Do you play any instrument?
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I play the piano and have started playing the violin. I can read music, but I’m trying to become less dependent on sheet music while playing.
Yes, I play the clarinet in a wind orchestra – but you know that, Thor, having been the host of several of our concerts (and doing a great job of it, I must say! 😊) . We’re having another concert in a couple of weeks – not a film music concert (a little bit of everything, really), but we will be playing SILVERADO (my suggestion, of course). And a BOND (song) medley.
But I’m pretty lost without the sheet music. Would have loved to know how to improvise! It’s never too late to learn, of course. Maybe some day…
Yes, I played trumpet for twenty years, and have a degree in music education. Advanced music theory sort of demands being fluent in score reading, and the trumpet, being a transposing instrument, requires aptitude in transposing at sight. None of which addresses the peculiarities of jazz improv, which requires fluency in all twenty-four keys, 7 modes, and every variation of scale imaginable, at all times. Let’s just say I did my best lol.
They also make everyone take piano in music school, so I had three years of that, little of which has stuck with me. I also studied composition while my school schedule allowed for it, and while I was in no danger of becoming a professional composer, I did get some working understanding of counterpoint and orchestration.
I now work as a lightweight film editor, which should give you some indication of my talent. My gift, such as it is, is in interpretation and analysis, not performance (and definitely not education), but I realized that too late, and couldn’t afford to pursue it anyway.
I only have rudimentary basic notation knowledge and get a basic impression from a melody written or so. But I cannot read and “hear” the music by reading it. And for sure not full scores (although I like looking at them).
I was forced to play recorder – the cheap plastic one I still own – in 5th/6th grade in school and actually music in school did drive me a bit away from music and especially classical music. In the early grades I already liked pop film themes like the Bond themes but I was more into charts… Appreciating classical did only start when I got really into film scores end of the 80s.
I do regret that I didn’t take piano lessons when my parents offered to pay for them but as mentioned I had no real interest in practicing especially (and now I also don’t ;-)). This all didn’t keep me from amateurishly dabbling around with music via computer. First using the C-64 by even coding in Basic, then the Amiga 500 (Soundtracker program) and then on Mac. I even actually do have a small MIDI keyboard and Logic Pro now.
I do play any instrument I can get my hands on, which is why everyone around me makes sure I don’t get my hands on any instruments.
Interesting stuff, guys!
Sadly, I don’t.
As a kid (I mean, from 5 years old or so), I goofed around on an old grand piano we owned, and composed a few melodies, explored harmonies etc., and that my parents didn’t pick up on that and gave me piano lessons, is something I’ve always been a bit pissed off at.
I play tam-tams and djembe reasonably well, and did so in a couple of bands during high school. I was never able to play normal drum kits, but was reasonably good on percussion, for some reason.
If voice is an instrument, singing is also something I’ve dabbled in, but it never amounted to much.
I’m envious of all of you who can play properly and read music.
Yes, we had a piano at home too, and I played around on it… my parents offered me to get piano lessons, but dumb child that I was I declined… So my piano playing never went beyond dabbling.
We didn’t have a piano for most of my childhood, yet I play the piano. 😉
I firmly believe it’s never too late to learn an instrument if there’s sufficient interest for practicing.
Is there any instrument you WISH you could play?
For me, it’s piano above everything. After that, maybe oboe and drums (drum kits, not djembe and tamtam, which I play reasonably well).
Since the age of 14 I played just for fun guitar, base guitar (in a band, because I was so bad at the guitar, that they let rather the base player play guitar and thought I do less damage to the music at the base), various percussion instruments and the piano and used to sing my own songs. And I was bad at each musical discipline. Kind of a musical duck. Like they can fly and swimm and walk, but none of it really well.
But I believe, I am not bad at song writing.
But if I had a free wish for being good as a musician, I wish I were a good singer.
Kind of a musical duck. Like they can fly and swimm and walk, but none of it really well.
That’s a good image.
I can triangle and tambourine 😉 Piano or guitar actually because both are so versatile. But nowaday I would be too impatiant…
I play piano a little, and I really enjoy it. I’m somewhere between Advanced Beginner and Early Intermediate. I’m weak on reading rhythm and never learned theory, but I can sight read some. I’m actually working on a 12-page suite of Interstellar and it’s kicking my butt, but oh my it’s such a delight and thrill to hear it come to life. I’m almost to page 4, it’s been a really fun challenge so far!
I wish I could play the duduk. My husband gave me one for Christmas many years ago that he got off eBay, because I thought as a former clarinet player (I played throughout my high school/college years) that it would be something not too difficult to transition into. Boy was I wrong! More than 10 years later and I can barely get a sound out of that thing! haha So I’ll just have to keep admiring its beautiful warmth and sound from afar. The wonderful, talented musicians who make it produce what it can and elevate its potential – I’m so amazed!
Talk to me of ducks and duduks…
My father-in-law started to learn piano in his early 80s and is terrible 😂.
I don’t play anything. At various times from the age of 11 I’ve tried the violin, guitar and keyboard, obviously not at the same time, and found myself to be both untalented and too lazy to practice.
My half-sister-in-law had a clarinet from school which she demonstrated and offered us to try. I couldn’t get anything out of it at all, until she said to do something with teeth on the reed and sure enough a pure note miraculously escaped. Of course, I wanted immediately to be able to play La Califfa, but there remained the issue of fingering.
One thing I certainly can do with a degree of success is whistle. The best environment is a pub toilet, where the consistently hard surfaces produce a beautiful tone. Unfortunately, breathing in isn’t always palatable in such a situation.
The duduk is a wonderful instrument, very fond of it besides some overuse in ethnic film scores by now. I have two albums by Djivan Gasparian who also played it on a lot film scores like Desplat’s SYRIANA, Revells THE CROW or Zimmer’s GLADIATOR:
https://www.discogs.com/de/release/1382409-Djivan-Gasparyan-Armenia-Heavenly-Duduk
https://www.discogs.com/de/release/5109878-Djivan-Gasparyan-Ensemble-Armenian-FantasiesYes, Gasparian is probably the big “star” in the world of duduk players.
Always loved the sound myself, even before GLADIATOR was a thing and people like Mychael Danna used it in his scores. But seems very difficult to perform with some sense of credibility. I can understand the challenge, Cailin!
One thing I certainly can do with a degree of success is whistle. The best environment is a pub toilet, where the consistently hard surfaces produce a beautiful tone. Unfortunately, breathing in isn’t always palatable in such a situation.
Whistling in pub toilets is probably the lowest bar (no pun intended) we should expect in a thread like this.
Yes, Gasparian is probably the big “star” in the world of duduk players.
Yeah, “the godfather of duduk” so to speak. Sadly he passed in 2021 already.
Yes, I liked the sound before GLADIATOR but a long time I didn’t know what it is actually (we had no internet to look! ;-))
As mentioned before, I don’t read music. I taught myself basic piano skills and I apply that to any keyboarded instrument, from synths to melodica. Those who have heard my reference recordings have stated that I work wonders within my limitations.
I think it was Jerry Goldsmith’s The Russia House that really impacted me initially with the beauty of the duduk sound. But I’ve come to love it even more through Gladiator, Syriana, Black Hawn Down, Argo, The Kite Runner, and other ethnic film scores.
I don’t have any duduk solo albums by Djivan Gasparian, do you think that would help me, haha? I tried to watch some YouTube videos earlier this year to see if I could tackle it again, but didn’t get very far. Could be my reed, but I really think it’s more likely my technique – which is hard to fix without a teacher correcting you in real time.
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