[elohiym]

Welcome to the musician's lounge. If you're a musician, or aspiring musician, have a drink and let's talk shop.

Feel free to stop by whenever you want to talk about playing music. I'm interested to know what you play and what you dream of playing. We're all on a journey; maybe we can share some of it here.



I'm a beginning percussionist, so I play a variety of instruments. My favorite instruments to play is the conga. The Arabic tabla comes in second. I also enjoy playing shakers and tambourine. Recently, I've been dedicating a lot of practice time to drum rudiments because I am planning to get an electronic drum kit soon, maybe an acoustic kit, too.

If you want to see the level of conga playing I aspire to, watch this video of one of my favorite conga players, Samuel Torres:

Samuel Torres on seven congas - rocks!

I'm thinking it will take me ten years at four hours a day practice to reach that level, maybe less.

[zippy2006]

What electronic sets are you looking at elo?

[elohiym]

I like the Hart Dynamics drums because they look like acoustic drums and the heads feel real, but they cost an arm and a leg. Since I don't have a spare arm or leg at this time, I'm thinking going with a Roland-TD.

What do you play, Zippy? Drums, too?

[zippy2006]

Originally Posted by elohiym

I like the Hart Dynamics drums because they look like acoustic drums and the heads feel real, but they cost an arm and a leg. Since I don't have a spare arm or leg at this time, I'm thinking going with a Roland-TD.

What do you play, Zippy? Drums, too?

ha, nice. I have a friend looking for an electronic set, but his budget is low.

I grew up playing piano, picked up a guitar 8 years ago, and now play bass in a band for about the last year. Bass has been a fun change. I can play with my fingers but when things get technical or we need to be especially tight I usually grab a pick; I'd like to get better with my fingers.

Other than that I run a tele through a Fender tube amp to get a nice "hot" tube sound. That setup is getting dusty though I did get a small feel for drums when I let my friend store his acoustic set in my garage a few summers ago. Messed around on that kit quite a bit, though I'm sure I wasn't very good. I'll head over to a friend's house tonight to play tunes with 4-5 others.

[elohiym]

Piano? Awesome. I'm hoping to start piano lessons soon.

Who are your favorite bass players and what style are you playing?

[zippy2006]

Piano is a great instrument. I have a keyboard in my apartment but it's not hammer weighted. I play more when I get home to the folk's place on an actual upright.

Victor Wooten is definitely up there, I also like Chris Wood and Christian McBride. Actually I was just informed about Chris Wood's family band, some good stuff:

When I was Young

That percussionist reminds me of "Future man," who coincidentally plays with Bela Fleck and Wooten a lot. Ever heard of him? I used to live with a drummer and he got a kick out of that.

Our band plays a lot of older music: Beatles, Dylan, CSNY, The Who, The Band, Clapton, Zeppelin, Stones, etc, although now we are moving away from covers a bit. I play picked electric bass, lots of different styles I suppose. Our bluesy, funky, jammy improv originals are my favorites, and they tend to showcase the bass a bit more. But sitting back and hitting your 1's and 5's is alright once in awhile too (bluegrass tunes, etc.). I've really gained a new appreciation for how bass can shape the music, especially in absence. It makes me pay much more attention to the drummer too.

[PureX]

I began playing guitar, and taking lessons when I was 9. Took lessons until I was about 15, and of course wanted to play lead guitar in a band.

I did play around with some bands in high school and college, but nothing much came of it. We opened for Jimmy Buffet, once, before he was really famous.

In college I began taking classical guitar lessons from some big shot classic guitarist that was hired by the music school. And I enjoyed it a lot. But they eventually discovered that I was not a music major and said I had to either become one, or stop taking up lesson time from the other music majors. The teacher really wanted me to switch, but I decided to stay with sculpture. So I stopped taking the lessons.

But I kept playing a sort of funky primitive/classic guitar style for many years after, mostly for my own pleasure.

Interestingly, years later I saw younger musicians like Ani DiFranco using that same kind of ad hoc mixture of blues tunings and classic finger picking. I also invented my own kind "slack key" style that I later found to be popular in the islands (like Hawaii).

Now days I rarely play. Don't know why. Sort of lost interest, I guess.

[elohiym]

Originally Posted by zippy2006

Piano is a great instrument. I have a keyboard in my apartment but it's not hammer weighted. I play more when I get home to the folk's place on an actual upright.

Have you considered upgrading your keyboard? Last Christmas I bought a Casio electric piano/keyboard that has an action close to a real piano. It cost me around $400.

Originally Posted by zippy2006

Victor Wooten is definitely up there, I also like Chris Wood and Christian McBride. Actually I was just informed about Chris Wood's family band, some good stuff:

Nice. Do you play standup bass, too?

Originally Posted by zippy2006

That percussionist reminds me of "Future man," who coincidentally plays with Bela Fleck and Wooten a lot. Ever heard of him? I used to live with a drummer and he got a kick out of that.

Had not heard of Future Man until now. Yeah, the wood brother playing the drums reminds me of an acoustic version of FM.

FM has an interesting act, to say the least. Here he is doing a solo live, while explaining how his instrument works:

Future Man

Originally Posted by zippy2006

Our band plays a lot of older music: Beatles, Dylan, CSNY, The Who, The Band, Clapton, Zeppelin, Stones, etc, although now we are moving away from covers a bit. I play picked electric bass, lots of different styles I suppose. Our bluesy, funky, jammy improv originals are my favorites, and they tend to showcase the bass a bit more. But sitting back and hitting your 1's and 5's is alright once in awhile too (bluegrass tunes, etc.). I've really gained a new appreciation for how bass can shape the music, especially in absence. It makes me pay much more attention to the drummer too.

Cool. Like your taste in covers. If you ever record some of your jamming and post it to YouTube, please post the video here, too.

[elohiym]

Originally Posted by PureX

I began playing guitar, and taking lessons when I was 9. Took lessons until I was about 15, and of course wanted to play lead guitar in a band.

Guitar, cool. I played a lot of guitar when I was a teenager. Never took lessons, self-taught.

I should have taken lessons.

Originally Posted by PureX

In college I began taking classical guitar lessons from some big shot classic guitarist that was hired by the music school. And I enjoyed it a lot. But they eventually discovered that I was not a music major and said I had to either become one, or stop taking up lesson time from the other music majors. The teacher really wanted me to switch, but I decided to stay with sculpture. So I stopped taking the lessons.

But I kept playing a sort of funky primitive/classic guitar style for many years after, mostly for my own pleasure.

Interestingly, years later I saw younger musicians like Ani DiFranco using that same kind of ad hoc mixture of blues tunings and classic finger picking. I also invented my own kind "slack key" style that I later found to be popular in the islands (like Hawaii).

Did you ever find your motivation for playing?

Originally Posted by PureX

Now days I rarely play. Don't know why. Sort of lost interest, I guess.

Maybe if you stop by here every once in a while and have a beer , you will gain interest again.

[elohiym]

This morning I was listening to a couple of Planet Drum songs I picked up off iTunes last night: Umayeyo and Umasha (Strawberry Swamp Fever Mix). They're both great songs, in my opinion. I think I'll listen to them again and then practice some drum rudiments and give my son a drum rudiment lesson.

[Arthur Brain]

Piano/keyboard player here. Used to play violin years back when but all but forgotten how nowadays....

[elohiym]

Originally Posted by Arthur Brain

Piano/keyboard player here. Used to play violin years back when but all but forgotten how nowadays....

[Vaquero45]

Originally Posted by zippy2006

Piano is a great instrument. I have a keyboard in my apartment but it's not hammer weighted. I play more when I get home to the folk's place on an actual upright.

Victor Wooten is definitely up there, I also like Chris Wood and Christian McBride. Actually I was just informed about Chris Wood's family band, some good stuff:



That percussionist reminds me of "Future man," who coincidentally plays with Bela Fleck and Wooten a lot. Ever heard of him? I used to live with a drummer and he got a kick out of that.

Our band plays a lot of older music: Beatles, Dylan, CSNY, The Who, The Band, Clapton, Zeppelin, Stones, etc, although now we are moving away from covers a bit. I play picked electric bass, lots of different styles I suppose. Our bluesy, funky, jammy improv originals are my favorites, and they tend to showcase the bass a bit more. But sitting back and hitting your 1's and 5's is alright once in awhile too (bluegrass tunes, etc.). I've really gained a new appreciation for how bass can shape the music, especially in absence. It makes me pay much more attention to the drummer too.

Cool zippy, i love bass, Victor Wooten is coming to a music store near my house on the 4th to put on a bass clinic. I plan to be there, should be really cool. I've been learning bass, been trying to copy Steve Harris/Iron Maiden stuff among other things. lol I can play The Trooper, but I dont quite match up to Mr Harris yet

Elohyim, I love the conga video, hand percussion stuff is great. I have a djembe that is fun, Im not very good on it so far tho.

Calling myself a musician would be a stretch, but my favorite instruments are electric bass, classical guitar, harmonica, native american flute, and hand drums.

[elohiym]

Originally Posted by Vaquero45

Elohyim, I love the conga video, hand percussion stuff is great.

Samuel Torres is a great percussionist, in my opinion. He inspired my interest in shakers with this video:

Samuel Torres on Columbian Maracas

And I've been looking for a set of Columbian maracas ever since.

I've been enjoying my egg shakers and these cool shakers called finger shots. Here's another Samuel Torres conga solo where he uses the finger shots:

Finger Shots

I love playing the congas with my finger shots.

Originally Posted by Vaquero45

I have a djembe that is fun, Im not very good on it so far tho.

Very cool! A fellow hand drummer.

I had the opportunity to play a djembe at the music store recently. Wonderful sound. I was tempted to acquire one, but I'm trying to focus on a particular core group of instruments.

Are you learning djembe rhythms? Taking lessons?

Originally Posted by Vaquero45

Calling myself a musician would be a stretch, but my favorite instruments are electric bass, classical guitar, harmonica, native american flute, and hand drums.

Well, you are certainly an aspiring musician, in my opinion.

What are your goals with you music? What is your motivation to play?

I'm probably going to ask that question a lot on this thread because I am very interested in people's motivations for playing an instrument.

[steko]

I play the flute....silver, open holed. I'm self-taught since 1970 and play by ear.