The Search for the Sounds in Your Head

There is a beauty in choice. There is a sigh of relief when you hit the sound you have been searching for. There are also the days of research, trial and error that go into nailing tone. Those are sometimes are not as beautiful.

It’s really awesome when you break down tone, and the descriptions of it. Tone can mean a different thing to everyone. My idea of “transparent” can be someone else’s “colored”. That’s mind blowing to me. There’s no exact definition to these adjectives and onomatopoeia’s, which means no set standard, which means a degree of personal interpretation and flexibility in these definitions (within reason of course). Again that’s really cool to me, or maybe I’m just a nerd, who knows?

In my search for tone I realize that this is a great time to be alive; there are a plethora of options when it comes to pedals, amps and instruments. That is such a cool thing, but it also means the amount of time it takes to nail those onomatopoeias, the sounds in our heads, can take a very long time. The upside is that when you nail those sounds, you nail them right.

I explored this world of chasing the sounds in my head for the better part of year. It’s been a rad journey. There are so many options. I can search for a fuzz today and find 240+ Unique options, which is absurdly awesome.  240+ potential sounds that could work for what I hear and what I am trying to achieve.  So how does one narrow it down?

    A monstrous amount of research followed by a feasibility study, more research, refreshing the track my shipment page for the 5 millionth time and finally (hopefully) shredding.  Or maybe it is not the right sound and it is back to the drawing board.

That’s really it.  I’ve used this to find most of my board, amps and basses.  Playing the field for the right solution. It’s so fun; there are so many choices. Many choices may be 99% what I had in mind, but only a few will be 100%.

What I have learned through this is that there is nothing more rewarding than chasing and achieving the sounds in your head. Whether it’s a line I’m writing, or a tone I’m chasing. When I hit it, and I know I’ve hit it right, there is nothing better.

Moving away from gear. This also applies to playing, though not in the exact same way. When you hear a line, shred on it until its right and play it exactly like it was meant to be played, it feels right. That is the same idea, the same feeling of accomplishment. It all comes down to nailing YOUR sound, whatever and however you envision it.