Hi all, here goes nothing:
Phase 1: grew up in a musical household (Mom was a piano teacher, performer, and composer. Dad a hobbyist violist). I had talent but no discipline, which meant I got first chair until about eighth grade when the kids who actually practiced started to surpass me. Clarinet and cello. Older brother introduced me to Zappa, Beefheart, Coltrane, Miles, among many others. Gave up cello, which my mother always blamed on my joyless, perfectionist teacher but who knows. [Aside: I just got that cello back; it’s 3/4 size and I’m 6’3”; initial observation is that it used to sound better.]
Phase 2: Played folky stuff in local restaurants and frat houses with my college roomie. Also lots of hanging out getting high playing music in the dorm room with said roomie. Listening: Dead, Neil Young, Dylan, Weather Report, in addition to above acts. We both dropped out, imagining a life of traveling in a van from gig to gig. That didn’t happen. Similarly low level stuff with post-college roommates, a wedding here, a party there, a trio called Flat Baroque, how embarrassing! Moved to Austin, played in the punk scene there. P/Funk. Bought and built a modular synth kit that I never learned to use properly but it did make some fun noises when I hooked up my clarinet (contact mic on the reed) to the pitch and envelope follower. Interest in synths and electronics led to…
Phase 3: distracting career in tech. Back to school, took some computer music classes but gradually focus moved away. If you think it’s tedious to tweak automation lanes in a DAW, try writing late 1980’s CSound (or was it Music 11?) and coming back in a few hours to listen to the render. Got a PhD, taught electrical/computer engineering for a while, landed at a telecom company, eventually got back to doing DSP stuff but not musical, all in the service of getting bits of information from one cell phone to another. Meanwhile all kinds of stuff got invented in the digital music domain, while I wasn’t paying attention. Oh: Tom Waits.
Phase 4: retirement. Decided to treat myself to being a musician again. Bought Logic Pro, wrote some songs, released an album, learned some stuff (*), wrote some more. Joined a Potters’ Guild which is another nice creative outlet, and I don’t lose as much money at it, but I’m back to feeling like at my core I’m a musician, if strictly amateur. It is most natural to me to write/produce funk/jazz sorts of things, ideally with a twist or two. When it comes to lyrics I aim for light absurdity with a hidden layer of sincerity or at least poignancy.
(*) For example, how to buy plugins(**) as a means to avoid learning how to use the ones I already have. Thanks, VI-C.
(**) All that stuff that got invented when I wasn’t paying attention. Holy moly!!
Phase 1: grew up in a musical household (Mom was a piano teacher, performer, and composer. Dad a hobbyist violist). I had talent but no discipline, which meant I got first chair until about eighth grade when the kids who actually practiced started to surpass me. Clarinet and cello. Older brother introduced me to Zappa, Beefheart, Coltrane, Miles, among many others. Gave up cello, which my mother always blamed on my joyless, perfectionist teacher but who knows. [Aside: I just got that cello back; it’s 3/4 size and I’m 6’3”; initial observation is that it used to sound better.]
Phase 2: Played folky stuff in local restaurants and frat houses with my college roomie. Also lots of hanging out getting high playing music in the dorm room with said roomie. Listening: Dead, Neil Young, Dylan, Weather Report, in addition to above acts. We both dropped out, imagining a life of traveling in a van from gig to gig. That didn’t happen. Similarly low level stuff with post-college roommates, a wedding here, a party there, a trio called Flat Baroque, how embarrassing! Moved to Austin, played in the punk scene there. P/Funk. Bought and built a modular synth kit that I never learned to use properly but it did make some fun noises when I hooked up my clarinet (contact mic on the reed) to the pitch and envelope follower. Interest in synths and electronics led to…
Phase 3: distracting career in tech. Back to school, took some computer music classes but gradually focus moved away. If you think it’s tedious to tweak automation lanes in a DAW, try writing late 1980’s CSound (or was it Music 11?) and coming back in a few hours to listen to the render. Got a PhD, taught electrical/computer engineering for a while, landed at a telecom company, eventually got back to doing DSP stuff but not musical, all in the service of getting bits of information from one cell phone to another. Meanwhile all kinds of stuff got invented in the digital music domain, while I wasn’t paying attention. Oh: Tom Waits.
Phase 4: retirement. Decided to treat myself to being a musician again. Bought Logic Pro, wrote some songs, released an album, learned some stuff (*), wrote some more. Joined a Potters’ Guild which is another nice creative outlet, and I don’t lose as much money at it, but I’m back to feeling like at my core I’m a musician, if strictly amateur. It is most natural to me to write/produce funk/jazz sorts of things, ideally with a twist or two. When it comes to lyrics I aim for light absurdity with a hidden layer of sincerity or at least poignancy.
(*) For example, how to buy plugins(**) as a means to avoid learning how to use the ones I already have. Thanks, VI-C.
(**) All that stuff that got invented when I wasn’t paying attention. Holy moly!!
, but curiously similar to much of my own biog, though different careers. I envy you the pottery. On the other hand my band experience preceeded punk and for that I am grateful.
