LittleBigPlanet music creators - what's your musical "style"?

Do you consider yourself to have a style? Is it a particular musical genre, or something you think of as being unique to yourself? Do you favour some instruments over others? Do you like to create music for certain kinds of levels or creations in LBP?

Do you like the idea of having a recognisable "sound" that other creators and players in the community know - a "brand" that's identifiable? Or does that make you feel that you've become samey and predictable?

Is having a style of your own a strength, or a weakness?

Please give me your thoughts, lovely musical sackpeeps.

I've been told that I have a sound. It's certain things that I do when making a melody or how I structure my songs. Most recognizable thing might be my drum beats ( not that they're all the same ). I also never think about genres really. So when I put together a track, there might be more than one genre. Some of my stuff is dark, weird, or riding a line between happy and sad. Still learning things though. Some of my music in my first gallery has problems but it was my nooby work. ( takes deep breath ) Sorry for being so long winded So what do you think your sound is weirdy?

I think everyone to some degree has a sound, but some are just more obvious to people who look for identifiable genres. Like painting a picture, There's only so many colours and dimensions, but you can make the viewer or in our case, the listener forget this by communicating more than just sound. Music is often loved yet misunderstood. It can be one beat, noise, phrase, anything audio based. Our brains do the work. Lets face it, what we actually make is just patterns of pure energy! The perceptions of the observer make it what it is - so in a way everyone's sound is subject to the feeling and mindset of the observer. So any strength, or weakness is purely thoughts, not an identifiable label. It's what drives us forward, or makes us feel comfortable with an audio identity. For instance, if you heard the Beatles, followed by Jimi Hendrix, then perhaps some Knife Party and then some Tchaikovsky for good measure, your brain knows they are different genres and loves to tell you that you prefer one over the other. But this, in my own experience, is subject to change at the drop of a hat! Like right now, I could quite easily listen to some brutal metal and enjoy it more than beautiful ordered tones. This doesn't make the music I choose not to listen to weaker. It makes it more diverse, which is the cornerstone of creativity. Well.. anyway .. After this brief insight into my own spiritual ramblings on music I'll just say that my sound is your choice. Does it take you on a journey? Does it make you wanna dance? Perhaps it makes you just want to stop listening. Or more? One way or another it makes you feel something. Which for me, is a mission accomplished. And Nerd Dog, how was that for long winded?

Just a wee bit long winded, just a wee bit . Makes sense. I think that your " sound " is basically like your signature. because when you put together a piece of music, You try to create sounds that sound good to you. And what sounds good is very subjective. This is why I try to keep an open mind when I hear music. And yes, I'm aware that you already covered everything I just said and more FJ. I just worded it for the people that aren't as literate.... Like me

A wee bit haha yep. Yes, like a signature I don't mean to word things like that! The way my brain thinks is a subject all of its own . Just ask my doctor

Gotta' be that music junkie that takes musical acid! Like FJ said, music can be either abstract of straight-up in your face depending on genre like PSY GOA, trippy and wobbly, or Hardstyle, bass and a raw style. Nerd_Dog, I'd say you are still developing some sort of sound that is a bit dark (your new EP, Non-existent). Most people on LBP who make EDM usually set their music to have a dark tone anyways because it's easier than making a brighter, happier sound. Take mine for example, I've rooted my music into a horrible and scary nightmare that portrays my thoughts exactly. If you got the imagination to make it happen, then by all means, create it! You might find a style that suits you best! In time, my friend!

I naturally gravitate towards bluesy sounding stuff honestly. So I'm usually trying to step away from that blues sound. Every once in a while I just go with it though, like with my song " See You Space Cowboy... " . FJ called it " futuristic blues " . People seem to like when I let my blues influence guide me. But If people look at the other stuff I've done, they wont find much bluesy sounding stuff. What I really want is to be hard to label. I think I've done a fairly good job of that so far. I get what your saying though meansr, but i'll never settle for one style, and hopefully people will have trouble putting a genre label on my songs. That being said, I still retain a " sound " .... Hopefully people like my nerdy sound I know that I really like your brutal sounds

Huehue, yeah, I get that feeling too ND. Unlike you, who claims to have no specific genre (lel), I have them styles all over the place, not just one specific point. Yea, your sound is getting more solid and atmospheric, which is good. Brutal sounds is how I roll. The reason why I choose hardcore or bass-induced tracks is that it's fun making some destructive crap. That, and I'm also kinda' destructive, but that's just me. Too much volatile feelings are put in my music. It's really amusing to show off me feelings to people. Haha! Anyways, I'm glad you're getting to know more music more! ~3~

Music is my best friend. :3

Well i'm not sure if i have a particular style or sound. A lot of my music is a mixture of inspiration from other songs and artists i hear. However i've grown fond of making 8bit, derpy, and funky styled music. Perhaps that's a sign of some sort of style However i've started to expand out of EDM music and i'm trying different genres

I've never thought about that question before! Composing I always have a strong focus on melodies, more than on sounds! I'm mostly constructing my songs in the way A-B-A-B-C-A so that they're seldom repetitive. I prefer piano, guitar, trumpets, clarinette, violin sounds more than electronical sounds! I'm using a lot of waltz time, and my songs are rather short, in the average about two minutes! I'm composing more in minor because I love a touch of sadness in my songs. And I've composed waltzes, tangoes, jazz-melodies, even a psychodelic song,... I think I have no preferred genre.

Many greetings, Jürgen^^

I would love to make more music in the Dorian Mode!
About my "style"... I usually come up with a melody and key signature and just stick with it, coming up with a bunch of variations and countermelodies to support it

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention: Square wave and piano FTW!

Haha, see you guys later!

-Nico

Not meaning to bump this thread unnecessarily, but just saying thanks for everyone's feedback so far. It's really interesting to read and I appreciate it.

My thoughts on musical style are quite complex, because I know how people sometimes choose to create a "brand" for themselves in LittleBigPlanet, with a distinct avatar, artistic theme, or personalised costume. These things are all part of a person's style, even if they're not directly connected to the music. LBP is neither a "professional" music creation studio/community, neither is it simply just a game with a musical create mode. It's somewhere in between, and so long as people are enjoying what they create, long may it continue. Craftworld is big enough for everyone to fearlessly share the music inside themselves.

i make what i feel like making, i love to use 8 bit arps now they sound so beautiful

Edit: and i like using harmonic minor (not because of iclay) and aeolian'ish and phrygian'ish things

For me, the darker and more intense, the better. >:3

wait buddy, I thought you made MLP music o_O

Anywho, my new stuff seems to be a bit more chill. Still dark n all dat but slowing down a bit. My next gallery is going to be so much different than my first.

When I'm not making MLP music, I'm making morbid death music.

my two favorite genres

dominant seventh make sure to also try to change your keys my latest was only in 1 key... changing keys is called key modulation if you look at the circle of fifths in wikipedia you would know what the "logical" way of doing that is such as C major's equivalent is A minor and that after C major you can change to G major which would imply a power chord if imply is the right word... you don't have to change keys though

i found harmonic minor is great for hip hop i also learnt the chords for harmonic minor, melodic minor, natural minor and major scales and i created a melody in melodic minor with chords as accompaniment and it sounded good and it flowed really well

When it comes to styles, it's barely what artists do specifically in terms of genres that set them apart. I got popular 'cause I made the dubsteps, but once people heard my full galleries they realized that I had a style independent from that. No matter if I was making my Dubstep/Glitch Hop that got me famous, or chillout, or dance music, or Drum & Bass, apparently people could distinguish me from other artists. Luckily it's just natural so it's transferred over to real life. Even with my SoundCloud music people can tell that I made the track, which is pretty cool. In terms of genres I've made everything from Madeon Nu Disco to Dubstep remixes of Skrillex, right now I'm remixing Childish Gambino's 3005 as a trap song, and my first Beatport/iTunes release on OHM Records will be a Liquid Dubstep track akin to Singularity and Seven Lions featuring vocals from Ellie Pollard so I literally have no clue what my style is in terms of genres. I just make what sounds cool.

It's good that some people understand that. It's not genres that make your style. I find it's best to not worry too much about genre and just try and create music that you think sounds good.

Ye, I agree with buttarms, darker themes tend to portray much. Whether it would be for levels, atmosphere, or horror. I don't know about all of you but I find songs that consist of minor keys that modulate to major, but is still somehow minor, to be the best type of songs. Like orchestral music, which tends to always have that majestic feel to it, yet be daunting at the same time.

I think that really, at the end of the day, the biggest thing that molds "your style" simply is yourself. Our minds serve as crypts to host brilliant ideas, with the potential to form something truly enticing. Some people, however, are just more capable of releasing these ideas than others. Whether it be strictly through natural talent, relentless practice, or a bit of both, I truly believe everyone has a sense of style ALREADY; the trick is, making that piece of yourself more prevalent to others. Say, for example, your an amateur musician, using just your imagination to form compositions. While that certain amount of talent may reside there, pushing you forward in quality an variety, it alone can only take you so far. You may start to sound "samey", or lack unique ideas that really mirror your style. And when I say style, I mean YOU; the inner-weavings of your mind, the reflections of your thoughts, the inner circle of your emotions. Ever been caught in a musical ditch, where you have a certain idea that you just can't push out because of a lack of inspiration/knowledge? I know I have.

And it sucks.

So, when you begin a streak of creating similar compositions over and over again with only the little knowledge you currently have, is having that similar style really a good thing? Can it be detrimental to your overall work? Sure, you can share your ideas with the world, but personally, I'd get a bit tired recycling the same "style" over and over again for the sake of balancing a similar sound. The reason I bring style up in a more spiritual manner is because, as previously stated, your style is already there (IMO). Thus, I find it a bit silly to restrict myself to certain ideas or genres when really, i feel my brain will do the work for me. The more variety you explore, the more your tunes begin to transform, while still containing that touch of yourself that only you can create. That touch of humanity is your style. We, as musicians, subconsciously have thoughts and scripts floating about, and its our craft to gather those ideas in our little mind-nets and share 'em with the world. So expand your horizons! It doesn't matter whether your composing Hardcore Dnb to smooth and collective Ambience, because it'll always be YOU that composes it (hopefully). That piece of you, the piece that molds the tastes you find tasty, the sounds you find, er, soundy, is what brings together a true sense of yourself. That reflection of yourself isn't something that can be recreated by anybody else. THAT, my fellow hackey-sacks, is what style to me is. A melting pot of everything you find desirable in the moment.

With all this talk of spiritual energy and emotional philosophizing, I just want to make it clear that I, in fact, am not high

In terms of music, I like pop, electronic, and maybe a little bit of dubstep (not the gross, hardcore dubstep, though).

great job on that post @emotionless and @fox i assume by hardcore dubstep you mean as in post dubstep like skrillex, excision, (some) savant and datsik. real dubstep is skream but i don't know much about that old school classic dubstep except for the sounds and how minimal they seem to be and just because it's gross to you doesn't mean it is gross to other people i like many different types of music and electronic isn't a genre but i'm guessing you mean EDM as in the umbrella term for dance music that is mostly synthesized like the term metal instead of groove metal, nu metal, thrash metal etc.

nnooooooooooooo


I make music in LBP with loads of styles. Funk, rock, trap, electronic dance, uh do i need to go on? I think its good that i do so much stuff.

I agree with emotionlessscars here. basically your style is involuntary. you don't CHOOSE your style really. and why are we still talking about genres? genres have nothing to do with music really. they're just a label people slap on various presentations of music

I agree with Nerd_Dog here, people slap labels on your music without actually knowing what it is. A lot of people call my music "anime music" and start judging it before even hearing it.

@meansr that is natural minor with the 7th flattened 1 semitone commonly known as harmonic minor but when making music i don't even reference any scales because they've gotten stuck in my head like a spidey sense and i can make music from my head more easily now even some cool atonal melodies

i get it meansr, you mean mode changes, your example seems like it would sound like "RAMMSTEIN - Stein Um Stein" not actually major but a minor 6th melodic interval (cause it's 1st of natural minor then the 6th of natural minor the latter not in major) it might sound major depending on the melody in (both that and reverse) depending on the melodies, harmonies, when things rise and fall (the more falls you get the more sad it sounds usually) "AMON AMARTH - The Dragon's Flight Across the Waves" in this song the chorus, bass notes are the 1st and the 6th tones of the natural minor scale, with the melodies it really is modulating major to minor mode, since there aren't any chords in that besides a powerchord (which technically isn't a chord) but i shut up now .

I agree with buttarms! Hardcore genres of 180-240 BPM are the best! Gotta love a pounding bassline and melodic synths.

Most of the music community knows me as a rock/metal artist. Which is true to an extent, but I never really tried to besomeone who only sticks to one genre of music. I just make whatever sounds good in my ears. My music as a whole is very deliberate and isnt very subtle. I have lost alot of motivaton to create music ever since LBP3 came out, mainly because of the lack of new guitars and instruments altogether. But you can expect more content from me in the coming months, but lower you're expectations. My current style of music is more or less centered around Industrial Rock/metal, ambient and orchestral.

I would politely have to disagree @Corrupt. I think your newer stuff is sounding great. Definitely my favorite work from you