How to find your sound as an artist
October 19, 2024
Have you ever wondered how to find your sound in a forest of unlimited musical choices?
A “jack of all trades but master of none” will not get your music into TV & film. You need to make some choices, but how?
Watch the video to find out.
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Hey Chris. I love your content. It is truly value added.
I feel fortunate to know what my musical path is. What my strengths are. Fifty years in the making. One thing I refuse to do is “Program my music.” I do what I do, Like it or not. But I have a consistent sound.
The good news is that I only have a couple hundred more NO answers to go.
Thanks again Brother.
Scott R
Hi Scott, great to hear!
Thank you for the video
I think im on my path but still trying to hone my sound
My band is boondock messiah
We had a cover in a movie short on imdb but have yet to crack the nut with our original material
As always, great (and reassuring) insights. At this stage in my life, I know that I am lyrically and melody driven. The genre, style, groove, vibe, etc. is very flexible and I often have a number of versions to bare that out, which has received great response from the music community.
Great to hear, Denise.
Aloha Chris,
Another good presentation. Did you see the bear following behind you? …just askin’! When I recorded my first and probably only album last Summer I realized we had hit on a particular instrumental sound….ukuleles out front, backed by acoustic guitar and congas and possibly other miscellaneous percussion. We just recorded 5 new songs; 4 original and one public domain. But we moved across different genres; 2 Hawaiian, 1 Country, 1 Americana and 1 Christmas. Music sups have said I’m their “go to” for Hawaiian…a big fish in a little pond. That’s cool, but let’s see what other genres sound like with that instrumental mix. Next on the agenda besides a couple of originals are 3 or 4 covers. What ever happens, happens. No worries. At 75 having a BLAST!
Ha ha yes, always on the lookout for bears. That’s so great to hear about the success, Dave. Thanks for sharing.
I am totally with you, Chris! I am what you would call a mature musician, so I have gone through that in the past.! Considering how diluted the music markets are these days, I have chosen just to make music for myself, God and those that want to hear my stuff. I have tried for the record deal, streaming dominance and sync licensing without much of a response so I decided about two years ago to just make music and leave it at that!
Hear, hear.
And in the end, that’s what it’s all about. Thanks for sharing Paul.
Hi Chris! I Love how you always speak to us from your heart. I agree wholeheartedly; we need to be authentically who we are. I often tell people, “If you want to know who I am, listen to my music. If you want to understand who I am, read my book!” For me the key is to learn to listen with you heart, instead of with an egotistical, opinionated head. Then speak/sing your truth from the heart.
I love that. You just made me realize I need to write a book 🙂
Dear Chris,
I always find the examples you use to explain something absolutely brilliant, as you come up with amazing comparisons! One of the main reasons I first joined The Art of Song Pitch many years ago was after being taken up by a story you provided about Gate Keepers!!
I have been influenced by many genres but I guess Punk and Glam Rock and some Brit Pop even tend to be where my heart is. I am also a sucker for big choruses and honest yet off the wall lyrics which are prevalent in my songs. Being originally from Sri-Lanka, I also tend to use instruments from my country and the Far East to give it a twist.
I write different styles, but it is these genre crossing songs that have interested some of the Supes who have said I have my own sound and even though it is very niche. Therefore on one hand I do these creative songs and on the other I write more straight forward songs. Still waiting for my first SYNC!!!
As Kate Bush sang in “The Big Sky”…..”I know that something good is gonna happen, But I don’t know when!” Living in hope!!!
Thank you so much for the kind words, Harin. Yes, keep at it. It will come.
I feel like you where speaking directly to me. I’m all over the place sometimes and I drive myself crazy. Thank you for the great advice!
Great to hear, Jacqueline. I am glad I could help!
Hi Chris,
Thanks for this video! This is amazing, I was just thinking about this same question: is it better to pick a genre and write songs in that space or to write songs and figure the genre out later. I usually use the second method but thanks to your video I’m going to try your method.
Thanks,
Alfred Fox AOTSP class of 2024
Cool!
I feel like a dog chasing a squirrel in the woods who somehow ended up in a Skippyjon Jones book. My kids always joke that my ‘top 5 favorite songs’ is really about 500…just depends on the mood. Honestly struggling at a musical identity, but loving the journey nonetheless. Going to focus on not fretting about the path not taken. Thanks for sharing your thoughts – always insightful and thought provoking!
Good to hear, Eric. It sounds like you’re on the right path.
Hi Chris. Nice video, as always. Real, sincere, inspiring… and green ;). I believe nobody can contradict your basic statement. But I also feel a clear path is several times not visible. At least for me. I’m a citizen of the world and possibly a kind of by-product of many musical influences. I love almost everything that has some quality and emotional depth. And I do not care so much of labels. If that is classical, jazz, pop, rock, blues, “world music”,… But what I feel I do best in music, even having all those influences, is more related to something that happens that is not the result of a pure rational decision. It is more a feeling, a kind of sentiment that you identify with and that has some completeness in it. I usually play something, a note follows another note, some chords are presented in sequence, a song begins to emerge from some apparently chaotic moves, organization evolves in various ways, until a more structured thing (song) succeeds to arrive, which gives me that organic sensation of depth and completeness. And the only genre that attracts me is the one that has the freedom to escape from all pre-defined boundaries. Cheers
Yes, but don’t forget that undefined can be your path. The trick is understanding what that path is which it sounds like you do. I think you are on it, Jorge.
Well, you know… I can half-relate to what you are saying. On the one hand, yo are totally right that the time is not enough to become great at everything. But, on the other hand, my authentic self grew up with a biiiig wall of LPs , from my parents, you know, and I listened through it all from a very young age.,and i grew to love a very diverse array of music. So, choosing who i am, for ME, always means embracing all that influenced me, and making it my own. So, these things will collide or seemincompatible to many others, probably. But, it is real and natural to me. The solution i found for myself, over the decades is: “always follow the song”. Does this one want to be a folksy kind of hymn? Great. Is the next one triphoppy shoegaze? Let’s give it that. And so on. In fact, i feel like sync is the one place that does not call for a coherent 12-song album, all the time, and to me, that even seems kind of liberating, you know, as opposed to the artist needing a coherent brand. Don’t know if this makes sense to anyone, but this is how i feel. I am just very not tribalist. Just as i dont care about any person’s color of skin or country of origin as much as their character, i do not focus on the traditions that brought a strand of music to be, as much as i care about whether i captured the initial feeling that made me want to write it, and whether I stayed true to how the initial spark presented itself to me. So yeah, not spreading yourself thin – of course. But authenticity, at least to me, also means taking the steps that take you new places without clinging to what you know. Because, otherwise, to stay in your picture, it would feel to me like not entering the woods, at all…
Hi Nicolai. I said what I did for people who don’t know what you apparently do. Even though you are influenced by many different things, you understand your path, which is really what I was getting at.
I see. Thanks for clearing that up! 🙂 By the way, I always thought your siloing tip was gold at AOTSP. I will definitely implement that once I have enough stuff so that this makes sense. 😉 Thanks again for all that you do for us, should I have placements one day (once my production is there), it will most definitely be thanks to you. 🙂 Greets.
This is spot on for me, Chris, after talking with several of our music supervisors, I have a stronger focus now. Lots of no’s but more maybes of late. Working on establishing a brand in country rock, bluegrass, and original Americana stylings. I am on the path.
Great to hear, Jim!
Thanks for sharing, Chris.
All sage advice. I’m in the process of revamping my media, studio, and general musical life. Focusing specifically on an Americana mileau is thus important to me at the moment, as that is what’s coming out of me most easily these days. I do a lot of rock as well, plus some children’s music, and I’ll continue to do so. At this stage of my project however, it’s good to narrow my product to something that is easily definable.
Great to hear, Scott, and thank you for sharing.
Hi Chris
This is a veri good advice. I often find my self not shure what “stile” or sound to choose and that makes me procrastinate and sometime finally ending up with something that isn’t “me” .
Maybe this advice can help
I hope so, Ricardo. The good news is that you know where to go now.
I have been struggling with this since I completed your course this summer. I love very different styles (ballad, orchestral, EDM, CCM, pop) and would love to continue to work on all of them. However I keep thinking that the person who listens to my latest EDM, loves it, and clicks into my artist profile to find another song – they will not like most of the other songs. I have debated using different artist names for the different styles, but I don’ t think that is being true to myself either. I’m really stuck. Choosing one style and forgetting the rest almost depresses me and demotivates me. Not sure what the answer is.
Hi JJ. I would actually consider creating two different brands or two different personas. Keep them separate and push them out separately. One might defeat the other, or you will happily go forward with both. There’s nothing wrong with that, but I think the key is not to mix them together as you confuse the audience as you pointed out.
Like JJ, I have been struggling with the content of your latest video, Chris. I answered your “Walk in the Woods” video with another walk in the woods.
https://youtu.be/l7CdCOFnUhY
Hi Chris,
It is my first time gaining some insights from you and first time I am entering the contest. I have taken a couple of bits of advice and thanks but I am not sure about stereotyping my music because I don’t even know if it can fit into one genre.
I am on an incredible journey even as it stands. Just 3 years ago I picked up a guitar due to a 3 month Covid Lockdown in Malaysia, had to self learn basically 6 chords around May 2021 and was decent bin a month. Then I started composing my first songs by June and to date have composed over 150 songs which I try as much to compose different sounds styles etc. My influences were mostly from the 70’s and 80’s and some 60’s and 90’s were so varied and thats where my songs would start. So its nearly impossible to stick to one genre or style. Since then I have returned to Australia and hooked up with my man Keefe West as my producer a few months ago.
To date I have 3 songs released “BECAUSE OF YOU’, “IT’S OUR TIME” & “KEEP BELIEVING” and shortly “WITCH OF HEARTS”. Please do check them out . I have entered BOC & KB into The American Songwriters competition. I think it would be fair to say that for me to come this far so far within 3 years is amazingly insane. BTW in case you are wondering or was counting the decades , this started when I was 62 and I am now 65 (closing onto 66).
I had never contemplated or aspired to be a songwriter or singer, albeit music is always a big part of my life. But I strongly feel that I will have one or more of my songs published or licensed to a major artist and eventually that would lead to my final goal to release my first album for international release and have one of many hit songs. Realistically I believe I have 5 to 7 potential hit songs and the rest good to average songs.
I am thinking of entering a different song in Song Lyrics competition because the lyrics are so in sync at least in my mind and titled “SUPERNATURAL”. I believe an award or two couldn’t hurt and at least a boost to our ego or appropriately our confidence and get us some notice but not a contract thats bankable but that would be nice. Thanks again for putting it out. – George T G Lee