This.

As a composer, you have to know certain things about what you're composing for - whether or not you can play it is irrelevant, but you can't write a part for flute 50 ledger lines below it's range and expect the musician to magically make that note.

You also have to bear in mind the complexity of certain instruments. You can't write a piece for contrabassoon in 160 bpm with tons of slurred arpeggios and expect the bassoonist to play it smoothly. Making overly complicated pieces is indeed the mark of an amateur musician. That doesn't mean that complex pieces are bad, quite the opposite, in fact I'd like to think of myself as a maximalist :p I utilize as many instruments as I can, but I always make sure they blend well and don't write ridiculous motifs.

@ odjobbabe and the "fifth chords"

you're obviously not that musically inclined, as an interval (such as a fifth) is just that: two notes. as such, you can't have fifth chords (chords being at least three intervals being played at once). it's as if you've missed the first half or something (as in 'minor 7 flat 5 [-7b5] chord')

@ gretin:

basically if you learn guitar through conventional tuition, whether you like it or not you're going to learn jazz/blues. i don't really like much jazz or blues at all, but i am a proficient jazz player because it's just the way guitarists get taught (people just don't teach classical guitar like they used to in the super strict age of black and white :/)

@ music difficulty:

most of the time, difficult music isn't enjoyable and is usually only enjoyable because it is impressive. people greatly underestimate how extremely difficult it is to write something that's both very simple and very effective. one of my favourite songs only has 5 chords in it, and the melody rhythm is all minums.

I have had conventional tuition on the guitar, and yes, I've learned a bit of jazz/blues, but my teacher pretty much teaches me the styles I want to learn, so I do classical and rock/metal as well.

Also, I just want to say by technical I didn't necessarily mean difficult. And for composing for instruments you can't play, I never said you can just blast away composing any old crap for any instrument that you don't actually know how it works. Obviously you have to have an understanding of how the instrument you compose for works, but that doesn't necessarily mean you have to be a proficient player at that instrument.

certainly. i found that out when i was 14 and tried to write for a string quartet thinking i could just do it without any other insight. i mean you can download digital orchestra and put random notes in, but chances are they will sound awful/imbalanced, or they wont be in the instruments range etc.

i'm so glad i've broken out of the guitar theory mindset though, it was a pretty hard thing to do. being taught from day one to think of chords from the bottom up. i'm glad i'm forever able to expand musically, there's always more to learn

You can play 32 ledger lines lower with a hyperbass :p

My flute teacher is brilliant, he's teaching me to play beautifully (gently, good tone, in tune) and I just love the sound I make. I need to know snappy fast passages, though, else I can't show off.

Hahahaha, "in tune." That's sure not something I hear emphasized that often from flautists. Just kidding...

I was always self-taught, and have only read one or two books on the structure of it, so my understanding of it isn't a conventional (and often, not a correct) understanding of it. I apologise for my mistake, and thank you for the correction.

What about if it's the three note power chord with the root note added on the end again (1 - 5 - 8), does that count as a chord? XD Just kidding, I'm not 100% sure on the technical terms either, I know enough theory to know how to write the music I want but I don't know all the terms to describe everything.

Absolutely, that's one of the great things about music, you can never know everything. I learned the keyboard first, though, so I never really had that guitar theory mindset to begin with. I had the keyboard theory mindset instead!

Last year I would have loved to play the bass guitar, but I couldn't do it and now I lost this desire.

My flute teacher always says: " How do you make 2 piccolos play in tune? Shoot one!

HAHAHAHAhahahahaha.

I had a really scary performance at an assembly today on my flute. I had to solo, without accompaniment because they wouldn't allow a piano access to the gym, in front of at least 300 peers and a group of community members. I played polonaise from the suite in B min rather well, if I say so myself. One person said afterwards: "Well done, that was...........great." Thanks for the reassurance! I was happy with how I played

My skills are more with Audacity and PC audio mixing

guys , i found out from a video from ralph of serpent underground , that the keyboard can also be used to play metal stuff , why i didn't feel that before? , because i wasn't using the fill in patterns , it makes the song feel full , now i can learn some more , then BANG ALL NIGHT , METAL RULZ!!!!!!!!!!!

Listen to "Carry Stress in the Jaw" by Mr. Bungle. They put a saxophone in metal. And it works.

What you do in your spare time is your buisness.I advise you don't talk to 'master of hardcore'. It might be hard to tell who's speaking.

I am a quality drummer, and a shit guitarist. I'm also a maker of beats and electro-music using the likes of Logic Pro and Reason, yum.

I've never played a Instrument. My dream is to play the Drums one day.

Just do it! All you need is basic drum theory to flourish with. Tap your fingers and feet 24/7. Just do it.

my stepfather does this a hell of a lot. he used to be a drummer in a mildly successful punk band. just out of habit, now.

I hope to get my hands on a set of crotales this Christmas, no promises though as both my parents are flat ass broke this year.

i'm not even a proper drummer and i do it all the time.

I play guitar really badly, and keyboard really well. Keyboard:
http://www.dv247.com/assets/products/33448_l.jpg

And I'm not gonna bother with a picture of the guitar because it's the cheapest starter pack I could find..

Keyboard + Guitar =

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_3GlzievtdF...400/keytar.jpg

My friend is getting one, so I had to mention it.

I'm currently learning the best Mozart flute concerto. This is my favorite movement, although my flute teacher says it's played in a far too romantic style by Rampal

Keytars are awesome. I really want one. Get one which works as a guitar too if you can.

Got myself back into the keyboard recently with my renewed love for Frank Zappa. St. Alfonzo's Pancake Breakfast is great fun to play. So is Uncle Remus.

I'm semi-learning violin from my friend. Quite fun.

I was going to say 'I used to play to play the violin', but then I realised that I'd already said that because that's what the thread's about. Used:), learn Rondo. It is the #1 piece for sounding better than you actually are on the violin.

'Rondo' could encompass many different pieces. Got anymore info? Composer? Era?

The one that was published in 1806 by Ignace Playel as his Opus 8, and was the last in his six 'Little Duos'. (Freidrich Hermann arrangement)

Learn the rollo interior from the aforementioned St. Alfonzo's Pancake Breakfast. I should imagine that being quite a challenge on the violin.

Thanks. Though, it's really just something I do whenever he's around and happens to have his violin with him. :p

Apparantly, my vibratto is like that of Itzahk Perlman's, of whom I have a recording of the Brahms Violin Concerto.

Any flautists here, form an ensemble and buy music by Ian Clarke. He writes awesome sounding stuff, and all fairly easy, except for the Flute 1 parts (tricky, still not hard), in my experience.

The flute ensemble I'm in was given music to practice for the piece in the link above over the holidays.I find the piece incredibly fun to play, although slightly embarrassing when you have to yell at 1000+ people.

Keytar! I've got one of those, but not that one, mine's one of the older ones without touch-sensitivity :( I'm saving up to get a flasher one though (The Roland AX-Synth to be precise). But yes, I 100% agree with MeechMunchie, keytars are awesome. :D

Me playing a contrabass flute. It's been up for a while, I've just been slack.

I hear Emperor Nero played the lyre.

You know, if you'd said he played the harp, I could have responded with 'Lyre!' and then we'd all laugh at my witty pun.

You really fail at setting up gags.

Oh, stop harping on.

Hi everyone! :D

When I studied in secondary school, I learned how to play quite a lot of instruments, since I read about music and such (and still do). Many in my class played different sort of instruments, cuz mostly of them had ensambles and played within conserts.

Musical instruments I play and learning:

- Piano
- Ukulele
- Occarina (potato occarina and the legend of Zelda version)
- Flute (learning)
- Guitarr (learning)
- Drums/congas (learning)
- Harmonica (learning)

Yup I think that's all of them :) want to learn more though.

Well done, Phylum. =)

At first glance, I thought it was a contrabass clarinet. Does that piece happen to have been written by Ian Clarke as well?

I laughed. What about you guys?

No, as far as I'm concerned, he doesn't write for contra. I'm not very concerned though, as I don't have access to the beast until next year :(

The piece is written by Peter Sheridan, who I met at the Australian Flute Festival this year. He gave me a contrabass flute lesson, and let me try the sub-contrabass after a concert he performed. After sending him the link to the video, he put it on his website!

The piece is originally written for the Sub-Contrabass, but alas, I've only played one once.

http://home.kpn.nl/jelinbama/images/...contrawide.jpg

Sub-Contrabass