Author Topic: All musicians unite! - The Musicians Chat Thread  (Read 300742 times)

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Offline Elite

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All musicians unite! - The Musicians Chat Thread
« on: August 26, 2012, 07:12:01 AM »
So, let's see if this can take hold. I always thought it was a pity that this subforum doesn't see much activity, so let's hope we can bring a change to that, by having a chat thread here, specifically dedicated to musicians, people in bands, the hobbying guitarists or those who like to sing in the shower.

First off, some information about my life as a 'musician', I play the guitar mainly, but have played the saxophone before. I can sing reasonably well enough to do backing vocals in a band, but not well enough for lead vocals, though I have done that as well. I'm currently also trying to learn the piano (which isn't getting nearly enough time and the thing is bascially collecting dust in the meantime, but hey, I try) and I play in two bands at the moment, a coverband and a progressive rock/metal band.

I have played in bands since I was 9-10 years old and have played at least something in almost every genre (taking genres broadly, not through subgenres).

So that's it for me. Let's open up some chat here, and if not, well, then this thread will have been a failure, but I suppose that doesn't really matter, since no-one looks here anyway. Let's go!
Hey dude slow the fuck down so we can finish together at the same time.  :biggrin:
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Offline Ultimetalhead

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Re: All musicians unite! - The Musicians Chat Thread
« Reply #1 on: August 26, 2012, 07:22:40 AM »
Guitarist/trumpet player/pianist here. I'm majoring in music education, so I ended up on trumpet because they don't have a metal guitar program at my university (I really wish they did though). I've put out 6 albums as "The Biscuit Merchant" with pretty horrible production/mixing/programmed drums and bass, but I think the songs are mostly pretty good. I played piano for about 7 years when I was a kid, but I gave it up in favor of guitar, and now I'm wishing I hadn't given it up.

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Offline MasterShakezula

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Re: All musicians unite! - The Musicians Chat Thread
« Reply #2 on: August 26, 2012, 07:33:11 AM »
I hit objects with sticks. 

I'm also learning composition and some production on the side, as well. 

I've not been involved in a band, outside of school stuff. 

Offline splent

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Re: All musicians unite! - The Musicians Chat Thread
« Reply #3 on: August 26, 2012, 07:55:14 AM »
Vocalist 1st, keyboardist 2nd.  Can also play a little guitar and a little bass.  I am a music teacher, I just got a job teaching choir and general music at a new high school that just opened last year in Chicago.  We'll see how that goes.

I have been involved in a couple of bands in the past, including a Gentle Giant tribute band.  Those are now on hiatus, and I'm now in another band that plays prog.  We'll see if that takes off, we've only had one practice.  The drummer is in another band who has a big gig in a couple of weeks and we'll practice after that. 
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Offline Sketchy

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Re: All musicians unite! - The Musicians Chat Thread
« Reply #4 on: August 26, 2012, 08:18:11 AM »
Crap keyboardist first, slightly less crap bassist second and aspiring-to-not-be-crap guzheng player third. I record with a friend of mine (but progress is always slow) in a sort of prog-project. I seem to have developed a complete obsession with Chinese music, so that comes out slightly in said project, but I plan to have a later project more dedicated to it. I've never played live, but would quite like to, but for the moment, recording is very interesting to me, and I am also avidly collecting basses (currently have a modified squier P, a fretless and an eight string (octave), and am waiting for a 5 string to arrive).
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Offline WindMaster

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Re: All musicians unite! - The Musicians Chat Thread
« Reply #5 on: August 26, 2012, 10:17:09 AM »
I only listen to electro-post dubprog.  You've probably never heard of it.

Offline BlackInk

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Re: All musicians unite! - The Musicians Chat Thread
« Reply #6 on: August 26, 2012, 12:43:53 PM »
Originally I am a drummer but now I play more guitar than drums. I also play bass and know the absolute basics of keyboard/piano. I write music constantly and am very proud of the recent stuff I have made. I write mostly progressive music under the name of Black Ink and I make all sorts of prog stuff like 20+ minute songs and complicated concept albums.

I will start recording with a friend soon.

Offline carl320

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Re: All musicians unite! - The Musicians Chat Thread
« Reply #7 on: August 26, 2012, 02:57:17 PM »
I play bass, guitar and a little bit of keyboard/piano.  I like playing guitar but bass is my calling (at least musically).  I play in a worship band occasionally and have been working on some music with a friend, but not much else.

I played piano for about 7 years when I was a kid, but I gave it up in favor of guitar, and now I'm wishing I hadn't given it up.

This.  I took lessons for 5 years and stopped when I got my first bass.
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Offline Orbert

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Re: All musicians unite! - The Musicians Chat Thread
« Reply #8 on: August 26, 2012, 04:35:54 PM »
I started on the piano at age 10.  As it happened, my piano teacher's annual recital was three months after I started my lessons, and I played a third-year piece.  I figured okay, I can play piano, don't need any more lessons.  I was an arrogant little snot and honestly did not understand the whole idea of taking lessons for years and years like some people do.  My sister took lessons for like 10 years.  After a couple months, I could read and work the pedals, so I could play the piano as far as I was concerned.  So I quit.

I picked up the flute that year in school, because I wanted to learn a band instrument and it was the smallest, lightest instrument, and I knew I'd be carrying it to and from school.  That was the only reason.  Once again, my choices were colored by laziness and arrogance.  Sitting there in 5th-grade band class every Tuesday and Thursday, I heard Mrs. Pence constantly trying to teach four instruments at once (flute, clarinet, cornet, and trombone) so I basically learned them all just listening to her.  My best friend played trombone and let me borrow it sometimes, and I got pretty good.  I bought a used cornet from the kid across the street and learned to play that, too.  The girl down the street had a clarinet, and that was kinda different.  Boehm system, so it fingers the same, but the register key kicks you up a 12th when you press it and everything shifts.  Whose idea was that?

In high school, I picked up saxophone.  Boehm system again, so it fingers the same, and the register key is an octave, so that made it easy.  In the pit orchestra for the local theater, I told the director I could play Reed 1, which required flute, alto sax, and clarinet, so I actually had to learn to play a clarinet properly.  I still hate the damned thing, but I can play it.

I don't have a great voice, but I have some range and can sing in tune, so I tried out for the madrigal singers my senior year, and actually made it.  I'm naturally a baritone, but we had two basses and no tenors, so I sang tenor (badly IMO).  My senior year in high school was all about music.  I played piano in the jazz band, sax in the symphonic band, and clarinet in the concert band (I just wanted to see if I could do it).  After school, madrigal singers.  Good times.

Somewhere in there, I started playing keyboards in bands, and haven't really stopped.  So I'm going on like 40 years playing in bands of one kind or another.

I wanted to be a band director, so Music Education was my first major.  It made sense; I can play all the instruments.  Also, my favorite teacher was my band director.  Very, very cool dude.  But let's just say that I and the music faculty at Michigan State University have somewhat different ideas of what constitutes a good musician.  So that didn't work out.

These days I sing tenor in the church choir, lead the praise band, and play in another praise band at another church when they need me.  I play keyboards and woodwinds, sing background vocals, and will sing lead vocals if no one else knows the words, but honestly I'd rather just play.

This morning, we gave the organist the day off (it's her birthday) and led the entire service.  Led the hymns, did the anthem and offertory, doxology, opening and closing music, everything.  It was awesome.  There's me, a couple guys who can play some guitar, a guy who plays violin, and a girl who plays flute.  I do all the arrangements, and we all sing.  Our benediction response was a fourfold Amen, a cappella, seven voices.  It was sweet.  Yesterday, we played at a semi-secular thing at the church and did a set of Beatles songs, and I accompanied a guy doing a set of show tunes.  That was pretty sweet, too.

Music is the best.  I pretty much play music any chance I can get (in case you couldn't tell).

Offline Elite

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Re: All musicians unite! - The Musicians Chat Thread
« Reply #9 on: August 26, 2012, 04:52:51 PM »
Cool story! That's pretty awesome if you can play all kinds of different instruments. Makes you versatile and I suppose it makes you a better musician as well. I guess I don't really have enough time to learn everything I'd like to.
Hey dude slow the fuck down so we can finish together at the same time.  :biggrin:
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Offline Metro

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Re: All musicians unite! - The Musicians Chat Thread
« Reply #10 on: August 26, 2012, 09:55:01 PM »
I play guitar, bass, drums, mandolin, piano, trombone, xylophone/marimba, and I'm a decent singer. Guitar is my main instrument though. I've been playing for about 5 years and I've gotten pretty good at it. I'm also in the percussion section in marching band at my high school
Me and a friend(he plays keys/bass) have been trying to start a band for years, but we can't find a drummer. I can play drums, but I don't own a set and there's no room in my house for one. We've written some original stuff. Nothing special, but it's about 2 albums worth of material. I write most of the riffs and lyrics, Alex(my friend) helps me actually piece it together into an actual song.


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Offline necrotomist

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Re: All musicians unite! - The Musicians Chat Thread
« Reply #11 on: August 27, 2012, 02:10:53 AM »
I've been a guitarplayer for over 12 years now. Started out on an acoustic with only 3 strings remaining, trying out Nirvana and RHCP on hearing.
Got my first electric guitar a year later, a cheap Ibanez 7 string (from 3 to 7 strings is pretty shocking at first, haha).
Besides some advice from a more experienced friend, I never took any lessons or anything. Just figured out stuff on my own...

Started a couple of bands with *mindblowing-avantgarde* names such as 'New World Order' and 'Neowar' which was a lot of fun ;)

Ultimatly started something more serious with more experienced musicians called THE END OF ALL REASON (https://www.facebook.com/TheEndOfAllReason). We had a lot of downers the last couple of years but we're still trying to get our new album out there.

Currently working on a side project with my brother (who plays drums in my main band as well). It's way more proggy and hasn't anything to do with Death metal.
No recording plans so far though, still working out the songs.

That's a about it I guess!

Offline Scorpion

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Re: All musicians unite! - The Musicians Chat Thread
« Reply #12 on: August 27, 2012, 05:50:52 AM »
Piano player and composer over here.
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Offline MetalMike06

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Re: All musicians unite! - The Musicians Chat Thread
« Reply #13 on: August 27, 2012, 10:51:24 PM »
Been playing guitar since I was 16. I played violin from when I was 8 until I was 18. Taken a few piano lessons, but had to stop due to financial reasons. I really would love to learn more piano/keys and be able to compose film score sort of stuff more easily. Plus I just love metal with a lot of synth and general symphonic-ness.

Online wolfking

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Re: All musicians unite! - The Musicians Chat Thread
« Reply #14 on: August 28, 2012, 04:37:54 AM »
Guitarist here, of about 16 years.
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Offline Dellers

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Re: All musicians unite! - The Musicians Chat Thread
« Reply #15 on: August 29, 2012, 07:25:26 AM »
I'm a bassist most of the time, but do play other instruments regularly (and used to play a lot of sax from 1995 until a couple of years back, just don't have the time right now). Just finished a 14 minute long progressive metal/rock song with a few oriental influences in it, where I played bass, guitar, keys, electric drums (and therefore being able to get it in time afterwards...) and sang. I cannot sing or write lyrics though, but I kinda needed some vocals musically. Also I'm doing some bass work for people over the internet. I haven't been able to find any interesting band yet, so I'd rather make music for myself instead.
https://soundcloud.com/dellers2/jpxi-o
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Offline Orbert

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Re: All musicians unite! - The Musicians Chat Thread
« Reply #16 on: August 29, 2012, 07:44:45 AM »
You know what really frustrates me?  Instruments that I can't play.  I can play keyboards and woodwinds no problem, been doing it since I was 10.  Brass, I have a working knowledge of.  I know the valve combinations and trombone positions, and with practice I can get up to speed, though my embouchure isn't the greatest.

But stringed and fretted instruments just confound me.  I know the theory, I know that each fret or position is a half step, and I know the intervals between strings and, in theory, how to combine them into chords.  It's just another instrumental technique, and I should be able to do it.  But getting my left hand to contort itself into the necessary positions drives me crazy.  I just can't seem to do it.

Guys who can play both keyboards and any kind of stringed or fretted instrument amaze me.  It's like music from two different, alien worlds, and they can do them both.

Offline necrotomist

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Re: All musicians unite! - The Musicians Chat Thread
« Reply #17 on: August 29, 2012, 07:55:37 AM »
It's like music from two different, alien worlds, and they can do them both.

I myself (as a guitar player) don't struggle too much while attempting to play the piano for instance. And  I always considered my guitar background as the main reason for that... Weird!

Offline BlackInk

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Re: All musicians unite! - The Musicians Chat Thread
« Reply #18 on: August 29, 2012, 09:15:08 AM »
It's certainly two different styles of playing music. But I actually find, in both types, things that are easier than the other type so I can grasp certain aspects of both.

Offline Orbert

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Re: All musicians unite! - The Musicians Chat Thread
« Reply #19 on: August 29, 2012, 09:59:02 AM »
One of my best friends started as a guitarist and now plays some keyboards in his band.  I'm jealous as hell.  He says it's really not that different; each string is just its own keyboard, and you really just have to keep track of six notes at a time.  Wow, thanks dude, that doesn't help a bit. :(

Seriously, I'm sure it was meant to be helpful, but he's got a grip on it and putting it into words has got to be tough.  It just didn't help me as much as he thought it would.

What I really need to do is actually sit and practice with a guitar more, which I don't do because I suck and I get too frustrated.  Every other instrument I've tried, I've played actually songs on in minutes.  Guitars... not so much.

Offline Sketchy

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Re: All musicians unite! - The Musicians Chat Thread
« Reply #20 on: August 29, 2012, 12:22:26 PM »
To be honest, I suck with standard guitars, but I can handle bass because it tends to just be simple patterns that can be applied all over. (Guitars have that wierdly tuned B string and play chords, and my hands do not like to do that crazy twisting).

I would love to get good at dizi (a bamboo flute) as I own one, but never got round to learning it.
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Offline Elite

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Re: All musicians unite! - The Musicians Chat Thread
« Reply #21 on: August 31, 2012, 04:49:35 PM »
To be honest, I suck with standard guitars, but I can handle bass because it tends to just be simple patterns that can be applied all over. (Guitars have that wierdly tuned B string and play chords, and my hands do not like to do that crazy twisting).

It takes some time getting used to, I suppose, but if you persist anything can be learned.
Hey dude slow the fuck down so we can finish together at the same time.  :biggrin:
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Offline Sketchy

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Re: All musicians unite! - The Musicians Chat Thread
« Reply #22 on: September 02, 2012, 02:53:17 AM »
True, true.

Have you ever got a song stuck in your head with an unusual (for your type of music) scale, and then come up with something based on that?
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Offline TheLordOfTheStrings

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Re: All musicians unite! - The Musicians Chat Thread
« Reply #23 on: September 02, 2012, 04:02:26 AM »
I make music. My instrument is the guitar. Sometimes it's embarrassing to say that I play guitar because everyone plays guitar and people just assume I'm just another guitar player. I don't think I'm the greatest shredder out there, but I write music from my heart not my brain. I write progressive metal music, but nothing like DT. My writing style is very much like that of Mark Tremonti from the band Alter Bridge. The only thing DT like about my music is it's attitude. Kinda hard to explain.
Check out my various music projects - I’ve got concept albums, singer/songwriter, rock, metal, prog, and more coming soon:

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Offline Elite

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Re: All musicians unite! - The Musicians Chat Thread
« Reply #24 on: September 02, 2012, 11:00:18 AM »
True, true.

Have you ever got a song stuck in your head with an unusual (for your type of music) scale, and then come up with something based on that?

Absolutely. :)
For some weird reason I 'write' the most of my music in the shower or while cycling, in my head.
Hey dude slow the fuck down so we can finish together at the same time.  :biggrin:
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Offline BlackInk

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Re: All musicians unite! - The Musicians Chat Thread
« Reply #25 on: September 03, 2012, 02:33:11 AM »
Happens to m too. I would have a song stuck in my head, try playing it on the guitar or something and eventually it evolves into something different enough for me to use it as my own.

Offline Zydar

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Re: All musicians unite! - The Musicians Chat Thread
« Reply #26 on: September 03, 2012, 02:40:59 AM »
Guitarist/bass player here. I started playing guitar when I was about 10 (20 years ago), and switched to the bass guitar about 4 years ago. Now I play the bass in a band, and I love it. Having played the guitar so many years before switching really made the transition a lot easier. I mainly play root oriented stuff, but have begun breaking out of that and try to come up with nice patterns and riffs for variation. I play with a pick about 90% of the time, since I like the attack I'm getting on the strings (and I'm so used to it since my guitar playing days), but I'm trying to play without a pick more and more now for versatility.
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Offline Elite

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Re: All musicians unite! - The Musicians Chat Thread
« Reply #27 on: September 03, 2012, 02:47:21 AM »
Cool, what kind of music do you play mostly?
Hey dude slow the fuck down so we can finish together at the same time.  :biggrin:
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Offline Zydar

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Re: All musicians unite! - The Musicians Chat Thread
« Reply #28 on: September 03, 2012, 05:47:01 AM »
Cool, what kind of music do you play mostly?

We play rock/pop, in the vein of bands like Foo Fighters and Sahara Hotnights.

Here's our two most recent songs we've written and recorded:

Until The End
Supernova
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Offline Sketchy

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Re: All musicians unite! - The Musicians Chat Thread
« Reply #29 on: September 05, 2012, 01:24:56 PM »
Yeah, so it's becoming increasingly likely that if it's not possible to find a pipa player who can also either sing or play instruments more commonly found in rock (ie. Guitar/keys/maybe even violin, reeds or woodwinds) that I may have to go and get one and teach myself to play it (I have a friend who said she'd play it on some things as a session musician, but she's very difficult to get hold of sometimes).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pipa (for anyone wondering what the balls a pipa is)

Well, here's to collecting chinese folk instruments, I guess...
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Offline Elite

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Re: All musicians unite! - The Musicians Chat Thread
« Reply #30 on: September 05, 2012, 04:50:21 PM »
Cool stuff Zydar!

I actually knew what a pipa is (musicology student, yay!), but good luck practising that.
I'm currently learning the guitar solo in Innocence Faded (basically the whole end), for some reason I hadn't done that before.
Hey dude slow the fuck down so we can finish together at the same time.  :biggrin:
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Offline Sketchy

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Re: All musicians unite! - The Musicians Chat Thread
« Reply #31 on: September 06, 2012, 06:42:59 AM »
Nice. That solo is so damn good. Good luck with it.
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Offline Dekost

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Re: All musicians unite! - The Musicians Chat Thread
« Reply #32 on: September 06, 2012, 07:08:58 AM »
Keyboard/piano player and composer here :)
https://soundcloud.com/dekost That's my soundcloud page if you want to check out some of my stuff

Offline OsMosis2259

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Re: All musicians unite! - The Musicians Chat Thread
« Reply #33 on: September 06, 2012, 08:46:56 AM »
Songwriter here... My main instrument is guitar and I contribute on vocals. I also play the drums and the bass as well and overall just enjoy writing/recording music at my home as a hobby.

Genre that I usually play is hard rock/metal/alternative/acoustic etc.

Here is the latest song that I recorded and put up on youtube a few days ago:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lCj24QG_P7Q

The guitars are in Drop Db tuning recorded through Line 6 POD HD
Created the drums in ezDrummer
Used a condenser mic for vocals
Mixed in Reaper


Offline BlackInk

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Re: All musicians unite! - The Musicians Chat Thread
« Reply #34 on: September 07, 2012, 10:05:58 AM »
Keyboard/piano player and composer here :)
https://soundcloud.com/dekost That's my soundcloud page if you want to check out some of my stuff
Listening now. Opinion so far; Lithe Fluctuation is really great, nice flow and great sense of melody.