Why do we copy? Why aren't we more original?

DAHTrump

DAHTrump

DAH Trump
I mean.. can anyone truly say they make original music. I never thought so. I mean even the bible says "nothing is new under the sun". We all take our inspiration from somewhere and maybe creatively transform the idea into something else, but would it still be original?

I notice a lot of people tend to stick to the same genres. Why do we do this? Why don't we branch out and create or own genres? Just some things I'm thinking about... What are your thoughts? Why aren't we changing the structure? Why are we following it? Look at the past people who set trends and created a "standard"
 
"Originality" is a funny term to describe something this large.There is none of that, maybe back when it was impossible for average people to acquire these things but it is a very, very broad area now.
 
Even the Bible was built upon pre-existing material so yeah adaptation is the most prevalent means by which something new is formed, but there are varying degrees and schemes of innovation, such as combination, take one concept add it to another and voila, you have something which hasn't been done before....such as bacon flavored ice cream or trap-step....this is perhaps the least subtle example of innovation though.

There are lot of other ways to innovate, there is modification where you take a pre-existing idea and use it in a way it wasn't originally intended to be used, this is quite common too, sometimes innovations are well thought out sometimes they are the result of happy accidents, but what is most important is putting yourself in a position to innovate....these days a lot of kids tend to ask for solutions because they can and so they have no need to experiment and thus no foundation to be creative where it really counts....innovation.

Mind you there are limitations to innovation too especially when it comes to music, like if an innovation results in something which is too foreign people could well reject it....like if some underground dude comes up with an awesome concept it might only take off once it's been adapted to suit a mainstream audience who would otherwise consider it to be just too weird.
 
If I can speak for myself, the more I learned "technically" about production the less I am inclined to try really crazy new things and I'm less likely to stumble upon "happy accidents" like in the beginning when I was just playing around and didn't really know what I was doing. I have a friend who started producing just a while ago and he has some ideas I would've never thought of. The problem is the more I learn the more I strive for a professional, refined sound, and I am afraid of stepping too much out of paradigm. It's like a transition from the inventor to the engineer.

In modern, especially EDM and pop music, with big bucks floating around, people demand the "engineers", and songs are "manufactured", and every now and then there is a shift in the program and new trend is set. That doesn't mean it was much different in the past, though.
 
DAHTrump said:
I mean.. can anyone truly say they make original music. I never thought so. I mean even the bible says "nothing is new under the sun". We all take our inspiration from somewhere and maybe creatively transform the idea into something else, but would it still be original?

I notice a lot of people tend to stick to the same genres. Why do we do this? Why don't we branch out and create or own genres? Just some things I'm thinking about... What are your thoughts? Why aren't we changing the structure? Why are we following it? Look at the past people who set trends and created a "standard"
Click to expand...

it could be a waste of time to try and start a new genre if nobody likes it.. and it is just what it is as far as copying ... rap music started from breaks in jazz songs.. now look where it;s at...
 
You've got to imitate before you'll ever be able to innovate. Miles, Parker, and Coltrane spent years studying the greats of their time before they ever became great themselves.
 
In the words of Skrillex himself:

" I knew Noisia were using NI's FM8 and as they're such brilliant producers, that made me want to try using it too."

You can find this interview here
 
I think that music we think is original has already been done in some way ...there are only so many sounds and melodies that we can make..and there will always be a similar one.
 
Because we all secretly wanna be on the radio and/or get paid big bucks for something that we like/love to do. Or not.
-LevLove
 
DMTian said:
If I can speak for myself, the more I learned "technically" about production the less I am inclined to try really crazy new things and I'm less likely to stumble upon "happy accidents" like in the beginning when I was just playing around and didn't really know what I was doing. I have a friend who started producing just a while ago and he has some ideas I would've never thought of. The problem is the more I learn the more I strive for a professional, refined sound, and I am afraid of stepping too much out of paradigm. It's like a transition from the inventor to the engineer.

In modern, especially EDM and pop music, with big bucks floating around, people demand the "engineers", and songs are "manufactured", and every now and then there is a shift in the program and new trend is set. That doesn't mean it was much different in the past, though.
Click to expand...

Man, those are some real words. I think I've fallen into that same situation, but I try my best to change things up. If something sounds too familiar, I'll just dump it and change things around. I think originality takes a lot of discipline as you get better at producing.
 
Sadly by now, just about everything has been done musically in one form or another. I personally got into making music because a certain style of music really got my blood pumping and I couldn't wait to figure out how it was made and to start making my own.

Of course all music in a particular genre are going to have similar sounds but you can definitely add your flare, or signature to it.

Think about it there are certain artists that by the end of the first measure of the song you know who they are because even though they are part of a genre their stuff stands out from the rest.

That's what being "original' is to me. Putting your own print on something.
 
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