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I'm curious to see how many people on this forum can play an instrument. Like many popped-collar douchebags, I can play the guitar, and I like to delude myself into thinking I can sing as well. So what do you play? Do you have some kind of recording of your incredible talent? Post it!
I would love to see some kind of collaborative project, or something unique to this forum get developed here, but initially, I suppose we should see who can do what here.
I took piano lessons for six years. Although I've barely touched the piano for the past five years so I'm fairly rusty. I also played viola/violin in the school orchestra from 7th-11th grade.
I started as a bass player. Got really fuckin' good at it. Went to college (high school if you're American) to do music and then left. Then I went back and shortly afterwards left again. Then I became a mediocre guitar player. Broke my bass and so now I just fuck around and occasionally busk a bit of blues or folk with a beat up electro-acoustic which only has 3 strings and a shitty electric which belongs to my friends that only has 5 strings.
When I was at my Dad's recently I was playing his guitar and it just felt wrong playing with the full six strings.
I also play a bit of harmonica, ukulele and I have a stylophone I occasionally bust out.
I played guitar for 5 years, and got pretty good by my own standards, but pretty much dropped it for piano/keyboard for the last 3 years. I definitely get on better with the keys, and play guitar as if I've been playing for 6 months now :/
I played the trumpet as a kid, but purely for music lessons at school, I wouldn't know where to start with one now.
I doodle around with a harmonica sometimes.
I've been playing the guitar for a little more than a year now.
I was all self-taught until this week.
I admit I do not have a lot of experience but I'm decent.
At least better than many people who've been playing much longer.
Wow, that sounded sorta arrogant. :/
Violin, Guitar, Piano, Drums here. I might post something at some point.
I'm a terrible guitar player/decent bass guitarist.
I play guitar and bass regularly. I know my way around a few other instruments too (banjo, drums, ukulele, melodica) but I don't really play them that often.
I try to record a lot but I only manage to finish stuff every once in a while. Just posted a thread with my most recent song, and I've posted stuff here in the past
The piano is pretty much the only instrument I want to play. I'm finally taking a course next quarter, 2 years after I get a keyboard.
I'm in college for music and play the trumpet. I do jazz gigs pretty frequently. I love playing.
I'm decent at drums. I also do screaming for a band while I'm at school.
If I concentrate and practice a bit, I'm sure I can remember how to play the saxophone.
I play guitar to a fairly good standard and a bit of bass.
http://www.myspace.com/the1976wallerbluesexplosion
Here are some little ideas that I've recorded over the years. I'm currently working on writing songs with a few people at uni with the hope of getting a band together soon.
Jane you have some good ideas, when your band gets some recordings be sure to let me know I'd love to hearQuote:
Originally Posted by <JANE>
Well, I'm just about on my third year of playing guitar.
I've recorded a few tracks. I play the guitars and keyboards.
My friend does all of the drums. It's kinda sketch but eh, check it out if you want.
http://www.myspace.com/mindofarevolutionaryband
Let me know what you think.
Quote:
Originally Posted by <JANE>
I really liked the songs I heard on both profiles. Made a request to both of you to be added as friends.Quote:
Originally Posted by Seek
I suppose I should link to some of my playing as others here have.
I don't have a myspace account or anything, so all my recording is done through a 4-year old digital camera movie that I then upload to youtube, so please be a little forgiving; on one hand, the poor quality helps to hide some of the mistakes that i make in playing, but on the other it also removes some of the delicacies of dynamics i try to employ. maybe i should just get a good microphone.
Here is http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HflG85x_IhQ by Elliott Smith
and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JsVS8eDXCE4 by my mancrush Antoine Dufour
I am a master of all woodwinds (except the flute), the best of which being the saxophone. I am an excellent bassist, a mediocre pianist, and are about equal levels of pretty good at trumpet, trombone, and french horn. For about 12 years I thought I was going to do something with music as a career, but then I realized I didn't want to teach and I hated being forced to play stuff I didn't want to play.
I am also pretty good at audio production, with experience in Reason, Pro Tools, and Cubase as well as some lesser programs.
I would volunteer for a collab, but this community has tried to do this about 1 million times and it never comes together. However, if it starts looking like it actually might, I would be down for laying down some tracks or doing some producing.
I have a bunch of stuff I've produced and some tracks of me playing around here somewhere, but I'm too lazy at the moment to deal with ripping and uploading and whatnot.
I learned a little piano from an early age, then moved on to trumpet which is still my main instrument. I play in a number of bands both classical and otherwise with trumpet, the most successful being Freefall.
http://www.myspace.com/bandfreefall
I picked up bass a few years ago as I wanted a to play in a rock band for a change, but didn't really get too far. I also play drums and am now the drummer in my newly formed band Opaque.
Maybe instead of a collaboration, a competition of sorts? I was trying to think of how one could do a collaboration on this site, but it would be so messy to get off the ground.Quote:
Originally Posted by Mr. E
We could each do covers of a specific song, or write a 1:00 ditty to a theme with this forum as an audience to vote on, or something along those lines I haven't particularly thought out at this point.
ooh, that would be cool.Quote:
Originally Posted by coqauvin
I can up some backing tracks that we can record over and have an improv contest.
I tune my cock occasionally
It doesn't sound very good, but it keeps your mom coming back for repeat performances
No, no it doesn't.Quote:
Originally Posted by captain castle
Were I a suspicious man, I'd say you're following me around to make shitty jokesQuote:
Originally Posted by Pepsi
cause you have a crush on me
First part, yes.Quote:
Originally Posted by captain castle
Second part, no...because if that were true, you'd try to get with me then I'd be the one you crushed.
That sort of makes sense I guess
I'm pretty average on guitar and bass and haven't played regularly for about 2 years now... but it's kind of like learning to ride a bike I guess. I picked up my guitar a few months back and could still play it fine, just completely forget all the songs I knew.
Also competent on drums but that isn't difficult if you have rhythm.
I suck at piano, and I'm a pretty good tenor.
With proficiency, I can play the guitar, bass, drums, and keys (and if you want to count it as an instrument, the monome). I can also play violin, viola, cello, flute, saxophone, harp, tabla, djembe, and marimba, but these I need a little warming up before I can do anything well. Before I get called out on that, I can say that I have been tested with each instrument, as I have had to perform with each, and although I wasn't the greatest at doing so, I got through my performance. I'm also proficient with the workings of analog and digital synthesizers, and I have built multiple high quality synths in Reaktor, which I will say is nothing like life. I've also recently taken up vocals for my band. I don't believe I'm a great singer, but I've been told by a few people that I am better than I think.
I personally think that we should have some kind of friendly competition to stretch our wings here a little bit.
I don't know how exactly this shoudl go - will we just do lead over a backing track? are we going to have a competition on song-writing? are we involving other musicians we know outside of the internet and recording that, or is it just us as we are? are there going to be phases? are we voting and having an elimination competition? will there be prizes, or just stature?
I am totally down for this, but i think we should collectively decide what would be a fun way of messing around with music on the internet.
Idk we could compose with certain guidelines I guess. Or we could lead over a backing track. Either way works.
I tried something similar back in the day, when all was LWS (I haven't made it all the way through the rules yet, so I don't know if I'm not allowed to mention that), and I had a lot of trouble just getting people motivated. It was pretty much a contest, where I would assign each participant a number, teams would be chosen at random and those teams wrote and recorded one song, and the members of the forum voted on the best song. I got a few people into it, but not enough. If you can get enough people to do it, I'd definitely be up for it.
Tenor Saxamaphone
I think that'd be too much work. If each person composed a song that was say 30 seconds to 3 minutes in length with certain guidelines (limited to certain chords and progressions and such) then I think it'd be fun.Quote:
Originally Posted by thefecesthrowinggod
Definitely true, but the thing about that is many people who might be interested don't have the ability to do full songs. Some can't sing, others can't play guitar or bass or drums or can't program any of those instruments. Many of them don't have the ability to record and mix and master their final products. I can offer all around mixing and mastering but I can't record people outside of my living area, so that's why I chose to make teams, so everyone could put their two cents in, and if they can't record their parts then they can still write them and work with the group.
True. I was just talking about strictly composition, like using Finale or some other program to compose something then just turn that into a MIDI file. Or we could record over tracks. Either way. I still think teams would be waaaay too much of an effort.
i think just composing something to a theme and submitting the work
if you can't do something, you can't do it, and i'm not going to spend the effort ensuring everyone can do it
have fun with something, but really make it for yourself.
not even composing something in fidelity, just make a recording based on a theme like sex or drugs or rock and roll and we'll vote on who did what the best
the less effort required to get it to fly, the higher the likelihood of it actually working. making extra work like teams and whatnot is too much effort, unless there is a significant desire for that to happen, and that's not the case right now.
If we're talking about strictly composition, then it would be much more simple to get off of the ground. I'm definitely in, if enough people are interested.
Im in fellas.
just say the word
Hey fecesgod, PM me and we can collaborate on some guidelines.
ok, let's get some theme suggestions for the theme and I'll make a poll in a few days so we can pick which topic to work on
I'm going to suggest alcohol and the internet
How about laying down a woman by the fireside and making sweet love on a bearskin rug?
I used to play the drums.
still can.
the sensation of snow in your hair melting and running down your neck
I am up for this.
we don't want to encourage expressionism here surely!?Quote:
Originally Posted by coqauvin
well we need some kind of randomish theme that can be taken in a million different directions
or you can just rock out it really doesn't matter, but there has to be a common thread linking all the submissions together and a foolish theme seems like the easiest choice
true enough. alcohol is a good one methinks.
effingawesome and I have been talking guidelines out, one of us is going to make a thread in the nearest of futures and we'll have a poll for themes. I think instead of "what should this song be about?" themes, I was thinking more genre themes, that way each participant can showcase how they're able to adapt to different genres, instead of allowing each artist to work wherever they are most comfortable. Though this would be good for competitions, I think a better purpose for this is to take each musician out of their comfort zone to educate them in different styles of writing.Quote:
Originally Posted by coqauvin
oh my original intent was to get us doing a couple competitions to see how each of us works, then directing future competitions along those lines
honestly i don't study music it is really just a hobby of mine - i prefer doing things i am comfortable and i probably won't do anything too far out of my comfort zone
this competition was intended to be a toe in the water and see a) what interest levels are like b) the kinds of things we can seem to expect from the participants and knowing those two would help shape future contests into something more exciting
but i mean if you want to get straight to the gravy be my guest
Getting far out of the comfort zone is what makes great musicians great musicians. Just because you don't study music doesn't mean you can't work well in a different style. It's not like the guidelines are going to be "Okay, you're limited to major triads and you have to end on a plagal cadence and there can only be a melody and a rhythm part." All the guidelines are going to be are (at this point) length of the song, number of parts, and length of time you're allowed to work on the song. Themes will provide the musicians a general idea of what they're going to be writing. We can say a theme will be "Rock" and "Rock" covers a large base of music, enough of a base that the participant can step a bit out of where they're comfortable, but still utilize what they're used to. Not so much of a competition as an exercise in stepping out of where you're comfortable to give you more experience and help you evolve as a musician, the competition part of it, if we decide to have it, will just be a little motivation.
Ok, that makes a little more sense to me. I have no real formal training when it comes to theory, so while I can guess what a major triad is, it's all greek to me, really. The rest of it is pretty much exactly what I was hoping for, except I would like the themes to not be music genres, although that is nitpicking and I am totally going to participate anyways.Quote:
Originally Posted by thefecesthrowinggod
Well we're still in the midst of forming guidelines, so maybe we'll figure out an easier way to do it. For the record, a major triad consists of a root, major third third and perfect fifth of a note. Looking at a keyboard, you would skip a white key twice, but also raise the middle note a half step. From D, minor would be DFA, major would be DF#A. I think I explained that rather poorly, but I think I got my point across.
You didn't, also I don't think pushing people beyond their comfort zones in the first instance is a good idea.Quote:
Originally Posted by thefecesthrowinggod
This initial round of submissions should be kept as open as possible, we want to attract as many people as possible to begin with, no need to put people off by presenting overly challenging criteria.
Well, I was attempting to explain a very simple way, and I'm not used to doing that. If we make this too easy for the participants then all idea of competition (and therefore motivation) will be taken away. The point of making the participants work outside of their comfort zone is the not only get them interested in the competition, but to have them experience songwriting in a different style. Different genres require different writing styles. We're not going to put strict musical restrictions. The theme or style or genre will be picked in a poll, so it's not like effingawesome or I are going to be picking everything ourselves. The only criteria (as I've said before) is most likely going to be length, number of parts and amount of time the participant is allowed to work on the song. The only standard that each participant must meet is the theme or style or genre for that particular challenge, but we will be sure to pick and choose carefully which genre (if we use genres(?)) to be a broad sweeping genre, so the participant does not have to step too far out of their comfort zone, but enough that they will be challenged. If that is too difficult for some, they don't have to participate and can simply wait until the next time to be more interested in the exercise.
Edit:
Tee hee, rawfull, twenty-three posts.
I think a good way to go about doing early competitions is to have people record them playing a song because that is rather easy to do. You only need a very basic microphone/line in thingy or most MP3 players have some sort of 'record' feature that records .WAV files directly. They're easy enough to be converted to .MP3 files for upload purposes. As long as we agree to be lenient on sound/recording quality in our judgement and focus on the content within then I think that way would get the most submissions. And obviously people who have the capability and the know-how could do more professional recordings as well. But doing it this way then people could upload something that's just one instrument or one instrument and a voice or one instrument a voice and a click track* etc. I know I've explained all this poorly, I'm having a conversation on the phone while I'm typing this.
Also, maybe a good early competition would be to cover another song, probably adding your own twist to it. And to stop people from picking stupid songs no one has ever heard before we could decide on a limited theme (American Standards, Beatles songs, hits from the 70's etc.). That way people can choose for themselves whether to stick to their comfort zones or whether to go balls to the wall and piss on those comfort zones.
Either way, I think that making the entry process as simple as possible will yield the most results. Not everyone has the time to spend hours devising/composing a specific piece and then recording/uploading/whatever. Let's try and keep everyone involved.
*There is a very decent online drum machine here
I think something that needs to be taken into acocunt is the fact that originally the idea was to demonstrate the musician's prowess with their instrument/s. I think the best demonstration would not only be to compose, but to perform. If performance cannot be demonstrated it will not be held against any participant, but the ability to compose with their instrument should definitely be demonstrated. Not everyone has the ability to record themselves playing their instruments, but composition software is abundant and, in many cases, free. Not only for Windows, but Macintosh and any Linux operating system as well, I can guarantee you will find something to help and expedite composition.Quote:
Originally Posted by simonj
Yes but you need relatively strong amount of musical theory to compose something using software like that. I think the effort these programmes take and how boring they are to use would turn a lot of people off. But if all people have to do is plug in a microphone and play then it'd be easier to get people on board. I for one am not prepared to start trawling through the internet for free linux-friendly composition software, familiarise myself with it and start hammering stuff out for the purpose of one of these compositions.Quote:
Originally Posted by thefecesthrowinggod
I play Trombone predominantly, often with Woofness in various orchestras, wind bands and Brass bands as well as our funk band freefall. I am also singing in a band with him. I dabble in drums, but am not good enough to satisfy myself. I am taking up the piano this year, it is my resolution.
Not necessarily, programs such as Powertab and Finale Notepad are free, easy to use, and cross platform (though Linux is excluded in these two instances. I haven't done a lot of research on the topic). A program specifically for Linux is Amuc. These programs are easy to use, and the first two only require knowledge of tablature to compose, the longest part of composition with these programs is tabbing what you want the computer to play. If we were simply creating a competition based on covers, we would not be demonstrating the participant's ability to compose and adapt to what they are asked to compose. That would simply require a knowledge of the particular band's music, and the ability to play. Simply because one has the ability to play does not mean they have the ability to compose anything of decency. Others may not have the ability to record their playing. Maybe they have an acoustic guitar and their computer microphone will not pick up the soudn well. Maybe they don't even have a computer microphone with which to record. I can guarantee that people will be more willing to download composition software and take 10 minutes to work the program out and then start composing something than they will be to shell out $20 for a computer microphone and learning the ins and outs of recording, producing and, in the case of multiple tracks, mixing their music. The latter will take much more time, and much much more effort. If a participant does not like what they are asked to compose, they need not participate, and may simply wait until the theme changes.Quote:
Originally Posted by simonj
I still think that Woofness has a point - the idea with this competition is not to see who's the best, it's to see who's involved. Once we understand the member base, then future competitions will display more variety.
I mean anyone can show off musical prowess, but it's more difficult with some instruments than others. I would rather just see a friendly display for the first contest, then make the second more serious.
I was just planning on composing and using MIDI instruments... I really had no intention of recording myself playing the trumpet for this.
All this is is a friendly display, there's hardly any competition about it. If we make simple requirements, people will participate the first time around, but make more difficult requirements the second time, people will only drop out then. We want the first one to bring people in who will stay in.Quote:
Originally Posted by coqauvin
fctg - it's about seeing how many people are involved. Any contest is silly when there is only two or three people competing against each other. If your requirements are to stringent, then you'll get less participants. The larger the pool you draw from, the better you can get out of it.
If you can attract new people based on the contests, and rig further contests to reflect either more strenuous requirements and simultaneously run one that has more relaxed requirements, the end result is that the forum itself grows and gains from the entire event.
As I put forth previously, the point of this is not a contest, it is an exercise in composition and a demonstration of your ability with your instrument. As was said before, if you begin with lenient rules, and then slowly tighten them, people will only quit then. This is not a competition in the sense that you believe. I think you're overestimating the requirements of the whole thing. We're not imposing strict limits and minimums, as I said in previous posts, we're only asking people to compose a short song with no more than 5 parts. Those are the only restricions and minimums. Playing covers would not be a demonstration of one's ability to compose, and some people may not even have the ability to play the cover, some people may just have a bass, some people may just have a keyboard, there is no way you can ask someone to do a cover without the proper equipment to do so. However, with the free composition software that I pointed out, one can compose an entire song in the course of half an hour, it will be much easier than recording ones self play a few different parts.
Edit:
I'm not trying to be overzealous, forceful or any other synonyms you can think of. I'm not attempting to be an ass or stubborn or anything similar. I'm merely trying to point out that we're not imposing strict rules and requirements like you seem to think. I don't think effingawesome and my idea is better simply because I was part of building it, but because I just believe it's a better idea. If you ask someone to cover a whole song with simply a bass, their voice, and an online drum machine, people are going to be iffy about it because they just might not be able to do it. However, compositions are much more simple because with the software I presented, you have as many and any instruments that you could want at your fingertips, all it takes is a little work to do it. I can almost guarantee that people will be more willing to do that then try and figure out how to cover a whole song with mediocre recording equipment and programs and no experience recording, producing, mixing or mastering any kind of music.
That and creating something from scratch is way more creative than covering a song and putting your spin on it.
I can see where you guys are coming from, and I think the only difference with our perspectives is that my goal is to draw as many people into this idea as possible, and, if we're lucky enough, add to the memberbase of the forum through that (although that is certainly an unlikely scenario), and your goal is for a true competition, and setting the standards higher so only those with talent would really take part.
Honestly, I am generally on side with early culling of misfits, because it makes things easier in the long run and certainly improves the quality overall of whatever it is that you're running, but my concern in this case is that we would end up with just a couple contestants jerking each other off musically because our member base is so low.
Of course, this concern is mitigated by the fact that we have a fair number of people here who are genuinely interested in a music contest.
Like you, I'm not trying to be argumentative, it's just slightly different goals and a different view on the situation, although there is no real extreme differences between our ultimate desires - a chance to be creative and share that.
As I've stated several times, I am not trying to get a contest going. This is simply an exercise in composition and musicianship. The only times I said contest, I was attempting to enunciate the fact that it started as an idea for a contest, but was going to be more than this. You need to take into account that the forum's member base will be significantly lower if people cannot participate. My option allows for anyone who is interested to participate. However, performing covers cannot be done by everyone who might be interested in something of that nature, some people just do not have the means. There are no high standards, this is not a competition, this is something that everyone interested, and people from the outside, and even members of the forum who have very little to no experience in composing music to get into. Once again, I am not attempting to create a competition, only an exercise in composition and musicianship. People can, and just might come in just to show their ability at composing music. People can and just might come in to see more experienced musician's styles of writing to see how they can help themselves. Other people who have no basis in music may just come in to hear music that is written for the project, and maybe get themselves into composition. We could make it a contest to attract people who simply want to show off and try to be better than everyone else.
I know what you want to do with this, and that is to create a project that will bring people into this forum, and from what I can tell you're supporting doing covers for it, but you need to consider the angles. For one, doing covers, at least to me, is not pleasing to my artistic, creative side. Sometimes I just feel better writing something all by myself. Other people may be put off by the fact that they do not like the song or band that is being covered. Others simply may not know how to play that particular song. Many, however, will not even have the equipment necessary to record themselves playing the song. The idea for a creative project, where people compose their pieces, talk about their writing processes, and present them to other users for constructive criticism is open to anyone who has a computer, which, taking into account the fact that this is a website, is everyone who would be looking at the thread on a regular, daily basis. All it takes is a couple minutes at most for download, a few minutes to learn the program, and then a bit to compose the song, but never longer than it would have taken to learn how to play, record, produce and mix a cover, and a much simpler solution as well. We're attempting to achieve the same goal, get people interested and bring new people to the forum, but people will only be interested if they are able to participate. I believe effingawesome and my idea has a bigger opportunity to reach more people, and bring more people to the forum as a whole. The contest idea would only help, but as I've stated, and will continue repeating, there are no strict rules or guidelines, there are simply a number of limits to keep people from going overboard.
while you guys are arguing I'm gonna start my own music contest ttyl
I play guitar, bass & piano. I used to play clarinet but i gave up :D
I can play the skin flute.
i play guitar with the afore metioned Opaque, bit of mandolin as well.
i also have a digeridoo but havent mastered the technique yet...
....ive pissed the neighbours off though
this is one of my favourite pasttimesQuote:
Originally Posted by sailor jack
heey man.....thats total and utter manipulation
well done on spotting that though..
played a few, got wofa wifi though
Trombone represent