How to develop and honor your aesthetic taste.
In each of the lessons below, guided by the reflections and experiences of Soundfly’s independent artist instructors, we’re given affirmations that in music, taste is everything.
Straying from one’s personal taste to “sound like” someone else can at times be a dangerous and useless endeavor. In turn, identifying and cultivating an elevated sense of taste is likely to be one of the most important investments an artist can make.
Here are 5 lessons that give you explicit permission to embrace your own personal taste.
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Ben Weinman: “We went another direction — and we filled a hole that was unfilled.”
In The Business of Uncompromising Art, Ben Weinman pushes back against the misconception that to reach a large audience one must copy what’s popular. Finding a niche is about honoring your tastes.
The Pocket Queen: “There are ways you can color it to bring in a new feeling.”
In tackling AC/DC’s “Highway to Hell” from a drummer’s perspective, The Pocket Queen exemplifies that you can serve the song in unlimited ways just by feeling out your own musical relationship to it.
Kimbra: “There’s so much nuance — I like music that finds the in-between places.”
In plotting the direction you’d like to take your song, it’s important to identify and acknowledge your own aesthetic boundaries. Here, Kimbra shares the attributes that make “a great song” for her.
Kiefer: “Me personally, I love just jumping right to the key. I think it sounds great.”
Pianist/composer Kiefer debunks some common theory for modulating keys or touching into new harmonic space. For him, context is everything, and if it sounds good to your ears, just make the leap!
RJD2: “You are what you eat.”
Listening is a huge part of any artist’s creative process, but even more so for artists that use samples. RJD2 says: “what you put into your mind is going to dictate and influence the music you make.”
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