All musicians unite! - The Musicians Chat Thread

[Orbert]

Okay, I'll just call you a "real keyboard player".

There's comfort in knowing exactly what you'll get when you pull up a certain patch.  Then after a while, yeah, if you're doing it every night, it can get a bit boring and samey.  We tended to mess around with the set list a bit, though, so that helped.  Some songs were reserved for the last set, the real rippers; newer or weaker songs were usually first set when not as many people will hear it and we'd get a chance to play them again.  I keep a list of songs and patches taped to the keyboard, so I can pull up any song and not have to worry about it.  Aside from a genuine synth solo (which I never get), that really about as much on-the-fly as I like during a live performance.

[Orbert]

Speaking of live performance, this is from this morning.  For Mother's Day, our choir director gave the ladies the day off, so the men sang a silly song.  We wore hats.



Every picture of our choir looks like this.  Everybody else's faces are buried in the music, and I'm making eye contact with the audience congregation.  The song was simple; I had it memorized after the second time through, and I guess I just figured everyone else would, too.  Literally half of the song was the same words over and over.  I thought it would be cool to take it all the way, do silly hand motions or whatever, but the other guys wanted their music.  I flipped mine open and held it the whole song, but never looked at it, never turned the pages.

I don't know.  I don't know if that's "wrong" or what.  But singing in a choir is, to me, not that different from any other musical ensemble.  Make eye contact, look like you're actually enjoying the song.  If I have to, I glance down and read the next line, then look up and sing it.  Guys, it's not that hard.  I'm not trying to show up the others, but I'm not gonna bury my face in the music, either.  I can't do that.

[Scorpion]

A fucking men.

At our choir rehearsals, we have to start everything at least twice because people are looking into their music which causes them to not be able to read the tempo our conductor wants. Rather annoying.

[Nihil-Morari]

Oh totally. Last night I had a discussion with my dad about a Dutch classical ensemble, way too corny, usually not that great, but the conductor forbids sheet music, so that the instrumentalists can make contact with the audience. It's really strange that in classical music no one ever makes contact with the audience. The only one would be the conductor, but he is even facing the wrong way!

[Kotowboy]

Some of the shittiest music we had to learn on my degree was by chick corea.

The two we had to learn were " Got A Match ? " and " Spain ".

I loathed both of them. Unlike most people on my degree - I left hating jazz even more than before I went. . .

Haha, both classics, I've learned those too. I must say that I like that side of Jazz music a bit more than all the blue note, tsjing-tsj-tsj-tsjing music. The middle of the road kind of jazz.

We didn't have to play it at that tempo - but when we got our sheet music for Got A Match? We all assumed that 320BPM was a joke or a page number.

It doesn't need to be that speed...I looked up live videos of it and there's no groove or feel to it at all.

It made me think that people assume that metal or prog is all fast for the sake of it but then there's stuff like Got A Match which is just way too fast.

[Nihil-Morari]

I vividly remember all the discussions with the jazz lovers about feel, groove and melody. Prog and Jazz fans are the biggest snobs in the music world (well, together with classical music listeners, but they don't even know that there's other music out there, so that doesn't count), so we never reached a consensus. I mean, what's the actual difference between a Charlie Parker solo and say a fast Guthrie Govan solo? Just the fact that Charlie Parker changes keys and scales more often?

[Kotowboy]

Before I went I knew we'd be subjected to a shit ton of jazz and charts. I also knew that there would be several students who would pretend to enjoy it because they think they should.

I hated Jazz before I went and I hated it even more after I left. I've never seen the appeal of that kind of music. I get nothing out of it melodically, rhythmically, harmonically.

Quartal harmony to me sounds like when someone plays guitar who's never played one before and they just play all the strings with one finger up and down the neck.

[hefdaddy42]

My youngest daughter has been taking trumpet all year at school, and she is getting pretty good.  I recently introduced her to Chicago, which she loved.

She also started ukelele lessons last night, and can already play a few pieces.

My oldest daughter plays guitar, piano, percussion/pit instruments (marching band), and dabbles in violin and bass.

I play guitar and drums and dabble in bass.  I can also sing.

My wife sings, very well too I might add.

Maybe we can be a new Partridge Family or something.

[Orbert]

I had dreams of such a thing, years ago.  My wife and I are both musicians, and our kids have both inherited a certain degree of talent.  The problem is that they have no interest.  My son took orchestra, then band, then guitar (they teach guitar at the high school), then... nothing.  After quitting each of them, he's never looked back.  He'd rather play video games.

My daughter has more talent and more interest, but less free time and something had to go.  She took orchestra and stuck with it for three or four years, also took guitar, and now has no time due to skating, work, and of course school.

So no Partridge Family: The Next Generation in the Orbert house.

[hefdaddy42]

We have done a version of that.  For a few years, my wife and I occasionally did acoustic shows at various churches and a local Christian coffee house - her singing lead, me playing guitar and singing backup, and my eldest playing percussion.  That was fun.

[Kotowboy]

I've known for a very long time that i'm not destined to be a successful musician.

[Tick]

I'm disappointed no one has bothered to listen to my original music. I'm proud of what I'm doing right now. Oh well.

[Kotowboy]

I know. It's so difficult to get people interested in your original music...

[Tick]

I know. It's so difficult to get people interested in your original music...

I love original music! I appreciate musicians who make the effort! Especially when its quality! I can't stand juke box cover bands! They all suck in my neck of the woods. Terrible waste of time for me to be bothered listening to crappy cover bands in bars filled with drunken stunods.

[sneakyblueberry]

I'm disappointed no one has bothered to listen to my original music. I'm proud of what I'm doing right now. Oh well.

I know. It's so difficult to get people interested in your original music...

I know the feeling, I remember posting my music thread that noone ever listened to, or commented on.  It made me second guess myself a lot, but meh I dunno.  If you're playing gigs and stuff and you know people are into it round your neck of the woods then you probably shouldn't worry about a couple posts, or lack thereof, on an internet forum

[BlackInk]

Lack of comments are disappointing sometimes, indeed. But after 8 years of writing, it's still the love of creating that keeps me going, not comments I get on the internet, even if those are obviously always appreciated when it happens.

[Nihil-Morari]

Lack of comments are disappointing sometimes, indeed. But after 8 years of writing, it's still the love of creating that keeps me going, not comments I get on the internet, even if those are obviously always appreciated when it happens.

I've written hours of music in the last 5 years, but I've never even played anyone most of my tunes. I like the fact that I'm exploring my own creativity, and when I finally get some sort of finished product, or the time is right, I'll make sure everyone hears it.

[Tick]

Lack of comments are disappointing sometimes, indeed. But after 8 years of writing, it's still the love of creating that keeps me going, not comments I get on the internet, even if those are obviously always appreciated when it happens.

I hear ya. I do it because I love it. In your mind you think when you post something everyone is going to want to hear what your doing. People are busy and only have so much time for stuff like that. I do understand.

[Orbert]

I gotta be honest, I don't come here to check out original music, and part of that is because I'm usually surfing at work and can't hear anything anyway, and the other part is mostly because if I'm surfing from home, I have tunes on, and I'm just too fucking lazy.  I would have to pause my tunes, and click a link.  That's just too much effort for me.

Lucien wrote the opening movement to a symphony.  A symphony!  I had to check that out.  But really, I'm rarely in the mood to check out new music, by the members here or anyone else.  I'm old and set in my ways, and I just want to listen to the same shit I've been listening to for 40 years.

I suppose that if there was any place where the "quality" of original composition could be presumed to be higher than average, it would be a place like this, so I should probably make more of an effort.  If I ever manage to get my shit together and write down some of the things that have been floating around in my head for decades, I would want to share it and see what people think.  But it's hard to get other people interested in even checking it out.  I'm sure you understand.

I do understand.

[hefdaddy42]

Tick, I will try to make time to check out your stuff this weekend.  I am interested.

[Tick]

I gotta be honest, I don't come here to check out original music, and part of that is because I'm usually surfing at work and can't hear anything anyway, and the other part is mostly because if I'm surfing from home, I have tunes on, and I'm just too fucking lazy.  I would have to pause my tunes, and click a link.  That's just too much effort for me.

Lucien wrote the opening movement to a symphony.  A symphony!  I had to check that out.  But really, I'm rarely in the mood to check out new music, by the members here or anyone else.  I'm old and set in my ways, and I just want to listen to the same shit I've been listening to for 40 years.

I suppose that if there was any place where the "quality" of original composition could be presumed to be higher than average, it would be a place like this, so I should probably make more of an effort.  If I ever manage to get my shit together and write down some of the things that have been floating around in my head for decades, I would want to share it and see what people think.  But it's hard to get other people interested in even checking it out.  I'm sure you understand.

I do understand.

Thanks for putting that sentence to good use!

Tick, I will try to make time to check out your stuff this weekend.  I am interested.

Thanks, Hef!

[Calvin6s]

Is it bad form to put a link to one's "check out my music" in their sig.  I was going to check out Tick's, but I wasn't sure where it was here and I didn't have time to do a search.

[hefdaddy42]

Is it bad form to put a link to one's "check out my music" in their sig.

Nope.

[Nihil-Morari]

Is it bad form to put a link to one's "check out my music" in their sig.

Nope.

On the contrary, I'd love to see that! For everybody that is composing.

[Tick]

Is it bad form to put a link to one's "check out my music" in their sig.  I was going to check out Tick's, but I wasn't sure where it was here and I didn't have time to do a search.

I'm clueless on that but here ya go!
https://www.reverbnation.com/play_now/23516134?utm_campaign=a_public_songs&utm_medium=facebook&utm_source=page_object_news_item

[BlackInk]

A guy I used to work with has a band and I went to see them play last night. Turns out their bass player is Per Wiberg, former keyboard player for Opeth. That was pretty cool. Killer gig too.

[Orbert]

I'm not sure why, but it always blows me away when someone you know actually knows and/or plays with someone "famous".  Opeth isn't super-huge, but they're big time, I mean a real band with CDs and everything, so even being in a band with their former keyboard player is like a brush with greatness.  Just a few degrees of separation and all that.

Our drummer used to do a lot of session work in the Chicago area, including a gig at the Trump Tower for the Australian Consulate, and he toured with Bette Midler for a while.  Our last bass player is also a local actor and recently worked on a movie with Alicia Silverstone.  I figure that's about as close to brushing with famous people as I'm ever gonna get.

[James Mypetgiress]

I was just reading here and seeing people just rip into cover bands. What about bands like mine, who "cover" a song, but in a different style? Again, going back to my band as an example, taking DT songs, but doing it in chiptune (video game music) style. Just interested in people's opinions on this?

[Orbert]

I think it takes both guts and creativity to play someone else's song, but change it and make it your own.  I grew up in the 70's, which meant I heard all the Manfred Mann cover version of Bruce Springsteen songs (they had three altogether which were hits) and never realized that they were covers.  Then when I heard Bruce's originals, even though I liked Bruce at the time, I was kinda disappointed.  I mean, disappointed in the originals.  The songs themselves were quite basic, not much more than voice and guitar, but Manfred Mann had taken them and really done something unique with them.

All that said, I'm not sure how it would work with a bar band doing their own take on a known song.  With DT, it could probably work because most people wouldn't know the original song, so they'd just hear a song and judge the performance on its own merits.  That's actually good.  But I'm guessing that for the few who do recognize the song, their reaction would be "WTF?  They've completely changed the song!  What is this?"  Seeing it played live in a bar is a one-and-done deal.  There's not much time for the audience to get to appreciate what you've done with the arrangement, because they first have to get over the shock that they recognize the song and your band "isn't playing it right".

It can work.  People can be open-minded and enjoy what you've done with it.  But man, it's risky.  That's why I say it take both guts and creativity to do something like that.

[James Mypetgiress]

hmm, interesting. So far, we've not really gotten any negativity, I guess nobody noticed that it was anything related to Dream Theater 

[Orbert]

If anyone recognized it as a Dream Theater song, I'm sure they'd let you know.  If I ever heard someone playing DT in a bar, I would be absolutely sure to let them know that I recognized it.

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In other news, I played some Frank Zappa in church today.  Okay, just one measure, but it was some.  I've been learning "Evelyn, A Modified Dog" for my own amusement, and it's in A, and starts with a wacky E7 arpeggio.  Our opening song today in church is in A, and I was playing the piano for it, so I did the "Evelyn" arpeggio, then kicked into the regular song.

So it wasn't much, and I was the only one in the building who even knew what I'd done, but I did it, and yeah, I'm proud of it.  I played some Frank Zappa, and segued into "Halle, Halle, Hallelujah!"  (Frank would not have been proud.)  You have to take these little accomplishments where you can get them.

[Nihil-Morari]

I'd love to do stuff like that while I'm working. I teach music to 12-13 year olds, and when we're singing some random popsong, I'd love to pop in some whackey suspended dominant, or other chords.


And Tick: listening to your music right now, sounds cool! Straight rock song, not really my cup of tea, but the live songs sound great!

[sneakyblueberry]

In other news, I played some Frank Zappa in church today.  Okay, just one measure, but it was some.  I've been learning "Evelyn, A Modified Dog" for my own amusement, and it's in A, and starts with a wacky E7 arpeggio.  Our opening song today in church is in A, and I was playing the piano for it, so I did the "Evelyn" arpeggio, then kicked into the regular song.

So it wasn't much, and I was the only one in the building who even knew what I'd done, but I did it, and yeah, I'm proud of it.  I played some Frank Zappa, and segued into "Halle, Halle, Hallelujah!"  (Frank would not have been proud.)  You have to take these little accomplishments where you can get them.

Haha, that's great.  I like sneaking in little stuff like that during worship.  I remember sneaking the chords (or an approximation of them - as close as I could get in standard tuning) for Zep's Rain Song into one particular song.  There's a Bon Iver chord progression that I like to pop in when I can, also some Florence and The Machine and a Joanna Newsom progression I'm particularly fond of.  I'm not sure I ever got any Zappa in, although I may have popped the main theme from Peaches En Regalia into one of our pre-service jams.  Good fun, I can't wait for the day someone notices them

[Tick]

I'd love to do stuff like that while I'm working. I teach music to 12-13 year olds, and when we're singing some random popsong, I'd love to pop in some whackey suspended dominant, or other chords.


And Tick: listening to your music right now, sounds cool! Straight rock song, not really my cup of tea, but the live songs sound great!

Thanks for listening!

[hefdaddy42]

Last week at our church we did a "combined" service (traditional and contemporary together - which is not normally my preference).  Our worship band was asked to do "Lord I Lift Your Name On High" which is completely boring, so we worked up an arrangement that sounded like Steve Miller's "The Joker."