Any musicians around here?

[SquidVicious]

I played trumpet in elementary school and middle school but gave it up around 8th grade to focus on guitar instead, of which I've played for about 13 years give or take, although my dedication to the instrument has waned somewhat. Earlier this year I picked up a 5-string banjo and a 4-string tenor banjo as well as a mandolin and have largely be focusing on new genres I never learned to play like bluegrass and traditional Irish folk music, which has reinvigorated my passion with guitar. Now I probably spend more time playing music than I do video games.

 

[IvoryTriforce]

Hey there, welcome to The Escapist!

I play a couple of instruments - I've been playing guitar now for 7 years or so and bass for 3 years, both of which I consider my main instruments, but I also play a bunch of folk instruments like mandolin, banjo, ukelele, tin whistle and most recently the ocarina. I tried to learn piano once but I was rubbish D: Mostly I play rock, punk and metal, along with the occasional bits and pieces of folk and blues, so I like to think I have at least a little bit of variety in my music

This reminded me! I did play bass and ukulele for a bit, I've also been in and out of various small rock bands. I always enjoy my punk, metal, and alt rock.

 

[IvoryTriforce]

Sidenote: With how many people play instrments/sing, an Escapist band would be awesome.... *daydreams*

Once I get my stuff set up for digital recording then I will definitely look into starting something here, that is if people are interested other than myself.

[sub]Covers, covers everywhere.[/sub]

 

[IvoryTriforce]

Just thought I'd say to anybody envious of others' "talent": all it takes to be good at music (or anything, for that matter) is practice. Nobody's born with an innate virtuosity; we all get there with practice. My point is that even if you don't think you have what it takes to be better at music, you do!

Bingo!

Talent is a small part of being good at music. Many of us overcome a lack of natural talent through practice & hard work

Practice makes talent, put that on a poster!

[sub]Also, hi! You're pretty awesome .[/sub]

 

[MiracleOfSound]

Just thought I'd say to anybody envious of others' "talent": all it takes to be good at music (or anything, for that matter) is practice. Nobody's born with an innate virtuosity; we all get there with practice. My point is that even if you don't think you have what it takes to be better at music, you do!

Bingo!

Talent is a small part of being good at music. Many of us overcome a lack of natural talent through practice & hard work

Practice makes talent, put that on a poster!

[sub]Also, hi! You're pretty awesome .[/sub]

Cheers!

 

[IvoryTriforce]

i play guitar, have done for around... 8 years now? in the last 2 years i've finally started learning musical theory, wish i'd started earlier =[

It's not critical but it helps you understand sheet a bit better, also helps if you're a hardcore song writer. I only took it very minor for 1 year in high school, but even that little bit nudged me in a good direction.

 

[IvoryTriforce]

Just thought I'd say to anybody envious of others' "talent": all it takes to be good at music (or anything, for that matter) is practice. Nobody's born with an innate virtuosity; we all get there with practice. My point is that even if you don't think you have what it takes to be better at music, you do!

Bingo!

Talent is a small part of being good at music. Many of us overcome a lack of natural talent through practice & hard work

Practice makes talent, put that on a poster!

[sub]Also, hi! You're pretty awesome .[/sub]

Cheers!

Do you play piano too? Sorry, I'm also new to every content creator that isn't Yahtzee lol. Saw the expo panels and enjoyed the panels you were on. Also heard from TB that you made a song for the podcast, a nice creation as well.

 

[sky14kemea]

Sidenote: With how many people play instrments/sing, an Escapist band would be awesome.... *daydreams*

Once I get my stuff set up for digital recording then I will definitely look into starting something here, that is if people are interested other than myself.

[sub]Covers, covers everywhere.[/sub]

Yessssss, please PM me if you do start something that is, if you remember...

Note to self: buy a better Mic for Christmas. ^^

 

[MiracleOfSound]

Do you play piano too? Sorry, I'm also new to every content creator that isn't Yahtzee lol. Saw the expo panels and enjoyed the panels you were on. Also heard from TB that you made a song for the podcast, a nice creation as well.

A little bit yeah. Enough to play what I need for MOS stuff. Self taught, not a very good piano player!

 

[Weaver]

Do you play piano too? Sorry, I'm also new to every content creator that isn't Yahtzee lol. Saw the expo panels and enjoyed the panels you were on. Also heard from TB that you made a song for the podcast, a nice creation as well.

A little bit yeah. Enough to play what I need for MOS stuff. Self taught, not a very good piano player!

I have a question too if you don't mind

Do you master your own tracks? If you do, what do you use to do it? Any good tips you can lend?
I still really struggle with a good master. I'm getting much better at making the initial mix good at least.

 

[IvoryTriforce]

Do you play piano too? Sorry, I'm also new to every content creator that isn't Yahtzee lol. Saw the expo panels and enjoyed the panels you were on. Also heard from TB that you made a song for the podcast, a nice creation as well.

A little bit yeah. Enough to play what I need for MOS stuff. Self taught, not a very good piano player!

Keep at it! I'm having fun with it and I'm completely self taught (as far as playing the piano goes). Best thing is no spending on picks, strings and a capo lol. Solo piano pieces are a fun challenge (My love for Zelda music pushes me to that) but I also enjoy playing more chord based songs for fun too (Ex. Hey Jude).

 

[Something Amyss]

Sidenote: With how many people play instrments/sing, an Escapist band would be awesome.... *daydreams*

Do you need any tambourine? I play both acoustic and electric!

>.>

 

[MiracleOfSound]

Do you master your own tracks? If you do, what do you use to do it? Any good tips you can lend?
I still really struggle with a good master. I'm getting much better at making the initial mix down at least.

Mastering is tricky, an art unto itself.

Most important rules:

Good mix is most important. Mastering isn't going to fix anything that's broken

Find some songs you like the sound of to A/B with (I use Prodigy's 'Omen', Alanis Morissette 'You Oughta KNow', Nirvana 'On A Plain', Killers 'Mr Brightside' and Foo Fighters 'Bridge Burning'

Keep it quiet - if your mix is too loud, it makes mastering a nightmare

Careful with the limiter - Too much limiting will make your track loud as fuck but squash all the lovely dynamics out. I use the Pro-L by Fab Filter, much prefer it to the Waves L3, has a much more natural sound when it starts compressing Sam Hulick recommended it to me and I've never looked back.

 

[Julius Terrell]

Welcome to the escapist IoryTriforce! We can always use a new face around here.

I'm a singer of professional caliber. It just seems like there isn't as many options for us singers as there are for people who play an instrument. I'm trying to get a degree in music so that I can sing professionally. It's a hard road indeed.

edit: I sing classical music and I specialize in instrumental music such as electronic music.

 

[piinyouri]

Kinda.
I bang my drums every so often.
Some people think I'm not too bad.
I think I'm pretty shit.

 

[Weaver]

Do you master your own tracks? If you do, what do you use to do it? Any good tips you can lend?
I still really struggle with a good master. I'm getting much better at making the initial mix down at least.

Mastering is tricky, an art unto itself.

Most important rules:

Good mix is most important. Mastering isn't going to fix anything that's broken

Find some songs you like the sound of to A/B with (I use Prodigy's 'Omen', Alanis Morissette 'You Oughta KNow', Nirvana 'On A Plain', Killers 'Mr Brightside' and Foo Fighters 'Bridge Burning'

Keep it quiet - if your mix is too loud, it makes mastering a nightmare

Careful with the limiter - Too much limiting will make your track loud as fuck but squash all the lovely dynamics out. I use the Pro-L by Fab Filter, much prefer it to the Waves L3, has a much more natural sound when it starts compressing Sam Hulick recommended it to me and I've never looked back.

Yeah, it's tricky lol. I'll download the demo of that filter and try it out in my DAW next time I've finished a track (I start 10x more than I actually complete). Thanks for the tips!

As a side note, I've noticed in the past 5 - 10 years or so the complete over compression of music in general. Wave forms are starting to look like big fat rectangles, at least in the music I generally listen to. I DJ as well and I've ripped music from some old vinyl I have and the waveform is nice and dynamic vs. lots of the newer stuff that is totally overcommpressed and just... I dunno, has a real "wall of sound" slam in your face sound to it. That can be good to a point, but I find it gets really tiring.

Regardless, thanks for the input! I'll keep working on my mastering and I won't overlimit my channels

 

[GiantRaven]

I'm a Guitarist/Bassist. Used to be in a band a long time back but haven't really done anything of that sorts for a long time now. These days I'm mostly doing LSDJ programming on my Gameboy. I released my first album [http://ravenstone.bandcamp.com/] on bandcamp a month or two, which was a fun experience.

I'd really like to get back into some rock or metal type stuff though. Unfortunately my job pretty much wouldn't give me any time to practise with people.

 

[EscapeGoat_v1legacy]

This reminded me! I did play bass and ukulele for a bit, I've also been in and out of various small rock bands. I always enjoy my punk, metal, and alt rock.

Bass and uke are a lot more fun than I thought they'd be. There's just something intrinsically happy-sounding about ukeleles that make them such a joy to play. And, as a guitarist, I used to have that really obnoxious idea that bass was just a stripped-down guitar and I've never been happier to be so wrong in my life As much as I love my punk and metal, I'm currently involved in a prog project, getting to play around with weird time signatures and alternate tunings. Lots of fun

Sidenote: With how many people play instruments/sing, an Escapist band would be awesome.... *daydreams*

I agree! With so many different kinds of musicians and genres here, what kind of awe-inspiring hyper-genre would the Escapist band be?

 

[Battenberg]

Welcome to The Escapist!

I play guitar myself, mostly acoustic stuff although I do love playing Muse and Incubus songs. One day (i.e. when I can afford it) I'd like to learn to play the violin and maybe the trumpet to essentially be a one man band. Learning drums and piano would also be cool but I don't see any way I'd be able to do that for years because of the size of the instruments.

 

[TheRightToArmBears]

I've played the bass for the last nine years...

Just thought I'd say to anybody envious of others' "talent": all it takes to be good at music (or anything, for that matter) is practice. Nobody's born with an innate virtuosity; we all get there with practice. My point is that even if you don't think you have what it takes to be better at music, you do!

...Although this is something I took far too long to realise. These days I'm quite confident with my playing, but it's only been in the last three or so years that I feel that way because I put a lot more effort into it.

Also, fuzz pedals. Fuzz pedals make everything more fun.

I tend to play a lot of rock and metal, although my old teacher was a blues guitarist so when I do my own thing I tend to have a bit of a bluesy style, partially because a lot of metal bass playing isn't wildly exciting and also because I suspect the blues is just piss easy.