[IrishGuy]

Please help me, I have this recurring problem that keeps me from writing.
If I'm writing a riff or some sort of music (I play drums, guitar and I sing) and after an hour or two's work, realise it sounds really U2ey or Foo Fightersey or Foalsey I always get a bit frustrated and leave it be.

 I don't understand how to warp my initial creation into something more unique and original and stop it sounding like another artist without losing it's spark. Please give me some advice I'm desperate..

The worst part is that I have a big shed with a drum kit and all my guitars and a bass in it and I bought a single USB condensor recording mic that I plug directly into my computer enabling me to record every instrument track I need with great quality.
 I basically have the equipment to make a quite good sounding demo tape or little EP. This makes me feel like I'm wasting valuable time as a writer; because I'm not writing much

I try to keep in mind that not every song can be a hit or a great song, as a painfully confessed "beginner" at writing, should I keep the songs as they originally are (sounding like another artist) and store them?

I watched an interview with Hozier and he claimed he wrote about 60 songs before he landed on Take Me To Church.

What should I do in this situation? I've only written like 3 songs because of this problem!!

[tone]

I've only written like 3 songs because of this problem!!

You've pretty much answered your own question Irish. Finding and honing your songwriting voice is something that takes time. I'd be very surprised if everyone on this forum didn't begin by sounding just like their favourite bands/ songwriters.

My advice to you would be to not let it stop you. Record your songs. If they sound like U2 or the Foos, that's ok. That's where you're at now. If you let it stop you, you'll never progress. But if you record the songs, you'll be much more likely to write some new ones as the old ones will be 'put to bed'.

Also, it's ok to be influenced by the artists we admire. The more songs you write, the better you'll get at making your own sound. Try not to forget that music is fun, and the more you enjoy it, the better it will sound

[nooms]

only thing id add to tones reply would be try not to over analyse what your doing.

and dave grohl may teach you valuable lessons so let him, relax and go with it, how many years did it take him to get where he is ? to know what he knows and who did he get it from ?  youll never sound like him anyway but you will emerge as yourself eventually, a rock n roll butterfly..
relax, plug in and a 1 2 3 4....
wish i had a big shed

a good move is to find someone else to bounce off musically and explore together, support each others ideas..

[hardtwistmusic]

I can only slightly identify with your problem.....  My problem was slightly different.  When I began writing, everything was (according to several people) "sounding like it was Pre-Irish folk songs." 

That is less a problem than sounding like some contemporary artist but still a problem. 

The solution took years.... if I insisted on doing everything myself.  But simple collaboration solved it instantly.  Of course I did not wish to collaborate on everything.  So, the solution can be instantaneous AND take years. 

At the time I first began writing, everything I wrote was in the following sequence. 

FIRST:   Lyrics.
SECOND:  Vocal Treatment and Melody. 
THIRD:   Add accompaniment. 

To get the "sameness" and to gain an eclectic set of songs, it was necessary to write every way there is. 

I wrote lyrics and vocal treatment for other people's music. 
I wrote lyrics to existing music, then changed the melody and accompaniment. 
I wrote music first, and added lyrics and vocal treatment. 

I sang songs "blind" on a Karaoke site.  To explain "singing blind", I would find a song I had never heard, then listen intently to the music, and sing it (and record it) as the music suggested to me it should be sung.  THEN, I would listen to the artist's version to see how they had interpreted the same accompaniment.  A surprising amount of the time, I would like (at least parts of) what I had sung better than I liked the artist's version.  A surprising number of times, I sang it almost exactly as the artist had sung it.  A surprising number of times, the timing and melody that the music suggested to ME, was different enough that it was something I could add my own accompaniment to,  and write an entirely new song with different lyrics. 

Singing Blind is not hard..... and in fact, I consider it a necessary skill to learn if you want to be a complete songwriter. 

But singing blind is easy compared to listening to an existing favorite song (with the artist's version stuck in your "mind's ear" and ignoring the artist's version to see where the music might take YOU.  Once you can do THAT, I suspect your "problem" will be past tense. 

I write music in every various way I can think of to write music.  THAT is (in my opinion) as key to having variety and originality in your song list as talent is. 

I hope these suggestions help.  And I don't think your "problem" (as you describe it sounding too "foo fighter-ish" is a serious problem.  "Ish" isn't a bad thing.  Now if you sound too much like a specific song, then that IS a serious problem.  But finding your own particular original signature sound can take a long time.  In the meantime, you can vary your "sound" as described above until that signature sound comes to you. 

Again.... I hope this is helpful. 

[adamfarr]

I also say go for it - write and record everything. And actually - unless you are using the identical melodies or lyrics of course - you are not those people and won't have the same production, so in fact most likely it will sound like you...

[Kristupas]

What are you listening to ?
Do you analyze a great variety of music ?

If you sound like them, then you are majorly influenced by them.

And how do you want to sound ?


Listen to such artist, get influenced.

A reminder, some people get confused (don't want to sound preachy or smth,
just it seems to me from what you explained, are you open to different artists, genres ? ):

Creativity is a mixture of ideas. Not some magical phenomena out of thin air.
You may come up with melodies, that you think are some kind of out of this world.
But because it is a result of a great bunch of melodic ideas from the past stuck in your unconscious.
Try different approaches.

Sometimes I decide, that I want to create a melodic line or a lick, something like the particular artist, and transcribe the song, and play around with it, the same chord progression, and boom, I come up with something similar sounding, what I like etc.

Also I personally make a habit of analyzing different artists, even if I don't like them at the start, but people consider them as great artists. So I listen to them till I understand their beauty, and analyze my favorite songs.
For instance, I was never fond of Muse, I've listened to their whole discography,
and then the album Black holes and Revelations, was just something I was amazed and a personal discovery for me.

Then I analyzed them, transcribed their licks, melodies, looked at the song structure, the instrumentation and finally by whom they were influenced. And guess what,
they applied the same principle, this album was influenced by the music they were listening to.

A couple of examples :

"Map of Problematique" (probably my favourite) - influenced by Depeche Mode " Enjoy the Silence"
"Starlight(major hit) - originally intended to create something like The strokes "12:51"

Now yes, when you listen to them side by side, they are similar.
But at the same time, they are completely different, their other musical experiences made that difference.

And this technique was used by classical composers for centuries.

Cheers,
K


P.S.
Now I'm into Sigur Ros and
some out of this world dub step project
 Koan Sound

[IrishGuy]

I've only written like 3 songs because of this problem!!

Also, it's ok to be influenced by the artists we admire. The more songs you write, the better you'll get at making your own sound. Try not to forget that music is fun, and the more you enjoy it, the better it will sound

Thanks, that's pretty inspiring.

[IrishGuy]

are you open to different artists, genres ? ):

I certainly am open to a wide enough range as I love the indie stuff like Foals, rocky stuff like Alter Bridge/Metallica, commercial stuff like Foos/Nirvana and obviously the Beatles, solo stuff like Hozier/Bob.

I'd be willing to start listening to the greats and start expanding my influences as long as it's a good idea and it's not bad for my influence-palette by giving it so many different colours!

 Is there a certain way to transcribe songs and analyse them? I wouldn't really know how

[Boydie]

I would say that if you are writing songs that "sound like" the great bands you have listed then you are absolutely on the right track!

Have you shared the songs yet? - I would post them for review and not mention your "insecurities" about them sounding like someone else and see what feedback you get

It sounds like you are doing the right things - just looking at them from the wrong angle!

In fact in the world of commercial pitching you would even be given "reference tracks" for your songs to sound like!!!!

There is obviously a line to be drawn between "inspired by" and "copied" but I am willing to bet that you are so close to the songs you are worrying necessarily and you are fine

Is there a certain way to transcribe songs and analyse them? I wouldn't really know how

You could listen to the "Anatomy Of A Song" section on the SONGWRITERSELECT podcast 

The easiest way is to find a song you like, or a particular part of a song, and search for it on GOOGLE but add the word "CHORDS" to it - eg "Monkey Wrench Chords"

In the days of t'internet you will find that someone has already transcribed the chords, tab or notation

You can then analyse the chord progression, changes, key changes, etc. and apply them to your songs

Only melody and lyrics are subject to copyright so lifting a chord progression is fair game - especially if you put a unique rhythm, lyric and melody to it

To be even more "original" you could take a chord progression for the verse from one song, the chorus from another etc.

This will widen your palette and you will start to recognise the same progressions and techniques

[Serotonin]

If it sounds like your favourite songwriters, then I'd take that as a success to be honest. Honestly, I doubt that the similarities will be nearly as noticeable for others, they do not know the initial inspiration so for them it's totally new while you were there for the whole process. Which is why you are always a bad judge of your own work. If you notice similarities, no matter, what matters is what others hear in your music. If you have just plagiarised a riff then people will notice and you aren't really a writer. But of you have subconsciously assimilated into your own sound the sounds you like then I count that as a success

I reckon your problem isn't that you can't write original songs, it's that when you have your initial inspiration that plants the seed you don't give it time to grow. If you write something and immediately scrap it because it sounds like something else then you won't get anywhere. If you stick with those ideas and experiment with them, then chances are that by the time you are done, the final product will be massively different to what you began with. The idea of original songs popping into the artist's head and then writing themselves in 15 minutes is a myth. It's comfortable to sit and wait for ideas to come to you and by chance they might from time to time but for the most part it's a slower, more difficult process of perseverance and trial and error. Just give yourself a chance, you will frustrate yourself at first most likely, but stick with it and you might surprise yourself.

That is how an original sound is born.

[pompeyjazz]

OK - You might think that your songs sound like a particular artist but others may not !

I wrote what I thought was a complete Oasis rip-off. Turned out, the feedback that I got nobody even mentioned them.

Keep churning stuff out. They're YOUR songs. Hey everybody has influences it's impossible to avoid. Maybe U" sound like YOU

Cheers

John

[DevyE]

I have a big shed, with a drum kit, loads of guitars, bass and one usb microphone.

After a couple of hours of songwriting I sound like lots of successful bands, what a joker😊

What you need is a second microphone, that would double your output 😃😃

[Dan James]

It's inevitable that a lot of the stuff you write is going to have a superficial resemblance to other people's songs. Doesn't matter, as long as you're aware of the fact. Keep everything, don't scrap it. Nothing gets wasted. It becomes part of your own archive, even if you decide that no-one else is going to hear it. Maybe you'll listen to it again six months down the road, and realise that part of it can be combined with a new idea you've had. As I say, nothing gets wasted, and being a plagiarist is part of the learning process.

[Jahn]

It's actually a great exercise to first cover something faithfully, then riff off of it.  That way you get a feel for the structure of the song that an accomplished songwriter managed to put together, and that kind of education eventually pays off once you get "your own voice."  Eventually you'll put together some great originals, but informed by that great bridge before the hook you learned a few years ago...