I am always surprised by the vast differences, both in sound and style, between music by the bands that are my favorites, the ones I most commonly listen to, the ones I find the most inspiring, and the music I create myself.
At What Point Does "Borrowing" Become Plagiarism?
Some of you may know, and others may not, that I am a bit of a closet musician. I have a side hobby of playing guitar and have been doing so on and off for about six years now. Combining that with my natural philosophical tendencies, the next natural step was to write my own music and lyrics. Guitar and vocal ability aside, I have long since figured that if I write the lyrics and music, I might as well (even if I butcher it) do the vocals as well. However, that is mostly beside the point, and what I'm really getting at is; "at what point does inspiration and 'borrowing' ideas become plagiarism?"
I remember a high school English teacher (I don't remember who) telling me that in order to make a statement not be considered plagiarism, you should read whatever it is you are drawing from, then explain it in your own words without having to reference the original work. Later in college it was explained to me that if it is not your own idea then it needs citation. There is of course a great deal of variance here as in the entertainment industry (be it acting, comedy, or music) a large number of entertainers "borrow" bits from other entertainers.
In the music industry (for layman musicians) I have heard very different opinions. My take is this. There are a few options to get a "jumping off point" from. 1) While listening to your favorite music, or the music you want yours to sound like; sing along with your own made up lyrics. 2) If you write poetry then write some music to inspire that writing. 3) Play around with your instrument and write music that you "feel" and let the music inspire the lyrics. 4) Listen to a song you like and try to mimic it with your own instrument without looking up sheet music or tabs for the original song. 5) Look up tabs (or sheet music) for a song and ONLY glance at it. Then implement a few of the previous tips for your creation.
I have personally taken to two particular approaches very fondly. First, I often hear several bits and pieces of songs that I like. I take note of them. I may like the lyrics for one, or just part of the chorus, or maybe just a little bridge. I may also like the music for another song's verse/chorus/bridge. Again take note. I may even look up tabs for the inspiring songs and write them down just as they are. BUT, here is what happens, when you try to "mash-up" a few bits of music from various songs and couple them with bits of lyrics from other various songs, frankly, there is no "coupling" and it sounds like the effort you put into it... "mash." What usually happens for me is that what I thought would sound good together in my head actually sounds like ****. The result is that I have to completely re-work EVERYTHING that I have gathered. The result is something completely new with a generous nod to those who inspired it. For example, if I told you all of the specific songs that inspired the respective songs of mine, you would be able to easily spot the similarities; but that is a pragmatic questioning. If I, rather, put them all on a shuffled play list, you may say that they sound similar (audio and musician's ability aside) but not nearly jump to accuse me of plagiarizing.
The second method that I have found, and to be the best, is through the art of mistakes becoming "masterpieces." I don't consider any of my works to be masterpieces, but you get the idea. That is that something fruitful can come from a complete screw up. This is how I've written some of what I consider my best music. The lyrics are inspired through my philosophy and life experiences and nods to other musicians. The music comes from me trying to play a song I really like, always making the same mistake, but liking how the mistake sounds and deciding it would make good fodder for an original work. Below are a few examples.
The Angelus was the first song I wrote and at the time I could not find a good tab or figure out how to play "Degausser" by Brand new. The result, forget the cover song, I'm on to something I like here.
Goodnight Passion and Seventeen were two songs by a band that a friend of mine was in, Arresting the Fall, back in high school. I asked permission to ravage the lyrics and it was granted. However, being a local band and having long since disbanded, there were no tabs available so I was completely on my own for the music. Which, for the purposes of this article, was a good thing. There are specific songs on their self-titled album that directly influenced the one's I've written, and the titles of my songs match two titles of theirs. However, the songs are not the same, nor are they replicas of their counterparts. Rather, they are two works summarizing what I found inspiring on the album.
Symphonic Genocide was a song I wrote after not, for the life of me, being able to play "Like Suicide" by Seether.
Vices really gets at the point I'm trying to make here. I attempted to play "Voodoo Child" by the great Jimmy Hendrix. Of course, I failed, but the riff I continually made the same mistake on sounded, while entirely different than the original, not too bad. Thus, I kept it and used it for a foundation for my own music.
Static was again a similar story. I had looked up tabs for "Everlong" by Foo Fighters, however, I couldn't get it to sound how it was supposed to. Thus, I again turned to my own creativity for answers.
One Good Reason had a very similar background to Static.
Hello Lonely has the same title as a song by Theory of a Deadman whom I like, but the songs are not in the least bit similar. The story (in reference to a song not listed here) is the same old thing, I screwed up a riff, then decided to only use the originals as only indirect inspiration and use similar (but not identical) chord progressions.
I hope the point has gotten through! :)
I am always surprised by the vast differences, both in sound and style, between music by the bands that are my favorites, the ones I most commonly listen to, the ones I find the most inspiring, and the music I create myself.
