Anybody else here play an instrument? Or earn a living from music? Or just a big music fan in general?

I play piano and guitar, and can just about find my way around a drum kit. I went to a music academy and then spent many years gigging with a few bands (rock, pop, alternative, indie), but got very tired of live music and these days focus more on teaching. Recently I've been dabbling with music production and trying to learn a bit more about composing, something which I've kind of avoided most of my life! I love transcribing songs, analysing them and taking them apart.

Wish I could sing 

Anybody else here play an instrument? Or earn a living from music? Or just a big music fan in general?

I have dabbled in music for close to 20 years. I am technically a musician, I guess. I have released some projects over the years. I just always hesitate to label myself as one because of imposter syndrome. While I definitely do not make a living doing it, I am a big fan of electronic music, and I have a small setup: a Sequential Prophet (Rev 2) synthesizer, a Roland TR8-S drum machine and sampler, and a Zoom V3 vocal effects processor.

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Wow, lots of kit! It looks very cool. Be careful having the drink on there! 
I've stayed away from the hardware side of things myself, partly because of cost but mostly because I always liked the idea of virtual instruments. Right now I'm just guitars, an audio interface and a desktop PC.

Just a big music fan in general, although with pretty narrow taste. I do like to listen to just about anything live, though.

Wow, lots of kit! It looks very cool. Be careful having the drink on there! 
I've stayed away from the hardware side of things myself, partly because of cost but mostly because I always liked the idea of virtual instruments. Right now I'm just guitars, an audio interface and a desktop PC.

Yeah, I know what you mean about drinking near the equipment. I've probably had a few near misses and not even realized it 

You seem like my opposite. I can't read sheet music, I barely know how to use a DAW, and all I do is play with hardware, hahaha. I REALLY need to dedicate some time to perfecting the art of using Ableton! I know nothing about music theory. I play by ear and just enjoy making beats and bass lines and patterns.

I love this thread! Music has been my life always. Except for a small part of my teenage years, when I was sure I was going to get into game development, I have always known that creating music in some way or form is the only thing I really *have* to do, no matter what. I have been a composer for theatre, films and television for 20 years, and never had another job. It’s not a walk in the park, the work hours are endless, and money-wise it’s not something I would recommend – but I can’t do anything else.

This is me in my previous studio (I’m building my new one as we speak). I have always had a quite minimalistic rig, not much outboard gear. The biggest expenses are in software and software instruments. But I also have a 1920's pump organ, a drum kit, various percussion, a couple of guitars and cheap keyboards. A lot of my music is available on streaming platforms (and Bandcamp), 95% of what I do are soundtracks for various media, but I also have a (quite sporadic) solo project in the realms of experimental pop, where I sing and play keyboards and drums. Once upon a time I was a pretty good drummer in various bands, but nowadays the only drumming I do is in the studio, on my own projects. Which suits me just fine, since I am also autistic and hyper-sensitive, so my nervous system is not really built for performing on a stage.

   

I like your previous studio, Elrik. It looks like a comfortable place to make music.

Kdsynth,
Just trying out things is a good way to learn, especially if you're having fun with it. You certainly have the equipment for it.

I had piano lessons when I was a kid, but my mom had to drive me to my grandmother's house every Saturday because Nana had the only piano. Obviously, I couldn't practice enough to master anything, so when my teacher went away to college, I gave it up. I also messed around with the guitar when I was in my 20s, but work demands put that by the wayside. I did have a good singing voice, however, and enjoyed performing in musicals, choirs, and a community chorus most of my life. I only sing at home now because these old vocal cords aren't reliable anymore, but I still like to belt out a song when nobody's home.

Just a big music fan in general, although with pretty narrow taste. I do like to listen to just about anything live, though.

What particular kind of music are you a fan of?

Yeah, I know what you mean about drinking near the equipment. I've probably had a few near misses and not even realized it 

You seem like my opposite. I can't read sheet music, I barely know how to use a DAW, and all I do is play with hardware, hahaha. I REALLY need to dedicate some time to perfecting the art of using Ableton! I know nothing about music theory. I play by ear and just enjoy making beats and bass lines and patterns.

Yeah, I learned sheet music as a kid - in fact, I more or less learned to play guitar through it in my teens - and kind of fell in love with music theory in my 20s, though I certainly don't go down the classical or jazz routes with it - things get a bit intense there! Playing by ear is a worthwhile skill in itself, don't sell yourself short.

Learning a DAW is fun, I use Reaper myself and really like it. For a little while now I've been watching Max Konyi's songwriting challenge livestreams on YouTube and really starting to understand what is possible (he creates short pieces of music from scratch in just about every style imaginable, and imparts a ton of information as he goes).

I love this thread! Music has been my life always. Except for a small part of my teenage years, when I was sure I was going to get into game development, I have always known that creating music in some way or form is the only thing I really *have* to do, no matter what. I have been a composer for theatre, films and television for 20 years, and never had another job. It’s not a walk in the park, the work hours are endless, and money-wise it’s not something I would recommend – but I can’t do anything else.

This is me in my previous studio (I’m building my new one as we speak). I have always had a quite minimalistic rig, not much outboard gear. The biggest expenses are in software and software instruments. But I also have a 1920's pump organ, a drum kit, various percussion, a couple of guitars and cheap keyboards. A lot of my music is available on streaming platforms (and Bandcamp), 95% of what I do are soundtracks for various media, but I also have a (quite sporadic) solo project in the realms of experimental pop, where I sing and play keyboards and drums. Once upon a time I was a pretty good drummer in various bands, but nowadays the only drumming I do is in the studio, on my own projects. Which suits me just fine, since I am also autistic and hyper-sensitive, so my nervous system is not really built for performing on a stage.

Wow, this is impressive! Composing is something I've always dreamed of doing but it's always felt like there's something blocking me. I always got a lot of pleasure out of playing other people's music, but after a decade of gigging I really had had enough. There was so rarely any joy in there for me.

Software instruments are indeed very expensive, and so far I've stuck with free ones. I'm honestly blown away by how good Neural Amp Modeller is for playing guitar through. Do you have a DAW of choice or do you move between different ones? Who are your inspirations?

Software instruments are indeed very expensive, and so far I've stuck with free ones. I'm honestly blown away by how good Neural Amp Modeller is for playing guitar through. Do you have a DAW of choice or do you move between different ones? Who are your inspirations?

I’ve never been a guitarist, but I too struggle to hear the real difference between modern amp modellers and the real thing – they are really good now!

My DAW of choice is Nuendo, which is sort of the über-version of Cubase. Before that it was Pro Tools, for many years. I like them both, but for composing and customising your own workflow with a ridiculous amount of features, Cubase is fantastic (many film composers like Hans Zimmer and Alan Silvestri use Cubase). Nuendo takes all that and adds even more advanced features for sound design and post production, which comes in handy when I work on productions both for film and theatre. Pro Tools on the other hans is absolutely ace when it comes to raw audio editing, the speed at which you can accomplish quite detailed audio nitpicking there is unsurpassed IMHO. But today, all DAWs are really good, and it’s more a matter of which one is the most compatible with your brain! I’ve heard really good things about both Ableton, Reaper, Logic and Studio One too. Whatever floats your boat!   For creating scores for session musicians (when I’m on a project actually has a budget for that kind of thing!) I use Dorico, which is truly next-level scoring and engraving software, created by the Steinberg team in London, the guys who originally made Sibelius (but Dorico is FAR superior).

Inspirations are too many to mention in a short post like this, but I guess it’s a mix of everything I ever heard that made an impression on me. I know for certain that all those childhood and youth years of adventure gaming have made its mark!! I’m a LucasArts fan first and foremost, and always loved the music of Michael Z. Land and Peter McConnell in particular. But I guess the first time film music really «clicked» for me was when the Star Wars Trilogy Special Edition happened in 1997, and all three soundtracks were re-released in complete and chronological editions on double CD albums. The liner notes made me finally realise that there were absolutely no coincidences - all the themes had some sort of meaning, and the way they intertwined and got continually tweaked in their instrumentations, yeah, I just knew right then and there that I had to be a film composer. So John Williams is a huge inspiration, but also Danny Elfman. But just as much, it might be The Beatles, Peter Gabriel, Rage Against the Machine, Radiohead, you name it. Or classical composers like Edvard Grieg, Maurice Ravel, J. S. Bach, Antonin Dvorak… The list is endless. It all depends on the project and what it requires. It’s sort of like painting a new universe each time, and when talking to the director early on, you often agree on some sort of direction to go in. And it’s a lot easier with directors that you have already worked with a couple of times, because you sort of develop your own languages, on what sort of world you are trying to create. So it might be that a symphonic score is right for one project, but on the next it might be banjo punk.

LadyKestrel Thank you! It was a really nice place! Until I found a larger place for half the rent, in an old creaky house in a garden with apple trees, and I could not pass on that…

Composing is something I've always dreamed of doing but it's always felt like there's something blocking me. I always got a lot of pleasure out of playing other people's music, but after a decade of gigging I really had had enough. There was so rarely any joy in there for me.

I forgot to comment on this. If you’ve done a decade of gigging I can completely understand that it feels like enough is enough. I think you really should try a hand at composing!   You seem to already have a great understanding of music in general. The «something blocking you», is it kind of a voice in your head that says you can’t write so and so, a kind of self-doubt? If it is, I think that’s a very common thing for all creative people. If I think too much or start doubting my own ideas too much, it gets very hard to create anything good. I also find that the best ideas do not appear while I am in the studio, surrounded by tools. Rather, when I am on a walk, or in the shower or whatever, and just let my mind float around, that’s when the best ideas often appear. I hurry up and grab my phone and just sing those ideas in while they’re fresh. That way, when I’m in the studio later, I already have a plan, which I force myself to stick to. Then there is no room for doubt, because I have already committed to a particular something!

These things of course vary a great deal from person to person, but I’ve heard about similar experiences from quite many artists and composers.