unfun75 Posted February 6, 2009 Share Posted February 6, 2009 I was practicing/jamming tonight and I started playing this stoner metal riff that I thought was pretty cool. The more I played it though, the more I thought I'd heard it before. I was thinking it was a Rainbow or Black Sabbath riff, but after listening to the intros of the tracks I thought it may be, I couldn't find it. I'd hate to make a song of it only to discover later its a complete ripoff. This ever happen to any of you? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kevinbower1959 Posted February 6, 2009 Share Posted February 6, 2009 We're all influenced by stuff we hear, and as human beings and as musicians, we have a built-in 'scratchpad' which stores stuff up from maybe years ago. You know the deal - you hear a great riff when you're a kid, you figure out how to play it, and then 20 years later a diluted version of that riff pops up out of the old memory banks and it's incorporated (almost subconsciously) into our own music without you really knowing where the hell it came from. It's a challenge which faces every songwriter on the planet, and you have my total sympathy................ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tractorj0hn Posted February 6, 2009 Share Posted February 6, 2009 Definitely- I think that happens to every musician from time to time. If I feel like there's something more to the riff/progression/melody than just being reminiscent of something familiar I keep re-working it until it sounds like it's mine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Feynman Posted February 6, 2009 Share Posted February 6, 2009 Everything I try to "make up" ends up with some Metallica or Bach in it somewhere. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Willie G. Moseley Posted February 7, 2009 Share Posted February 7, 2009 Influence-wise: What if you compose something, actually record it, then realize you'd heard it before; i.e., you "subliminally" ripped it off, not realizing you'd done such? Happened to me once; somebody pointed out a lick on an instrumental I'd done, naming the band who'd done the same lick (although mine had harmony notes with two different guitars), and it was even in the same damn key! And I even had the album in my own collection! But I swear I never realized the connection, at least, overtly. Still embarrassing, though... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
serial Posted February 7, 2009 Share Posted February 7, 2009 That's happened to me a few times. I've gone back and eliminated the "influence", even if I was pretty sure Id heard it before. I occasionally have an entire song come into my head with all instrumentation-in those cases, it's hard to convince myself that it could possibly be my original thought. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unfun75 Posted February 7, 2009 Author Share Posted February 7, 2009 I occasionally have an entire song come into my head with all instrumentation-in those cases, it's hard to convince myself that it could possibly be my original thought.Yeah, sometimes its hard to believe that something so simple could be original. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mkadowaki Posted February 7, 2009 Share Posted February 7, 2009 Allegedly happened to ColdplayAsk Steve Vai Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unfun75 Posted February 7, 2009 Author Share Posted February 7, 2009 Allegedly happened to ColdplayAsk Steve VaiI thought it was Satch, not Vai. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kurtsstuff Posted February 7, 2009 Share Posted February 7, 2009 Lyrically I did... Spent about 4-5 hours writing lyrics that I was sure was gonna make me rich beyond my Dreams but after all that time working on what I titled "City Woman" I realized some guy named Roy Orbison wrote a song a long time ago...sure words were completley different but..Few few tweaks and mine would have fallen right in his groove..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mkadowaki Posted February 7, 2009 Share Posted February 7, 2009 Allegedly happened to ColdplayAsk Steve VaiI thought it was Satch, not Vai.HaHa, they sound the same to me! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lord nelson Posted February 7, 2009 Share Posted February 7, 2009 If the riff is really good and it's not identical, have the bass play something else and use a different drumbeat. With totally different vocals, the song will not be ripoff IMO Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zorrow Posted February 7, 2009 Share Posted February 7, 2009 Just happened to me not so many days ago. I was working on this instrumental piece and came with this cool chord progression for the chorus... I recorded the rhythm guitar parts over a basic drums track and was happy as hell because the riffs were very catchy and the chord progression meant something... when suddenly I caught myself humming a UFO song over "my" music. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hamerhead Posted February 7, 2009 Share Posted February 7, 2009 I say it's yours until someone sues you for it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rocktuna Posted February 7, 2009 Share Posted February 7, 2009 I was screwing around with a cool chord progression at practice one day (something guitar players never do) and the bass player sez "wow Season of the Witch cool song" I'd never heard of it. Went home You Tubed it and sure as shit had it down pat. Right key and everything. I don't remember hearing the song and if I had it must have been 20 years ago Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Haynie Posted February 7, 2009 Share Posted February 7, 2009 Sometimes there are riffs that are "in the ballpark" with something else I have heard. The worst examples are those built around a natural progression. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BubbaVO Posted February 7, 2009 Share Posted February 7, 2009 Sure. And so what.Unless you're planning on releasing it on a CD and trying to make money off of it, you're not going to get sued. So go ahead and finish that creative vision in your head. If it does turn out that it is the same as something else, see if you can tweak around the similarities. If not, that's why there's a new project tab in Garage Band. : ) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.