[nabwong]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Computerpro3 /img/forum/go_quote.gif Impressive! I visited there when deciding where to audition. They wanted a modern peice though when no other schools did and I wasn't about to spend months learning one just for that.

There's a lot of new music going on at NEC. But i think modern doesn't necessarily translate into weird/hard; e.g. Adam's Phrygian Gates. It'll probably take you a week to learn that.

Btw, have fun at CIM. I know some trumpet players there.

 

[Spareribs]

I play guitar and piano so it’s basically in my blood

However....

For the past 3 years I’ve been teaching myself drums......OMG.....,What a life changing experience!

There is something about drums that’s therapeutic and good for the mind.

Also I own a Gretsch drum set and 4 different killer snare drums. Wow! These are such amazing musical instruments!

I know it sounds crazy but I value these drums way more than headphones. These drums are legendary and you have heard them in famous recordings.

 

[Spareribs]

I just got a midi keyboard (the piano keyboard type). If you buy software, you literally have options of thousands of sounds. My system has over 6000 sounds and the sound is seriously good!

I can kind of see why many musicians don’t have much interest in the audiophile hobby when there is so much fun and adventure especially in the electronics world of music playing. The gear collecting in this field is far more adventurous.

And yes.....You can still involve tubes in the systems.

 

[Spareribs]

I do plan on eventually adding a higher end model Yamaha snare drum to my drum collection.

Most people don’t know this but Yamaha makes top tier high end drums. It sounds crazy but it’s actually true. They actually have a serious drum department. And you’ve heard their drums on famous albums like from Paul Simon, Eric Clapton, etc...

 

[Spareribs]

I know people will get mad at me for saying this but I think it’s kind of lame if you don’t know how to play basic easy level piano.

I don’t mean reading music. I mean basic easy level chords and and basic easy level melody playing.

So far I’m the only person I know who can play the piano and it’s actually easy.

The amount of creativity you can create when hooking up a synthesizer (or midi piano) to a computer is mind blowing with the technology these days! And you only need basic easy piano skills to have fun.

The reason why I’m saying this is because I have seen kids quit music without realizing the amount of fun you can have when you incorporate computers with easy level music skills. In my opinion, it’s far more interesting than video games.

 

[hoofman]

I have been playing and teaching classical guitar for 20 years now, and started playing the violin about 9 years ago. I play a bit of other instruments like piano, cello, viola, ukulele, flute, and saxophone out of curiosity but those are not near performing level.

Do you believe that only musicians can truly appreciate music?

There are two main aspects when it comes to appreciating music:
First is to appreciate the effort to acquire musical skills which can be not trivial in some cases (e.g. to play two different melodies on the violin can be considered more difficult than on the guitar or the piano, technically speaking). People don't need to be a musician to know this but I think musicians notice this more often than someone who are not well versed in music. Also there are details that only make sense to people who are trained in music, such as intonation, tonalization, structure, phrasing, pulses, progressions, harmonies, etc. These musical aspects are often conceptualized explicitly to musicians, unlike intuitively in the case of untrained population.
Second is the enjoyment of the listening experience, that is, to immerse into music, listen to the sounds and let our imagination flows. This I think can be done by anyone, trained or untrained in music. In fact sometimes when musicians care too much about technicality of a musical piece they may forget to enjoy the music itself.

Does having an exposure to playing music pave a way towards your audiophilia?

Yes indeed. I actually got into this after trying to setup a home recording studio for practicing. My first "audiophile" equipment I think was my monitor Sennheiser HD 280 Pro.

 

[Steven31]

Due to the nature of music - the fact that it's inherent in nature itself (take birds tweeting as an example of music in nature, or the rhythm of a heartbeat) anyone (or any species) can create it and endorse it. I don't think you have to be a musician to properly appreciate music, but I think being a musician does offer an insight unavailable to those who have only ever listened to music and never even attempted to play an instrument or whom have never been involved in the music industry. I suppose I am lucky because I was born with a natural talent for music playing. I am in my thirties now, and from the age of 3 I have had the ability to play by ear. I have never needed to read or even learn musical notation booklets, like knowing where the middle C is on a keyboard or large 88 key piano, I never needed to learn these things, I just let my ears guide me and sit down at a piano or keyboard, and somehow can play and play it well. Does this give me an advantage when A/B-ing headphones or speakers or listening to amps and CD players and what not? does this mean I am more qualified to make judgements on the sound quality of consumer audio products or something? no. It does not. I think being a musician and being an audiophile are two separate and different things, you can be both, but they are unrelated.

 

[Amish]

I play bass guitar for fun and just for me. I was under a lot of pressure as a child to learn an instrument but being the little rebel I was I fought against it for many years.

Do you believe that only musicians can truly appreciate music?

Not at all. I've been around music and musicians most of my life. Some of my family (grandfather, Uncle, Mother, and sister) were involved for many years (in the industry) and many of my friends have been in the industry or still are. Growing up around it I think gave me a perspective that a non-musician might not have but I know plenty of people who never even touched an instrument and they are as deeply in love with music as anyone I have met.

Though it runs in my family, I never took it seriously myself. I love music but I have never wanted to be a musician.