OldGrayBob Posted July 12, 2004 Report Share Posted July 12, 2004 I have seen posts on movies, poetry, games, and listening to music, but does anyone here play a musical instrument just for their own enjoyment? I am a beginner to intermediate Irish Tin whistle player. I love it and it soothes the spirit, (or maybe it is the Guinness at the Irish music sessions!) By the way, the modern Irish tin whistles were first made by Clarke in England and most are made of brass or PVC. They are an end blown flute with 6 finger holes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZiggyKD Posted July 12, 2004 Report Share Posted July 12, 2004 I've played piano since I was four years old, and guitar for about 2 years now, self taught on both. I also played trombone for four years in middle school and high school. I've always played for my own enjoyment and relaxation, though when I was a kid I just found it funny and entertaining. My dad taught me to play the music from Super Mario Brothers, the first one on NES, and I remember laughing when I'd play it. I pretty much taught myself from there on, learning the other levels, and music from other games. I'm glad my dad didn't force piano lessons on me when I was young. I played because I wanted to; if I were to have been forced to play, I think I would have taken a different attitude, and maybe even chosen not to play at all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RationalEgoistSG Posted July 13, 2004 Report Share Posted July 13, 2004 I've played the trumpet since the 5th grade, or in other words, for about 10 years. I've had a lot of experiences playing the trumpet, but I'd have to say that my best experiences have all come from the various ensembles that I have performed with. In high school I was a part of just about every ensemble that we had: concert band (I was the principal trumpet for 2 of our 3 bands throughout the four years I was there), marching band, jazz band, brass ensemble, and a brass quintet. I still play the trumpet now in college and in fact I hope to increase my amount of playing in the coming weeks. However, I'd have to say that even though I've enjoyed some playing on my own, the best experiences I've had have definitely come with these ensembles! For example, I've received a clinic and performed with Fred Mills, one of the founding trumpet players of the world renoun brass quintet group, Canadian Brass. I've performed in Avery Fisher Hall and I've traveled to many different places performing in marching band, jazz band, and concert band competitions, winning a large number of awards. Next year at college I'll be the head of a brass quintet group as well as the principal trumpet player for the wind ensemble there for the third year. I look forward to it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scottkursk Posted July 13, 2004 Report Share Posted July 13, 2004 Played trombone since the mid 80's and still on ocassion pick it up to dust the cobwebs off. I did marching band and ensemble competition for about 10 years. I mostly played bass trombone. I learned to play a tuba and baritone but I really loved my slide. Oh, and I was forced to take piano lessons and detest pianos to this day. In my spare time I played some passable dixieland but there is not much call for that. I took a few years off from playng anything when I started my career. About 4 years ago I fell in love with Hawaiian music and took up the ukulele. I enjoy the positive sense I get from Hawaiian music and relish the joy it brings me. It's my tiddly wink music. So I pretty much have both sides of the musical spectrum from deep bass to stringed alto. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BreathofLife Posted July 16, 2004 Report Share Posted July 16, 2004 Guitar ( mainly electric but occaisionally acoustic). For a little over 4 years now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ex_banana-eater Posted July 16, 2004 Report Share Posted July 16, 2004 I've played trombone for years, in school band, jazz band, naval cadets and marching band. I also play the keyboard (stressing keyboard, not the piano) and the occasional guitar. I only seem to pick up the guitar when I have alot of time on my hands. I like the keyboard because you can record previous tunes you made, then play along with them, use beats to play with, combine several instruments on a recording and play the main part in performance, upload midi files off the computer, etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prometheus Posted July 16, 2004 Report Share Posted July 16, 2004 I learnt to play the Tabla when I was in school. Tabla is an Indian Classical instrument and it's totally awesome. But at that time I had to leave the classes cause the times were conflicting with my cricket practice. It was great to learn it though. My skills with it are quite rusty now, as I haven't played in quite some time. Still yearning to learn to play the guitar, hope I get to it sometime soon. Dinesh. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
erik Posted July 16, 2004 Report Share Posted July 16, 2004 I've played drums, bass, and guitar but haven't touched one in a while. I don't think my strength is music making at all but I did enjoy it as a hobby in my 20's. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OldGrayBob Posted July 17, 2004 Author Report Share Posted July 17, 2004 All the responses so far,seem past-tense. I just started with the Irish Whislte about two years ago. I have learned much about playing and reading music but most important, I at age 57 have finally learned to really listen to music. It is a mental exercise along with other things such as objectivism that is enhancing my life. Currently, I refuse to sit back and retire. I want both physically and mentally keep as active as possible. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colonel Rebel Posted July 22, 2004 Report Share Posted July 22, 2004 played trombone, trumpet, keyboard, drums, and now the turntables. toured with the crystal method a while back. Fun guys...but not o-ists... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thoyd Loki Posted July 22, 2004 Report Share Posted July 22, 2004 Electric guitar and bass (both as loud as possible). Played in a band in 80's. Perhaps you've heard of us. We were the ones that smashed the theory that girls like guys who play in a band! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AshRyan Posted July 25, 2004 Report Share Posted July 25, 2004 Played piano when I was younger, and got pretty good. Still play sometimes, but not as much as I used to, so I'm not as good as I used to be. Mess around on the guitar a little bit, but never taken lessons or really focused on learning it, so I'm not very good at that (yet). Might start messing around on the bass soon, too. Used to play the clarinet, got pretty good at that but haven't picked it up in years. I think that's pretty much it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ed from OC Posted July 25, 2004 Report Share Posted July 25, 2004 I can make an oscilloscope sing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AshRyan Posted July 25, 2004 Report Share Posted July 25, 2004 I would like to learn the theremin. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stephen_speicher Posted July 25, 2004 Report Share Posted July 25, 2004 I can make an oscilloscope sing. That's really cute! But, I have what I think might be a better one. Many years ago, in a secret computer installation, the computer operator, Oliver, was a fascinating character. There was a part of him that was brilliant -- we competed in using Hankel transforms to solve partial differential equations, in our heads! -- but the rest was rather strange. Most of his teeth were missing and those that remained were brown. He smelled bad and acting weirdly. Whatever it was that had affected him, it kept him from doing real research. Nevertheless, he had a top-secret clearance and he could make that computer do things no one knew it could do. The printer at that time was a monster and it made extremely loud and obnoxious noises. Programs were fed into card readers and they could control the printer mechanism. Somehow, I never quite figured out how, Oliver created a series of card programs that turned that printer into a beautiful musical instrument! He had names for the pieces he created, and they really were a joy to listen to. I have some tapes of the "music" that Oliver made long ago, and they should still be around here somewhere. I'll try to dig them out and listen again to Oliver's symphony on an old-time printer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scottkursk Posted July 26, 2004 Report Share Posted July 26, 2004 Oliver created a series of card programs that turned that printer into a beautiful musical instrument! He had names for the pieces he created, and they really were a joy to listen to. I have some tapes of the "music" that Oliver made long ago, and they should still be around here somewhere. Wasn't it Feyneman who used to do that to impress new hires at Loas Alamos during the days they built the bomb? That is am impressive feat. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stephen_speicher Posted July 27, 2004 Report Share Posted July 27, 2004 Wasn't it Feyneman who used to do that to impress new hires at Loas Alamos during the days they built the bomb? That is am impressive feat. I remember Feynman saying that he brought the original IBM punched-card machines to Los Alamos, but I do not recall anything about playing music on them. I know he found the drums at Los Alamos, and he said he played the frying pans (or something else silimlar), but I do not ever recall hearing or reading about music from the old punched-card machines at Los Alamos. What Oliver did was play on the printer, which was a real clunker with varying sounds. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scottkursk Posted July 27, 2004 Report Share Posted July 27, 2004 I remember Feynman saying that he brought the original IBM punched-card machines to Los Alamos, but I do not recall anything about playing music on them. Aha! Thanks for clearing that. I remember seeing a reference in the Matthew Broderick movie Infinity about how Feynman used the punch cards as a lesson/test for some of the new recruits at Los Alamos. He programmed the printers with some very simple song while he was giving them a tour. He wanted to see if a)anyone observed that the machine was playing a song b)to make sure they would see new ways of thinking. Spooky to think how many people were literally yanked out of high school to work there. Of course they were used to do some of the mathematical grunt work but still. I remember seeing the story in one of his books. I'll have to see if I have it bookmarked. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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