I always gravitate towards using instrument patches with real world analogues. Pianos, guitars, organs, etc. I feel like I can wrap my head around them. There’s already such a wide range of sounds provided by real world instruments, but the sonic choices really balloon out of control when you start adding synths into the mix.
The downside is that I am very familiar with these instruments. I play drums and keyboard pretty regularly at church, and not with a ton of variety. As a result, when I’m at home sitting in front of my keyboard, very familiar-sounding music come out. Muscle memory kicks in and while the music I play sounds competent, it doesn’t excite me or feel particularly original. I suspect I will wrestle with resisting the muscle memory for a while!
All this to say, I’m not really sure if I succeeded today with this little tune, originality-wise. There’s guitar, drums, bass, piano, and an organ. I can see that all set up on a stage being played by a 5-piece band, which is cool. And when it comes down to it, it sounds sorta like music and it was fun to make. At this point, that is my success criteria.
Side note: my acoustic drums sound HORRIBLE. I may have to avoid this until I have better options for acoustic drums, or I learn how to make them sound a little more real…