Apologies if this has been covered before, but since a lot of musical topics get discussed here, I wonder how many members are actively involved in music? As players, writers, audio engineers or whatever.
Me, of course. I’m a guitarist, bassist, keyboard dabbler, songwriter and live sound & recording engineer. Been involved in music all my life, though I was only ‘professional’ for a few years a long time ago in London. But even when I got a ‘proper’ job, I have always been at least a weekend warrier playing gigs. And have been recording original songs on and off for many years.
Anyone else care to share your involvement or interests?
Pianist and composing, also used to play violin and cello but forgot those instruments. Was a church pianist for nearly 20 years, also played for various choirs etc.
Lately, I’ve been trying to think of how to incorporate sound effects into software compositions, like ambulance sirens, heartbeats, etc. for dramatic effect.
I’m a bassist. I picked it up seriously in 2020 (taking lessons remotely during COVID). I was lucky enough to get connected with a duet who is constantly gigging, so I have shows regularly – whenever they have room for a bassist, they invite me. I get paid (like $50-100), so I guess I’m a professional, but I’m not quitting my day job.
I’m still amazed I’m able to make anything doing this.
Keyboardist/vocalist and music director. Once-upon-a-time professionally (regional, school, and community theaters), but these days it’s my paying hobby that I fit around my day gig.
I play bass and guitar as well, though not at the level of piano. And accordion.
I am involved in 1-4 musicals a year. I’ve been thinking about shifting my musical time towards other projects, maybe a band, maybe writing.
I play mostly keyboards these days. My heyday really was back in 2002/3 when I played with a touring Hungarian indie rock bank and recorded on their second album. (One amusing sidenote is that one of our songs was featured on a Spanish – or was it Portuguese – bread commercial). I very occasionally joined in on rhythm guitar for two songs in one of our tours when we lost our rhythm guitarist. I got back into it a year ago in when a friend asked me to join in his band of past-their-prime rockers. All originals, we do songs to a backing track of drums and bass (I play bass on two of the originals). But it’s otherwise just the three of us with one singer/songwriter who plays guitar, a lead guitarist, and me on the keys. We play out about every three months, sometimes less. It’s just another way to pass the time for me.
Plus I screw around in Logic with a lot of half-finished ideas. And a couple of finished ones.
Here’s the commercial. It was in Portugal, it seems. What the song has to do with the bread, I haven’t the faintest clue. We probably were inexpensive.
Nothing professional, I play contemporary Christian music with a group at church and play as a piano/bass combo with my wife, also mostly sacred music, though the occasional Bossa tune might sneak into our repertoire–she is Brazilian, after all.
Classical singer and voice teacher. Most of my income comes from the teaching side (probably at a couple of local universities), but I do sing with three professional ensembles: a church job at the archdiocesan cathedral, section principle for the city’s symphony chorus, and a professional a cappella “chamber” chorus (in quotes because it’s gigantic for a chamber group). I’ll also do an occasional solo gig if the opportunity arises, but I’m kept pretty busy by everything else.
Started playing music 50 years ago and still fortunate and grateful to be performing on a regular basis, averaging about 100 gigs a years. I’m primarily a keyboard player, but I graduated from the Musician’s Institute many years ago as a percussionist. My writing was nominated for a Grammy in the early 90s, and I was inducted into the San Diego Music Hall of Fame. It’s been a fun ride so far and playing music has brought immeasurable joy to my life.
As my Doper name implies, I am (or was) a musician, which got me a pretty decent assignment in the US Army Band. I directed music theater and original productions during music school. After graduating, I spent about 30 years in Los Angeles, 10 of them very active, in the music business. I specialized in making lead sheets, usually for copyright purposes. When the copyright law changed in the late 1970’s, I gradually transitioned into computer design and art work.
Wow - looks like we’ve got the bottom end covered!
I play upright bass - mostly bluegrass and oldtime, tho I embarrass myself in a community orchestra. Totally amateur. But since there are so many other bassists out there, I’ll play clawhammer.
Can you explain more about this? I imagine it’s something like: I wrote a song, but the law says (said) that if it’s not written down I can’t have copyright, so if I don’t have the skills or inclination, I hire someone to take my recording and chart it, so I can submit it for copyright? Was this a thriving industry that kept some number of people employed full time?
I took piano lessons at age six and played acoustic guitar as a teenager. I still have a guitar and will dust it off to try learning a new song now and then. When I was younger, I was too scared to perform in front of anyone, but now I would be confident enough to join a band or orchestra and play in front of an audience, if I could find one looking for a mediocre acoustic guitar player.
Ask your friends if they want to get together and jam on the weekends or something. You never know what might come of it. Or, look on Facebook for people looking for locals to play with. There are musicians just everywhere!
How many of y’all would be willing to come to my funeral (hopefully years from now) and perform Always Look On the Bright Side of Life from Monty Python for me?
I started taking piano lessons in 2nd grade, but stopped after 5-6 years. I never got past “intermediate” level playing, but made a few bucks in college playing one or two wine-and-cheese things. I’ve always had either a keyboard or a piano everywhere I’ve ever lived; I can’t imagine not having that outlet. These days, though, my technique is crap and I definitely only play for myself.
I took my first voice lesson in high school, but – even though I’m a much better singer than I am a pianist – I didn’t do much beyond musical theater/the occasional short-lived band for a really long time. Then around 15 years ago I discovered jazz (as a singer), and fell in love: that’s what I pursued until earlier this year, including workshops and master classes and more voice lessons (both classical and focused on jazz style). Over the years I managed to book a few gigs around town, but I’ve always had a day job and recently I realized that the local jazz community doesn’t really have a space where I fit (somewhere between “hobbyist with questionable pitch” and “pro with solid chops”). So, I’m on a kind of musical hiatus until I figure out what’s next. I still love jazz, but I also love many other genres…we’ll see.
All originals, we do songs to a backing track of drums and bass (I play bass on two of the originals). But it’s otherwise just the three of us with one singer/songwriter who plays guitar, a lead guitarist, and me on the keys. We play out about every three months, sometimes less. It’s just another way to pass the time for me.
