Any artist whose style you tend to emulate?

[Shnate McDuanus]

Anyone here have any sort of trend where they will write a song, and find that it strikes you as being stylistically emulative (or imitative) of an established artist's style?

 

I have to say, even though I pretty much grew up on hard rock and prog rock, most of the songs I have written out to a relatively complete extent could almost pass for recently-found unrecorded songs from the early days of Leonard Cohen's career. It's also apparent in the way I sing, and the way I've been playing/arranging lately. If I could get rid of the microphone hiss from my internal mic, I would record my most recent one and put it up here. I will not feign modesty and subvert my opinion--I'm actually convinced that it is quite good, even if it is a blatant rip-off of Cohen's "Take This Longing." I even happen to sing like him--my voice isn't as deep, but my phrasing and inflection are very heavily influenced by his. As far as songwriting goes, he is definitely one of the best in my eyes, and apparently more of an influence on me than I once thought. In my opinion, he has never released an album without a good song on it--in fact, he has released several with no songs I would consider "bad," and if I happen to remind myself of Leonard Cohen, then that's a good thing.

 

Howzabout you guys? Is anyone out of you like me, where no matter how hard you try, you end up sounding just like "insert name here"? Or is there anyone here who writes tunes like nobody else?

[MojoRedFoot]

My guitar solos are usually a mix of Kirk Hammett, Jerry Cantrell and Paul Gilbert. Sometimes just one of them. The riffs and melodies I write lean towards a certain style but not one artist.

[saturn]

I'm not much of a songwriter, but I am somewhat of an improvisor. I also sometimes add some leads and fills to some of my friend's originals. I think my style mainly emulates aspects of Page, Dicky Betts and SRV.

[Shnate McDuanus]

I just realized this...

 

I think part of why I can emulate the Leonard Cohen thing reasonably well is because I'm just as much of an insecure, sexually-frustrated sad-sack as he is. Perhaps even more--I mean, at least he's a pretty smart guy (not just extremely pretentious like I am,) and he has a bit of the old "awkward charm" to help him out a touch.

[Tman5293]

Whenever I'm playing a solo, whether it's a written one or improvisation, I tend to sound like a mix of Jimmy Page and Angus Young.

[FirstMeasure]

As hard as I try to keep my own sonic identity, I tend to cop a lot of Stevie Ray, Billy Gibbons, and the occasional Tip o' the Hat to Jimmy Page. Oddly enough I'll end up sounding a lot like Clapton without trying, but I think that's because I'm using a similar set up with similar influences.

 

In the end, the audience are the only ones who know what or who I sounded like.

[Versatile]

One needs a touch of hubris in this world of music

I pick like Merle Travis

I sustain like Carlos Santana

I am as loud as Jimi Hendrix

I am sensitive like Peter Green

I am serious like Eric Clapton

I have a smile like BB King

 

 

Now...Mrs Versatile...where did I put my medication....?

[cjlandry]

I like slow and sincere, so I tend to improvise more along the styles of Clapton or Gilmour. I like to make that one note mean something, rather than play as many notes per second as possible.

 

I'm not saying I'm good at it, but I tend to search within myself for sounds similar to theirs.

[Versatile]

I like slow and sincere, so I tend to improvise more along the styles of Clapton or Gilmour. I like to make that one note mean something, rather than play as many notes per second as possible.

 

I'm not saying I'm good at it, but I tend to search within myself for sounds similar to theirs.

 

I agree with these sentiments...Gilmour is a genius of taste...and for me, tone is the thing. Tone can come from the fingers rather than electronically...

[Kimbabig]

I tend to sound like SRV while playing blues and sounding like Chris Poland when I'm not.

[AXE®]

lolz

[cabba2203]

I'm hard to peg as I draw from everything I listen to.

I'm always evolving as I pickup new things. My style sounds like myself.

Now, if you were to ask about tone, I do like to target a cross between Mark Morton and Scott Ian's sound he had on "Spreading The Disease" and the original SOD album when doing metal.

For rock and everything else, I try to dial in a more Iommi-type sound from the "Paranoid" album.

[cookieman15061]

I try to sound like Axe but it's hard to emulate his tone without a midget up my behind.

[saturn]

I just realized this...

 

I think part of why I can emulate the Leonard Cohen thing reasonably well is because I'm just as much of an insecure, sexually-frustrated sad-sack as he is.

 

TMI #036;

[EVOL!]

Occasionally I'll listen to one of my leads and think "who is this guy trying to be BloodSugarSexMagik era John Frusciante? He's doing it poorly." Other times I try to rip it with Nels Cline style tremolo picking.

 

When I play with someone else and do shading, I do the Lee Ranaldo thing.

[Silenced Fred]

Rhythm work, I pound away on chords, its just a big mixture of punk, hard rock stuff. Leads, I play like Jack White.

 

Song writing, I just out what I'm feeling. All of the songs I do are related to myself or someone I know in one way or another. I write like me, but I do take some styles from Kurt Cobain in the randomness and tongue in cheek. I just finished writing a song today where the verse is about who is depressed and how I want to help them, but then the chorus is about how it tells them to end it now. It's weird, and it will catch flak from those who listen, but to me its important to point out aspects of culture and society.

[Witmer]

Anyone here have any sort of trend where they will write a song, and find that it strikes you as being stylistically emulative (or imitative) of an established artist's style?

 

 

 

Well.... nope. If someone actually told me they thought I sounded like ANY established artist, I think I'd just say "Thank you," regardless of whether I'd get caught dead listening to them or not.

[duane v]

My guitar pals tell me I sound a lot like Hendrix

[Shnate McDuanus]

Well.... nope. If someone actually told me they thought I sounded like ANY established artist, I think I'd just say "Thank you," regardless of whether I'd get caught dead listening to them or not.

 

I'm not really treating it as a deliberate thing. I'm not saying "I want to write like Leonard Cohen" or "I try to play lead guitar like Jim McCarty," I'm saying that when I read my lyrics, or when I listen to some improvisational soloing that I may have recorded, I end up reminding myself of them. Others have compared my songwriting to Leonard Cohen as well.

[Shnate McDuanus]

My guitar pals tell me I sound a lot like Hendrix

 

Well, when I listened to your "Stairway" recording (i.e. "The Ouchy Hurt") I thought it sounded a little like Hendrix copping Page, so .

 

By the way, I really liked your recording.

[AXE®]

Cantrell - Hannon.

[Dom_JEM]

i have a really agressive picking style just like Angus Young, I use pinch harmonics alot just like Roy Buchanan and i have a brutal Vibrato just like Gary moore. when im playin blues i use the 3rd blues box or "BB King Box" so that sounds strangly like someone . my rythem usually sounds like a mix of Pete Townshend and strangly enough....David Gray.

 

 

so those are the guys i "steal" things from

[L5Larry]

In the jazz Big Band, my "job" is to sound like Freddie Green, longtime guitarist of the Count Basie Orchestra. That's quite a level of rhythm guitar playing to aspire to, and I think I do that pretty well.

 

In the blues band my goal is to NOT sound cliche'd like most blues guitarists that have come along in the last 20 years. Over the last 35 years I have unintentionally/unknowingly developed my own style and sound. I have never tried, nor would I want to be known or described as, sounding just like so-and-so.

[Witmer]

I'm not really treating it as a deliberate thing. I'm not saying "I want to write like Leonard Cohen" or "I try to play lead guitar like Jim McCarty," I'm saying that when I read my lyrics, or when I listen to some improvisational soloing that I may have recorded, I end up reminding myself of them. Others have compared my songwriting to Leonard Cohen as well.

 

 

No, I get you, you're talking about looking back at something you've made and then seeing the similarities. But I've tried hard to figure out who I sound like (since people always ask)and have a lot of trouble with it. Nobody has ever said, "Hey, you guys sound like: ----" In a way, I envy you, just because it makes it so *difficult* to talk about your music with anyone if you can't tie it to something they already know. And I do like to talk.

[Hall]

Snuffy Smith