Sound-alikes are recordings that are meant to be in a similar style to well known artists. The record should convey to the listener a similar feeling and vibe while still being unique. Music supervisors quite often are limited to small budgets and cannot work in sync licenses for the real musician's recording and song. Because of this, it is cheaper to use a sound-alike recording in the same style. As a composer wanting to create sound-alikes, you want to take influence from the original artist without infringing on their copyright. Firstly set your composition at a similar speed. This ensures the overall vibe will remain. A few beats per minute difference would be smart. It is recommended to use a different key signature. Note the song's chord progression and song structure. Make sure you write a different progression whilst keeping the feel. Another important aspect is instrumentation. You will want to record instruments that sound like on the referenced record, shooting for tone and arrangement in their style. Lyrically, try to write words that relate the overall idea yet are unique enough to be considered a great song unto itself. If your singing style is not similar enough to the artist's you will want to collaborate with a session vocalist who can convincingly perform the referenced style of music. This factor is extremely important to convincing the audience. Once you have finished recording all of your instruments and vocals, the production additionally should use similar techniques as the recording artist. Study interviews covering the artist's recording process in detail. The music producer usually covers what gear was used and how they approached processing certain tracks. If you have a decent home studio, you should be able to complete the recording at home. However, sometimes employing a mixing engineer to fine tune the record will make your song to sound its best. No matter where you decide to mix the production it would be smart to have the production mastered by a dedicated mastering house. Send both the original song and your composition so the engineer can model something very similar in comparison. Now that you have perfected your soundalike writing process, your compositions can start to be signed to music libraries. If the music is good enough and fit the right cue, the recording can be a great source of income via sync licensing and back-end public performance royalties. Scott Horton of Short Ton Productions is the definition of today's songwriter, music producer, and mix engineer. Collaborating with talent the world over Scott's productions can be noticed on musical albums and in television and movies. check out Scott's music at www.shorttonproductions.com
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