Instruments

[Apex]

What do you currently play?

I still dabble on the guitar and my 5-string bass on occasion. Right now it is violin. Man, I used to hate strings, but now I really appreciate them.

Enjoying it.

Also, the shop had the sticker on this one at $350 and dropped it to $200 because they didn't have a cheaper one in stock. Still, they made off well with my getting $200 in accessories. yay



I could have just got a new flute, or got new pads on the sax, but I have been very interested in stringed instruments for a while. Figured I'd give it a go.


EDIT: dang title typo....the S in instrument didn't go through. Doh!
EDIT x2: Still didn't fix it. @Alex, can you help me out here?

[Ninjinsky]

Guitars (10 assorted strats, fat strats, LP standard and a nice 335 copy ) and Keyboards (primarily Korg DSS-1.) also a singer but voice is not what it was in my youth.

I see you have found Lindsey Stirling

[Apex]

Yes. I took photos at her concert (had a press pass) when she passed through Houston.


She isn't the reason I chose it. It is just such an amazing solo instrument, with TONS of great pieces. That was my main reason for choosing.

[Ninjinsky]

I've just seen the pics in Photography !
I just can't believe the syncronicity there, I really didn't know you had those up.
Have amended my post

Okay I'll say the beautiful "Lark Ascending" RVW

From 2:10 probably the most sublime strings in the universe

Link to original page on YouTube.

[Apex]

Nice! I love slow music.

Downloaded!


I guess that is why I liked tuba so much back in high school. Slow, and able to put tons of feeling into each note.


Oh, and I know your pain with the singing. I lost my voice once and it was shot after that. Wasn't all that great to begin with. My only saving grace is being able to hear sharps/flats so well, it makes up for it somewhat.

I've always been an instrument person myself. I have a Strat Squire, Memphis 4-string bass, Kirk Hammet ESP, and a Fender 5-string Jazz bass. My amps are just low end Crate amps. I had a big Crate, but it was twice the size of my small amp and I really didn't need the power, so I sold it to my little brother.

I have a Roland XP-60 collecting dust right now. Like-new condition. It will be sold off soon.

[Rifleman]

4 string Bass, I can play the skins if the drummer hasn't shown up yet, or is in jail.



Clarinet, but currently I've made it into a lamp.

[Ninjinsky]

Excellent Rifleman, and a harp in the house, which, as a Welshman, I appreciate

[Apex]

I'm telling you, instruments are a big addiction. At least I haven't blown 8k on the rotary valved tuba I've been wanting. Gotta keep things simple.


I want to see the clarinet lamp!

[Rifleman]

Lyon & Healy Petite 40

My daughter plays it, furnature, art, and music all in one

https://www.lyonhealy.com/pedal-chicago-petite-40.htm

I'll get a picture of the Clarinet lamp when i get home... Nice thing about it is you can take the lamp apart and use the clarinet if you want. I gave one to the U of I marching band kids that were living in the Clarinet house.

[Rifleman]

The Clarinet lamp

[Apex]

Originally Posted by Rifleman

Lyon & Healy Petite 40

My daughter plays it, furnature, art, and music all in one

https://www.lyonhealy.com/pedal-chicago-petite-40.htm

I'll get a picture of the Clarinet lamp when i get home... Nice thing about it is you can take the lamp apart and use the clarinet if you want. I gave one to the U of I marching band kids that were living in the Clarinet house.

Mad respect for anyone who takes on harp. It sounds amazing, and is a complete pain to transport.

Originally Posted by Rifleman

The Clarinet lamp

That is awesome! Makes me want to grab a used one and make one myself. lol

My wife would have something to say about that.

[Apex]

Since I got the violin this week, I typically have played at least 1.5 hours a day (most being 3-4, somewhere in there). Muscles are not used to all the playing. Won't have much time to practice today or this weekend. Back to it on Monday.

[Rifleman]

we used to tell her when she was young, that she could help wash the dishes, or play "dish washing music" on the harp... dish washing music was nice...

unfortunately my son wanted to play the bag pipes, we got him a chanter and he practiced on that... but for true pipes... oh lord'y I'd have to sound proof the basement...

My daughter just graduated from U of I with a music ed degree... it's actually easier to name the instruments she can not play... My son played Tuba and Sousaphone... marched in the Tournament of Roses parade in Pasadena. What a hoot.

I keep a watch on Ebay for 'parts only' clarinets, usually 20 to 40 bux... didn't want to take a working clarinet away from some kid, so when i found one that had pads missing or cracked barrel or what have you, I'd snatch it up and make a lamp out of it... one for my dad, one for my daughter, one for me, one for the clarinet house in Champaign

I'm looking for a trumpet that is sad to do the same thing with... just trying to figure out if there is a way to go through the valve with out wrecking things, would like to keep it in "non-modified" condition if possible.

[Apex]

I was going to chase a music degree, but my high school band director ruined that for me. I enjoyed playing tuba in the band/marching band. What hurt me was him being a complete and total butthead. For some reason he sure liked to single me out, in a somewhat bully-esque way. I just snapped and quit in my junior year. I came back my senior year because I missed playing. Still, ruined my taste for music for years. Took a while to get back into it.

I shouldn't have had that push me away from music, but I was an angry kid too, held grudges. It just pushed me away from wanting to pursue music. At least I am enjoying it these days!



I couldn't imagine bagpipes blaring in the house. hahaha They sound great though! How about Uilleann pipes?

I have a bodhran as well. Forgot about that. I was getting good and then life got in the way. Plus, it is hard finding people who would want to jam to Celtic music. Very small following there. haha

[subxero]

I dabble with the guitar, have been dabbling for 10 yrs I'd say. Like to play the acoustic and electric about the same, they both do something different for me.

my acoustic isn't fancy but sounds and plays good, can't even remember what it is lol
My current electric is a Ibanez SZ520 with solid neck body. I like it. Pic below (not my actual guitar) I used to have an esp LTD 7 string with emg's, I liked it but didn't love it. Someone made me a good offer on it and I couldn't pass it up. I don't get a chance to play electric that much anymore anyway so it was just sitting around.

I have a drum kit, I played drums for a few years, was in a band for a bit, haven't touched them for awhile as I was storing them at my sisters place, just got them back but playing drums in a thin walled house doesn't go over very well so I can't imagine ill spend much time on the throne in the near future.

I would like to pick up the cello, have always loved that instrument and what it can do in the right hands. Unfortunately my lack of loose change and free time likely means it won't happen any time soon though.

[Apex]

@subxero - Could always part with the kit and spend that on the cello.

I know the local dealer near me (musicarts.com) does rent to own plans for all their instruments. That could be an option. They offered that for me on the violin, but I wanted to just pay and be done. I knew I was going to stick with it, and I don't need to be tempted to upgrade. It is nice though that you can pay like $10-$30 a month (I think that would be the payments for an instrument running around <$1,000), and if you get tired with it, you can just return it. That way you can be sure you want to stick with it.

If I ever get back into the flute again, or any other instrument, I'll be doing that option.

[Rifleman]

well, I'm sure he would have played any, and may still, but he was in contact with a guy about lessons... and they were willing to do lessons for free so long as he marched in parades and did funerals... something attached to the FOP and what have you... He was excited and was willing to do it... just into everything at school and then off to college and what have you, busy kid... but i think he was going to be "a'wearin' the Kilt and Sporran" Just assume that the FOP has it's own Tarton, cuz i'm sure my faimely has no colors, more likely a shield and battle axes. May still happen, but his job right now is "24 hours on call" so he has no life.

[Apex]

Originally Posted by Rifleman

well, I'm sure he would have played any, and may still, but he was in contact with a guy about lessons... and they were willing to do lessons for free so long as he marched in parades and did funerals... something attached to the FOP and what have you... He was excited and was willing to do it... just into everything at school and then off to college and what have you, busy kid... but i think he was going to be "a'wearin' the Kilt and Sporran" Just assume that the FOP has it's own Tarton, cuz i'm sure my faimely has no colors, more likely a shield and battle axes. May still happen, but his job right now is "24 hours on call" so he has no life.

Ahhh, that would kill any chance to practice. No life is not a good thing IMHO. Hope he has time to work it in soon!

I've may take a lesson or two in the future. Right now, I'm learning pretty quick and figuring out he fingerings pretty quickly.


I did manage to work in some practice yesterday and today (1.5-2 hrs each day). I am now 3/4 of the way through my book 1 of lessons. I am now constantly on the C, D, and A strings. Starting to work on slurs too.

Violin is addictive. I never thought I'd enjoy it as much as I am, but it really is fun. I do like it more than I did the flute. I love the sound of a flute, but I feel this instrument is more me, even more than guitar. I am not totally sure if it beats tuba, but time will tell.

[adouglas]

5 string bass, semi-professionally (as in I'm in a working band but it's not my primary job). I have four... all Music Man. Three Bongos and a Big Al.

I also own a cheap Chinese acoustic guitar and a low-end Strat, but I really don't do much more than hack around on them.

[misfitsailor]

I play an anglo concertina, (30 key Stagi). It's a sailor thing.

[snot]

@Hellmutt my other half plays guitar. He has an Ibanez and plays in a metal band called The Reefer Hut (its not what you think). I love to watch and listen to him play, he is talented (not saying that because I'm his wife either). Hopefully he chimes in.

[Hellmutt]

Since my wife threw me in the mix here, I guess I could elaborate. Sorry in advance for the long winded history
Started with piano at age 8, made my way to 7th grade level on it but always loved playing by ear far better than reading sheet music. So I wrote more music than I learned about it back then, if that makes sense.
Gave it up in my later teens to play guitar. Took 2 lessons and instantly went to books of scales/modes after that, far cheaper and could learn from home at my own pace. Had friends that taught me the basics with chording, but Dave Celantano's books showed me the soloist side of guitar with hammer-ons and pull-offs, scaling, harmonic techniques, augmented/diminished chords, etc....the rest I've dug up myself. YouTube makes that far easier today than what I had back in my youth

Been playing guitar for 22 years now, and I sadly dont know much about theory itself. Always favored playing by ear, learning through covering other's music, and writing my own pieces. Had a passion for heavy music, all metal all the time - but the older I got, the more variety I learned to appreciate. Now I play an old acoustic more than my electrics just for simplicity's sake, and to help me broaden my musical palette. Found more taste in music, is probably best to say. Metal all day? Cant do that anymore. Love talent too much to just listen to technical skill without the melody, but some metal bands pull off both very well.

Equipment was quite the fetish in my first 7 or 8 years, seeking a tone I could love through random stacks/racks/instruments.....think I spent about $15k in that time, starting with low end Crate to the higher end of Orange/Bogner class A's. Now my current stage rig is a Crate Black Voodoo Celestion V30 - 4/12 cabinet and a Bogner designed Line6 SpiderValve 100 watt tube head. Podfarm style effects built right into it, and a Line 6 Shortboard floor controller. Way easier to handle than a 200 lb rack of amps/processors/compressor limiter/tuner/gate. Band mates hated gigging with my old setup, but the SpiderValve does it all at an easy to lift 40 lbs.
Electric guitars have ranged from USA H&M Strat, USA Custom Jackson, BC Rich, and a metric ton of Ibanez RG's. Gotta say, the Ibanez Wizard necks are the devil. I learned on one, and haven't found anything that is as fast and thin to play on. Acoustic I have now are a '68 Yamaha FG, and a cheap Fender squire....but I'd like to get a higher end acoustic eventually.
Never went full professional, but was signed to a smaller independent label back in '96-'97 until we landed a bigger, semi-corporate deal with Cardena/Aurora Records. But alas, metal doesn't pay all that great, so with a mortgage and a child I had to keep full time employment. First year with Aurora was brutal, we played almost 140 shows that year. Hit our peak at Milwaukee Metal Fest in '98 playing in front of about 1500. Our album actually did better overseas through Nuclear Blast distribution than it did here in the states, and we never left this continent! After that, we discussed changing things up to veer towards the new Linkin Park phase that was coming on strong. Label didnt like that one bit, so they sat on us until we lawyered up to get out of the contract. Dream was done at that point, been a hobby since and have played with several local bands the last 12 years or so.

[verboten1]

Trombone!

I can make some noise on the clarinet, play some tunes on a trumpet, started to learn flute forever ago, but gave up.

I really really want a bagpipe!

[MrAtom]

Link to original page on YouTube.

[Ninjinsky]

Just one vid of my guitar hero, Eric Johnson
A mesmerising performance with a four minute solo intro to Cliffs of Dover
after a quiet jazzy start by about 2:30 that violin tone he gets just blows me away.

Link to original page on YouTube.

[tfkrocks]

I play a little guitar and bass. I use it for amusement sporadically.

played flute throughout jr high and high school but stopped as soon as I graduated and was no longer in band

[Apex]

I got busy for the past couple of weeks. I was finally able to pick up the violin again today for about an hour. It was nice to play again.

[Sirref]

I love a good opportunity to play my guitar or sax, don't have the time to keep up with all the instruments that I have ever been in practice with though. Someday I'll get my piano skills back up to par. In the meantime saxophone is what calls to me the most, just the tone you can get out of one feels so unique and I love it

[Apex]

I played the sax, but it just didn't do it for me. I just couldn't feel my way with it. The violin is different for me. It has helped me appreciate the strings, which I never liked before I picked this instrument.

[Roark]

I played violin formally from 3rd grade through some of college.

I've played guitar since probably 5th grade. Currently have a Brian May Red Special copy, an Epiphone 62 RI SG, an Ovation 12 string, Ovation 6 string, an Ibanez 6 string, a Fender Stratocaster "frankenstein" assembled from multiple guitars, and my original First Act electric that's been built and rebuilt many a time.

Also, a Fender P-Bass, a Yamaha 66 key keyboard, and assorted ukeleles, mandolins, and harmonicas.

[Apex]

I have a bodhran and love Irish music, but finding music for it and tutorials around here is tough. Not a single percussionist around here knows anything more than just "of" the instrument. lol

[JohnnyBravo]

Ben playin "bile em cabbage down" on my purdy blue metallic fiddle all day

[catseye]

[Apex]

I've been playing this song on violin lately...

Link to original page on YouTube.

[catseye]

Originally Posted by Apex

I've been playing this song on violin lately...

nice. Lots of # and b's

[Worldtraveller]

Originally Posted by Apex

I have a bodhran and love Irish music, but finding music for it and tutorials around here is tough. Not a single percussionist around here knows anything more than just "of" the instrument. lol

Sounds like a good excuse to go visit Ireland. Seriously, one of the very cool things we discovered when we visited a couple years ago was just how much music is still such a big part of the culture. Music stores everywhere, all the pubs had live music at least a couple nights a week, if not every night. We came back with a stack of Irish music CDs, and some sheet music.

Originally Posted by catseye

Now yer talkin' my language. Still have the same alto I started playing when I was 8. It's the only instrument I've ever really played, although I've dabbled in other (wind) instruments.

I'd really like to get and learn bagpipes, but I'm afraid that would lead to divorce....

[Apex]

We still have my wife's alto. She played for one year and that was it. I picked it up, and in a day I was playing an altered version of one of Kenny G's songs. Music is addictive.

[JohnnyBravo]

I got put from first chair trumpet in 7th grade to out of the band because I played the sax parts instead of the trumpet parts after I learned to play. My trumpet sounded way better as a sax

[Ninjinsky]

Originally Posted by Apex

I picked it up, and in a day I was playing an altered version of one of Kenny G's songs.

"Altered version", hmm, how 'altered' ?

[Apex]

Originally Posted by Ninjinsky

"Altered version", hmm, how 'altered' ?

Had to alter it because the alto isn't the same as a soprano.