A variety of musical instruments add interest and depth to a recording. What musical instruments do you play?
Each Tuesday we open our mic to readers and lurkers alike to come out of the woodwork and tell us your thoughts and opinion, your experiences and mistakes, what you love and what you hate. We want to hear from you, and here’s your chance.
What musical instruments do you play? What is your favorite? How long have you been playing them?
Do you use all of these instruments in music production, or play some of them only live or just for fun?
Do you have any tips about how to get the most out of your instruments?
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By Adrian Try
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I’m a guitar guy, I guess — bought an electric when I was in high school, acoustic in college, bass a couple years ago. French horn was my main thing for a while, thought about applying to a conservatory for a while. Otherwise, I own (read: can’t play very well) a sitar, a pocket trumpet, and a lap steel slide guitar. I actually started off with violin lessons when I was 6, but it appears I lost my non-fretted string chops in the intervening 20 years.
Guitar.
Only just started a few months back, but wanted to play for what seems like forever.
I play for fun but lets see where it goes.
I consider myself an artist in every sense, so i have been composing, writing lyrics and doing all the artwork myself for a long time.
Now, I use my guitar during writing and making new stuff. Its quite different then just sitting and writing stuff.
I play the computer. I think that’s a legitimate answer these days. Today I performed in a laptop ensemble using this software:
http://www.sfu.ca/~eigenfel/software.html (Net4Tet)
I get flack from some people that don’t understand that, but to them I say poo-poo. Computers can be used for performance just as well as they can be used for programming, or calculating your studio budget ;)
I love winds though, and am becoming reacquainted with the clarinet. I really feel that playing an instrument, no matter what it is, does something extraordinary for the brain.
Tristan, thanks for your answer. I agree that “playing the computer” is a legitimate answer. In fact, I meant to mention that it was a legitimate answer in my post above. Thanks for introducing the topic for me. Who else “plays the computer”?
I play computer in a Laptop Ensemble.
I tell everyone that it’s “music” – in quotes like that, because any noise can be called music. I don’t consider what we do music – but it is enjoyable to create. Pretty boring if you are not part of the process – and I can say that after having gone to a few performances as an observer. Even if you are interested in the technology and techniques, it still gets old pretty fast.
Jay, I disagree. If it’s getting old, then it’s a problem with your music since there’s no limit to what you can create on a computer. Or possibly musical styles like noise are not your cup-of-tea. Either way, you can’t blame it on the instrument.
In our performance the other day we were triggering sound files semi-randomly with only a few basic controls to vary the sound: volume, delay time/amount, BPF Freq/Q, and a few more that you can check out if you follow the link I posted. We understood the medium with what it could and couldn’t do and were able to keep it interesting.
I think you’d be calling it Music instead of “music” if you were creating something that you felt would be enjoyable for the listener as much as the performer. Most importantly there’s nothing preventing you from getting there. Only more experimentation is needed, and possibly a reconsideration of what kind of sounds the computer can be used to create.
Tristan;
I brought up noise because any sound or even any non-sound can be called music. Especially if you argue with an academic about it. That’s not what I’m talking about.
Stating that it is boring and gets old was referring to other people’s performances I attended :)
We play commissioned works from composers from around the world. Some are better than others. They all sound different. Only one is so rigidly designed as to be the same thing twice.
Most involve doing exactly what you describe. We use a combination (sometimes all in one piece) of triggered sounds, live sounds, live captured sounds that are manipulated, and various forms of synthesis. We are all traditional musicians as well, so we understand improvisation and the need to listen to the other players in order to create a musical experience.
I still consider it to be performance art-sound and not music – but I recognize that academically and artistically/philosophically it can be called music.
guitar
bass
drums
keys
degree in theory and composition — guitar was my majored instrument
i played guitar in every band ive ever been in — but only do studio work now
i teach guitar, bass, and drums to around 40 students per week and do studio session work 3 days per week
i love guitar and drums equally, but for totally different reasons:
guitar is the emotional outlet, drums provide the meditative technical and mechanical stuff that allows you to groove to an 11/8 “mantra” for 45 minutes to clear your mind
Piano-Classically Trained-10 years
Guitar 8 years
Drums and percussion 9 years
Computer 6 years
The last three all being self taught.
Majored in Composition
Minored in Sound design
Piano is pretty much my main instrument since I do a lot of dubstep, electro, ect. and the bulk of my work is done through various midi devices and external sound modules.
Playing the Flute, Bansuri (bamboo flute), Guitar and the harmonica.
I took piano lessons for about 10 years, but I was not very motivated. And you always feel sorry about this afterwards… so if you’re at the moment unmotivated for the classical lessons, sponsored by your parents – BE THANKFULL AND PRACTICE!!!
later i learned the guitar by myself.
you can take a look at my “skills” on my youtube-channel, linked above.
I have been singing since I was 6 years old, and my voice is my main instrument. But I also have played guitar since high school, and drums as well. Played sax for five years but dropped it when I got to college to concentrate on voice. I wish I hadn’t sold it. Piano is a must (I’m a grade school music teacher) but it’s a lot more fun now that I’m an adult than it was when I was a kid.
Been a guitar player for 25 years and bass for about 15 years. Also play a little keyboard. Started my own recording studio about 8 years ago, so now I consider my main instruments to be Pro Tools and Logic Pro sprinkled with a little Native Instruments Komplete series. I just love making music, thats really what its all about.
I did play the guitar for a few years. But then I heard about something called a synthesizer! :D
I am almost 16 years old and music is my passion. I have been using my vocal voice since I was 4, and trained professionally in that. Otherwise besides these experiences and training, I am going to major in college in musical composition and theory.
Vocal – 12 years (Trained Professionally)
Classical Piano – 12 years (Trained Professionally)
Guitar – 4 years (Self-taught)
Bass Guitar – 2 years (Self-taught)
Drums – 1 year (Self-taught)
Computer (Including recording, composing and other knick-knacks) – 4 years (Self-taught)
I hope to have a future career in music and that my college experience will go well.
I have played both the alto and baritone saxophones for a couple of years now. When I have a new melody in my head, I develop it on the saxophone, then notate it on the computer. This works well for techno and classical type music, but when it comes to jazz, I’m happy I play the saxophone.
Along with guitar, my main instruments are pedal steel and sitar. I have several degrees in north classical Indian music, and have been studying for about 7 years. I’ve been playing steel for about 4 year I suppose, and have had the opportunity to work with some great people, doing studio work, film work, and live performances. I noodle around with a lot of other stuff… piano, mandolin, etc., and have found that when you know a lot of theory you can pick up on most instruments rather quickly. When it comes to furthering yourself as a player, I recommend just getting into as diverse music as possible, playing with a lot of people, and putting in as many hours a day of practice as possible. But having fun is important, it’s always nice when I can get together with friends and just play for fun rather than for commercial purposes.
I have a music education degree from the University of Utah and have 25+ years of formal training and playing experience on the trumpet. I also have taught myself a few other instruments. Here is a list of what I play in my recordings.
Trumpet- Bach Strad Bb, Bach Strad Flugelhorn, Shilke Piccolo Trpt
Acoustic Guitar- Breedlove jumbo 6 string
Electric Guitar- PRS SE singlecut
Bass Guitar- Fender Jazz Bass (Mexico)
Keyboard- Yamaha SO8
Voice- Though I’m not much of a singer the magic of Autotune, and some double-tracking make me sound okay. :)
Since I don’t have drums I usually start my arrangements with a BFD drum track as a placeholder until I have all the other parts written. Then I send my recording to MyOnlineDrummer.com and have them play a real drum track for me.
guitar.
pc