A signature sound is so identifiable. It takes a couple notes or a single phrase of a song – and we know who the singer is – we know who that guitarist is. We know that voice or the guitarist.
We can immediately identify the voice of: Frank Sinatra, Elvis, Adele, Bob Dylan, Neil Young, Aretha Franklin, Ray Charles …
Can you “hear in your head” the opening guitar riff of these songs? Who is the guitarist playing these songs?
Satisfaction
Iron Man
Smoke on the Water
Purple Haze
Johnny B. Goode
Layla
Start Me Up
Sweet Child O Mine
Not only is the technical ability of the singer and guitarist apparent – it’s the emotion they bring to the music that tells the story. It’s honest and it’s memorable. The sound is not necessarily perfect yet here is a realness – a relatability to what one hears. It’s a sound that we connect with – it’s a sound inside the human experience. This is the new physiology of music.
