Those who wanted to keep your music as hobby, what are your musical hobby goals?

[T-CM11]

Performing my music live isn't really a goal of mine. I got an invite to do it a couple of times, but wasn't ready and declined. I like having my non-portable studio set up, and having all the time in the world to prepare for my recorded improvisations, and then being able to edit them afterward to some extent. And no pressure.

But then, I've already had the live performer experience. High school orchestra and jazz ensemble in the 80s aside, I was a semi-professional taiko drummer around 2010-2012. I've done "outdoor festival with big crowds" thing a few times in various weather conditions, and a few dozen other gigs of various sizes and types. (A rich kid's party at the lake, international festivals, concert halls a couple of times, school events, street fairs, a Chinese New Year event at a casino even though taiko is Japanese... my first gig was at a conference for women who are Christian ministers who also seemed to be very drunk...) It's pretty rewarding but also very physically demanding, and the rehearsals and practice/training very time-consuming. It didn't leave me with the energy or time to create my own music. So I'm glad I did it and also glad that I quit.

I've had a few opportunities to "perform" my music - but I've never been ready for it. I've never really had a portable setup, and I don't want to break off part of my studio.
Also, I don't have a car or driver's licence (I don't want to drive a vehicle). So the gig needs to be local or transport provided by someone.
Maybe one day... maybe not. I won't lose any sleep over it.

Yet somehow, I envy your "interesting" experiences.

[Hink]

btw when I worked for my first music store I got a fretless dean bass, I bought that bass from me for the store...ok I'm lyon, I didnt actually buy it from me...I had an alter ego in the computer...a one Roland Dube, lived at 420 Hemphill Lane, Stoneham Mass and my boss never caught on...he chewed me out seriously because I gave my buddy Roland a lot more than it was worth (lets just say between that and my employee discount a got a free fretless bass).

The same place I worked when I bought and built the Warmoth...for under 100 bux

[T-CM11]

btw when I worked for my first music store I got a fretless dean bass, I bought that bass from me for the store...ok I'm lyon, I didnt actually buy it from me...I had an alter ego in the computer...a one Roland Dube, lived at 420 Hemphill Lane, Stoneham Mass and my boss never caught on...he chewed me out seriously because I gave my buddy Roland a lot more than it was worth (lets just say between that and my employee discount a got a free fretless bass).

The same place I worked when I bought and built the Warmoth...for under 100 bux

How to recognize your fellow forum members (it's a big forum, and sadly enough, it's easier to see the annoying ones ):
You're now Lobster Clerk with the Free Guitar!

[ghettosynth]

FTR I have never played guitar for Holly, that is how personal it really is for me.

This resonates with me. To be clear, I've played guitar for people before, that's not what I mean. I mean keeping aspects of your musical experience to yourself.

I'm sure the bathtub psychologists will try to tell us that it's our closeted narcissism, whatever.

[Hink]

FTR I have never played guitar for Holly, that is how personal it really is for me.

This resonates with me. To be clear, I've played guitar for people before, that's not what I mean. I mean keeping aspects of your musical experience to yourself.

I'm sure the bathtub psychologists will try to tell us that it's our closeted narcissism, whatever.

not all narcissism is negative behavior, we typically only speak of Maladaptive narcissism which is connected to traits that don’t serve you and can negatively impact how you relate to yourself and others. For example, entitlement, aggression, and the tendency to take advantage of others. This would be associated with symptoms of narcissistic personality disorder.

Adaptive narcissism refers to aspects of narcissism that can actually be helpful, like high self-confidence, self-reliance, and the ability to celebrate yourself. Which itself pretty much describes me as a musician, so I have no issue with that

[PatchAdamz]

Sex, drugs and rock n roll.

Out of curiosity I asked many bands over the years "What band was your biggest influence for becoming a musician..?"

The most credited band was Kiss.

Honorable mention were:

Beatles
Todd Rundgren

The influences seemed to reflect what bands wanted to achieve in the industry.
"Sex, drugs and rock n roll" were a major goal, but with these bands the music was, lets say, not as good.

[raiderpdog]

the process and the act of creation is it's own reward to me. Even when I was in bands playing out, that was fun, yes, but I always enjoyed the act of creating and the work itself before playing live or anything else. From when I was a young kid drawing, to playing music to being a painter in my adult life, etc., just creating stuff out of thin air is what is interesting for me. When you get a fully formed idea out of nowhere that you have to make real, that you "see" in your mind as it is, or on the other hand, when you get lucky inspiration while tinkering around, and afterward you are like "wow, this is actually pretty exciting or surprising" that is what makes it all worthwhile to me. Although when I used to play out in bands, getting paid in beer money at the little dive underground clubs was pretty cool, too

[Constructed Identity]

So I grew up poor. When I saw these DJs getting records for $12 that had 2-3 tracks on them I laughed internally. I couldn't believe something could be so economically biased. But then I can remember the record labels increasing the price of the CD because it was 'superior' to older formats. I honestly bought my first synth because I knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that I would never have a stack of vinyl. I have nothing against the people I've met with a wall or two dedicated to their collection, but I need money for more practical things...usually. My goal has always been to create music that I would have bought otherwise. Sometimes I fail, sometimes I succeed, but I still do not possess a single record bought from a specialty store for an exorbitant price.

[gnu23]

Have fun, nothing else.

This is the core.

[ghettosynth]

FTR I have never played guitar for Holly, that is how personal it really is for me.

This resonates with me. To be clear, I've played guitar for people before, that's not what I mean. I mean keeping aspects of your musical experience to yourself.

I'm sure the bathtub psychologists will try to tell us that it's our closeted narcissism, whatever.

not all narcissism is negative behavior, we typically only speak of Maladaptive narcissism which is connected to traits that don’t serve you and can negatively impact how you relate to yourself and others. For example, entitlement, aggression, and the tendency to take advantage of others. This would be associated with symptoms of narcissistic personality disorder.

Adaptive narcissism refers to aspects of narcissism that can actually be helpful, like high self-confidence, self-reliance, and the ability to celebrate yourself. Which itself pretty much describes me as a musician, so I have no issue with that

I'm specifically talking about the idea that if someone asserts that they like their own work but don't share it that it's really just a mask for true insecurity and is, therefore, not actual confidence but an inflated narcicistic projection of confidence. That is, that people hide their music because they're really just afraid of criticism. I've heard variants of this pressed here before.

[melomood]

My main goal is to enjoy my hobby

[Hink]

FTR I have never played guitar for Holly, that is how personal it really is for me.

This resonates with me. To be clear, I've played guitar for people before, that's not what I mean. I mean keeping aspects of your musical experience to yourself.

I'm sure the bathtub psychologists will try to tell us that it's our closeted narcissism, whatever.

not all narcissism is negative behavior, we typically only speak of Maladaptive narcissism which is connected to traits that don’t serve you and can negatively impact how you relate to yourself and others. For example, entitlement, aggression, and the tendency to take advantage of others. This would be associated with symptoms of narcissistic personality disorder.

Adaptive narcissism refers to aspects of narcissism that can actually be helpful, like high self-confidence, self-reliance, and the ability to celebrate yourself. Which itself pretty much describes me as a musician, so I have no issue with that

I'm specifically talking about the idea that if someone asserts that they like their own work but don't share it that it's really just a mask for true insecurity and is, therefore, not actual confidence but an inflated narcicistic projection of confidence. That is, that people hide their music because they're really just afraid of criticism. I've heard variants of this pressed here before.

I've been diagnosed so many times here by experts who have my best interest in mind. The diagnosis might be different but the suggested cure is always the same. Apparently, if I were to quit here all the real stressors in my life (you know like losing a wife, moving, losing my mom) will all just go away

[cryophonik]

Interesting question…

I spent about 15 years of my life as a professional musician. To clarify, I wasn’t signed auto a label or anything like that, but I earned a degree in music and lived as a gigging musician, live audio and lighting engineer, and did occasional session work and that was my main source of income for 15 years of my life, which paid my way through a second degree and grad school. I gave all that up after grad school when we moved to California to start a new career and have since been a hobbyist who occasionally does some paid work.

Interestingly, I feel like I’ve had more goals as a hobbyist than I ever did when I was living the dream of playing or running sound five nights a week. Back then, I never had a dream of making a living as a musician. I basically just lived gig to gig so I could pay the bills.

As for my current goals, I don’t really have any long-term goals other than to have fun, yada yada yada, but I always have short-term goals.

Since becoming a hobbyist, I had (and achieved) goals of getting songs signed to labels, finishing an album, creating certain sound banks, collaborating with certain local talent, etc. i know these aren’t grandiose or anything, but I do treat them as goals to make sure that I follow through on them, otherwise I know I would never finish them. Currently, my goals are as simple as completing two songs with two separate singers that I’ve recently starting working with, using some specific hardware to complete these songs, and making a music video for one of the songs, something I’ve been wanting to do for a while now.

[melomood]

So I grew up poor. When I saw these DJs getting records for $12 that had 2-3 tracks on them I laughed internally. I couldn't believe something could be so economically biased. But then I can remember the record labels increasing the price of the CD because it was 'superior' to older formats. I honestly bought my first synth because I knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that I would never have a stack of vinyl. I have nothing against the people I've met with a wall or two dedicated to their collection, but I need money for more practical things...usually. My goal has always been to create music that I would have bought otherwise. Sometimes I fail, sometimes I succeed, but I still do not possess a single record bought from a specialty store for an exorbitant price.

That's insane I used to DJ in the 90's and got my promo records generally for 2 dollars tops,until I got with a local pro outfit and got them for free. Even the 4 record set double weight vinyl of Nuyorican Soul was only 10 dollars and my first computer sequencer (Acid) was a complimentary promo from some convention my boss attended.
Did these DJ's ever make any money?

[BONES]

Those who wanted to keep your music as hobby, what are your musical hobby goals?

I am not at all goal-oriented. All I've ever wanted to do is get up on stage and perform. From that perspective, I've kind of failed because we've probably only played a dozen gigs in the last 10 years. But beyond that, we've achieved far more than I could ever have anticipated in terms of albums, of who we've got to perform with and got to know and in the opportunities we've had to perform overseas. I remember sitting in the lounge at Frankfurt airport, thinking that if our aircraft crashed into the sea and killed us all on the trip home, I'd be perfectly content with everything I've achieved in my life. That was 2005 and since then it's only gotten better.

All that to say I've always hated the binary that gets presented by DAW users on forums, hobbyist or pro. It completely lacks any consideration for the musician and music played.

Not really. It's a pretty simple distinction - do you make a living from music or do you have a day job to support yourself? If you've got a day job, then music is a hobby.

I care about giving solace to the broken, a voice for their rage etc.

You don't think it's more than a little bit arrogant to presume to speak for anyone else?

How somebody can have a passion for investment banking (and turn that into a job) is beyond me.

I work with a guy who lists finance as one of his hobbies. He has a small pool of money he uses to invest because he enjoys it, not to make money. It takes all kinds.

My musical hobby goal is simple, create some music to stand as a legacy once I am gone from this existence. It is hopeful to consider, that many years from now, someone would stumble across a tune and enjoy listening.

I share your feeling! I would have written that myself, but thought to be too... Worried ppl might find it too elitist or something...

More self-centred, I think, like most of the responses. It's to be expected, it's something we do for our own reasons.

FTR I have never played guitar for Holly, that is how personal it really is for me.

I wish I knew more guitarists like you. There are way too many ********* in the world who think everyone at a party or a BBQ is just dying to hear them play. f**k off! (Them, not you, Hink.)

Have fun, nothing else.

This is the core.

The Bert Koor, in fact.
Personally, I've never understood the obsession people have about fun. Mostly I find I need to be drunk to endure fun. When I'm happy, I'm useless. I try to avoid happiness if I can but as you get older, it gets harder.