General Music Chat

I got off of unemployment and got a new job, so I guess my goal's been achieved. Musically speaking, I don't have too high standards/hopes except for maybe finding someone to jam with every once in a while. A whole band would be nice.

Goal one:
More skill at my guitar, in the lead and rhythm aspects.
Goal two:
More equipment so we can pull off outdoor and larger venue gigs without being dependent on someone else for sound.
Goal three:
Studio recordings for at least one CD worth of our originals.
Goal four:
A promotional package including said CD
Goal five:
To personally promote the band to a new venue, Church or civic organization at the rate of one every two weeks.

Those are big steps for a bunch of working stiffs to accomplish in one year.
But we've had some pledges of financial support along the way so ......
Carpi Diem !!

Inspired from older thread, this doesn't sound like goals of an amateur Just sayin'.

Like you guys, I plan to have a more profitable year. I do want to make more money with music but I want to perform more. I want to continue teaching without increasing my teaching hours. Flute recitals are coming up.

I will make a CD of a mix of arrangements that I have written and a few originals. I also need to get a bass flute and an alto flute. PLUS, I do need to work on electronic equipment.

Mark, You asked about a song library.
A library is organized so that you can find anything easily.
I have:
> about 40 songs recorded in a presentable manner.
> about another 40 which are recorded as rough versions only.
> and I've another 55 undeveloped songs recorded, on computer.
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Those who have heard my music know that these are not simple songs.
I compose so much stuff, I have to record it right away, or it's gone forever. Often I'll hear a recording I made - a finished song, mind you - and barely remember playing it.

Each song I write is a different style of music; not by choice, but by creativity. I do not control my creativity - my creativity controls me.
. . . the ideas just flow freely . . . a new rhythm (for me), a new chord or 3, some style I've never played


A lot of times I'll hear a song I recorded, and it's REALLY hard to find again, to play. Often with 3 new chords in it, which I use in no other song . . .
I love it . . . but I need to organize it all, so I can get them all recorded in album format. Then I can start working on 3 years of unheard recordings . . .
See? I need to organize my stuff better, like a library . . .
I only have 2 albums recorded so far, (self produced) . . . but I have enough songs for several more albums already . . . I need to focus better.
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So I've been increasing my organizational skills and managing my time better, so I can learn my own songs.
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Chip - just remember that boundries ARE arbitrary, and keep practicing stuff thats too hard for you to play.
Eventually it won't be too hard, and people will start asking you to show them how to do what you're doing . . .
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And, I think you're right about making do with the simple things.
Very few musicians ever master the basics before they move on to the toys (to make themselves sound better) . . .
That's why I play an acoustic guitar with no effects. I want to master the acoustic and get a good solid performance - unplugged.
There's probably several hundred more chords I'd be interested in using; I'm still finding an average of 1-2 new chords a week (I hear them in my head, first, then look to see where I have to put my fingers.
If I used distortion - you'd never hear the differences between many of the chords . . .
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Sans, yeah, looks like you've got a handle on goal setting.

. . . what was the key factor in your decision ? Parents choice ? Good way to get girls ? To become rich and famous ?

I have been writing ever since I could carry a #2 pencil and chew on it.
Nobody in my family has ever been musically inclined. My mom likes to hum like she's on the opera stage and my dad...well, he always whistled.
My fond memories is of my dad wearing those big 1980's headphones with a towel under the roof (so it wouldn't hurt his head) whistling to the music and tapping his feet. I grew up with The Beatles, Janis Joplin, Led Zepplin, Bee Gees (not my favorite), Journey, Foreigner, Bread, Iron Butterfly, Lobo and especially Pink Floyd.
My brother hoever was more of a Ozzie, Black Sabbath kinda guy.
My dad was in the military, so we had tons of parties.
The ole beer bong in the backyard with the volleyball net thing..yeah, those were the days. On the downside, getting up in the morning and having to walk around G.I's passed out on the floor wasn't fun.
So, I had alot of music going on in my house growing up.

Sounds like a kinda unusual childhood.
And . . .
It sounds like you have piles and piles of material for lyrics.
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. . . you oughta capitalize on it.
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What was usual for you is not usual for others..
Once we realize that our own lives are unique - we then realize that we have unheard messages.
If our messages are different and interesting - people will listen.
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A lot of us concentrate on playing better, writing better, recording better.

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But what it all boils down to is - do we really have something to SAY?

Hi Sheujade,
I was interested after reading your posting, and went to find your own material on your profile.
I assumed it was a song and was enjoying the opening music and waiting for the singing to start!
Then it all finished!
But what I heard was good and quite pensive moody music against a persistent rythmn.

So more please, but with you singing this time!
Thanks,
Mark....................

LOL! I'm sorry... I'm not a professional with all the software. This is why I'm here..to help me finish a few songs like that one and to put vocals to it. I'm so glad you liked it..it's a bit catchy

Yes, my childhood seemed unusual for me at the time, but I don't think I'd change anything..it gave me a lot to write about.
Yes, I have alot to say and hopefully it will connect with others.

So...hopefully soon you will hear me.

Hello Sheujade,
I am utterly useless with the technology, and I record with what is really a glorified digital tape recorder, but I put off recording a new song because I dread getting it all set up ready, then cocking it up halfway through a track!

I find you just have to switch the machine on and give it your best shot... preferably with nobody there when you do it!

I just acquired a drum set and did play drums on my last track, but I was all over the place even trying to keep to little more than just the bass drum with a few other bits... but like you say Sheujade, it is a steep learning curve and we need a bit of help if it is going to get anywhere... if your progress curve is very flat, it doesn't mean you are already good, just probably never going to get there at all!
By saying get there: I don't mean to reach the dizzy heights of stardom, just to get to a standard that starts to show you what you can be.

Enjoy your recording, and the season's greetings from across the big wet pond in Sussex England.
Mark...............

Mark said, " . . . if your progress curve is very flat, it doesn't mean you are already good, just probably never going to get there at all . . ."
. . .
Huh?!
!!
I STRONGLY disagree!
That's like saying that if you don't succeed at first, then just give up!
If you've reached a temporary plateau - then it's merely time to change tactics, not accept defeat! Jeeeeez . . . .

Well I was speaking partly tongue in cheek,
But there is a truth, that no one is going to live forever, so if you have a target but only climb one millimeter towards it each year... you won't get there.
But no that doesn't mean give up, because the value might be in the journey for you... it was more for the people who get set on these annual goals that I was thinking... for many it is just the pleasure of the music that keeps them going.
I don't think defeat or triumph is the issue here Rythmn Man; just how to keep the music alive in your heart.
A merry pagan solstice from the secular UK!
Mark...................

I became a musician because, like art, music can be created from scratch. It is probably one of the truest and purest forms of creation possible. However, unlike art, music can never really be captured and contained. Sure, we can record a piece of music and say we have captured it on CD or whatever, but when we play it on the car stereo, or in our living room, it doesn't always sound the same. We move it from environment to environment, which makes it change.

For instance, Beethoven wrote most of his symphonies in the 1800's, but the instruments were not made like they are today. Therefore, the music in Beethoven's day does not sound like it does today with the instruments of today. I've read somewhere that Beethoven used to take walks in the woods, listening to birds, and other sounds of the forest, and make up melodies from those.

Music is not constricted to musical instruments. Native Americans used drums and other forms of percussion (like sticks, logs, other material) to send messages, and communicate with other tribes.

Listen to a band in a club or go to a concert of your favorite group and then listen to the music at home. It all sounds different! Mainly because of the ambience and size of the rooms the music is played in.

Therefore, I became a musician because creativity is what sets me apart from the world and other musicians.

We can all sing (even if very badly), but not all of us can draw a picture or do a painting, especially with detail and proportionally.

Even more importantly, music is the only art form that can live on for future generations. Again, I doubt Beethoven thought his music would still be played today. I'm sorry, in that you really can't do that with a Picasso or a Rembrant. Sure, you can see paintings in the local library in art books, but it's just not the same You have to go to an art museum to see the "real" thing. But, I can go to the local music store and buy any Beetoven symphony, concerto, or sonata that I want and even though it might not sound the same as in Beethoven's time, I can still enjoy the beauty of it, and form my own opinion of whether I like it or not.

Rythm Man I really connect with what you say about the ideas and inspiration actualy being out of your control and it coming to you and you are not going and getting it. That is exactly how it happens for me. Just siting down and opening my mind to any thought or idea that comes in any genre. Yea man that is a conection with the soul. Excuse my ramble I have a mega buzzzzzz goin.

That's a great point and has been discussed before.
Some of us just receive a song.
Works that way for me. Most often when I am under high stress or physically and mentally exhausted.
Bam, there is a song in my head.
Even in my sleep.
I have had very little luck "constructing" a song, despite much encouragement from my peers here.

Ever write a song in 20 minutes? Thats it.