What makes (Joe Blow) Recognizable?

[Bob S]

My local library has a digital downloads feature. You can download five songs per week no strings attached. Its a great deal! In the blues/jazz realm there are lots of choices, but I am starting to run out of songs. So I programmed several artists into Pandora looking for some people playing in a style that like, hoping to find some new artists to download.

When I am listening to the various channels, I often recognize the channel artist even though I don’t know the specific song, and the vocal hasn’t started. I am kind of amazed that there is something that distinguishes the player. Is it the guitar tone or the riffs?

Bob

[Don D.]

I know what you mean. I think it’s such a combination of things, you haven’t gotten any responses, and it’s different for everyone. I’m most sensitive to timbre, I think, but that’s far from an isolated factor, because attack and phrasing (among other things) determine tone and timbre.

I recognize some of them because I’ve heard them before, and the others because they sound like what I’ve heard before.

Don D.

[sunjamr]

Yeh, JJ Cale, Mark Knopfler, and BB King would be recognized by almost anyone, even if they didn’t know the song. I think there are many factors involved – guitar tone, rhythm type, backup band, etc – and it’s the combination of them all.

Sunjamr Steve

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