Musical stuff.

Musical stuff. (Full Version)

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garyFLR -> Musical stuff. (5/31/2013 7:53:09 AM)
I thought it might be nice idea to start a musical thread here, especially as it was 'DaddySatyr' & Misty who suggested it [:)]. Whether you're a musician or a listener, everybodys' contribution is more than welcome, it can be about anything musical. DS & I were discussing amplifiers & R&B/Rock type stuff[:)]. But feel free to dive in with anything! Gary.

DaddySatyr -> RE: Musical stuff. (5/31/2013 8:05:32 AM)
You made a point, in the other thread about decibal-crazy guitarists. I *know* that is frequently a concern but, I'm a little different, in that regard. It was through singing that I came to music, originally. My family would have sing-alongs around the piano with grandpa playing and grandma, UB, UG, and UP all singing (and me, joining in, when I could). by the time I hit my early teens (probably actually, 12), I was already so crazy into music that I wanted to be a part of it but, other than some melodies on the piano, a chromatic harmonica (which I played, pretty well) and a cheapie acoustic that I had just been given, I had no outlet for rock and roll. What is a young, long-haired, music-lovin', broke teen to do? "Hey, guys! I can sing!" Well, the band found a better singer (they thought) so, I had to bite the bullet and build myself an electric guitar. I was in carpentry shop, in school. But, I was always of the belief that except for the lead guitar breaks, the sound should be even. I was the guitar player that kept chastizing the band that the vocalist (not me) had to be heard above the din. Later on, I was in a different band; a completely different set of people and I was "forced" into singing for the band. Shortly after that, I was "forced" into switching to bass. Now, in a typical rock and roll/heavy metal band (two guitars, bass, drums and vocals) the bassist really is the glue in my mind. It "bridges" the melodic and harmonic attitudes of the guitars and vocals with the rhythm (drums). Once, again, I was a loud proponent of the vocals not being washed out (some claimed it was for obvious reasons but, I swear it wasn't). I was only ever in two bands that had brass in them and by that time, we were all a bit older and cooler heads (and deflated egos) tended to prevail. Peace and comfort, Michael

garyFLR -> RE: Musical stuff. (5/31/2013 9:54:32 AM)
Hi Michael, you were lucky that you had a musical family, it sounds idyllic, no such luck with me, I got into blowing harp when I was a young teenager, & I saw Johnny Mars & Seventh Son play in Brentford, he threw a spent harp into the audience, I caught it, & thereby hangs the tale! I sometimes use a chromatic, especially on Muddys' 'All Aboard', but mainly use the standard diatonic 10 hole, I used to use Hohner, but, now use Suzuki Folk & Bluesmaster, Hohner have rested on their Laurels for too long. As someone who can't sing a note, I valiantly attack the notes from below [:D], I've always admired vocalists, our bass player is also the main vocalist with our lot, but, he claims that it's easier singing playing guitar. How do you find singing/playing bass? Luckily, when a band's been together for a while, & everyone's proved what they got to prove, everyone settles in & starts playing like a solid unit. No mad axemen round our neck of the woods [:)]. Your Heavymetal/RocknRoll are you? We're a mixture of 60s R&B/Blues/Rock, well anything we fancy doing really. Yes a brass section can be funny if you don't handle it right, although I play trumpet, I'm not Miles, I don't play it that often, but, I am the brass section in BluesRound [:)].

DaddySatyr -> RE: Musical stuff. (5/31/2013 10:28:47 AM)
I don't know about everyone but a LOT of the people I've talked to agree that playing *any* instrument and trying to sing detracts from both activities. I can't play the bass, anymore (due to missing/damaged fingertips on my right hand) but I don't think it was anymore dificult than playing the guitar and singing (once I stopped playing the bass like a "frustrated guitar player" and started playing the bass lines). Our band was named after a RUSH song, so you can imagine that we had our issues with things. The harmonica was a ... hmmmm ... "carrot and a stick" thing. I *desperately* wanted a guitar and my parents couldn't be arsed. My grandparents said that if I learned how to play a harmonica, they would buy me a guitar. Once I got the guitar, the harmonica fell by the wayside, unfortunately. Peace and comfort, Michael

garyFLR -> RE: Musical stuff. (5/31/2013 10:43:23 AM)
I must admit that the harp is the only instrument I wanted to play, the album 'Sonnyboy Williamson & the Yardbirds' sealed the deal for me. I'm very sorry to hear about your fingers, but, you can still do things musically?

DaddySatyr -> RE: Musical stuff. (5/31/2013 10:51:15 AM)
quote: ORIGINAL: garyFLR I must admit that the harp is the only instrument I wanted to play, the album 'Sonnyboy Williamson & the Yardbirds' sealed the deal for me. I'm very sorry to hear about your fingers, but, you can still do things musically? Yepper! Usually a guitar is played with a plectrum and I can still manage the drums, pretty well.

garyFLR -> RE: Musical stuff. (5/31/2013 12:04:00 PM)
[:)]. You could give the harmonica another punt.

Missdressed -> RE: Musical stuff. (5/31/2013 12:44:04 PM)
I love music. Can't play a note but two of my kids play in a band with my dad (their grandpa) which I think is kinda cool. My daughter sings and plays bass and my son plays lead guitar when he can get my dad to step back and drums most of the time. On another note, there is no noise on the face of the earth worse than grade one violin practice.

garyFLR -> RE: Musical stuff. (5/31/2013 5:38:00 PM)
quote: ORIGINAL: Missdressed I love music. Can't play a note but two of my kids play in a band with my dad (their grandpa) which I think is kinda cool. My daughter sings and plays bass and my son plays lead guitar when he can get my dad to step back and drums most of the time. On another note, there is no noise on the face of the earth worse than grade one violin practice. So you're a musician by proxy then [:)]? What do you listen to, how do you encourage your children? I agree, there's nothing worse than grade one anything!

Edwynn -> RE: Musical stuff. (5/31/2013 9:35:53 PM)
Grade one trumpet is even worse, but it moves along more quickly to grade three than does violin, for those capable at all. If the parent's ears can't handle variable pitch instruments, stick with piano or guitar for the child. As a pretty good player of the latter, back in the day, I would still recommend the keyboard for overall better musical understanding and awareness. You could teach a child the fixed-pitch mandolin, so that he/she gets the same-tuned instrument as the violin, with out the discretion according to motor skills of a 6 year-old as to exact pitch, then move them to the viol instrument later.

Missdressed -> RE: Musical stuff. (5/31/2013 9:50:25 PM)
I like all sorts except for really radical gospel stuff - but I'm am atheist. ANd cheesy country. The Shaun cuddy night is burned in my brain. One of the best nights of my life was at ronnie Scott's, I love a girl from Southern Ireland called Imelda may (I know her family relatively well) but I also took the kids to the radio one big weekend in derry recently and although it was the dance night and not my usual type of stuff, dizzee rascal was very good - especially when Robbie Willams turned up, and Calvin Harris was amazing. Also like a good bit of guns n roses or Bryan Adams or motley Crüe or Motörhead when the mood takes me. As to encouraging the kids, it's harder to stop them! I don't have to encourage them - I do have to get them to stop with the music to do homework etc. But with my dad being so into his music I suppose it was inevitable.

Missdressed -> RE: Musical stuff. (5/31/2013 9:53:24 PM)
They all play piano/keyboards to a fairly good standard (apart from my eldest he doesn't play at all), along with guitar because that's what my dad plays, and no2 son plays drums. Two also do violin.

NuevaVida -> RE: Musical stuff. (5/31/2013 11:14:12 PM)
Music is in my blood. My dad was a boogie woogie piano fanatic, and I grew up with him playing all the time. He couldn't sing a note worth a damn but boy did he belt out those songs, anyway - Pinetop Smith and Meade Lux Luis. Here's a taste of boogie woogie. And then my mom - Flamenco dancer and singer from Seville. When my Dad wasn't on the piano, our amazing family friend was on the guitar. She was in this man's Flamenco dance troop when she was young. Oldest brother played guitar Oldest sister was an opera singer (sang in Carnegie Hall) Next sister played guitar Next brother plays a funky bass, Stanley Clarke style And me? I played piano (it's been years) and wanted to be a lounge jazz singer lol I love all music (well, most music lol). My CD collection has rock, jazz, classical, flamenco (and all sorts of music from around the world - I have half the Putamayo collection, I think), country and even some opera and rap.

Edwynn -> RE: Musical stuff. (6/1/2013 1:00:33 AM)
This isn't about music, as such, but when I did audio for a living I learned the value of a contraption called a 'noise gate' when I had to mic and mix an excellent Flamenco husband/wife team from South America that the local pro dance troupe had invited. as part of one of their shows. If you push just the fader (on the mix board) to highlight the taps, then the whole auditorium comes through the floor mic in between taps or stomps. With the noise gate, you set a threshold of input to allow only the strong signal through, ignoring all in between, which is a life saver in that situation.

garyFLR -> RE: Musical stuff. (6/1/2013 4:08:02 AM)
quote: ORIGINAL: Missdressed I like all sorts except for really radical gospel stuff - but I'm am atheist. ANd cheesy country. The Shaun cuddy night is burned in my brain. One of the best nights of my life was at ronnie Scott's, I love a girl from Southern Ireland called Imelda may (I know her family relatively well) but I also took the kids to the radio one big weekend in derry recently and although it was the dance night and not my usual type of stuff, dizzee rascal was very good - especially when Robbie Willams turned up, and Calvin Harris was amazing. Also like a good bit of guns n roses or Bryan Adams or motley Crüe or Motörhead when the mood takes me. As to encouraging the kids, it's harder to stop them! I don't have to encourage them - I do have to get them to stop with the music to do homework etc. But with my dad being so into his music I suppose it was inevitable. I agree with you about C&W, who's Shaun Cuddy? He sounds GREAT [:D]! How about Daniel O'Donnell? Brilliant! (Irony alert, just in case you thought I meant any of that). I love Imelda May, apart from the fact she can play everything! Ronnie Scott's a nice venue, but woefully over priced, & full of corporate suit types. Radio 1 Dance night, oh dear, poor you, Robbie Williams, I don't like his stuff, but, I appreciate his good. I love your taste in rock, also, I'm a big fan of Hawkwind for my sins! I suppose when your children are doing their homework, that's the only peace & quiet you get [:)]?

Missdressed -> RE: Musical stuff. (6/1/2013 4:15:43 AM)
Shaun Cuddy. Oh dear. Imagine an out of tune cross between Daniel O'Donnell and The Hoff.... if you twist my arm I might be persuaded to tell the story [;)] Imelda May to me is and always will be Imelda Clabby. Sorry. And watching her and Maria sing with the local band her brother-in-law plays in was awesome. The kids had a ball at the dance music night, and really, that's what it is all about isn't it? As long as they are enjoying music. If I could figure out how to post a pic I'd post my pic of my 11 year old at midnight - boy she was hyped. I like most 1970's 80's stuff but that's my age showing I suppose.

ShaharThorne -> RE: Musical stuff. (6/1/2013 5:07:54 AM)
I can only play piano and keyboards with my right hand, but Lizard on the other had can play viola, violin, keyboards (brought her a Casio when she was 6 months), guitar and bass. Bo plays guitar and relies on my ear for making sure the tones are perfect.

garyFLR -> RE: Musical stuff. (6/1/2013 6:10:18 AM)
quote: ORIGINAL: ShaharThorne I can only play piano and keyboards with my right hand, but Lizard on the other had can play viola, violin, keyboards (brought her a Casio when she was 6 months), guitar and bass. Bo plays guitar and relies on my ear for making sure the tones are perfect. I have the same problem with keyboards, I 've stupid hands, I can never get them to work in sync [:(].

garyFLR -> RE: Musical stuff. (6/1/2013 6:17:08 AM)
I never went through the grades, although I found some of the tutorials useful. I spent much more time copying the sounds my heroes were making, as it's important to get the notes in the right order, (as Eric Morcambe said to Andre Previn [:D]), but, a good sound is very important.

MasterCaneman -> RE: Musical stuff. (6/1/2013 6:26:19 AM)
When I was a kid,I bounced around through a number of different instruments, violin, clarinet, sax, euphonium, and finally, the Uber-Domliest of instruments, the tuba (and by extension, the sousaphone). I was able to play each fairly well, but after a point, I lost the drive to truly master them. The last instrument I played was bass guitar, because the tablature was identical to tuba, and one of my ne'er-do-well friends had found a bunch of stuff that had "fallen off a truck" and needed a safe place to store it. In payment, he offered me a bass and an amplifier. For a couple years I worked at it, but not hard-core. Jammed with a couple friends, and at one point was considered a member of a garage band, but it was more for the fact I was the only one who could figure out how to work their homemade sound board and had a van. I filled in for their bass player a couple of times, but I lost the drive when I started working the clubs and getting into the scene. Burning the candle at both ends and the middle doesn't lend itself to developing marketable prowess with any instrument unless one has a natural talent for it. Still, it was fun. Unfortunately for me, after years as an artilleryman, heavy metal concerts, and large-caliber weapons without hearing protection, most music is lost on me now. I can't even listen to it on the radio, and live music is even worse. Too much sounds overloads the nerve and all I get for my troubles are another week of tinnitus. Maddening.

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