Noise Heads / Musicians

[Streetcleaner2]

How Many Of You Actually Know To Play An Instrument And Compose A Track & How Much Of It Is Experimental / Anti Music

[Streetcleaner2]

I guess to say how much of it is subconscious and how much is focused

[holy ghost]

I’ve played in enough bands in my time to understand things like “a key” and “time signatures” are. However I do not think that makes me a “competent musician”, but I do own a lot of effects pedals to cover that up.

One of my favourite bands I played in for years was a sort of instrumental space rock/ambient/drone hybrid and we spent half the time trying to sound like the second LP on Amon Duul’s “Yeti” or “Astronomy Domine” and the other half trying not to move into “blues jammin’” which is fun but ultimately awful. Trying to break out of those learned patterns is very difficult!

[Pigswill]

I play instruments and will make musical tracks. Sometimes I incorporate noise into a composition or try to turn a noise session into something more musical, but it's such a tricky balance since they can easily take away from one another when they're brought together

[consumer]

I don't even know enough to make noise.

[Bubble-Congeries]

I have made some simple songs but I am not a musician. In fact, a lot of what brought me to noise was coming to terms with my own limitations. It was never about saying "fukk musikk", just accepting things as they were and attempting to find fulfillment in what ability I have.

I have dyscalculia, which is apparently so misunderstood/unrecognized that even the fucking Firefox browser thinks the word is a typo. I'm altogether a scatterbrained, ADHD mental-mess, but not completely incompetent when it comes to parsing language. But mathematics is just like bats flapping around my head, clawing at my face and fucking me all around. I can't stab the fuckers down long enough to even analyze them.

I don't mean to make a sob story out of this, but it's made everyday life a fucking challenge. I can't easily do basic mental math. I fucking have to count money on my fingers at 33! I am effectively shut out of even the most "idiot-level" service industry jobs, which leaves me trapped in my current job/ANY job I can get if I quit the current one, of which there are fucking few.

My ability to compose/perform "real music" is similarly obstructed (I suspect that my musical retardation is related to dyscalculia as well, or blame it on that anyway). So, I can stumble my way through very rudimentary verse-chorus song structures with lots of practice and luck and a single power cord that I use for everything on the guitar. But my abilities are fucking LIMITED, and NOT intentionally so. And I hate it, but I accept it. Because I've loved the sound of gravel churning under tires ever since I was a child, so why not embrace that and try my fucking best to make my own language out of that instead?!

[ASN]

Can play instruments, and can write and compose music.

For the last few years I’ve been in a headspace where I’m not interested in either rigid composition or structureless sound/ noise and am trying to hit parts of each of those approaches.

[D345]

I know the names of basic chords and can play guitar a bit and sometimes I'm ashamed of it. Playing guitar was funnier when I didn't know shit about anything. Luckily there's always Roro Perrots shit folk to inspire: https://youtu.be/R6hNQdaeBNk

[Bubble-Congeries]

I know the names of basic chords and can play guitar a bit and sometimes I'm ashamed of it. Playing guitar was funnier when I didn't know shit about anything.

I do agree. Even despite not knowing any technical aspects of music theory/notation beyond the most basic grade school learning, I still developed my own way of doing things and learning to somewhat be able to predict what holding this fret and plucking will sound like (despite being probably tonedeaf, as it's extremely hard for me to percieve at times whether a pitch is higher or lower). All of this experience with mindless noodling has crystalized into sets of automatic behaviors. Takes much of the joy I used to feel out of making bad overdubbed freeform jamouts with the aid of my computer.

[Residual / RT]

I've been playing in bands for most of my life & am a pretty good bassist. Experience in recording band music & making songs is definitely helpful with noise and experimental music. In the end mixing is the same process for both, even if with noise you're creating and mixing at the same time. I also often incorporate the same elements to my solo stuff as with a band: bass track, lead track, pads on the side, solo or vocal track in the middle etc. It doesn't necessarily sound like it, but it helps me keep the mix clear and all of the elements audible.

[Exclusionzonedayton]

I played in bands when I was younger. I can play several instruments traditionally. Anymore, it mostly bores the crap out of me to play. I used to be much better at traditional instruments and playing but as I mentioned, it bores me to play the same thing over and over so I’m not as good / practiced as I was. I still am in love with guitars as instruments though. Some are works of art.

[feedbacker]

I can make music, either electronic or with a guitar. Also can work with sequencers, synthesizers (subtractive synthesis), drum machines etc. I'd love to learn modular but it's really out of my price range.

Also I don't make noise. I'm a huge noob still. Waiting for the european distributors to start selling contact mics again so maybe I can try and get inside this world of making noise.

[Bubble-Congeries]

Waiting for the european distributors to start selling contact mics again so maybe I can try and get inside this world of making noise.

Would you be willing to try to make one yourself? It's very inexpensive and easy if you have the basic supplies (cables, connectors, piezo elements, solder+iron, and perhaps some non-essential luxuries like flux and wire cutters/strippers). The initial investment in such supplies could be all you need for the rest of your life, should you have to repair, replace or create additional mics.

[feedbacker]

Waiting for the european distributors to start selling contact mics again so maybe I can try and get inside this world of making noise.

Would you be willing to try to make one yourself? It's very inexpensive and easy if you have the basic supplies (cables, connectors, piezo elements, solder+iron, and perhaps some non-essential luxuries like flux and wire cutters/strippers). The initial investment in such supplies could be all you need for the rest of your life, should you have to repair, replace or create additional mics.

Yea i've been told that they're easy to make. It's just that I don't have any solding experience, and I think I would prefer if I had a properly made microphone (there was one on Sentimental Youth that even had a long ass cable and that would be amazing for my hypothetical setup) than a shit one made by myself!

[Zalhietzli]

Waiting for the european distributors to start selling contact mics again so maybe I can try and get inside this world of making noise.

Would you be willing to try to make one yourself? It's very inexpensive and easy if you have the basic supplies (cables, connectors, piezo elements, solder+iron, and perhaps some non-essential luxuries like flux and wire cutters/strippers). The initial investment in such supplies could be all you need for the rest of your life, should you have to repair, replace or create additional mics.

Yea i've been told that they're easy to make. It's just that I don't have any solding experience, and I think I would prefer if I had a properly made microphone (there was one on Sentimental Youth that even had a long ass cable and that would be amazing for my hypothetical setup) than a shit one made by myself!

But making contact mic IS the best way to learn soldering ! All material and tools to build one (or ten) is maybe 20 bucks ? And soldering is so useful when you want to repair or build stuff.

[feedbacker]

Would you be willing to try to make one yourself? It's very inexpensive and easy if you have the basic supplies (cables, connectors, piezo elements, solder+iron, and perhaps some non-essential luxuries like flux and wire cutters/strippers). The initial investment in such supplies could be all you need for the rest of your life, should you have to repair, replace or create additional mics.

Yea i've been told that they're easy to make. It's just that I don't have any solding experience, and I think I would prefer if I had a properly made microphone (there was one on Sentimental Youth that even had a long ass cable and that would be amazing for my hypothetical setup) than a shit one made by myself!

But making contact mic IS the best way to learn soldering ! All material and tools to build one (or ten) is maybe 20 bucks ? And soldering is so useful when you want to repair or build stuff.

Do you have any reference for learning soldering then?

[holy ghost]

I watched a few YouTube videos on soldering and I was able to wire up multiple speaker cabinets and repair the electronics in my bass when I broke a battery snap.

I also wanted to paint my Boss Metal Zone a bright gold and to get a PCB out of a boss pedal you need to make a few snips. Got it out and back together in no time. Seems intimidating but is very simple.

[Bubble-Congeries]

For my part, I made all the usual mistakes starting out with circuit bending using a plumber's iron and acid core solder/flux paste. There's some good total beginner advice I learned the hard way for starters!: Avoid that stuff entirely.

Just watching soldering basics/instructional videos and videos of old farts building kits a la The Joy of Painting on YT can be very illuminating. I've founds some great tricks and gadgets this way. BTW, "helping hands" clamps are a life saver for soldering fiddly things like c. mics when starting out if you do decide to go for it. Really a game changer.

PAiA make really cool kits that make understanding the directions really easy for their builds too, in cade you ever decide to really go for it.

[housepig]

Do you have any reference for learning soldering then?

best advice I got on soldering (after 20 years of doing it wrong) - you're not melting the solder onto the joint; you're heating the joint, and the solder will flow onto it. hold your iron to the point you want to solder, count to three, then touch the solder to it. the solder will flow, pull the rest of the solder wire and the iron away. it should end up as a nice shiny cone.

back on topic, yes - have played guitar for 35 years, drums for around 30, got into noise via thrash metal / hardcore punk / industrial.

[Helvitis]

I´m a classically trained guitarist and I can play a few instruments and have done a lot of songwriting/composing in other styles of music. I don´t find a lot of that bleeding into my noise making as I try not to think about creating noise in the same way but I´m sure it has it´s effect subconcioucly at least.

[feedbacker]

Do you have any reference for learning soldering then?

best advice I got on soldering (after 20 years of doing it wrong) - you're not melting the solder onto the joint; you're heating the joint, and the solder will flow onto it. hold your iron to the point you want to solder, count to three, then touch the solder to it. the solder will flow, pull the rest of the solder wire and the iron away. it should end up as a nice shiny cone.

Thanks for the advice!