Diversity in music

spectorbass83 · #1 01-09-2006, 09:11 AM

My most recent band has lost a lead guitarist and have decided to start something new...with a new singer and a new lead guitarist..
So far we wrote 2 "new" songs - which walk a fine line between Dregd and Foo Fighters. They were both great songs and I think that we were on the right track with them...

Just yesterday, our current guitarist/back up vocalist wrote a song and played it for me....it sounds completely different than the other two songs. I was a little surprised and to be honest, not very impressed due to the fact that the song went in a completely different direction than the other two...I told him that I think he went in a completely different direction with the new song and that it does not sound like the previous songs at all...

I realize its one thing to have every song sound the same (which is something I dont want), but if every song sounds completely different then I think it will be very difficult for a band to have "their own sound". Do you agree?

Bruce Lindfield · #2 01-09-2006, 09:16 AM

I think it would be great to hear a band where every song sounded uniquely different - it would certainly be a change from the vast majority of dull,boring bands where every song sounds like a re-hash of their last one!!

Bard2dbone · #3 01-09-2006, 09:23 AM

I disagree. My old band played several different vibes. Some of our stuff was almost metal. Some was straight ahead blues. Several were folky. Some were lighter jazzy-almost new age stuff. I was into a lot of world music at the time and my guitarist and I wrote a few that fans always told us sounded 'Arabic' however they meant that. We were known for doing 'anything but country and rap'. And some of the stuff I write nowadays is pretty darned country. So don't limit yourself.

'Your' sound is what you play. It doesn't have to be readily pigeonholed. If it is you get debacles like the two Nickleback songs that were the same song. (I don't remember titles. But DJ's took great glee in ridiculing this about a year and a half ago.)

spectorbass83 · #4 01-09-2006, 09:24 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bruce Lindfield

I think it would be great to hear a band where every song sounded uniquely different - it would certainly be a change from the vast majority of dull,boring bands where every song sounds like a re-hash of their last one!!

Really? Can you think of any bands that do this?

lemur821 · #5 01-09-2006, 06:52 PM

You can leave it to your audience to figure out what your sound is. Feel free to be as musically diverse as you want, since you can't get away from yourself, you know? Even if you want to. No matter where you go, there you are.

Against Will · #6 01-09-2006, 07:00 PM

I think it's a fine line; I've known a couple of bands that play a diverse range of 'styles' and while the results aren't always bad they can be very vanilla for exactly the reason you pointed out.

I think the secret is to make the song your own, don't try to faithfully mimic a style because you're not a cover band. A song can be completely different in mood, tempo etc. but if you approach it and imbue it with your own feelings and experiences you can make it your own and the song, despite how different it may be from other songs you've written, will sound like it belongs in your set and not like some throw away that the band doesn't want to touch with a 8 ft. pole.

Wrong Robot · #7 01-09-2006, 07:04 PM

It is a difficult thing to reconcile. On the one hand, if you have a distinct sound, you are easier to market, gain a trusted audience, and you have a more clear cut idea about the music you are making. On the other hand, if you have a very varied sound where a hip hop track is just as likely to emerge as a 30 minute long fela kuti jam, then you may have a hard time finding people that will be willing to listen to everything.

People often tell me(probably more than anything else) that my music is really weird and varied. It can be taken as a compliment or not. I personally don't like genres, and I don't like pigeonholing myself into one particular sound, but I do respect the notion of what the fans might be interested in.

Since I'm not yet selling my music, it's less important to me. But ya.

Anyway, I think the most successful bands have little pieces of multiple flavors, but they are capable of mixing them together into a unique sound where, you can't really pick apart the ingredients.

Shrug.