Well I never..

[donkey tugger]

Seems to be a lot of whining and moaning going on, as if KVR has been possessed by Morrissey (without the lunatic politics..); "oh woe is me, I can't write any music, the dog ate my sinthesiser" etc etc.

How about for a bit of balance you tell us what you've accomplished/learnt etc which has surprised or impressed you? After 30 odd years playing the geetar I finally cottoned on how to play funk guitar properly over the last year or so. As I say, Nile Rodgers won't be losing any sleep, but definitely serviceable in the pursuit of pop..

[dark water]

Not sure if it's OT or not, but I just picked up a near-mint Roland handsonic-20 percussion pad which allows me to use its lovely big, responsive pads (no that's not for the Quoted... thread) plus it has decent onboard sounds and midi for 2/3rds price.
I've been a finger banger (no that's not for the Quoted... thread) for years so I'm now well chuffed.
In fact, I'm so delighted beating my new instrument in front of me right now (go on, you can have that one for the thread) that I might just crack a new track out based around sounds a bit like Smoker's Delight...


Which to answer the thread question properly - I've surprised myself by becoming a semi-decent percussionist in the past 30 years (gigging band drummer / percussion performer in concerts in Italy, Japan, New Zealand and the UK / African drum workshop member etc).
Currently besides this new Roland midi instrument, I'm getting better at developing skills on my saraz d handpan and djembe - and I hope to hook up with some like-minded percussionists for jams around Devon / Cornwall in the coming months.

[jancivil]

as if KVR has been possessed by Morrissey

I so hate that shit.



I shouldn't boast...

[el-bo (formerly ebow)]

Morrissey only had one good song outside of The Smiths. True story

As for something about myself that impresses me? Probably my consistent ability to disappoint myself. Also a true story

[AnX]

Seems to be a lot of whining and moaning going on, as if KVR has been possessed by Morrissey (without the lunatic politics..); "oh woe is me, I can't write any music, the dog ate my sinthesiser" etc etc.

How about for a bit of balance you tell us what you've accomplished/learnt etc which has surprised or impressed you? After 30 odd years playing the geetar I finally cottoned on how to play funk guitar properly over the last year or so. As I say, Nile Rodgers won't be losing any sleep, but definitely serviceable in the pursuit of pop..

well done, its not easy riffin that shit

i could never find the right plec... too stiff, too flappy

[shonky]

Relatively minor achievement but have been gradually improving my use of follow actions and dummy clips in Ableton so that drums and chord patterns are constantly shifting yet still coherent with the original musical idea*. Kept finding that more generative patterns are too random to be of much use to me beyond recording/resampling for new ideas (e.g. they may be quantized to scale but remain fairly random with regards to emphasising the tonality of that specific key/mode) so this is a good compromise between static loops and uncontrolled randomisation.

*Place basic idea in slot 1, copy and add variations to taste in subsequent slots, set 1st clip play e.g 3 bars with FA set to any, subsequent clips play one bar with FA return play to 1st clip. Route audio to another audio track, add blank audio clips, add automation to sends and then you can set all of these clips to FA play any for random FX splashes.

[foosnark]

Aside from a wave of learning new synthesis techniques a few months ago... something I've noticed is an improving ability to rescue tracks that seem like they've gone all wrong somewhere. Not by going backwards and undoing changes or reloading a previous state, but by forging ahead with radical changes and trying crazy ideas.

Plus I'm generally really happy with the state of my modular synth and expect I'll sit on it for a while without changing anything. (That probably means it's time to buy more pedals instead, or at least some cool lights or something... )

[Winstontaneous]

Haha, great topic. Music-related, I've developed a production and mixing workflow in the last year that allows me to get the results I want. In general life, thanks to a friendly mentor I met at my dayjob, I've grown more ambitious and extroverted in and out of the workplace, traits which are serving me well.

[vurt]

the dog ate my sinthesiser

5g turned my son into a fish finger.

as for me, happiness came from letting go.
i realise for many, the result is the goal. ie a finished song.
but for me, these days more than ever, the goal is to enjoy the moment, the process. the outcome then becomes secondary (at least for the stage at the moment) as has been proven by some of the output over the past year

however, there are still "album/track" ideas in my head, that will at some point in the future (near future) be realised, hopefully with some of the same mindset so as i don't get too "morissey"

[Forgotten]

Early this year I decided to start weekly piano lessons, ostensibly to improve my sight reading, but I've been amazed at how much I've been able to improve my playing by fixing all the bad habits I've picked up over the years...