunes I come up with will be Tycho melodies that are ingrained in my subconscious !
I've been a 2D artist since I was 5ish. For any art form it's cool to see different styles, how things get processed through an artistic person's brain, combining different influences and inspirations to create something new that speaks to other people, and inspires them in turn.
I'm used to seeing my art all in a glance, so it's harder for me to wrap my mind around music. It's amazing to me that I have the tools and opportunity to create music.
Thank you, Jameson, for sharing your knowledge and your experience with us!
Sucha useful video and your piano music sounds LOVELY! Thank you so much for sharing your knowledge and music Jameson!
I've studied Indian classical my whole life, oddly I came from rock n roll and now I'm back in guitar and synth land. I'm anchored by my knowledge of Indian music, but love harmony, so sewing it together is my foundation. I play for myself because peoples approval or disapproval bores me. But of course it's nice if people like what you produce.
I showed a new song i was working on to a friend and he said, ah classic you with the rhythmic chords i think i had a voice without even realizing it
It’s so cool that one can recognise Marta Argerich just by the way she wears her bracelets :_) Great video, as always: you never fail to make me regret not taking the time to properly study at least some music theory when I was younger and had a more welcoming brain XD
I remember loving Prokofiev when I discovered him in my piano minor program at my university. Other artists I loved their unique and recognizable harmonies were Debussy and Mendelssohn. Thank you for this video. Inspires me to continue to find the harmony combos that resonate with me!
I noticed that I would sometimes compose in Phrygian mode or Dorian mode. This is apparently something I had been doing since I started composing music. It was never intentional, either.
Thank you for the push! Came at the exact right time for me.
Best damn keyboard synth lesson of my life.....be me omg .... thanks teach appreciate the textbook thrown at my head !
all the more important now AI is here, trained and on everything we've already done, and very good at it. Our only way forward as artists is to go the 'Picasso route'!
You continue to illustrate these topics in a very informative and approachable way. Many thanks @JamesonNathanJones ! Curious--Have you had an opportunity to try the Harmony Bloom vst? It's a very unique pattern-generating sequencer of sorts that has been a huge inspiration for me in finding happy accidents in various scales (harmonal accidents?)
Yeah.
In the last few years I stopped thinking about scales and begun to build my own by stacking intervals. Or experimented with borrowing chords, which is cool. I also learned and applied the basis of counterpoint motion, and even lost myself with scala/microtunning.
but now I'm kind of stuck since a few month, not sure where I should go. Anyway I will just keep trying lol
I would love more detailled and advanced content on harmony/creativity !
Thank you for sharing, I love your videos (and your music ^^), they are always inspiring
I've always had a style, but I just got it called unique today and it happened a few times. Your lil book on harmony was one of the many factors that created my style
The last point is so important. Timbre is such a constraint on harmonic richness. Starting out I wanted to recreate glitchy psychedelic versions of piece on the Well-Tempered Clavier. But I realized that it is very challenging to take those pieces away from the timbre of piano/clavier. Timbre and harmony is in such rich interaction. In the end i found that gated glitchy organs work well with my harmonic language
Thank you very much for this motivational speech. You are the best
Your videos on composition always help me shift my perspective creatively. Thank you for all the work you put into these videos!
Thanks for watching them!
Thanks Jim!
Just a stupid personal addition, I do weekly jams, make beats etc. I just 'changed' from an entire year of only using minor scales to doing some stuff in major. I just had it in my head that minor was the way to go for emotional. It's definitely not 😅
More of this please:) Great video:)
I love the thumbnail with your face in between Taylor Swift and Billie Eilish because it shows off how pretty you are.
Great video! Interesting concept too. I am heavily searching for my "voice" and it's tough. I like many genres, from Metal to Synthwave to Filmmusic. And within Metal I like a lot of subgenres. But to glue them all together is tough. They do all have one thing in common and that is a certain feel or harmonic feel. Oh well, it's all just a hobby. 😂
I love your music - we seem to have similar compositional influences. Have you published the sheet music of your piano pieces? I'd love to buy a collection of your piano works - transcribing is an essential skill, but it also sucks. And I'd rather pay you for your work.
Thank you! That's something I need to get done for sure. I'll keep you posted on that front :)
So the answer is harmony. And the answer to harmony is the MIDI Chord Pack.
Haha always
I'll never understand how it became cool to be like "I don't need to learn things about the things I love"🙃 Like if you were learning to paint and someone was like "nah I don't want to learn color theory or mixing paint. I never even learned the names of the colors" lol
"Try doing harder things"
This.
Listen to Frank Zappa, or Magma, or Gentle Giant or John Coltrane, or Roland Kirk or gamelan music. This will nurture your artistic self
I haven't finished the video yet. But I can say, I don't really understand the idea of trying to imitate someone elses sound. Sure, imitation is a great learning tool. But pursuit of an art should be some sort of self expression, or self discovery... right? These other videos, that show how to make 'beats' like, suchandsuch that last 3 minutes or so are so entirely pointless. They teach absolutely nothing about how to turn your thoughts and feelings into sound, only how to copy a pale imitation of someone else's. I can say I wholeheartedly value your insights, and philosophy present in your videos. Thank you for your time, and work.
To connect with instruments feels like learning and forming a new language, maybe even guiding instruments in a studio to have conversations with each other.
Without a connection like that, it really seems to be missing something.
Depends. Sometimes it's fans of an artist trying to figure out how they achieved their sound. And of course, there are guns for hire and composers who might imitate on purpose (e.g a parody of James Bond).
+1 for Martha argerich
Like this.
Random thought. When I look for ambient music, it’s mostly all very similar and kind of boring and simplistic. Why not use a much richer harmony in a very long ambient piece but just slow it way way way down? Slow it down so the sound design can do its thing. Slow it down so the listener can let the music drift back to the subconscious while they focus on something else?
Why am I writing this? Not sure. But your video just made me think, harmonically rich ambient music doesn’t exist (as far as I can see) and could be good.
Get a DX7 and use the DX7 Thodes patch
I see anti-algoslop, I click, simple as
So I didn't study organ or harmonies or Prokofiev ... but shouldn't I end up with my own harmonies if I just stick to what I like and avoid what I don't???
Bro what is that patch on 1:30 how do you synhesize such thing damn
Going on the assumption that noone else gives a flying forte about your music is how you find your sound. For some of us thats easier 😅. Also stop listening to music during composition, aphex twin said in an interview that he goes through phases of not writing and listening, then becoming a dirty cornish hermit in the studio. Dont force it - be Dhao.
In the pursuit of being you ? Don't re upload a thumbnail because of engagement
I find a really good technique for staying original is to not know how to make music properly.
Do you like Deadmau5?
Mom says I sound just like (and am prettier than) Taylor Swift
Tell me how to sound less like me: my problem is that I'm just too (or in?) there with my music, to the point that I fear it's not relatable to people. (:
theres an audience for pretty much everything. i mean, i dont understand why anyone would enjoy future house music, but alot do.
about the relatability, if you make any music, people are going to relate to it. it may be millions, or ten thousand.
but if your going to do this anyway, its better to make stuff that you love. stuff that has the most "you" in it. it makes it even more rewarding when people do love it.
Imagine if you made art dishonest to yourself, then, there may be people who love it, but you dont love it. it hurts and i've experienced it times before.
theres a chance you dont care about that, and you do want to make ur music less "you"
well, the one thing you can do is copy other people, and try to avoid doing what you normally do. definitely would be different. you just may like it less.
What comes out depends on what goes in. If you feel your music lacks something, study and play music that contains the things you would like to come out in your music. Just make sure you let it emerge naturally, not as a contrivance.
Thank you for not "do do" ing..
Linkin Park is like that. That is the reason some "fans" were really upset when they've changed multiple genres in a row.
But they kept their indentity throughout their journey.
I like how you are using the term language.
First? :D
On a more serious note, I try to apply other people's styles but i can't even do that to begin with 🥲
If emulation of someone else was your motivation for making music originally you probably don't have a whole lot to say that is original.🤷