Musicians

[Brodie]

Well well well well well well. This being a forum with numerous intellegent people in the ways of money, soiciology, etc, etc...I though this question was more than fitting:<P>Are any of you musicians? Meaning do any of you compose and conduct your own music and not just what others before you have made?<P>I, myself, am a failed musician. I've only composed a mere 4 concertos (2 for the bass and two for the piano), 1 "symphony" (sort of, its basically just a long piece of work of mine), and about 20 other pieces of music. None of them really made it big (aka "they suck" but I am extremely proud of my 1st Bass concerto) but that never really stopped me from making them. And I just wondered if any one else on the forum has ever made their own music?<P>So as I said the question beared asking:<P>Are any of you musicians?<P><BR>-Brodie

[Nicole Marie]

Yup! I even went to college to study double bass performance! Anyone else?

[EricMichaels]

Hey Brodie, are you asking for musicians, or composers? Sometimes I hum songs that I made up, but could probably only play them on the nose flute.

[EJA]

Well, I played violin for four years before I realized that I wasn't very good at it. I've tinkered with piano, and, of course, I sing. I've made up my own little songs and variations many times, but occassionally — very occasionally — I've heard music in my head that I don't believe I've ever heard outside my head. It's fully orchestrated, and every detail is present, but it is so ephemeral that if I think about it too hard — try to remember it, for instance — it vanishes like a mirage. This often happens as I'm just waking up in the morning. I've often wondered if this happens to other people, and if this is a "lite version" of the gift that composers have, and if I could develop it to the point that I could call on it and record it at will.

[treebeau]

EJA,<P>Nah, you're just not a musician! :p <P>Regards,<BR>Tim B.

[shostakovich]

Hi Ethan. What you describe happened to me a lot when I was young. I never got to the point of considering recording it. None of that copyright hassle stuff for me. And Tim's point is valid in my case. I'm no musician.<BR>Shos

[audiogirl]

I never wrote down any little ditty I made up on the piano, but I have been known to pen parodies of existing songs about people I can't stand.

[priya978]

I do compose-right now I'm working on the beginning of my first symphony- I ran out of manuscript paper so that's why i had to stop,-I'm am and have been writing what i consider my greatest work-a mass or just a choir song,that piece of information is still not decided,I'm writing a double violin concerto,I've just started on a cello concerto,and a string quintet.Finally I've written a few piano pieces-like a sonata,etc.<BR>i haven't actually tried to publish and conduct any of my own works i supposed I'm just scared to publish them.If anyone can help me PLEASE do so.THANKS!!<BR>So in people's eye's i think i qualify as a musician,maybe not that expirenced of one but none the less a musician.i hope.

[Liszt703@beethoven.com]

I do play several instruments. The piano is my most treasured instrument. I also play the violin, flute, oboe, and harp.<BR>I have composed many of my own works for the piano, since the age of nine. I have been playing the piano for twenty years, since the age of three.

[barfle]

I play the radio, records, CDs, Laser discs and tapes. And I conduct them all!

[Rustle]

As for me and my household, we play the tuba. I studied for many moons, and THEN realized that there are only 2 available jobs out there for tuba players with 2500 people applying for it. I still freelance a lot, and play in a faculty brass quintet at a university. Oh, I also play electric bass. Just got a new one! Whoah! As for composing... nope. Not yet.<P>-R

[OperaTenor]

Well, I sing.....<P>I also play or have played the piano, bassoon, trumpet, clarinet and alto sax. I have composed a couple of short piano pieces, but other than that am a frustrated composer.

[brickroot]

I am a violinist. That is what I do.

[SymphonyMan]

I am a pianist, organist, and violinist. I haven't really composed anything because I would like to get enough music theory behind me so I can compose something that is formal in structure. College is on the way though (only 2 years left) then we'll see what I can make out of it. But I would really like to play in or conduct a professional symphony. Either that or become a professor of some musical sort . <BR>Anyway, I would love to hear about the journey it has taken to become a professional musician (brickroot and any other professional performer). Thanks!

[priya978]

Why do you want to be formal in stucture? That's so typical classicism, be a romantic. Challenge the world, don't compose those pieces where you can tell what the next note is, make something interesting, exciting, WORTHY of you, and your inner-self.<BR>But if that's what you want, then do what you like. Don't pay attention to the world.(or me.) If you think your work is a masterpiece don't let anyone tell you otherwise.(like me)

[OperaTenor]

Eugene, I feel there is something to be said for laying "formal" groundwork prior to venturing out into potentially unknown compositional territory in this day and age (in other words, I like to learn the rules before I break them!). I feel that, of all things, MATH plays an important part in composition: its structure, logic and symmetry for starters, are integral to bringing life to a simple tune. The only people I know of who get away with publishing aural cacophony all have the letters "PhD" after their names, and they all started with the basics. Additionally, one has to first learn to speak before one can speak eloquently, right?<P>Eric, I grew up singing, and only really started to take it seriously in high school. I then had one year of college as a vocal performance major, minoring in piano and bassoon. I had no guidance counseling in college, and as a result took a ton of music courses and almost no required subjects. Lucky for me since I didn't have the money to go back. I then did a stint in the US Navy (submarine nuclear mechanical operator!), no time to sing there. After getting out, I started singing again with a couple of civic choirs, then got hired as a tenor section leader/soloist at a church and started private voice study again. At that point I made it a goal to get hired by the opera within five years, and about three years later auditioned and was hired, and have been with them for seven years. I occasionally do solo gigs and other group stuff, but for me it's mainly my church job and the opera. <P>Bottom line: I feel that whatever musical avenue you pursue, NEVER DENY YOURSELF!!! Musical expression is too beautiful and too fleeting to let opportunities pass by.<BR> <p>[ 12-29-2002: Message edited by: operatenor ]

[SymphonyMan]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR> Why do you want to be formal in stucture? That's so typical classicism, be a romantic. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE><P> Well I find music theory quite amazing especially when part writing and things all of a sudden fall right where they are supposed to by following diatonic part writing rules. I mean lets face it, I COULD go up to a piano and start writing what sounds good to me...that would be very Debussyish (though he also had formal training but got his teachers mad by coming up with his own chords) of me, which is fine, but I want to establish a solid foundation in theory that I can use to produce something that could be considered Neo-Classical. I want to be able to know exactly what I'm writing down (without having to analyze what I've wrote AFTER I wrote it) and be able to figure out a type of progression that would best fit the situation. Also, just because there is theory knowledge that could be used to compose something that is structurally formal, doesn't mean I can't stray away from it. You know, there was a "pre-atonal Stravinsky"? The guy didn't wake up and start hammering a G minor chord built on top of an E major chord with an E flat above the g minor chord and said "hey, I'm on to something". No! He studied with Rimsky-Korsakov and wrote a symphony in E flat which I recall not being atonal. So you see my friend, form and structure isn't a limitation, it's a building block towards everything that has come after it. I hope you understand that there really is some thought behind the ink on the page.

[priya978]

Yes, but too much thought into piece, makes the piece too technical. And technicality isn't what music is about. Do you think that the audience of a Beethoven Ninth concert are going to be like "Ohh, when he composed this openeing he decided to build a Bb major chord with a 7th."<BR>No, they aren't going to know that, nor are they going to care. What they hear sparks something inside of them, a feeling that the music places in their being. It's what they hear not what is written on the page in ink, that is going to matter, what comes out of those little black dots is what they hear.

[bignaf]

but theory helpes you in making nusic that sounds good. the training any composer for sure needs is ear-training dictation (serious study). so you'll have the facility to write down anything you hear in your head.

[OperaTenor]

Face it, Eugene, you're out numbered!<P>Having a foundation in theory takes the guesswork out of translating those musical images banging around in your head into something another musician can interpret the way you first imagined it. Maybe you shouldn't look at it as a confining process, but rather as a liberating one, because it really does make it easier. And bignaf is right, the ear training is crucial to composition.