Music

From AdamWiki

Music is extremely important to me. I need access to music I like to feel happy. I need access to a piano keyboard as a creative outlet. Music has been a big part of my life and it always will be.

Listening to Music

I grew up on my parents' strange taste in music: Barry Manilow, Arlo Guthrie, Neil Diamond, Barbra Streisand, America. Don't get me wrong, I like those people. Still have a soft spot for the crooning of Manilow, even. It just isn't my music.

I liked little that was played on the radio between 1981 and 1990, really, though I would tune in WDMZ from Cleveland in the early 80's to get R&B and some "early" rap like Grandmaster Flash. I loved rap, but it was hard to find, and I wasn't buying my own music yet.

Somewhere in high school, I discovered Progressive music, thanks to a close friend (Holly) with fantastic musical taste. She introduced me to Progressive bands and performers like Genesis, Peter Gabriel, Kate Bush, Camel, and my favorite -- Marillion.

I started buying my own music then, too, on vinyl and cassette. I listened to Suzanne Vega, Laurie Anderson, They Might Be Giants, Edie Brickell & the New Bohemians.

I had a penchant for synthesizer inspired pop and experimental music: Thompson Twins, Thomas Dolby, Howard Jones, Information Society.

Through college, I continued to listen to Progressive music, but had access to eclectic college radio programming and friends with diverse musical tastes. I experienced everything from speed metal to show tunes to hardcore to classic rock to baroque. I joined a fraternity, and several of the members were in a blues band that practiced in the house. I gained an appreciation for that music there.

Alternative music took over the scene in the early- and mid-90's and at first I wasn't impressed. Eventually, I sorta "got it". I'm not fond of all it, still, but I definitely appreciate what Nirvana did for the music scene. I can actually listen to radio now and enjoy it.

These days, when I listen to the radio, I have a better selection living in Baltimore instead of rural Ohio. I tend to listen to WHFS 99.1 (alternative rock — I don't listen to it since it was sold in January 2005 to become the Latino station, El Zol), DC101 (alternative rock), and WZBA 100.7 (classic rock - "the music that the other stations have forgotten", a new favorite). I tire of the repetition of radio though.

I like just about any kind of music as long as it's good. I tend to avoid formulaic stuff like boy bands, most Top40 pop, and country music. I don't listen to classical music that much, or opera, but I appreciate it when I do and I have a few favorites, like Smetana. I love funk, techno, industrial, and jazz.

I signed up for Listen Rhapsody, an Internet music service. It's like $10/month and they have a great selection. Sure, its selection sucks compared to Kazaa, but the music is legal and that is important to me. I love digging up old bands that I can't really listen to anymore because the tapes are lost or because my vinyl is all boxed up somewhere and I don't have a turntable anymore anyway. I love experimenting with bands I've never heard of and discovering new gems.

Playing and Composing Music

I was in the choir in elementary school. In fifth grade, I took up the bassoon but it was too big for me, so my teacher suggested the oboe. I didn't know any better, so I said yes. It was just as hard as the bassoon, if not moreso. And it's not a cool chick-magnet like a saxophone or guitar. ;) I played oboe through the rest of my years in middle and high school. I took private lessons for six years and got fairly good at it. My instrument was owned by the school, so I left it behind when I went to college. Cheap oboes run over $1000 so I haven't had one since. I still miss it.

When I was in high school, my dad got my mom a baby grand piano. Mahogany with ivory keys: it was gorgeous. She had played when she was younger and she dug out her old sheet music and played now and then. I loved the sound of it and wanted so much to be able to play it. Trouble was, I couldn't read the score. I could read treble clef fine, but only one note at a time. I couldn't read bass clef very well. I didn't have the patience for lessons or practice, so I never learned to read piano music.

I did learn to play a bit, though. I would spend hours on it, pecking out songs of my own composition. I was horrible at first, I am sure. Throughout college, I continued to experiment. My technical playing skill got a little better, but wasn't that good, really, and I still am not.

I've written bits and pieces of a dozen songs. Some of it sounds a lot like David Lanz or George Winston, if you know who they are. I used to delude myself, thinking that if I only had a good MIDI synthesizer and a music composition program, I could piece together more complicated music. I am not so convinced anymore, but I haven't tried it, either. It's not that important to me anymore. I play as a creative outlet.

In college, a fraternity brother had a drum set in a spare bedroom. I learned to play an hour or two at a time over the course of a year. Again, I'm not that good, but I can keep a beat, play some more complex rhythms, and manage a fill or two. My hands are always air-drumming when I listen to music. I probably drive Steph crazy.

In any case, playing music and composing are important creative outlets for me. I have a pretty decent keyboard synthesizer now, and it sits next to my computer. I play it manically for a while then forget about it for a month or two. It's always there when I need the outlet.