Does FP have real musicians?

im currently playing classical violin at a good music school...they teach me piano here too, so im apparently "proficient" at that. i can play bass guitar too, though i rarely do anymore...it is third string after all.
 
Hosey said:
Oh yeah, I'm not saying 11/4 is unlikely to yield something good, but the beat would nevertheless jump out at any musician as something they had to stay aware of. Sometimes odd time signatures don't even guarantee music that's odd sounding (side note: I don't care about whether it makes something difficult or complex, I know that wasn't your point). If I think of a song in 5/4, some math metal in that time is really hard to wrap your head around, but "Take 5" by Dave Brubeck is extremely groovy. I never even noticed the song was in an odd time until someone told me, and then I still had to check it (Oh! That's what the "5" is about! I just realized that!). Soundgarden is another great example, a lot of their music is in odd times but it still always seems "groovy". I've always chalked it up to how well the drummer can make the odd time sound like 4/4 or 3/4.

Ugh... I forgot what else I was going to say. Oh well, back to work!
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drums are my instrument that is why i love the odd meters so much. i do play piano and guitar but could not entertain for 45 minutes (maybe half of half of a song) playing piano or guitar.

MuSickJunKeyz, i stand corrected with the spelling of bossa nova.


for the rest, you do not have to have formal training to be a musician, also on the same note you can not learn to be a musician in a vaccum. if one is around talented individuals day in and day out that is sorta like formal training. basically, you are vibing off each other. if you are not around talented individuals how does one guage if they are on track or not. formal training (with a good teacher) can replace being around talented individuals. to be a musician "you" need one or the other. to have both is even better. my point here is that one can not be a musician learning in a vacuum.

:cool:
 
I suppose I would like to start by saying that anyone who has taken an "instrument" and wrestled it to the point of obedience and has maintained a level of proficiency or mastery is a musician in my opinion. Whether it be their own voice, a trumpet, a sampler, a synth, a sequencer, a pair of spoons...........you get the idea ;)

I play a few instruments mostly winds. I started gigging Jazz with pros when I was 14-15 years old on Baritone Saxophone and Flute. My primary axes are the Saxophone, clarinet, flute, oboe, bassoon and all the variants with the exception of the extremes ie. Contra Bass and Piccolo versions of the instruments. [no I didn't play Jazz Oboe or Bassoon, those were my main classical instruments] All of which I have been or am currently more than proficient on. I can play trumpet and a little trombone as well. Mostly just noodling though, never sat down to learn any more than that and I only played those by ear.

As far as strings go, I never dove too deep into them. Not to say I'm not a fan, I love stringed instruments, my head never wrapped around them too well. I played the Cello for a few years, still can, but I don't own one any more. I would really love a fretless electric bass :)

There was a point that I played a mean piano, but years of neglect have taken a little of the shine off of that ability. I can still play well by ear and have one too many sets of Jazz changes stuck in my head, but I don't read and play all too well anymore.

I used to have a vocal range from Bass to Tenor with a fully bridged falsetto that stretched WAY higher than I'd like to admit..hehe...too bad I developed a taste for coffee and cigarettes when I was in college. I only sing in the shower and the car nowadays....or into a mic that runs straight into a sampler ;)

I have some pretty bad nerve damage in my hands/arms along side a nice case of carpal tunnel, so I don't play nearly as much as I'd like to anymore. But, that does leave quite a bit more time to work on writing and producing music. I sample a lot of things from found sounds all the way to myself or friends playing live.

So, in short, to answer the original question from the first post. Yes, there are "musicians" as you have defined them on the forums here.

cheers-
Ra Cypher

::group hug::
 
neverenoughfunk said:
if you are not around talented individuals how does one guage if they are on track or not. formal training (with a good teacher) can replace being around talented individuals. to be a musician "you" need one or the other. to have both is even better. my point here is that one can not be a musician learning in a vacuum.

:cool:
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An extremely excellent point that I think is missed here at FP very often. As much as I might be proud that "I taught myself to play guitar," that betrays the amount of instruction I gained from those around me who were already making music. They didn't "teach" me in the manner that we would associate with traditional instruction, they taught me through their examples. I was at their shows, hanging out with them at their houses, pretty much being absorbed into a "Music Culture". And then there were the people I didn't know personally: the Nirvanas, the Fugazis, the Sonic Youths, all the music that I've loved throughout my life.

I guess it is unfair that some people don't have that same advantage. But at the same time, isn't that what this "internet" is all about? I admittedly learned to play guitar by studying the guitar tabs of my favorite bands that were transcribed at Harmony-central.com . Anyone with the same desire to learn can do the same thing now, with any instrument, be it a piano or a sampler. Music really and truly is in the hands of anyone who has the desire to teach themselves these days. And in a way, it always has been. It's a really beautiful time. Admittedly, not a lot of great music has been produced, yet, but I feel it's only a matter of time.

I guess that's why I say people shouldn't try to produce in a vacuum. That's one of the reasons I take offense at the statement "Just do you!" To me, that ignores the entire point of music, which is to at least on some level to get everyone enjoying the same moment in time. I'm not saying to model your music after anyone else's, but to ignore what's going on around you is patently ridiculous. And it goes against all that it means to be "Human," in my opinion. We didn't evolve by sitting in a cave by ourselves theorizing, we evolved through interaction with nature and our own culture.
 
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