What is "Your Sound"?

Question

This one will require thinking, so those w/ 15 second attention spans can move on to the next Fall Out Boy question :P

All of us have a little pre-programmed "sound" in our heads that appeal to us. It varies from person to person (but plenty of crossover)

It's when you hear a song you've *Never* heard before, but you like it RIGHT away. It's The Sound. Often, The Sound is by artists you've never heard of too. Makes you wanna go right out & get it (or download it) Or when you hear it on the radio & something in the melody makes you pray the dj says who it is. (hate it when they don't!)

So can you describe *your* sound? :)

Mine- varies a bit:

I love melodic hard(er) rock.
higher pitched singing
heavy bass

Other times, it's spacious, & grandios, like a pipe organ. ..w/ plenty of melody thrown in.

Ph man. How toy pick a "best" one for something like THIS?

Right. You can't. All are 'right answers'.

Gonna have to do the annoying vote thing...

Yes. I was asleep while typing the last one lol!

Answer 1

The next fallout boy song....hahahaha! Yes!!!

Give me a minute to contemplate my sound, I just wanted to jump in and give a quick recognition. Virtual High-Five!

My Sound:
Vocals-Need to be a little rough. Just because a guy can hit the big notes doesn't really appeal to me (though I do like it when they can. I love Queen for example), so generally harsh vocals appeal more. I like calm vocals during the verse and step it up during the chorus and bridge
Guitar- Loud with excellent ornamentation between Chorus and Verse. Change tempo a bit in the Bridge. I like palm-muting in the verse as well, with one of two chords that ring out. Love distortion!
Bass and Drums - Keep the tempo of the song so the guitar can utilize more ornamentation. Hard hitting drums.
Innovation - Incorporating different genres of music (mostly traditional world, folk, country, etc) or have an innovative sound.
Advanced - If they use syncopation anywhere, it's automatically a step up and I'll research more.
Song Structure - Usually a punk structure suits me fine (Intro, verse, chorus, verse, chorus, bridge, chorus, outro) maybe with a solo in there somewhere. And like I said before, seperating verse and chorus with ornamentation of some sort (even in the form of a riff).
Lyrical Content - Needs to have some meaning and can't be a cop out. Political is fine, but it cheapens the art of the lyrics because saying "War Sucks" elicits a response based on the content only, and not the quality of the band. Same thing with EMO saying "Life Sucks."

I guess that's it in a nutshell. And this only applies to Rock. I have very different standards for world, Jazz, Country, Blues, etc.

Answer 2

Electronics praying for its own death.

Take a microphone, synthesizer, or guitar; and bring it to the brink of breaking electronically without going over. That little cliff of sound where the educated listener says "How the hell did they make that thing do THAT? Its not supposed to work like that".

It doesn't have to be new to fit this criteria... 2 classic examples of this sound -

Sam Cooke - Live at the Harlem Square Club

The Doors - LA Woman (vocal track).

More modern examples.

The Juvies - Playing Hookie
Pink's Next to latest album.

And of course the obligatory Industrial music examples (since that seems to be the genre that plays most with this sound).

Leaether Strip - Solitary Confinement / Underneath The Laughter. Brilliant for its time. The vocals are still awesome.

Front 242 - The Entire "Up Evil" album. Possibly the best industrial album ever. How much money and time Sony Music put into the production of this album is beyond me.

Razed In Black - "Overflow", "Share this Poison", many others. This guy is winning the loudness war and turning distorted drums into an art.

Meg Lee Chin w. Martin Atkins - Nutopia. What's better than one copy of martin atkins than 2 Overdubed drum tracks, somehow fitting in the sound space of a CD... This one track amazes me every time I hear it.

Answer 3

A bluesy riff that sounds like it's been soaked in good whiskey for about a dozen years.

Or a voice that sounds ditto.

If I had never heard "Georgia On My Mind" by Ray Charles or "I'm Your Late-Night Prostitute" by Tom Waits I would like them within a listen or two.

Or something imperfect, interesting, but fragile.

If I had never heard "These Days" by Nico or "Sugar In My Bowl" by Nina Simone I would like them within a listen or two.

Or something unusual in the guitar work. The first time I heard soukous music from Zaire (Kanda Bongo Man - the album was "L'Amour Fou"), I loved it.

Or great bass riffs, which also tend to work themselves into my subconscious - I think Bootsy Collins' playing on Parliament records is what hooked me.

But mainly, something in the lyrics will burrow into my head and I will start looking for the song a few days later.

Or, the next Fall Out Boy song...***






***Nah, just kidding.

Answer 4

How to describe it...

Well, it really does vary, especially as I like various genres.
But I would say it includes :~

Piano ~ either light or heavy, but something that draws me in.
Guitar ~ a good solo, or a light but complex acoustic.
Vocal ~ certain voices grab me and pull me in, and interesting {and interlectual} lyrics help. Also good harmony vocals.
Bass / Drums ~ a good rhythm will have me up and dancing.
Fiddle / Flute ~ who knows, maybe it's a subconcious recolection based on my Celtic heritage?

I don't really know how to describe it, but any of the above can have me clamouring for MORE!

My latest purchase {and I just can't explain why!} is the entire back-catalogue of Blackmore's Night. This is based on hearing two 30 second samples, seeing that they have covered 2 of my favourite Jethro Tull songs, and noting that Ian Anderson played flute on one of their songs.
Their was just something about the instrumentation, along with Candice Night's vocals {and the lyrics} that made me say "I want this!"

It is REALLY difficult to pinpoint and define 'my sound'.

Answer 5

WOW.....good question

most of the time my sound is a mellow and soulful melody thats beautiful, yet very organic.......most likely acoustic. Its simple but contains various layers. There's not elaborate production behind it......its the music straight forward and up front.......not b.s. The vocals, regardless of who sings them, are full of depth and emotion, speaking to me on a personal, humanistic level (i.e. William Elliott Whitmore - Dry, Jeff Buckley - What Will You Say, Elliott Smith - Say Yes).

Other times.....my sound is electric, full of heavy basslines and loud drums, with distorted guitars..............very grunge-like that can be either moody or agressive (Mudhoney - You Got It, Brad - My Fingers, Alice In Chains - Would,Mother Love Bone - Mindshaker Meltdown)

Answer 6

Well, mine would definitely be "haunting". I really don't know how to describe it in a better way but songs like Deep Purple's Soldier of Fortune and Led Zeppelin's Ten Years Gone, I fell in love with immediately, while other bands I love like Radiohead, the Shins and CCR actually took me a while to like. For me, if it's a very lush rock song I become very attracted, but having an organ is a big plus for me, I'm very drawn by the sound of organs (going back to the "haunting" sound)

Answer 7

Holy wow, this is tough!!

Because my music tastes are so incredibly varied (my iPod would honestly horrify you, it's so all over the map), this is a really, really tough one to answer.

If it's got a snappy, catchy hook, my ears will perk up and I'll suddenly start paying more attention to the song.

As a general rule, I like bands that have what I refer to as raw edges. The less over-produced something sounds, the more appealing it is to my ear, because I can understand how it would translate to a live performance better than if it's really slick-sounding.

Noise. Dreamy, noisy, distorted guitars. Love them, love them, love them.

Answer 8

Usually, it is guitar-oriented. It doesn't have to be loud, just like a focal point of the music. It could be anything from "Fire and Rain" by James Taylor to "Jesus of Suburbia" by Green Day. Of course I have heard some guitar tunes that turn me away at the first note.
To answer the root of your qestion, no, I can't describe *my* sound.

Answer 9

i like a simple and catchy melody played with a toccata style complex and maybe syncopated rhythm, but then again I also like songs with the most simple and thoughtless rythms too
high pithed vocals-see "atoms for peace" by thom yorke
songs with layers of instruments
and of course, you can't beat the sound you get out of a piano

Answer 10

LOL, good beginning there.

my sound is simply hard & fast.

if it's not it has to have good instrumentation like Alicia Keys "Diary" or something like that.

if not that, just groovy like something from the '70s and early '80s.

basically upbeat. I have no (slow) love songs on tape, record or mp3.