Musicians
Just wondering whether there are other people of the musical disposition here. So, what instrument(s) do you play, how long have you played, on what level (subjective opinion on skill level, hobby/profession) and do you have any aspirations to be a proper musician?
I myself am a guitar player, have been playing for six years. Occasionally I'll dabble with a bass guitar as well. I have two guitars, both Ibanez's, GAX30 and RGD320. Both are cheap models, and the RGD comes with a Floyd Rose -copy. I also have a Harley Benton bass. My amplifier's a cheap-o as well, Marshall MG30DFX combo. Don't have any other gear, not even a foot-switch (yeah, I'm cheap). Lately I've been thinking about getting a Pod for recording stuff, but I don't know whether the cheaper models are of any use.
On skill level I would say average, a bit sloppy and I don't play solos. Of theory of music I have no knowledge, and I have no intention of fixing that any time soon. Somehow it feels that knowing what I'm doing might limit me.
The style of music that I listen to and play don't seem to meet very often. I listen to metal, but for some reason most of the stuff I make comes out as pop-rock with slight prog-elements. It would be nice to get a band and maybe actually finish the songs that I've started on guitar, but don't have the skill to add other instruments.
The floor is yours.
I myself am a guitar player, have been playing for six years. Occasionally I'll dabble with a bass guitar as well. I have two guitars, both Ibanez's, GAX30 and RGD320. Both are cheap models, and the RGD comes with a Floyd Rose -copy. I also have a Harley Benton bass. My amplifier's a cheap-o as well, Marshall MG30DFX combo. Don't have any other gear, not even a foot-switch (yeah, I'm cheap). Lately I've been thinking about getting a Pod for recording stuff, but I don't know whether the cheaper models are of any use.
On skill level I would say average, a bit sloppy and I don't play solos. Of theory of music I have no knowledge, and I have no intention of fixing that any time soon. Somehow it feels that knowing what I'm doing might limit me.
The style of music that I listen to and play don't seem to meet very often. I listen to metal, but for some reason most of the stuff I make comes out as pop-rock with slight prog-elements. It would be nice to get a band and maybe actually finish the songs that I've started on guitar, but don't have the skill to add other instruments.
The floor is yours.
3
Comments
I've played band instruments since I was in seventh grade (I'm 47 now). My professional instrument is the viola, and I played in my local professional part-time symphony for about 14 years, from age 18 to age 32 or so.
I have two degrees in music, and I teach music for a living, both band, and private violin/viola lessons.
I am a classical musician to the core. If I listen, it is usually to classical, although listening just to listen doesn't happen for me any more - listening to music is work - what key is that in, what is that chord progression, what techniques and fingerings is that string player using, how did that clarinet player set his armature to make that interval leap across the break, etc.?
My best enjoyment of music as pure pleasure now comes from game soundtracks.
Don't get me wrong, I still find fulfillment in my music as work, it's just, well, it's work. I recently started playing the viola with my local community orchestra, and I had my first performance with them last weekend. The concert, from my professional perception, went horribly - people were getting lost, skipping repeats that we were instructed to take, playing out of tune, and ignoring the conductor during the cezurae, getting the whole orchestra lost. But you know what: I still kind of had fun, just for the quality of the literature, (Elgar Cello Concerto, Bizet L'Arlessienne, and Haydn 104), and the fact that most of the winds had a very nice ensemble sound, when the second bassoon and oboe players weren't lost or playing hideously out of tune.
So, I will keep playing with them. Plus, it's a good chance just to keep my professional contacts fresh with the people who teach and direct it.
I have been a guitarist for 22 yrs, also bass, piano. Was a voice major in school though. If you are a creative person, music theory will only expand your horizons. If you are more mechanical, you might more easily get absorbed by technique.
As for songwriting, that has been one of my favorite arts. You don't need bass or drums to finish a song, a song is defined as lyric and melody, or just melody. Everything else is accompaniment, which gets a different credit.
It's been now 6 years. I can play a few small things, but I have been having some serious trouble finding time as I'm pretty busy with working full time, studying part time, and my main hobby is writing. But I still try to find time for the synth as a second hobby. It's definitely something I love and wish to get better at, but I'm in no hurry and only play for myself. My aspiration is limited to being able to play for myself only.
Soul, Blues and Motown have been my love. My final performance exam was almost entirely Stevie Wonder tunes. Through work I've had the opportunity to play with some amazing musicians and as part of a 30+ piece big band. Damn I love my job.
I play in various bands ( rock/pop/heavy metal/commercial music...), go on tour in europe and U.S.A., record studio album, compose music for some movies...
i never composed music for video games, and i hope to have the opportunity to do it in the futur!
Anyway, it's getting harder and harder to scrape together the time, as I'm just finishing university and will most likely have to work full-time afterwards...
I don't play anything anymore... But I used to. I started playing b-flat trumpet at 10, and played for a total of 3 years. I stopped as a teenager.
I had played in several schools, and was in the top 5 in the northeast (USA). I played a number of concerts all over, I did a little bit of everything but my favorite has always been classic jazz
Hopefully I will have enough cash this Christmas so I can buy myself another trumpet. It's been far too long since I played music.
I also play guitar in the rockband "Future Shock", we are very happy amatours, and not making a living out of it. But we made a few records, totally homemade. We got no education whatsoever, so it is very much DIY.
Here's a song from our demo 2012 :
I also composed music for my own modules in Neverwinter Nights. That's fun.
Since then I've taken up singing a lot. I started having vocal lessons, which helped immensely as my pitch was bloody terrible. I consider myself pretty good at singing at this point. I'm a tenor. I have not yet achieved the ability to blend falsetto with full voice, which is what really limits me at the moment.
I enjoy both clean vocals and screamy stuff. Yeah, I said it. Screamy stuff can be super cool if you can scream but still harmonize at the same time (listen to some mainstream-ish stuff like Linkin Park or Korn and you will hear that technique). I don't tend to like full-on screaming.
I play piano mostly to reinforce my rather respectable amount of music theory that I know. Music theory and piano go together like milk and cookies. As such, piano is sort of my composing and theory instrument.
Guitar is the instrument I jam with. I am very much an electric guitar sort of person. I am *fantastic* at writing riffs, and not so good at a whole lot of other things. Been really satisfied with the amount of progress I have made at becoming proficient with the instrument in the past few months.
I've been slowly plodding through The Chrysanthemum, Stoptime Rag, Pineapple Rag, and Searchlight Rage since the last one, but cant get through enough before my hand decides to stop working.
i have a music history degree
@Quartz said "Music theory and piano go together like milk and cookies"....indeed!! music theory rocks & the piano is the perfect instrument with which to learn!!
amongst the most advanced music i've played are various Bach fugues (luv 'em!!), Beethoven's piano sonata #13, a Scriabin Etude & Charles Ives' (luv Ives!!) Three-Page Sonata...
i don't practice 4-5 hours a day anymore & would need to work my way back to this level of playing...
played in a couple of hair-metal bands, back in the day...
i don't base my musical taste on genre; good music is good music, whether it be country swing, 12-tone music, or what have you...
the music i have discovered in my old(er) age is Medieval & Renaissance music...
Sometimes I dabble in composition. I perform weekly at a local coffee house for their open mic night and people around there like my stuff okay but I don't think I would ever become a professional. Too much stress, too much structure, too much playing for other people before yourself. I'm afraid it would kill it for me.
Here is a video of me playing the Baldurs Gate 1 theme on a synth guitar.