OT: any musician types out there?

[phcollard]

I used to play the acoustic guitar before I moved to Canada 15 years ago. I even built them and repair them as my main meager income for 5 years too!

But since then almost nothing. I recently sold a Serotta frame and being already N+1 fulfilled I thought hey I could get myself a new guitar and start playing again. So I got one of the cheap PRS but alas it's been sitting in its gigbag for two months now as I barely find the time to play.

Anybody feels having a hobby is a luxury those days? Tell me about having two (like cycling and another one)!

[Bostic]

I've been playing drums since I was a young kid in the late 70's. Heavy Metal was always my draw but I'll listen to anything. I've rented a small room at a local rehearsal studio for the past decade where I keep my drums and have 24x7 access. I haven't been in a band in over two years but still practice. Music will always be a part of me but the days of driving 60 miles to play with 3 other bands on a Thursday night for next to no money are done with. Usually the drums play second fiddle during the nice months of the year as I'm out riding every day after work and prepping for various double centuries. Now that the season is turning more time will be spent at the studio. It's a tough balance and I don't have kids but do have a very supportive wife. I do have a full time career in the tech industry and never wanted to be a full time musician.

[Alwurst]

I too am a mediocure guitar player but the stress relief is great for me also. Best for me in the winter when it is too dark and cold outside to ride.

[Ti Designs]

Originally Posted by Dave Ferris

Have a 2005 NY Steinway D in my studio that's my pride and joy.

As much as I've tried, no electronic instrument will ever sound like that. That just pisses me off...

[OtayBW]

I won the State of Tennessee championship for clawhammer banjo way back in 1979 and have played fiddle and other assorted stringed things for a long time. Most recent love has been the pedal steel guitar. Jack of many trades - master of none....

[cmbicycles]

I teach music in an elementary school, but I have/make too little time to play outside school between a couple other jobs and young kids. Thankfully one of my part time jobs is as a singer so i have that outlet. It'll come back eventually. Right now i am having fun messing with building and fixing instruments. Broken instrument donations gladly accepted .
I'm doing/planning some fun building projects with my students as well... it is a public school arts program so it is often supported by donations of what materials we need. Gonna be building cajons with a couple classes this year I hope. Been hitting up local cabinet shops for drop off pieces.

[notsew]

I play sax in a bar band with some buddies - some covers, mostly originals now. We've been paying together for the better part of 10 years. We don't practice or perform as much as we used to, but we sure have a good time when we get together! I'm glad I have it and that I've been able to hold on to it for so long. It's great therapy.

[dogdriver]

Guitar hack, but its a fun project. My performance standard is to be able to play on a park bench and not ruin the day of the person who walks by and listens for a moment...

[rounder]

I have a good guitar (martin hd-28) and good bikes ( two serottas and two k. Bedfords)..

I like them and use/ride them. But I am no where doing what they are capable of doing.. Props to those who can.

[Bob Ross]

Originally Posted by Dave Ferris

Being a pro musician means you have to do what you have to make $$$...unfortunately.

Preach on, brother!

I was a fulltime pro for about 20 years. Part of me takes incredible pride in the range of gigs I'd accept, and the professional work ethic I tried to bring to every single one no matter how lame the circumstances...but after I went through a period where I played "Satin Doll" and "New York, New York" every single night, seven nights a week, for three straight months, I started to have some doubts.

I'm serious. Every. Single. Night. Three months. "If I can make it there, I'll make it anywhere, it's up to you..." ninety-something times in a row. Kill me now.

Ironically, (re-)discovering cycling was the thing that really allowed me to scale back my musical endeavors without feeling like I was sawing off a limb.
These days I've (still somewhat reluctantly, but proudly) accepted the fact that music has become my avocation. I still play at least once a week, but I'm no longer hustling for work or accepting projects where the music doesn't mean something to me other than a paycheck. So my basses still get used regularly, but my guitars rarely see the light of day, and I think my synthesizers are still sealed up in the packing blankets from when we moved over a year ago.

And if my teenage self had access to the instruments I now own, my teenage head would have exploded.

[Saint Vitus]

I paid my dues making my way in the music business from age 18-28. Did ok for a spell, made 3 records, toured some but always ended up with day jobs to make ends meet. I'm an ok musician, I got the job done but I ain't Abe Laboreal or Paul McCartney.

Also put in some time running a studio (back when it was possible), that fizzled when it was obvious that I wasn't going to survive doing that when the rise of computer based digital home studios began their full scale assault on anything not that (my bandmate and I were vintage analog, even had a tube desk for a while).

As for having an instrument around, I let my band-mate take my '73 Rick bass since he got more mileage out of it (and even made a Grammy winning record with it!) and I had retired from music. I have an old Kay Jimmy Reed style guitar I need to have sorted, maybe one of the boys will take an interest...

[Jeff N.]

I have a nice Yamaha Flugelhorn I like to mess around with. I just put on a Fedora, look into the mirror with 'horn in hand and pretend I'm Chuck Mangione. -Jeff N.

[dave thompson]

Music is my bane. My Mom was a big band singer in the 30s and 40s. I remember her practicing when I was a kid. I love music of all types and genres. Me? I play a radio badly, no musical talent whatsoever.

[Dr Luxurious]

Wow! Some of you cats can really play!
Makes me feel a bit... inadequate.
I've tried many times to learn theory and harmony but my attention span is gone. I'll set aside some time with the intent of really learning something but after about 10 minutes it's so I just dime everything, take a running jump onto my Superfuzz and hammer out A5, C5, D5 (repeat).

I'm a little better on drums; even with difficult, frustrating etudes at least you get to move around and hit things.

[Bostic]

Originally Posted by Bob Ross

And if my teenage self had access to the instruments I now own, my teenage head would have exploded.

This. When I was a teenager in the 80's I cut out every drum set I liked from catalogs (and that was almost all of them) and hung them on the wall in my bedroom. I saved and saved and saved more until I could buy a useable kit and it lived a hard life gigging all over the SF Bay Area in the early 90's. Fast forward up to now, I've had the same Sonor double bass maple drum kit since 2005 in Steinway Black lacquer. It has some scratches here and there but still sounds great.

In middle and high school I played the Clarinet and Baritone Sax. From time to time I miss playing horns then check ebay to see how ridiculous it would cost to buy a new Selmer or a vintage Mark VI with Low A. About the same as a high end carbon bike with DI2.

I still need to score the vintage Neil Peart Tama 6' tapestry but my wife keeps shooting down the idea.