Who here can make music?

[doomdiz]

Well, here I am, drunk in my dorm and writing ambient trance on my stupid Dell laptop... *drinky*

Anybody else here in a band or makin music and stuff? Just curious as to who esle has got the music bug in their brains....

[Inga-KX]

I play guitar, used to play flute as a kid. I had a band but nothing serious, just to kill time. We once had a chance to perform a couple of songs but people got seriously offended by the lyrics and threw stuff at us. I was the singer + solo guitar.

[PumpkinSmasher]

I'm learning to play the guitar. I've made a few songs of my own, nothing special about them, but I made them.

[Inga-KX]

Hmmm, would you ever make'em available to the common mortal?, maybe just the tabs?

[She-wolf]

I play guitar and I sing. I have tried making my own music on guitar which did have some success, just that I won't have so much time at uni and have no means of recording it on computer. My singing well I did a lot of it at school in choir and then somehow when I got into the music I am into now sort of went downhill! I don't like it much, my voice, it's okay I suppose. People at band society like it just I have real problems with stage fright and singing so that kind of mucks it up. I can't however write lyrics to save my life! They either end up being terribly cheesy which would make me a great candidate for a power metal band, or just that it's been written before! So singing other bands songs is better unless somebody else writes the lyrics and I have some help in writing them.
One thing I have found is that subconciously I end up writing similar riffs from songs I have listened to. Best example was learning about writing riffs and solos and the rhythm guitar part I wrote began to bug me. I recognised the rhythm but couldn't think what song I had heard it from as it sounded so similar. Before my lesson I went and listened to a CD and the first song that came up was Bloodstained by Judas Priest and that was where I got the rhythm for my riff. *what* It was a bit funny, I had not meant it intentionally nor had I listened to that song or disc for a week but I guess it proved to me how much of an influence they have had on my guitar playing.

[jls23]

I'm hopefully starting one sooner or later.

Guitar + Voice

[doomdiz]

a funny thing.......since i spent so much time creating techno on my computer, i figured i should go back to tying to play the piano, thinking that the techno-makin has givin me the ability to understand music better....

well, i STILL cant play the piano!!! *owell*

[Inga-KX]

Man, techno are boring drumbeats and silly modulatedouterspacesignal-like noises, that has nothing to do with music and your potential ability to play any.

[GoldEyes]

Man, techno are boring drumbeats and silly modulatedouterspacesignal-like noises, that has nothing to do with music and your potential ability to play any.

WTF? He said MAKE, not PLAY...you can MAKE techno music, with your computer and all of that.

[Inga-KX]

He thought his ability to understand music better and play piano could have been improved by the making of electronic music, which didn't seem to happen, btw, to MAKE you must first learn to PLAY ;)

[GoldEyes]

Not if you are making techno and techno only. (don't get my wrong, I played flute for 10+ years...I know how music works)

[Inga-KX]

I'm not questioning his ability to make techno music, I'm saying that didn't (and it's not going to) help him with the piano. Btw, I played flute for about the same time *thumbs*

[Ravey]

I'm considering learning to play the Guitar, they are just too awesome... I used to play the drums though. Oh, and pretty much anyone can make music... A good musician makes GOOD music though. :P

[swiftfox]

I played Eletric Bass for 2 years in school, and I use Fl Studio to make techno/trance and piano music.

[doomdiz]

mmmmmm.....Fruity Loops.....grgl grgl grgl.... *thumbs*
Thats what I use to create my ambient trance.....

Man, techno are boring drumbeats and silly modulatedouterspacesignal-like noises, that has nothing to do with music and your potential ability to play any.

well, it is true that any idiot can throw together some randome drum noises and outer space crap, but it takes some intuitive music sense to be able to make techno that really sounds good....

The problem that I am running into is that while i HAVE this intuitive music sense, and am able to create very good music; I am somewhat limited by the fact that I never learned to PLAY any particular instrument. But all the means is that for now, i just have to do everything on my computer. *rolleyes*

[jls23]

I never liked techno. Doesn't take much talent to make it. I can imagine a techno "virtuoso" being a socially-challenged acne-covered nerd with a high-power computer.

[Inga-KX]

A big console with loads of sounds, beats, switches and shit can be pain in the ass for the common mortal, it's not as easy as it seems, but whatever people can come up with, the result always sucks because you don't need to be a musician to make techno and guess what happens when no musicians try to make music out of non-instruments...

[doomdiz]

*cry* u guys are mean......

[Inga-KX]

Oh don't take it that serious.

[swiftfox]

I can somewhat see why most people would hate anykind of techno.But IMO every genre of music has its pros and cons.At least for me anyway.One of the reasons I lisen to techno now is because I haven't really liked anything since about 1993 for some reason.I loved the music from the 80s but for some reason everytime I lisen to modern rock on the radio in my car I can't stand it, every new rock or rap song sounds the same to me.

[Inga-KX]

90's and 2000's "techno" sound fair different to the 80's, cos it was kinda experimental back then, still so, it sounded richer and it didn't often depend 100% on the consoles. In comparison with today's techno, oldschool techno had more "talent" put in it, anyhow, it all sounds the same to me, so does modern rock and don't even start me with rap shit.

[jls23]

I can somewhat see why most people would hate anykind of techno.But IMO every genre of music has its pros and cons.At least for me anyway.One of the reasons I lisen to techno now is because I haven't really liked anything since about 1993 for some reason.I loved the music from the 80s but for some reason everytime I lisen to modern rock on the radio in my car I can't stand it, every new rock or rap song sounds the same to me.

This is because, friend, you are now one of THEM. You are one of the ppl that will end up saying stuff like, "Damn whippersnappers and their "modern" music!" Classic case of MSITE Syndrome. (Mind Stuck In The Eighties)

[doomdiz]

Lol @ MSITE... *rofl*

One big misconception about techno and electronic music is that it is easy to make....HAHAHAHA!!! I spend weeks on just one song, and the programs are a real bitch to use....

[Nephil]

A friend of mine once had a program, some EJay thing. Made it pretty easy to mix some songs in a bunch of minutes. I once found a synthesizer program, something called "ReBirth" (which must have been a very popular "instrument" in the techno scene). That was a pain, just to look at it made me go crazy. Millions of buttons, sliders and knobs... *crazy*

I don't like techno neither. But than again I like EBM, which is very similar to techno... I think it depends on the type of techno. There are so many types... Jungle, Schranz, Trance, Ethno, Drum+Base, and whatever...

Btw.: I have a guitar standing around in my room, but never really found the time and patience to practice much. And I played e-bass once. Everyone said I ws very talented with that, but I never tried it again. So, the only music I play is on CDs :)

[Jimi]

I can make music with computer and with real instruments. The music I make with computer is usually some psytrance&monotech or both, sometimes I make some speed/hardcore, rarely drum'n'bass and when I just record something weird with my mic, I'll do some ambient/noise stuff.

The real instruments I play are didgerido, jungle drums and rhytm sticks. I've played couple times on the streets with my brother and people have been giving money for us. One time we had a hat with us, because people got confused where to put the money if we didn't have a hat. That time we got about 10€ for both of us :D We played some 2-5 hours that time.

[Ashley Carr]

I think there is a very large misconception that electronically produced music isn’t really music at all, which of course isn't true. Many people think that the computer does it for you, and it doesn't really take much to get into it. That using the computer to write music is "cheating", that all music composed electronically is "techno" music...

Let me clear something up, Excluding those pre made things like ejay, a computer does not make the music for you, it doesn't assist the compositional process in any way, it's just a form of notation, like writing a letter in ms word. You still have to actually write that letter, even if you're not writing it on paper.

Another common misconception is that all electronic music sounds the same. This couldn’t be further from the truth. Think of a rock track. In it you'll have what, drums, bass, guitars and a vocalist. Now think of those instruments. Every guitar sounds the same, every bass sounds the same. Now imagine a world where you can create a brand new instrument every song you write, where those instruments you create have endless sonic possibility. You could make an instrument that would fit perfectly in a particular section, or an instrument that would chord beautifully with another instrument. You can paint a picture with only red blue and green paint, or you can paint with an entire pallet, where you could tailor make a color to suit the picture you are painting.

Writing a song in any shape or form takes a lot of thought, the creative input of a human being. Music composition to me is instinctual, and there is no amount of computer code that can do that for you. It’s a feeling, you know when the song is right, you know if it sounds right. You just know.

I hope that clears something up, even if you didn’t read it… it cleared about half a page of writing… so its all good. =)

[Catsy]

A-MEN.

As someone who spent many years writing tracked music, I can only enthusiastically second that. :D I never learned to play a live instrument, so my computer /was/ my instrument--it was the only way I could get out the music that was in my head.

[doomdiz]

EXACTLY!!! I get a similar speech alot in architecture school...."The computer should not have ANY effect on the DESIGN, but simply allow you to express yourself in new ways..." The same is true for music.....my music would sound the same regardless of how it was made...(well, quality might change, but the overall design of the song would remain the same.) And as for that pre-made shit on ejay and stuff.....i never use that crap. I am intent on making my own sounds.... *thumbs*

[swiftfox]

Before they think its so simple they should try it.I've been useing this program for 4 years and I'm still exploring diffrent things.I have a friend who uses a Audigy to record rock riffs and uses them in his songs, the results are amazing.

[jls23]

But it still lacks... authenticity. Computer-made music anyhow.

But I was talking about ACTUAL techno. That shit where it's just sound effects with some guy w/ a distorted voice saying weird stuff.

[Inga-KX]

The Chemical Brothers seems to be the perfect example to illustrate what mediocrity is made of.

[Ashley Carr]

So I take it we're talking about our individual tastes in music rather than the methods by which it’s composed and produced. Not that I’m the worlds biggest fan of the chemical brothers, but seriously I could think of a LOT worse. Anyway most commercial music is composed on computers. Record a drum track, layer your bass and rhythm guitars, a lead and vox. If you write a letter by hand and stuff it up, you have to re write that letter again. If you use word, you can delete a section here, change it and fix it until you’re happy with it.

And as far as the authenticity of electronically produced music, What is Authenticity? Do you think a classical composer like Mozart would have looked at a person thrashing the shit out of a electric guitar and screaming into a mic and thought, "wow! what an authentic sound!". Times change, tastes change, technology changes.

Or do you mean that electronic music doesn’t sound authentic because it’s not mainstream? Because it sounds a little different than all other commercial music? That alone is what drew me in to electronic music in the first place, because I was sick to death of hearing the same shit on the radio. The "find a concept that works and stick with it for the next 10 years" way of thinking. To me it’s more fulfilling to listen to, or write a song that’s like nothing you've heard before as opposed to the same old tried and tested emo rock, rap or whatever. It’s been done… over and over again!

But yeah, that’s my taste.

[Monkey]

I love music, I write music, play guitar and fail to sing well.
www.madeofpeople.com

[Jimi]

Mainstream trance/techno/dance/whatever crap is missing authenticity. Because of that, people easily think that all electronic music is the same kind of crap, with no creativity, only to get some money as fast as you can with crappy beats, sounds and stupid empty lyrics. Don't mix crap to music.

[SavageMessiah]

I pretty much avoid the mainstream in all things :)

I really have no talent at music but, in one of my wierd creative fugues I sat down at my computer and cranked out this really bizarre ambient track using just static and doom sound effects. It was actually kinda neat. I wonder if I still have it?

[jls23]

I still don't think that electronic music takes much - if any - talent to make. You've got a keyboard and synthesized/recorder sounds, and you start to make music on your own. I guess you gotta write it, but it still doesn't take much talent. By "authenticity", I meant how "real" it is. With "authentic" music, it takes talent to learn the instrument well enough to play it and not make mistakes like muting something for example. But with electronic music there is no chance of that, and, once again, it's just a keyboard.

[Inga-KX]

it's just a keyboard

Tell that ro Rick Wakeman and Edgar Winters ;) , but yeah, it doesn't take any talent to make noise and same goes for those cheap "insert bullshit word such as "trash", "speed", "brutal", etc here) -metal bands out there, a total waste, they're forgetting music is about music.

[doomdiz]

THIS (www.geocities.com/pdisney2003/Autumndemo.mp3) song took me a week to make. You guys think any half-wit monkey can just throw this together?

[jls23]

Sounds like it's from jack jazz-rabbit. Hello, law-suit. Maybe a monkey w/ a taste for jjr. :p

But Inga, about your metal comment, we make REAL music, not some bullshit made with a computer. Music IS MUSIC. Any rythym or melody can be called MUSIC. And it is not a total waste. People LIKE it, it's not just some thing that thousands of bands do for no reason. We do it because it is fun and people like it, so it is not a waste.

[doomdiz]

wtf is jack jizz-rabbit or whatever!?!?!?! *squint*

[jls23]

An old platform game.

[doomdiz]

oh.....hm......yea......

[jls23]

Had music VERY similar to that creation of yours.

[doomdiz]

aw, man....
Now i gots to rethink my music... :(

[jls23]

Force TB to do it for you.

[Jimi]

I still don't think that electronic music takes much - if any - talent to make. You've got a keyboard and synthesized/recorder sounds, and you start to make music on your own. I guess you gotta write it, but it still doesn't take much talent. By "authenticity", I meant how "real" it is. With "authentic" music, it takes talent to learn the instrument well enough to play it and not make mistakes like muting something for example. But with electronic music there is no chance of that, and, once again, it's just a keyboard.

It needs talent to make it. And it really requires talent to play a keyboard, just like a piano. Of course you can make electronic music without a keyboard, but it still requires talent to make it. And people can make mistakes in electronic music... let's slide the filter and resonance full and then thinking it sounds good... it'll probably sound bad. Some drum playing in a wrong location, mistake. Some sound too loud, mistake. A bad note in a melody is a mistake too, just like in every other music. Of course you can fix these things later, but so you can play&record the song again if you play music with these so called real instruments or if it's just a small error, you can fix it with a computer. Setting up the synthetizer sound requires some talent too if you want it sound good. If it's a real synthetizer and not a software synthetizer, then it'll need a lot more talent to do that. Don't think everyone is using preset sounds/rhytms/melodies in electronic music.

Edit:
When I listen to some old songs I've made, I hear a lot mistakes in them. Now I've become more talented and not making so much mistakes. I've been doing electronic music for about 6-8 years. So I've got some talent now. If you're interested of them: http://www.mikseri.net/psiloc and some older at http://www.mikseri.net/psilocold
You can hear a clear difference in the amount of mistakes in these two "projects".

[doomdiz]

Some of those newer ones sound pretty neat...tho kinda cryptic...... *bang*

what kind of equip/software do you use to make this stuff?

[Jimi]

Software: Reason to do the music and Sound Forge to normalize the volume after the song is exported to a wav, possibly some fade in/fade out to the song and for recording sounds. Equipment: Didgerido, drum, rhytm sticks, headphones-inside-a-ceramic-jar-and-a-sock-rolled-over mic and various other stuff I happen to find from my desktop or somewhere else, like metal kettles.

Not much didgerido recordings there, maybe I should record some... *knownot*

[jls23]

Once again; you just need to be a massive computer know-how guy. Learning how to play the piano isn't THAT much of a challenge, unless you have no or crippled fingers.

[Nomad]

I should have replied to this thread quite a while ago, but oh well.

I play all kinds of instruments. Mostly guitar and drums, but I can play keyboard, bass, jew harp, and whatever else I can get my grubby little paws on.

I'd like to get into a band, but haven't really had the chance and/or made the effort to be in one. Recently I've been excelling in my guitar play, and I've got a friend who wants me to come jam out with his band one of these days, so something may come of that here soon.

I really prefer playing drums, though. But my trap set is temporarily out of commission at the moment. See, I only had one cymbal for my crash and riding needs (a 22" crash/ride). It is currently lying in two pieces on the floor. Plus, I haven't really been home much lately...

[Jimi]

Once again; you just need to be a massive computer know-how guy. Learning how to play the piano isn't THAT much of a challenge, unless you have no or crippled fingers.

Maybe it's not the actual playing. I can play piano, but I just play something of my own and most people wouldn't like it, because I play it so monotonous and usually just the bass ones... *wacky* And if you want to play the piano properly, you just need to be a massive piano know-how guy or girl and you need to know how to make different what's-the-word-for-when-you-press-multiple-keys-at-the-same-time.

[doomdiz]

Once again; you just need to be a massive computer know-how guy. Learning how to play the piano isn't THAT much of a challenge, unless you have no or crippled fingers.

True, but without good musical insight as well, the music will just sound like a donkey being raped in the butt........

[Jimi]

sound like a donkey being raped in the butt
Aaaahhiiiii aaahhhiiiiii.... good idea :D