Yeah man every time I answer the phone, people think it's my dad
I think everyone reacts the same way when they first hear their recorded voice played back "THAT'S what I sound like?" It's kind of funny how there's a disconnect between what you think you sound like and how you really sound. In my head, I sound a lot like Jay Farrar, though I can't really say I hear it in my own recordings....at least I don't sound like Tom Waits...
Off the subject of voice though, and back to recording techniques....
The definition of composition itself is "collage." So basically (according to my music composition profs, who I suppose know what they're talking about), you can never really make anything new, you just rearrange things out of your own personal experience into a way no one's ever heard before. That said, I played a few things for my neighbor last month, and he said he was immediately reminded of "My My, Hey Hey" by Neil Young. Which is strange, since I've heard maybe 5 Neil Young songs in my entire life...I'm hardly offended; at least he's reminded of someone who consistently comes up with new material and is committed to recording on tape!
But then there's the thing about me being a first-time
songwriter, first-time recording engineer, etc. Have I really developed to the point where I would have my own "sound" any way you look at it? I'm not sure I think so...Johannes Brahms was over 40 by the time his first symphony premiered, but it still bears such a heavy influence from Beethoven that people refer to it as "Beethoven's 10th Symphony." At 27, what makes me think I'm original/experienced/refined enough to have my own distinctive "sound," especially when I just freaking started? I've spent the last ten years listening to '70's progressive rock and '90's home-recordists like Elliott Smith, and I come across sounding like someone who I've never really got into (uhhhhhh, yes, I think I'll put that quotation on the album cover... "Sounds like Neil Young!" -my neighbor).
The only way I'd say I sound "unique" is in fact because I record on tape, and that's because no one around here (that I'm friends with, at least) does it. And if they record themselves, they're certainly better at it than I am. My sound is as much because I suck at it, as it is anything else. So I have a unique voice among my friends, because I record on tape, and I'm such a noob at it. That said, I have some friends that record digitally and have recorded
great albums that I would be damn proud to have made.
I guess I'd agree with my composition profs this time: you are your experiences, and what you hear. If you actually WANT to be unique, you're certainly not gonna get there listening to the fucking radio. It's such a compromised way of listening to music, completely homogenous. Stay away from anything that appeals to those of the flock mentality, because they seek the comfort of the familiar, not new experiences (you'll get the added benefit of remaining obscure, never receiving recognition, and considering yourself a failure). But I'd say that is more important than whether or not you record on tape. Take it for what it's worth.
