Musical instruments

Trogluddite said:

My hard drives are littered with half-finished music projects that I ended up getting frustrated with when I got to that point where I had no idea whether my mixing was making them better or worse. If I don't finish them in a single session, they'll just get left when some other new bonkers idea occurs to me the next day.

Yeah - the infinite world of half-finished work. And when you go back to try to finish them you just can't get into the old groove. They stay unfinished for ever.

The 1080 is great - I liked the vocal expansion card with Gregorian chants - I always wanted to use them but never created anything where they fitted.

Nonsense. It was my mid-thirties before I picked up an instrument. Give it a go!

I am the only member of my family not to be part of our local brass band. My Father and Brother were first and second trumpet. My brother's wife played clarinet and my Mum was the tea lady. I daydream about playing the cello in a string quartet but I've left it a bit late to get started now.  

Cloudy Mountains said:

Progamming synths, samplers, and drums is my favourite part. The mixing is the part I find a chore, well not a chore, but not as fun.

That's always been my Achilles' heel with synthesised music (and recorded "live" instruments to an extent.) My hard drives are littered with half-finished music projects that I ended up getting frustrated with when I got to that point where I had no idea whether my mixing was making them better or worse. If I don't finish them in a single session, they'll just get left when some other new bonkers idea occurs to me the next day.

The "tinkering" I absolutely love though. I went over to all-software about as soon as it was possible on a home PC (a 200MHz MMX CPU - wow, the power!) The sheer variety of soft-synths and effects makes me feel so spoiled when I think back to what I had to work with back in the 80's and 90's, even if they are a bit less visceral than the best hardware. I love just experimenting with what sounds I can patch together, and learned SynthMaker (now FlowStone), so that I could create my own VST plugins, which became the focus of my hobbyist coding. I can lose myself for hours just playing with the modulation options between two oscillators, or slicing and dicing a snippet of me talking gibberish into a mic (my usual test signal when building a new effect plugin.)

It could never replace playing my live instruments, as that's a completely different kind of hyper-focus for me, but even then, I can spend several hours programming a patch on the multi-FX pedal-board that I usually run my bass through. Even just inventing ridiculous, punning patch names for my new sounds can keep me entertained longer than it really ought to!

Plastic said:

everything you've ever created on a computer accessible only via a 4-line LCD

"Painting the hallway through the letter box" is the metaphor I always remember from the music technology magazines I used to read!

Limited as it was, I still miss my old Korg MS10 analogue monosynth; it was just so wonderfully interactive - every single variable on a control of its own and no annoying steps between quantised MIDI values. Mind you, I'm not sure I could live with old-style patch memories any more - lots of sheets of paper with drawings of knob positions and patch leads, and no matter how carefully drawn, there were always some humdinger sounds that you could never quite get the same twice!

Plastic said:

Roland synths are easier to use but their sound is too clean & clinically weedy.

What do you think of the JV1080? I thought that was pretty good.

I make electronic music. Moved over from hardware to software about 12 years ago. I still own a few synths, and an Akai MPC 3000. I'll probably never get rid of the Akai. It's sexy. I love the simplicity of how you can sample. The gritty sound quality isn't there in the software, well it takes more work.

Lately I've had a rest though because I'd become a bit too focused, I'd stay awake for far too long, a few times I've been awake more than 48 hours, even though I can save what I'm working on much more easier on software! Hyperfocus is great but yeah, it can take over. Sometimes it can lead to overload too especially when programming drums. The patterns overlap in my head. I still enjoy it though. Progamming synths, samplers, and drums is my favourite part. The mixing is the part I find a chore, well not a chore, but not as fun. 

I can't understand music by reading it, but I can program something that is all in key and in time by ear. I have done a few things with vocalists too. I usually ask them for the vocal at a certain bpm, send them a simple loop at the speed, then work on the vocal they give, or record it again when the beat is done.

There’s another man who sets up different themes, security guard, hoodie type, he ambles up to who ever is playing, acts like he doesn’t know how to play,,, hers a few odd notes rpthem amazes everyone by playing just about any style in random order, although I don’t like it set up,,it shows his passion within,,, once he gets going he lets every bit of himself out, sometimes slow and classical to sudden piano mash ups. Pure emotions. A show off too, but hey he can play it,,, if I had his ability I think I too would be proud to boast it,,,,,but ultimately to spread joy to those passing by... music is to enjoy,,, it is feelings or should be, music speaks,,, it moves the soul.. yes I keep in but it does so much to my senses, I am hyper sensitive to note changes, reverberation, even fingers rubbing in guitar strings mean so much emotionally.

Trogluddite said:

I think too many people get hung up on trying to learn favourite pieces or playing like their favourite artists. But the real escape from worldly worries come from playing what comes from inside. Even if you only know three chords or the scale of a single key, it's perfectly possible to express yourself and have a great time by just messing around and seeing what serendipity brings. As the famous, and rather eccentric, music produced Joe Meek said; "If if sounds right, it is right."

I coudn't agree more with this.  Too many times people's enjoyment for something is stifled by being told they aren't very good at it.

Do things from the heart!

One of the things I do to relieve stress is to get one of my recorders out.

I only had lessons at school until I was eleven, and it was something which others seemed to want to get out of 'Not recorders again today'.  I soon took to it though, and could at that time read music quite well.  Now that skill is gone, but I once I have heard a tune I can 'arrange' it for recorder.  Most of the tunes I play are classical and folk/early music tunes, but I also pick out some popular music of the fifties and sixties.

At work in the lunch break I will have one day a week when I will have a session in a quiet room.  I play a tenor, treble, descant and sopranino, I would also like a bass recorder to play but they are quite expensive to buy and also too big to carry around.

I always think that I should pop off to town at lunchtimes and earn a few bob extra!  And with Christmas coming up it is quite a tradition for me to play some Christmas music at work. (a few bum notes but who cares!)

I think the whole point about a musical instrument is the pleasure it gives in playing it, not particulary the standard one has reached but the satisfaction one gains from it.  I also enjoy singing, I would love to be in a small choir, not that I am a good singer but that it gives me a great deal of pleasure.

Martian Tom said:

I'm always being told for tapping my fingers or drumming against something

Likewise. I often find myself tapping rhythms with my fingers on my bonce, and even when I'm just playing with my beard or jiggling my restless legs, it's always in little rhythmic riffs.

Making music is my number-one thing to do as an escape from the outside world. Bass guitar is my main instrument for nearly 30 years now, but at various times I've also played; trombone in the school band, drums, ukelele, jaw harp, and a smattering of keyboard (strictly right hand only!) I used to play in several bands, but gave up after I couldn't handle the social part of gigging, but I would feel utterly lost and restless without some musical instruments around me.

My hyper-sensitivity to sound, I deal with using ear-plugs when I need to; much as I like the occasional gig, many are way to loud for me to cope with otherwise, as were gigs and band-practices back in the day. I now play electric instruments almost exclusively, and on headphones so that I don't annoy the neighbours, so it's much less of a problem now.

As far are learning goes, I always say to people; you don't "use" or "work" a musical instrument, you "play" it. I think too many people get hung up on trying to learn favourite pieces or playing like their favourite artists. But the real escape from worldly worries come from playing what comes from inside. Even if you only know three chords or the scale of a single key, it's perfectly possible to express yourself and have a great time by just messing around and seeing what serendipity brings. As the famous, and rather eccentric, music produced Joe Meek said; "If if sounds right, it is right."

I think I might have missed my flight if I'd stumbled across him on on the concourse!

What always amazes me about those videos is how few people have a massive grin on their face and start jigging around a bit. I just can't help myself if I hear a street musician playing something infectious. Even at the gigs that I go to once in a blue moon, I am perplexed at how many people can just stand there like statues and clap politely at the end, then tell me afterwards how much they were blown away by the music and love the band. It seems to be the done thing these days - my little group of nearly 50 year-olds are quite often the only ones who actually show our appreciation by having a good old boogie when all the youngsters are riveted to the spot. It's just a shame that my rapidly ageing body gets so achy from going full-on "whirling dervish" these days!

Oh but I liked it! I actually like the used-piano-slightly worn out-sound

I like that kind of sound.

For me Music is being able to convey other wise bottled up emotions, 

It does come across as tinny, like a constant cymbal always there, I don’t think it is supposed to be but with all the noise and open environment plus well used piano it won’t ever be true quality ,,,,but for me I like his lack of emotion physically until the very end when he finishes but plays random bits, he smiles as if to say,,, I did that....

, I often find artists who express them selves by sound alone, it’s as if it is their way of conveying the feelings they have, not structured, often random, just a sudden unexpected key change is almost like a sudden feeling coming out. 

I've got a whole bunch of synths. I can't play with any real skill, but I know what to do technically to make music, piece-meal using a sequencer to enter all the data slowly or one note at a time in step-mode.

I look at it that the end result is all that matters - so being a highly skilled musician would just make me comparable to a CD player.

I buy & sell synths on Ebay because I enjoy the novelty of owning them but I get fed up with rubbish operating systems and limited sounds because of compromises in the synth engine.

I've got a Korg X3 - it has a great, powerful sound but the operating system is completely impenetrable. Like having everything you've ever created on a computer accessible only via a 4-line LCD. Useless.

Roland synths are easier to use but their sound is too clean & clinically weedy.

I think I might have another clear-out.

I started wit ukulele.  Give it a go.

Ear Plugs are the way to go.  Gear4music has a range of them and it really, really helps.