The Hello-Thread: Please Allow Me To Introduce Myself 👋

suit yourselves, maybe my comments will make more sense to you when you start to reach a quarter century in music with thousands of shows under your belt in your own bands and as a sideman from everything from industrial music to jazz and contemporary country. I reached a point as I got older that I realized I am always just happy to be playing, especially for an audience and then I started to learn a lot by running ideas from types of music I woulda never listened to as a fan through the weird music filter of my own brain and hands. But YMMV

I used to hate on Nickleback like everyone is in the wagon. One day, I was invited to spend the weekend with a coworker and his family and in the car ride up to Amarillo, he listened to a great hits Nickleback album. I fought it at first, but I actually think they are a decent band and I can see why people enjoy them. Maybe in a couple of years I can actually see listening to a song or two again.

Er.... I'm very late....

Also, stealing this thread for this post.

Happy New Year guys :) I haven't been active much due to me being busy with university but I hope all of you guys are okay, in good health and stuff. Hope 2017 is the year you make some cool music and get some of that cool gear you guys always wanted :)

jimmarchi1 where are you? Still got that sense of humour I hope. Admin gchiaren?

Hope you're both good. (and all other members and admins, sorry don't really know that many people here lol)

I'm Nobody. Nice to meet you.

I'm Narcist. Nice to meet you.

I'm Batman. Nice to... I'm Batman.

I'm around, busy shoveling snow today. Caught me way off guard. It was so warm all week too....

For once I have little to add to the conversation the last couple of days.

I'm Batman. Nice to... I'm Batman.

LMAO

Hey, this is azfatboy. I am a 40-something old grandpa who had an epiphany to start playing the bass about 6 months ago. I now have, according to my youngest, a "collection" of basses and guitars and amps and pedals that looks like I've "been doing this for 20 years". And perhaps I do, but only because I feel like I have to make up for my youth that I wasted on school, family, and a career in technical marketing and IT. (I think I got something backwards in all that, but whatever...)

As I've tried to absorb as much as I can as fast as I can, I found myself using this site more and more, and I finally decided that maybe I could start contributing myself, in my own little way. So here I am. :)

Welcome aboard.

There is a decent mix of ages and proficiency on this site. People are only too happy to offer experience or opinion or sometimes experience based opinion.

So if you have questions or want to have a say, jump right in. Grain of salt and all that.

Enjoy!

Welcome! Always good to have more folky songwriter-guys around here.

Howdy

ahoyahoy

What great thing to hear! I'm new as well but I'll make a proper introduction when I've got the ratio of hangover to coffee more in balance. So far, this Jim fella has been been a killer ambassador into the site.

Ok, yeah. I'm in the right place.

This is Gospel. I study everything that falls on my ears. If your a person who might hate "Pop" music & beyond how silly it is to be a musician who ignores really any contemporary music genre in the time you live in yourself- you'll also miss cool stuff like this as an example-

Justin Bieber & Major Lazer- "Cold Water"

It's a song that uses something that I've been hearing all over "Top 40" songs lately- Ambiguous key center. This "ambiguous key center" type of song is a fun trick. Usually with just a little theory & a good ear you can tell what key a song is in.

Major! Happy! Minor! Sad....

But "Cold Water" could be in F#min OR Amaj. So does it sound Happy? Sad? Is it about blissed out crazy young love? or a unhealthy relationship? You can hear it either way-so any listener can be held in suspense OR

-and this was what I like most-

If I write a song this way-The listener who is in a "sad" place will identify with it AND a listener who is in the throws of crazy blissful relationship ALSO CAN identify. You've made a song universal by "holding a mirror to the listeners mood" by not rooting it in any fixed mood. I could go on...but short version?

Fuck Yeah! Fun Shit!

Also kinda reminds me of Stravinsky's intentions w/ 12 tone composition. To smack around our Western Musical associations & crush them with a tonal melody not giving you any clue how you are "intended" to feel. Different, for sure but still it came to mind.

**i quick googled a bit & there's several articles covering exactly this and offer a bunch more examples including the same one I posted here. Just googled "ambiguous key center" & they go more in depth. Have fun with it-