Do You Play An Instrument?

[Birds]

Section isn't frequented enough to split up the instruments yet, but what do you play and post pics of setups

[PranK]

I love Bass and bought myself a Bass guitar a few years ago but besides a solid 6 months of practicing, I just never get a change to actually play it anymore. I'd like to pick it up again but its harder to just 'pick it up' if you dont know it very well.

[Birds]

I think the better you know how to play an instrument, the more frequently you play it too. I remember as a teenager learning guitar and playing maybe once a week. It felt like a bit of a chore trying to learn. I was into learning guitar but I couldn't play songs as well as I can these days, so it was more a learning experience than it was therapeutic. In contrast, in my early 20s I was playing nearly every night because it was excellent stress relief just to zone out and, whilst you never stop learning, I could at least play more songs.

As they say it's never too late to learn the piano, so I hope you do find time pick up the bass again one day

I think instruments give you such an unreal dimension to your favourite songs by being able to play them.

[V28VX37]

Does dose pipe count? It sounds like sutututu

[Leroy Peterson]

started taking guitar lessons when I was 8. teacher was a bit average now that I look back, and being young it was a bit of a chore. i enjoyed it but didnt really get motivated or into it until older. stopped lessons once I got to high school and took up trombone.

Was in a lot of school bands and met some good teachers. having skilled teachers that are actually people to aspire to makes such a difference in attitude. Saw a whole side of music that just shat on the commercial industry and rock/pop in general, but also saw the life of a professional musician-for-hire. Competed in national level jazz band competitions and you then see the private schools with music departments that outshine your entire school, its demoralising but also made me play better due mainly to fear of embarrassment lol

Once high school finished I tried playing with a local big band but I just hated all the music they played. their events were all family friendly and for old people, so I stopped. and without bands to play with or any professional aspirations theres just no real reason to keep playing. Glad I (or my parents) didnt spend big money on a nice trombone.

During yr12 exams guitar was just a cruisey, no-pressure fun thing to play. internet made it real easy to find tabs and got back into guitar. Once i got a job i spent a lot of money on pedals, finally getting a few semi-decent guitars and amp. Then i got into low-fi and everything i bought after that was second-hand or abused. Cheaper and more fun. I always liked bass but have never really learnt to play it properly so just bought a cheapy off a friend and that does the job.

Few years later an old friend asked me to join his band, all his songs but im not any good at writing songs anyway. Played with them for almost a year, made an EP, played a festival and a few things. I got kicked out lol which was fine. The whole experience really put me off generic rock music (again) and the whole recording/band industry. I stopped seeing live bands and stopped playing guitar as often.

The only song I actually liked:

I've got an Admira nylon string, a beautiful sounding Takamine steel string and a PRS S.E. electric (which I changed one of a pickups to like a '79 Pearly Gates or something).

My pedal collection:

My prized ones are the Dr. Scientist Red Radical Reverberator and the Z-Vex analogue loop pedal. Both with custom paint jobs (that I didnt choose). the Reverberator has been discontinued for a long time, so worth hanging on to, especially with its analogue reverse reverb (good luck finding that on a stomp box).

TL;DR - meh.

[PranK]

Thats awesome Leroy!!! Great post. I love the pedals.

This thread is already motivating me to pick up the bass again!

[Birds]

I've been pretty low fi with my guitar playing Leroy. I got a strat copy when I was 12 and have been playing it ever since. My theory was that a good guitarist could make a crappy guitar sound good and if I could get my strat copy to emulate my favorite songs, then it would be a reflection of my ability. It taught me to play guitar with an emphasis on finger pressure and picking technique and to find ways around the design and built faults of the guitar to make it just work. I'm not a skilled shredder or soloist, but I pride myself on mimicking a sound and getting the tone on point!

Keeping with that, I've never had more than my Fender practice amp - it's cheap and nasty in its sound, but it is totally unforgiving of mistakes because it will squeakily play anything you play. Not a warm tone at all. Again, I figured if I could make this amp sound okay, well...

I have a few pedals I bought from Aldi for $30 each. They sound surprisingly good. And the reason why: someone on the internet cracked them open and found the electrical circuit is the same as $100+ BOSS pedals, so they are copies from the same factory and produce identical sound.

Markly blue steel strings - swear by these; haven't broken a high E since.

[Birds]

I'd always kind of wanted to get a better guitar at some point, and when I had the money to, you'd think I would have, but it never came to fruition. Kept spending money on cars instead and the strat copy was still doing what I wanted it to. That is, until very recently when my mother forced this upon me as a very cool birthday present!!!

American Standard Strat in Olympic White, with a maple fretboard. It plays beautifully and whilst I feel and hear a significant difference in quality, I'm surprised that it doesn't sound *amazingly* better than my strat copy; probably testament to my theory about making crap instruments sound good. However, I really think I need a decent amp to do the real strat justice.

[PranK]

I hear ya about the cheap amp. Mine is just the amp that came with my Squire J-Bass pack. I'd love something better but I gotta start playing again before that happens.

[Birds]

I don't know much about bass, but I would think a good amp be even more important for that instrument!

[Leroy Peterson]

New musical asset on my wishlist.

This 1986 demonstration is the real deal

 

"Most people think of synths as keyboard instruments"

#OnThisDay 1986: Mark Wood of Nucleus and Sunwind demonstrated the power of the Roland GR-700 Guitar Synth. Epic!

Posted by BBC Archive on Sunday, 7 August 2016

Otherwise, a more affordable option would be this unit:

 

[defari]

not really an instrument, used to mix for about 10 years... mostly drum 'n bass, trip hop and hip hop (when it was actually decent) upgrade from this set up to a Rane ttm 56 serato mixer.. haven't mixed in about 5 years..

can't go past technics 1200's, Dj Qbert concorde needles, butter rugs.

 

 

 

Edited August 16, 2016 by defari

[HAZMATT]

Played around on guitar as long as I can remember. Bought a 7 string and thrashed that for a while.Ended up vocalist for a band briefly until i had a fight with the guitarist. Went back to guitar for a while, built a bass and played that for a bit but sold it. Continued guitar a bit more then bought a drum kit. Bought a electric kit also to set it up around the acoustic kit to experiment a bit. At the moment got 2 electric guitars and on my third drum kit. Just need time to play them.

[t_revz]

Always wanted to play guitar but didn't buy one til I was 25ish. Bc rich warlock afterburner special edition. Barely played it and ended up buying guitar hero and losing interest.

Late 20's I tried again and learnt a few riffs but didn't follow through.

Start of last year found out about yousician. I played everyday and was loving the pace I was progressing but the songs were boring. Ended up buying rocksmith and played it daily for months. We moved house and i barely get a chance but I hope to start playing more soon now the house is set up.

Yousician is a great app for learning the basics and chords etc. rocksmith is great for thrashing to good tunes. Obviously anyone who plays guitar will probably disagree that apps are useful for learning but I find them motivational.

Tl:dr I can't play well but I'm slowly getting there

[Birds]

Everyone has their own way of learning guitar...some are self taught, others take lessons, use apps or are classically trained musicians.

People play guitar for all different reasons too, but the underlying trait most of these reasons all have in common is a passion for playing it. Guitar and broader musical instruments are one of those activities that, unless you're an Asian stereotype and your parents are forcing you to learn it, you're not going to keep it up if the passion isn't there. So in my view, whatever affords you that passion to continue to play and learn, whether it's an app, guitar hero, mimicking your favourite artists, developing and maintaining dexterity, shredding, composing or just strumming absolute garbage that makes you feel good in some way...ultimately it doesn't matter and anyone who judges you for how you learn is an idiot (unless you're complaining about getting nowhere but are unwilling to try different things).

If you want to get better there are certainly better and worse ways about doing it, but none of it matters if you're not enjoying yourself. So don't feel bad about the breaks you take or any lack of progress...they are there for a reason. If you really love something it will consume a proportionate part of your life.

I will say though, and this may sound in contrast to the above, but if you can maintain that passion and push yourself to learn some things, AKA give it all a red hot go, this in itself can make guitar more enjoyable for you and by virtue you'll wind up more passionate about it. I mean, it's not like none of those Asian piano/violin virtuosos enjoy what they do. I played on and off for years when I started out, but once I learned a lot more things I found myself playing more often because it seemed like less of a chore/work to build upon that knowledge, and quickly it became my chill-out time / hobby. Work > Progress > Reward > Passion.

[Birds]

On ‎30‎/‎04‎/‎2016 at 2:50 PM, Birds said:

I'd always kind of wanted to get a better guitar at some point, and when I had the money to, you'd think I would have, but it never came to fruition. Kept spending money on cars instead and the strat copy was still doing what I wanted it to. That is, until very recently when my mother forced this upon me as a very cool birthday present!!!

American Standard Strat in Olympic White, with a maple fretboard. It plays beautifully and whilst I feel and hear a significant difference in quality, I'm surprised that it doesn't sound *amazingly* better than my strat copy; probably testament to my theory about making crap instruments sound good. However, I really think I need a decent amp to do the real strat justice.

Ended up getting an amp to (sort of) do this guitar some justice. Meet the ID:60 TVP from Blackstar...60 watt modelling combo amp that retails for $950+ and I picked it up for around $500 as a store demo in basically perfect condition (still had labels/tags on it). This thing is insanely loud for a non-valve amp - the house starts shaking if I go beyond 1/3 volume. Combined with the remote foot controller, it eliminates your pedal board for running traditional effects. Can plug into computer via USB and program combinations of amp/effect/volume into presets, so you can effectively program your whole set before a show and just scroll through as needed. Or download other users' presets from the internet. Also, the amps that it models...sound pretty bang on. Bargain!

[GTR-N1]

I was a bit burnt out, so to speak, a year or two before final high school exams and after striving so hard to play a solo piece in front of a decent size audience.

The instruments were...
* B flat clarinet
* E flat (alto) sax (Made by Selmer)

Sometimes I miss playing the sax these days.
I played classical and R&R quite well; but not so good at jazz. 
My solo performance was Jesu Joy Of Man's Desiring on clarinet (and the perspiration just ran down my back).
I revisited a YouTube performance of the same piece by a really good clarinetist and he's really smooth/seamless as I tried to be.

[GTR-N1]

Musical instruments I think, are really good for both sides of the brain: not just the music-related hemisphere.
That's because on most instruments, the left hand (right brain) needs to know what the right hand (left brain) is doing; and yet work independently at the same time.
Thoughts?

[Leroy Peterson]

yeah I think learning an instrument pays dividends when you're younger. Parents just get annoyed when the kid inevitably doesnt want to do it anymore. its an investment.

But at the same time I have zero interest in learning any new instruments or furthering my music knowledge now, and have a disposition for musical theory. so no such thing as a free lunch I guess.

[vanamond]

Hi guys! You are such an inspiration, I always wanted to learn how to play a guitar, and I never did. I used to think that I am too old for that, but now I might change my mind. Thank you all