The most common questions I get begin with “How do I sound like…” Well, the aim of this column is to answer precisely that. Each week, I will break down the components of an artist’s general sound and figure out what makes Bonham Bonham, and Dylan Dylan.
By and large, the majority of this endeavor is achieved by emulating the idiosyncrasies of a performer. Beyond that, the rest of the battle is won by coming up with a way to simulate instruments, effects, and to a lesser extent recording techniques.
There is this great anecdote that someone once told me, but for the life of me I can’t remember who it came from, who it was about, or to whom it refers. It goes something like this:
There once was this recording session with Johnny Saxophone and Joe Famousengineer. Johnny walks up to Joe as he’s setting up the mics before the session and says, “Hey Joe, I want to sound like Coltrane.” Joe looks up from his mics and replies glacially, “Then play like him.”
Therein lies the rub—if you want to sound like somebody, play like him and you’ll find that you instantly sound more similar. Sit in front of the same mic set-up, A/B one of your tunes against a true cover of your target artist and you’ll see that it’s true.
Mind you, I am not suggesting that if you want to sound like Dream Theater you need to be as studied and proficient as Portnoy et al clearly are–it would be ludicrous to ask a bunch of high school sophomores to do what they do. However, there are a host of things that factor in to effectively imitating someone else: rhythm, note choice, feel, touch. The majority of the aforementioned items can be executed easily and resonably by just about anyone. All these quirks are what separate any other generic singer/songwriter from sounding like the reincarnation of Johnny Cash. Would Cash play that f6maj9? Would he take that three-minute solo?
Granted, playing like someone isn’t the end-all-be-all of copping a sound, though it is the largest portion of the battle. Even playing exactly like him, you’ll find it difficult to sound like Redd Volkaert on a Les Paul. There are lots of tips and tricks to try and make one instrument sound like another, but first and foremost you have to understand what makes a Telecaster different from a Les Paul sonically—only then can you really adjust appropriately.
Furthermore, it’s hard to sound like David Gilmore without that delay pedal; it’s difficult to sound like John Bonham without those room mics; and it’s damn near impossible to sound like T-Pain without that damn Auto-tuner. Sometimes the effects are part and parcel to the sound itself.
Each week I’ll pick one of the commonly requested artists and do a top to bottom analysis of what makes them sound unique. Armed with that knowledge, you can begin ripping off your favorite artists accordingly! Seriously though, maybe the sound you want for your guitar solo needs the tonality of Hendrix with the technical execution of Van Halen and that crazy Brian May phaser pedal from Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody.” By thinking critically about the individual aspects of a desired sound from one or multiple masters, I hope that you’ll find it much easier to get the sound out of your head and onto tape.
If you can’t manifest these sounds yourself, then just leave it to us. We’ve got the gear and the know-how to make it reality. Fill out the Submission Form and tell us what incendiary amalgam of chart-toppers or undergrounders you’d like to create for yourself and Fix Your Mix will make it happen!
oh please do junior brown oh please oh please oh please