Loving it all

I've been having a blast with music again. I came (once again) to the realization that I love music. Not only that, I love everything about it. I used to have endless debates with myself about just focusing on one instrument.
"What instrument should I play?" I always wondered that...to the point of obsession. So much obsession that I lost sight of the main goal, making music.
When I picked out one instrument (granted I mostly stick to instruments with frets), inevitably I would want to fool with the another one. Then I would feel guilty for not sticking with my decision. This cycle has played out over and over and over again.
The easiest solution would seem to be just do it all. Or rather, just do what you feel like. I don't know how many times my sister and Krista have given me this advice. Unfortunately, I would fall prey to the "Jack of All Trades, Master of None" problem. I would think to myself, "I'm having enough trouble learning to play guitar, playing won't work."
Things have been changing lately though. I've really been wanting to compose and get the music bouncing around in my head out into the air. As I've started to take steps to set up a little studio/music lab based around my computer, I've solidified some of my feelings about making music.
Personally, I don't think any musician hears hears just one part...even if they are composing for a single instrument. However, that was the position I kept placing myself in...use one voice, forsaking all others until perfection was acheived. Or so I thought.
Of course, there are other problems inherent in placing arbitrary limits on yourself, whether due to societal expectations or self-imposed boundries. I don't want to dwell on them anymore. I've shot myself in the foot with limits for far too long. All I know is I'm starting to feel freer in my approach. This freedom is allowing me to explore different musical territory. I am enjoying this immensly. I'm back to enjoying music because I'm not limiting myself. Now I just need to remember this when doubts and constraints cloud my judgement and obsure my path.

Finally

Well, it took me long enough, but I finally got my junk to work. Now an even harder project...actually making music! The possiblities are endless. Even my tenative explorations with Cakewalk have been inspirational. It's almost too much. I now have thousands of sounds at my fingertips. That just automated MIDI stuff. Add to that my beloved guitars...it's going to be a lot of fun putting some pieces together. This is the fun part of music I so often forget...the exploring...the searching. Not that I'm going to be randomly throwing out notes or beats. I really want to learn about composition and crafting musical pieces. I want to learn more about songwriting. Basically, I want to learn everything I can. The trick will be keeping my perfectionism from trying to step in and ruin my good time. That will be a hard effort, but well worth it. It will be worth it just to keep feeling this good.

Sigh

My inability to get my studio software and hardware to work together is feeding the inner Luddite. After hours of troubleshooting I've so far been able to only get a tinkly, barely usable piano sound to play.
It will work out eventually, as all computer stuff usually does. But it was nice to go back and plunk on the Strat and my acoustic for awhile. Ran through "What Child is This?" (it being the season and all) a couple times and I remembered why I love music in the first place. Still, I finally get this stuff working and hopefully I'll be able do some songwriting/composing with a decent setup to play and record. Until then, I'll be banging my head on the desk trying to get this junk to work. I'm going to reinstall Sonar AGAIN and hope for the best. If doesn't work, think I'll stop for the rest of the day and play a video game or something.

If an instrument makes no sound, does it exist?

Still haven't got the studio gear to work. I'm getting there...maybe tomorrow. It's super-frustration. I'm regaining an appreciation for acoustic instruments. I can pick up my acoustic guitar and it's ready to go. Once I get the music studio set up, it will be great. I don't know why I think these things will go easy. I guess I get a little more impressed with my computer skills than I should. For tonight, I guess I'll just look up some of my installation problems.
While I'm looking stuff up, I'll keep listening to Sufjan Steven's Christmas box set. Really a fresh take on Christmas songs and music. This isn't a collection of the same stuff you've heard in mall every Christmas. I can't even really describe it...it's hard to describe Sufjan's music at all really.I was already impressed by Steven's "Greetings from Michigan: The Great Lakes State". He is definitely one-of-a-kind and has his own sound...something I really need to remember and appreciate in my own efforts. I always worried so much about not playing "correctly". I was always worried I wasn't "doing it right". This obsession with "doing it right" certainly choked off a lot of creativity. What is doing it right in music (or any art for that matter)? As I get further along in my music studies, I have come to realize that all that matters is getting the sound from your mind to everyone else's ears. In a deeper sense, you are converting the thoughts in your mind into vibrations in the air. In that case, why would you want to repeat everything everybody else has said, the exact same way they said it?

Best Laid Plans

I've been working on getting a MIDI controller working for the last two hours! It's not the controller's fault. I think Vista might be the problem. I think I've got it figured out, but I'm too tired to do a whole bunch of reloading. I just did a system restore and I'll try and get going with a clean slate tomorrow at some point. Hope the install on the DAW software isn't this hard!

Sore Fingers pt. II

Well, I didn't get to record for two reasons. First, I had a hard time getting the TonePort working with my Cakewalk Music Creator. I think the combo was too much for my laptop's processor. That's fine, I'm going to move my recording setup to my desktop machine. The other problem is my fingers are still raw from this morning's session.
While these two developments may seem negative, for me both are good outcomes (even though I didn't get to record). First, I got some experience trying to use DAW software and an interface created by different companies. It's not fun...of course I'm using some really cheap software right now. I'll have to see if my new DAW plays nicely with the audio interface. More importantly, I tried instead of just blowing off recording totally. Secondly, I've played my guitar enough to make my fingertips sore! That means I actually got off my butt and played...for an extended period. I actually did something instead of thinking about doing something. So for me musically, it's been a good day. It's been good eye opener for goal setting too. I set the goal. I didn't make it, but that's ok. I got something out of it. That fact that I'm still excited about what I'm doing and not feeling like a failure is huge for me. I really hope I can keep this approach to music creation going.

Sore Fingers

I've played my guitar more this morning than I have the past several weeks. IMy fingertips are killing me...that's how long it's been I've been practicing, but I am also auditioning presets on my guitar software. I got a Line 6 TonePort GX several weeks ago. It's one of those amp/stomp box modelers. I have to say I'm pretty impressed. As inexpensive as it is, it gives a really good sound...much better than the multi-effects pedal I was using before. I went through all of the "clean" presets this morning. Jazz, surf and country guitar stuff mostly. I'm taking a break now. I'm going to actually try and do some multitrack recording this evening/afternoon, so I don't think I'll get to the "crunch" presets until tomorrow. Always fun...nothing like a little distortion to make the worst guitar player sound good (actually, it works for vocals too). I'll have to remember to revisit the performance of the TonePort later in this blog, it will be interesting to see how well it will work when it actually gets used for recording.