# What instruments do you guys play?



## 121689 (Jun 21, 2014)

And what ensembles/groups do you get to play them in, if at all? I play the clarinet and drums, with a little bit of piano and violin/cello on the side. I get to play the clarinet in concert bands/orchestras and smaller ensembles, and the drums for a jazz band and other random bands who need a sub . How about you guys?


----------



## Wololo (Jul 17, 2014)

I occasionally play guitar and I wish I could force myself into more practice. I tried to jam with a drummer a couple of weeks ago and nothing I played sounded right. I think it might have hit me even more as I'm a huge guitar-geek person.


----------



## 121689 (Jun 21, 2014)

Wololo said:


> I occasionally play guitar and I wish I could force myself into more practice. I tried to jam with a drummer a couple of weeks ago and nothing I played sounded right. I think it might have hit me even more as I'm a huge guitar-geek person.


That's awesome though! I've tried guitar, but it didn't work so well . It took awhile for me to be comfortable with jamming with other people. So much fun though. It's probably the best way to get experience besides practicing on your own.


----------



## ChocolateBunny (Aug 5, 2013)

Piano and violin. I've started on guitar though I can't say that I can really play it. I was in a youth orchestra for 6 years for violin. Sadly, these instruments no longer hold my interest sufficiently enough to practice though I do play them once in a while.


----------



## Derse Dreamer (Jun 29, 2014)

I used to play the violin when I was really little, but I gave it up for cello. (Stupid decision on my part ;p) Then moved on to guitar but felt like I was betraying violin so I moved on to piano/keyboard and its kind of just stuck.


----------



## ScientiaOmnisEst (Oct 2, 2013)

Played violin since I was little, but haven't touched it in a year. I wasn't very good at it anyway (though I sometimes think abut taking it up again).


----------



## sean.m.54 (Jun 7, 2014)

Oboe and English horn, recorder, used to play piano-but haven't practiced keyboard for years.


----------



## Who (Jan 2, 2010)

Guitar and bass. I've also been considering saving up for a synth because I also produce electronic music and it'd be nice to have something available that isn't a softsynth.


----------



## decretum (Jul 2, 2014)

I play piano, a bit of clarinet, I'm taking up guitar soon and I want to start bass and ukulele.


----------



## Wololo (Jul 17, 2014)

Arcayne said:


> That's awesome though! I've tried guitar, but it didn't work so well . It took awhile for me to be comfortable with jamming with other people. So much fun though. It's probably the best way to get experience besides practicing on your own.


Why didn't the guitar work out? D:

Also, agreed. If you can make yourself be satisfied with what you play


----------



## 121689 (Jun 21, 2014)

Wololo said:


> Why didn't the guitar work out? D:
> 
> Also, agreed. If you can make yourself be satisfied with what you play


My fingers are extremely double jointed, which you'd think would affect my clarinet playing just as much, but trying to play guitar, and/or violin/cello gets really hard beyond the bare basics. Or maybe I'm just impatient XD. I'm sure with a lot of practice, I could probably learn how to make them work the right way, but I just don't have the time. 




Who said:


> Guitar and bass. I've also been considering saving up for a synth because I also produce electronic music and it'd be nice to have something available that isn't a softsynth.


Nice! What other production equipment do you use? Just curious. I'm trying to learn more about music production; I've taken a recent interest in it.


----------



## Cutegasm (Jun 30, 2014)

I'm a random trumpet player. Learned in high school and got better over time. I sing mostly and continued singing in choirs through college. I want to join a choir, band, or do lounge singing.


----------



## savannah roo (Aug 5, 2014)

I play the alto sax, and my oh my is it a loud instrument. it is just very hard to play quietly, especially for beginners. I was shy and uncomfortable at first, but its so fun to play now that i have been playing for so long.


----------



## Flaming Bassoon (Feb 15, 2013)

I can play the trombone quite well and am in marching band and concert band. I wish we had jazz band because it'd be so fun to play! And I can play the guitar, sort of, but I suck and I'm okay at the keyboard.


----------



## Grainy (Jul 2, 2013)

savannah roo said:


> I play the alto sax, and my oh my is it a loud instrument. it is just very hard to play quietly, especially for beginners. I was shy and uncomfortable at first, but its so fun to play now that i have been playing for so long.


Yay, saxophone! How long have you been playing, and what kind of music do you play? 

I study for a bachelor's degree in classical saxophone. I also play the piano and the violin (mostly folk music there nowadays). Any more music students here?


----------



## ShatteredHeart (Jul 11, 2014)

bassist, but I play a little guitar as well


----------



## 121689 (Jun 21, 2014)

Kudos to the trumpet players, I had to learn it for a semester and it might have been the hardest thing I've ever tried to play. I could get a couple scales and easy studies alright, but my tone was horrible.


----------



## VoodooDolls (Jul 30, 2013)

guitar bass and drums, a bit of piano and i can sing


----------



## MidnightPicnic (Dec 14, 2013)

Jazz drums? That is just beyond awesome 😊💕 I play flute and my brother plays clarinet, we jam together all the time, fun times. He's so good at jazz clarinet, love listening to him improv jazzy tunes. : )


----------



## Improbable_Violence (Jul 7, 2013)

I've played trombone since fifth grade, and I'm now in university. I play bass trombone in concert band - purchased a high end bass recently due to a lot of bands either not having any/having poor quality ones - and it's great. I also play in the marching band, and while I can play well, I deliberately stick to the second and third parts because my upper register abilities are rather weak. Can play the hell out of the low notes, though.


----------



## Moya (May 22, 2012)

I sing, but I'm trying to pick up guitar and keyboard as well. And I would love to learn how to play the drums.


----------



## wzp (Aug 9, 2014)

I've played the piano since I was six, so for 11 years. Wow, that's quite a lot, and I should be more skilled... I play things like Tempest Sonata 3rd movement - Beethoven. I have a fab teacher who had the pianist, the main character, in "The Pianist", Wladyslaw Szpilman, as a teacher in music history. 

I learnt to play the guitar as I was 14, this was a requirement to achieve the highest grade in music. My current guitar is untuned to the degree that it hurts my fingers trying to adjust it. It's in the basement as well, so I haven't played in... 2 years? Unfortunately. 

The coolest instrument ever is the harp. Teach me, master!


----------



## nonstampcollector (Jul 21, 2014)

Guitar, drums, paino/keys and a range of synth parameters. 

Shameless self-plug: 

https://soundcloud.com/jamieeidolon


----------



## 121689 (Jun 21, 2014)

@MidnightPicnic Thanks! It's not my best musical genre for drumming, but it's good experience. I really enjoy it, but I love drumming through light rock to prog metal the best, and everything in between that . 
@nonstampcollector Nice stuff! I'm a fan of the metal tracks best, but I'm enjoying all of them .


----------



## nonstampcollector (Jul 21, 2014)

Arcayne said:


> @nonstampcollector Nice stuff! I'm a fan of the metal tracks best, but I'm enjoying all of them .


Thank you, kindly!


----------



## Orange Fusion (Nov 16, 2013)

I play piano.


----------



## Inveniet (Aug 21, 2009)

I play the gitar.


----------



## Who (Jan 2, 2010)

Arcayne said:


> My fingers are extremely double jointed, which you'd think would affect my clarinet playing just as much, but trying to play guitar, and/or violin/cello gets really hard beyond the bare basics. Or maybe I'm just impatient XD. I'm sure with a lot of practice, I could probably learn how to make them work the right way, but I just don't have the time.


Speaking as a guitarist, myself, I'd say it's most likely the latter. I know when I was new to the instrument, I at first thought my hands were a problem because I have crooked pinkies and, being over 6 feet tall, my hands are big and my fingers are also proportionally long, so some chords felt really cramped at first. But then I heard that just about everyone feels like their hands "weren't meant" for guitar at first. This is because most of guitar is muscle memory; at first, your hands aren't used to moving in the ways you have to move them to play guitar.



Arcayne said:


> Nice! What other production equipment do you use? Just curious. I'm trying to learn more about music production; I've taken a recent interest in it.


Honestly, I'm sticking with free stuff right now, which is part of the reason I'm thinking of saving up for stuff like hardsynths and the like. I mostly just use the program Psycle, which has a built-in sampler, a few VST machines and effects, and a relatively small learning curve. And it's free, so if you ever feel like playing around with it, you can grab it here.

For additional stuff, I've also lately been trying out a bunch of free VSTs. Some are good, others not so much. FMMF is one of my favorites right now since you can get so many sounds out of it and it has a few useful features like a built in arpeggiator, chorus, etc.

You can actually make some surprisingly decent-sounding music without spending a dime with all the free software that's available these days, but I'd still like to get a hardsynth because I have a thing for analog synth sounds. But that'll probably come after I save up for a decent mic so I can record my guitar-playing without it being unbearably lo-fi.


----------



## 121689 (Jun 21, 2014)

Who said:


> Speaking as a guitarist, myself, I'd say it's most likely the latter. I know when I was new to the instrument, I at first thought my hands were a problem because I have crooked pinkies and, being over 6 feet tall, my hands are big and my fingers are also proportionally long, so some chords felt really cramped at first. But then I heard that just about everyone feels like their hands "weren't meant" for guitar at first. This is because most of guitar is muscle memory; at first, your hands aren't used to moving in the ways you have to move them to play guitar.
> 
> Honestly, I'm sticking with free stuff right now, which is part of the reason I'm thinking of saving up for stuff like hardsynths and the like. I mostly just use the program Psycle, which has a built-in sampler, a few VST machines and effects, and a relatively small learning curve. And it's free, so if you ever feel like playing around with it, you can grab it here.
> 
> ...


Hmm that makes sense. And thanks for the link! I'll probably start looking into free software soon and see what happens. I'm taking a 2 courses on Protools this upcoming fall and spring but I'm gonna look into what else is available, so that helps a bit.


----------



## Imaginary Friend (Sep 17, 2013)

I play the piano and xylophones.


----------



## Chest (Apr 14, 2014)

I play guitar. I'd like to learn drums but everything costs so much, it occupies too much space, etc


----------



## 121689 (Jun 21, 2014)

Chest said:


> I play guitar. I'd like to learn drums but everything costs so much, it occupies too much space, etc


Unfortunately, this is very true XD. If, by chance, you ever get really desperate to learn someday, you should do some research on electronic drum kits. Not the same thing obviously, but they take up less room, and you can get the whole kit in one go without it being nearly as expensive as a whole drum set. I'd assume you would want to teach yourself so you don't waste money?


----------



## PowerShell (Feb 3, 2013)

The radio.


----------



## bubblePOP (Aug 8, 2014)

I played flute in high school, and I taught myself piano.


----------



## Candy007 (Aug 5, 2014)

Guitar, a little piano..just give me any instrument and I'll figure out a way to play it ^^. They're all fascinating to me. But playing piano is like..strumming the chords of my heart, even if I'm not very good at playing it.


----------



## 11th (Jul 11, 2014)

Guitar mostly :O
But I can add bass, glockenspiel, harmonica, drums and ocarina.


----------



## 121689 (Jun 21, 2014)

@Candy007 I'd say I have the same connection with drumming, but you don't exactly strum them XD. I hope you get to continue learning it, whether you decide to take lessons or self-teach .
@11th That's an eclectic mix! Are you in the percussion section of a band? Harmonica is awesome when it's played well, just sayin'


----------



## 11th (Jul 11, 2014)

Arcayne said:


> @11th That's an eclectic mix! Are you in the percussion section of a band? Harmonica is awesome when it's played well, just sayin'


Not really, I'm mostly a guitar player with a bass obsession, I'm the person who ask for the bass to be louder or at least more relevant. I like trying new instruments and sometimes add them to a specific music.


----------



## Candy007 (Aug 5, 2014)

@Arcayne I hope that too, I just gotta find the time.. and money ^^ (of course). I like drums tho, I'd love to learn how to play them someday, but then I'll get tired quickly cuz I think it needs some powerful arms :mellow:


----------



## 121689 (Jun 21, 2014)

Candy007 said:


> @Arcayne I hope that too, I just gotta find the time.. and money ^^ (of course). I like drums tho, I'd love to learn how to play them someday, but then I'll get tired quickly cuz I think it needs some powerful arms :mellow:


Dooo it! Haha don't worry, "powerful arms" come with practice. The bigger battle is keeping time and having the coordination . If you succeed in both of those, you'll be fine.


----------

