Musical instruments

Jdvn1 · May 20, 2006

Dannyalcatraz said:
Start a thread! SOMEBODY on these boards is likely to be a gaming industry professional with a rolodex or Palm with the info you need.

I should look into this, eventually. I'm currently in school, though. I probably don't have the resources (time or money) to spend on this yet.

As far as connections, it's been my experience that no one takes you seriously when you're relatively young, have little actual experience, and don't have references or some other way to say, "Hey, I know what I'm doing." Nonetheless, I'm willing to try.

And, no, not going to GenCon. It's a bit out of my way, being in Texas.

Dannyalcatraz · May 20, 2006

I should look into this, eventually. I'm currently in school, though. I probably don't have the resources (time or money) to spend on this yet.

As far as connections, it's been my experience that no one takes you seriously when you're relatively young, have little actual experience, and don't have references or some other way to say, "Hey, I know what I'm doing." Nonetheless, I'm willing to try.

IME, you're right. I've been a lawyer 10 years (damn, where did the years go?) and my grandparent STILL won't take my legal advice about getting a (non-relative) lawyer to do their wills, nor will they listen to my Dad's (their son) medical advice...and he's been an MD for 34 years or so.

However, let me say this cliche: think outside of the box.

I just got my MBA last August, and I was part of a team that did a big presentation to the University of Dallas as part of our final grade- and make no mistake, this was a real $100k+ project we pitched. To jazz up our Powerpoint presentation, we had our team leader's son lay down some jazz, rock and technopop tracks for our use.

The point? If you're a student, you're probably around a lot of people- students AND faculty- who want nifty unique music for a variety of reasons, and there's no reason you can't supply it.

Consider this example: there are several software programs out there (available to the public, and starting right around $100 as I recall) that let you turn digital music files into ringtones. Buy one, use it on one of your original compositions, and put it on your phone. Tell your family and friends and other people you did this. If they ask- and some will- offer to make them a custom ringtone for a buck. While other people will be working as tutors, you'll have a cottage industry in your dorm room.

One of my college mentors had a biannual production called The Lennox Lecture- a multimedia production that was a presentation about an issue in philosophy. I was part of the production team, and we used samples of prerecorded music and sound effects.

Were he still doing it today, I'd suggest he use original compositions from the student body or local bands, record the sucker (the music, at least) and sell the CDs and DVDs (with every musical contributor getting a little royalty check).

And whatever campus you're on, some professor somewhere is doing something similar...

Jdvn1 · May 20, 2006

I'll certainly ask around for this sort of the Dannyalcatraz--thanks!

I guess I'm just not so great at finding these sort of people, but flyers wouldn't be tough at all.

James Heard · May 20, 2006

I played one brass instrument or another from the time I was in third grade until my second year in college. I had and used music scholarships, but music scholarships need so many music classes that I finally gave up on it. I'm pretty good at music and I like music, but it's just another creative thing that I do and like - not the only thing.

Last time I picked up a horn it was just painful, my muscle memory knows what to do but I don't have any of the hard-earned calouses or muscle tone. I tore my lips to shreds rather quickly. I also play bass guitar pretty badly, and when my daughter was having trouble learning her recorder I found out that I could teach myself that quickly enough to cause deep emotional distress in a young child. I just wanted to be able to help her, I swear!

Laurel · May 23, 2006

Played the Clarinet, Piano, Flute, and Saxophone. Longest and most proficient with Clarinet and Piano, and just got my nice clarinet back in the hopes of starting up again. Living in an apartment leads to noise complaints even when playing the music correctly... some people just don't like the classics I guess... or maybe I am that out of practice :heh:

dragonhead · May 23, 2006

Laurel said:
Played the Clarinet, Piano, Flute, and Saxophone. Longest and most proficient with Clarinet and Piano, and just got my nice clarinet back in the hopes of starting up again. Living in an apartment leads to noise complaints even when playing the music correctly... some people just don't like the classics I guess... or maybe I am that out of practice

So I guess you like roleplaying Bards then?

Laurel · May 23, 2006

dragonhead said:
So I guess you like roleplaying Bards then?

I would only play a bard if my group would also let me bring one such instrument and actually attempt to play during a session. And I would not except bleeding ears as a reason to stop playing

Crothian · May 23, 2006

I can play anything brass, though I'm a bit out of practice. I have been giving my nephew trumpet lessons and that helepd him a lot. I only own a TRombone these days, a n heirloom from the Great Depression.

Mark Hope · May 31, 2006

I play bass and have done so for years. Had moderate success in a couple of different bands, but I'm not playing with a group at the moment (probably moving country in a few months, so don't wanna get involved with anything until I'm settled again).

I play a few different models, fretless and fretted. You can see my #1 rumblehammer in my avatar to the left. That's a Kubicki Ex-Factor 4, that is

. You can touch it if you like. Go on, reach out and stroke it...

Actually, no. No, you can't. In fact, you can't even look at it. Stop looking. Stop it! Turn your head away from the screen and stop looking, dammit!!!

Kid Socrates · May 31, 2006

I played trumpet from sixth grade to my senior year of high school (six years ago), but have not picked it up since. I went from being horrendous (HORRENDOUS, I tell you!) to making 9th chair District trumpet my senior year, one of the bigger improvements in my class. I also was drum major my senior year for the marching band, played trumpet in the jazz band for three years, and learned how to play the French Horn well enough in about two weeks because we needed one. I was told I sounded like I'd been playing it for three or four years. French Horn is HARD, by the way.

I also sing, but mostly to the steering wheel and my iPod. I did get to sing a song I wrote onstage with a contemporary Christian music band (Dr. Nimbus and the Noisemakers) back in 2000. That was a lot of fun.

I toyed with playing the bass, but apparently there's this thing called a "bass clef" where all the notes are wrong, at least as far as us uppity trumpet players are concerned.

Lately I've been sucked into remixing and music-editing, and am researching software better than Wavepad to do that with. It's pricy as all get-out, so I want to get the right one since at my budget, I'll really only get one shot at it. I'm also planning on getting a keyboard to assist in that, and I'd love to get into composing because my brain focuses on musical stuff pretty well.