Thumbprint #1..... The Sounds.
Finding your thumbprint.... It's fascinating to me that every human on earth has a unique thumbprint. They seem pretty similar at first glance but when you look closer there are subtle differences to make them one of a kind. How does one, as an artist, find that same uniqueness in their music, there artistry. It's hard, VERY hard. I have said it for years that when an artist creates music that is extremely honest it usually has the best chance of translating and impacting others.
There are many ways to find that honest, raw and unique place to come from. Sometimes it is as simple as the tone of the singers voice or the way they form there vowel sounds that can really separate an artist from the herd. Other times it requires quite a bit of time and energy to find that special space to live in.
I feel that everything matters. One big issue is the sounds that you choose to surround the vocals with. This is huge. Take a band like Tame Impala, they are awesome! A lot of what makes them awesome are their sonic choices. VERY original. If you were to record those same songs with generic sounding instrumentation it would probably not translate as well to the listener. I still think a good song is a good song but with the production options today I believe that the lines between song choices and production decisions have been grayed out. I have heard songs in the past decade that I know are good but the production actually elevates the song. Look at the EDM market. Some of the biggest hits in that genre are lacking traditional elements of what would constitute a hit record yet they still do well.
Look to non-traditional ways to implement an idea. I worked with a band named Polyenso and we did some crazy stuff to create their music. The drummer would use kitchen utensils instead of drum sticks. We'd move the drum kit to a massive hallway and record it with just stereo mics and use it as ambience in the recording. At one point we needed some percussion parts and I told them long ago at a session, a very famous percussionist accidentally left his congas at home. It was a long way from the studio so going back home wasn't an option, especially in L.A.! He said to me, "Do you have large plastic water bottles here that I could pour out some of the water?" I said yes and he persisted to empty one of the bottles, turn it upside down, and with his experienced hands turned it into a cool percussion instrument. It didn't sound like congas... it sounded cooler!! I ended up using it on the record... who new? These are the kind of choices that can make the listeners ears perk up..
I know a lot of music today is highly quantized (forced to be in almost perfect time) and mostly played by artificial instrumentation. I love synths and samples as much as anyone! Here's a crazy idea... What if you didn't quantize everything? Leave some of it raw to push and pull against the more rigid elements. What if you where to fuse acoustic elements with instrument plug-ins? That would create new timbres and exciting new harmonic interplay to entice the listener. I think it is important to be thinking of these things when developing your sound. Put the time in and don't settle for generic patches. The listening public is pretty spoiled now and are used to plenty of ear candy in a production, so challenge yourself to go beyond the norm.
When it comes to sound design, remember this one rule... THERE ARE NO RULES!!! Have fun and choose the stuff that brings out the emotion of the song. If traditional methods don't work, explore the space as they say... and get yourself closer to that musical Thumbprint!!