Why is making music so important to you?

[lowdown]

Playing/making Music keeps me on top of the World.
It pays my bills.
Its also meant most of my friends are Musicians because i have had to move in that circle.
The thought of mingling with the average Joe & Dave down the local scares the sh*t out of me,
It would have sent me to life of despair and Morris Dancing.

Me at work yesterday

[URL=http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/408/40096810150520386312287.jpg/][IMG]http://img408.imageshack.us/img408/6387/40096810150520386312287.jpg[/IMG][/URL]




Garry

Edited January 10, 2012 by lowdown

[Happy Jack]

[quote name='Low End Bee' timestamp='1326186980' post='1493348']
The weekly practice is like going down to the allotment. A bit of effort, throw a lot of manure around and grow a few songs.
[/quote]



Think I'll memorise that for handy reference ... and don't get me started on sheds.

[SteveK]

It's said that everyone has a God sized hole in their heart... I'm an atheist... gotta fill that hole with something.

Seriously though, I remember about 1964 when I was 8 or 9 my uncle had a band play for his 21st birthday party. They probably weren't that good, playing the hits of the day, The Beatles, Manfred Mann, Dave Clarke Five etc. That's when my life changed. I just sat looked and listened, I was totally in awe.

Edited January 10, 2012 by SteveK

[Happy Jack]

All the pieces ... bits and pieces ... all the pieces ... bits and pieces ...

[TheGreek]

For me, it's a form of catharsis - I've got a creative streak that I need to vent in some way..I also love to draw but don't pick up a pencil often enough..plugging in and playing for an hour to an hour and a half allows me to relieve the daily stresses of the real world...there's almost another worldliness to it, a form of mental escapism..much as I'd love to play in a band I'm always frustrated by not achieving what I need to..I got to admit to being the worlds's greatest control freak and band diplomacy can be really frustrating for me hence why I spend a lot of time playing by myself.

This doesn't stop me enjoying playing any less...for me it's the journey not necessarily the outcome..

[Mykesbass]

I'm not sure that making music is SO important to me, but music is very much part of me. Making it has really been just a natural extension of my love and fascination of the stuff.

[RhysP]

[quote name='leschirons' timestamp='1326156630' post='1493234']
I've no idea. I complain about everything I play and what other people with me play as well.

I get frustrated when I play with much better musicians but there is some sort of weird "danger" buzz going on at the same time.

I get frustrated when I play with people below my level.

I've been looking for a band that doesn't exist in my world for the last 10 years.

I don't compose as I have nothing to offer that would come up to my expectations.

But, I still do it.
[/quote]

That's completely nailed it for me (and lots of other by the look of it) - couldn't have summed it up better if I tried.

[thunderbird13]

[quote name='Mykesbass' timestamp='1326192426' post='1493440']
I'm not sure that making music is SO important to me, but music is very much part of me. Making it has really been just a natural extension of my love and fascination of the stuff.
[/quote]

This ( which is why I prefer to play covers)

Also its given me a wonderful oppurtunity to meet and play with some of the biggest idiots I have had the displeasure to meet

[Mykesbass]

[quote name='thunderbird13' timestamp='1326194324' post='1493476']
This ( which is why I prefer to play covers)

Also its given me a wonderful oppurtunity to meet and play with some of the biggest idiots I have had the displeasure to meet
[/quote]

[shizznit]

Two things...

1. Music is my therapy
2. Bass has to be the nerdiest instrument of all...I love it!

[discreet]

[quote name='seashell' timestamp='1326185221' post='1493329']
You want to share it with an audience, to make them feel good and of course to show off as well.
[/quote]

This has got a lot to do with it. As has been said 'self expression' is a motivator, but I need to share it as well. Music is the quickest and surest way to trigger my emotions, but I also need to stir up emotion in other people with what I'm doing.

Edit: Just read this through and it comes across as utterly wet and weedy, but I don't care.

Edited January 10, 2012 by discreet

[Low End Bee]

Plus I get to meet all the assorted pimps and thieves who leech off the peripheray of the music business.

[discreet]

[quote name='Low End Bee' timestamp='1326195996' post='1493513']
Plus I get to meet all the assorted pimps and thieves who leech off the peripheray of the music business.
[/quote]

Yeah you're right, I just do it for the birds and the cash, really.

[jackers]

For me, music is one of the few things that has always 'made sense' to me. When I was younger I was quite socially introverted, and didn't really understand how to interact with people, so I picked up instruments instead. Thankfully, now that I'm a bit older, I am much better at social interaction haha, but I still often find music is what I turn to when stressed or upset.

The most important thing to me though, is that picking up my bass just puts a smile on my face. Whether I'm writing and rehearsing with my band, playing a gig, or just noodling at home in my room, within 30 seconds of playing the first note I have the biggest smile on my face, and all the other bollocks from elsewhere in my life disappears.

[4000]

[quote name='silddx' timestamp='1326153389' post='1493198']

That's interesting. Music brings me so much more anxiety than happiness. But the rare times I achieve something I feel is musical, or be a part thereof, the well of joy extinguishes the anxiety.
[/quote]

I feel the same. I don't think I really make music; my head is full of it at all times and I sometimes long to turn it off. It's more a need to let it out than anything. Anxiety, even anguish is what brings me more often than not, but the good parts are indeed stellar.

The above aside, I guess there's also a touch of what I call Angela Syndrome (from American Beauty); the need to feel special, to feel different, to go beyond the mundane. The failure to achieve that is sadly also a source of much anguish!

[4000]

[quote name='leschirons' timestamp='1326156630' post='1493234']


I've no idea. I complain about everything I play and what other people with me play as well.

I get frustrated when I play with much better musicians but there is some sort of weird "danger" buzz going on at the same time.

I get frustrated when I play with people below my level.

I've been looking for a band that doesn't exist in my world for the last 30 years.

I do compose but I have nothing to offer that comes up to my expectations.

But, I still do it.
[/quote]

Fixed.

[steve-soar]

Music is so important, and this man tells it how it is.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y2q5L8kUOtA&feature=player_embedded

[Linus27]

For me music is part of me, it drives my emotions and its a lanuguage I understand. I am not the most social of humans and I not many things outside of music interest me. When I am playing or listening to music, I am in my world. I am listening to a language that I totally understand and it is controlling my emotions. It is when I am happiest, in control (as Happy Jack mentioned), and in a place that does not feel alien and makes perfect sense. It excites me, it sooths me, it comforts me and stirs me. My wife says when I am not doing anything musical I am a totally different person. The sparkle is gone from my eyes and I am lifeless and I do feel like that. There is a motorsport saying from the film Le Mans.
"Racing is Life - Everything else is waiting". This is how I feel about music, "Music is Life - everything else is waiting".

[Blademan_98]

I think that music has shaped my life.

Playing, listening and all the associated memories make up the experiences.

I use creating music now to control stress and create enjoyment.

and there's always the money

[xilddx]

[quote name='4000' timestamp='1326202191' post='1493674']
I feel the same. I don't think I really make music; my head is full of it at all times and I sometimes long to turn it off. It's more a need to let it out than anything. Anxiety, even anguish is what brings me more often than not, but the good parts are indeed stellar.

The above aside, I guess there's also a touch of what I call Angela Syndrome (from American Beauty); the need to feel special, to feel different, to go beyond the mundane. The failure to achieve that is sadly also a source of much anguish!
[/quote]
Haha, me too.

My first overwhelming musical experience was in 1968 when I was four. I got one of those blue and white metal rocking horses for Christmas. Another present was a 45 of Lily the Pink by The Scaffold. I used to put Lily the Pink on repeat on my mum and dad's mono Dansette record player, and rock on my horse listening to it for hours on end, day in, day out. Later when I was a bit older, I got massive thrills from The Sweet and I loved the way they looked, especially Brian, I wanted to be him I think.

Then a giant musical catharsis happened. My best friend (he still is) introduced me to Hemispheres by Rush when I was 15. He'd brought the album into school for English as the teacher wanted examples of what we thought were great lyrics. I looked at the cover and found it slightly dangerous and deeply intriguing, the three characters' photos looked amazing and instead of pretending to be Ian Wallace while playing football, suddenly I was Alex Lifeson! I was obsessed and it was about two months before I heard the album. My mate loaned it to me. I remember putting it on, and feeling even more overwhelmed than I was at age four with Lily the Pink, from the first chord I knew I had to be a guitarist. I played the album constantly, insisting my mum and dad listened too. They sort of liked it. I still love that album. I got a cheap guitar and learned stuff. I got some lessons for a few months. He taught me the chords to Hemispheres, and how to learn lead. I could actually PLAY Hemispheres!! When he showed me that opening chord and I first gingerly played it myself, I felt pure, unadulterated joy, a euphoria that no drugs can reproduce.

I want to create a musical experience that does to me, and to other people, what Lily the Pink, Fox on the Run, and Hemispheres did to me back then. I constantly think about music. My whole identity is forged from music. I am also vain and so to be able to perform what I believe is great music to an audience has the potential to thrill me. The older I get though, the harder the thrill is to achieve. Hence music now leading to more anxiety than pleasure, I am searching and searching for ever-harder-to-achieve musical magic.

[Happy Jack]

[quote name='silddx' timestamp='1326229044' post='1494227']
He'd brought the album into school for English as the teacher wanted examples of what we thought were great lyrics.[/quote]

Doing the same thing in 1972, I told my teacher that I would bring[i] Dark Side Of The Moon [/i]in.

Only I forgot.

He was not even slightly amused.

[Blademan_98]

I took in Goats Head Soup (The Rolling Stones).

I really didn't know (as I was 10 or so at the time) that the lyrics to Star Star were so explicit

I got a whack around the head and a detention for my troubles!

[4000]

[quote name='silddx' timestamp='1326229044' post='1494227']

I want to create a musical experience that does to me, and to other people, what Lily the Pink, Fox on the Run, and Hemispheres did to me back then. I constantly think about music. My whole identity is forged from music. I am also vain and so to be able to perform what I believe is great music to an audience has the potential to thrill me. The older I get though, the harder the thrill is to achieve. Hence music now leading to more anxiety than pleasure, I am searching and searching for ever-harder-to-achieve musical magic.
[/quote]

Nice story.

The above sums it up very well in some ways. As a kid I drew, I made Plasticene models, I was creative. I was always the best in my school at drawing, and it came to define me; I couldn't separate myself from "me, the artist". I went to college studying fine art & illustration and it was the same. It was everything to me and defined who I was. At this point I started playing and found I got a different, though equivalent, buzz from playing music. I went on a degree course studying illustration and found it was everything I hated; self-expression was actually frowned upon and I just couldn't see eye-to-eye with the tutors. Unfortunately I wasn't strong-willed or confident enough at the time to stand up to them so I lost my way and dropped out, electing to effectively replace the role that art took in my life with music. The loss of my art in many ways was a complete loss of self, but the music helped me cope. Unfortunately as the years have gone by in many ways I've become as disillusioned with music as with art. At least when you're painting you're only answerable to yourself; with music there are often so many other factors to deal with.

Unfortunately, just as art defined me, music has come to define me; I am "the musician", and when that's not really working (as now)there is just an unfillable void, hence the anxiety/anguish. If I'm a musician who isn't really being a musician, then that makes me like everyone else. In fact as that's the only thing that I value about myself, then it makes me less than everyone else. And of course I'm never satisfied, even when I am being a musician, and I suffer from crippling self-doubt, which makes it worse still. As for the "special" thing, because I was always "Shaun, the artist" as a kid, I always felt different & special. I guess I'm vain too. However I did stand out, at the time. Now of course I've realised that in the greater scheme of things it all means very little.

I guess part of my problem is that in terms of underlying intent, I've probably always taken it all far too seriously. In terms of practical application, unfortunately these days I can't bring myself to take it seriously enough, not helped by the fact that those around me don't see it as I do. The dichotomy provides a never-ending well of self-conflict. I really envy those who do it "for fun"; it must be great!

[xilddx]

[quote name='4000' timestamp='1326271786' post='1494622']
Nice story.

The above sums it up very well in some ways. As a kid I drew, I made Plasticene models, I was creative. I was always the best in my school at drawing, and it came to define me; I couldn't separate myself from "me, the artist". I went to college studying fine art & illustration and it was the same. It was everything to me and defined who I was. At this point I started playing and found I got a different, though equivalent, buzz from playing music. I went on a degree course studying illustration and found it was everything I hated; self-expression was actually frowned upon and I just couldn't see eye-to-eye with the tutors. Unfortunately I wasn't strong-willed or confident enough at the time to stand up to them so I lost my way and dropped out, electing to effectively replace the role that art took in my life with music. The loss of my art in many ways was a complete loss of self, but the music helped me cope. Unfortunately as the years have gone by in many ways I've become as disillusioned with music as with art. At least when you're painting you're only answerable to yourself; with music there are often so many other factors to deal with.

Unfortunately, just as art defined me, music has come to define me; I am "the musician", and when that's not really working (as now)there is just an unfillable void, hence the anxiety/anguish. If I'm a musician who isn't really being a musician, then that makes me like everyone else. In fact as that's the only thing that I value about myself, then it makes me less than everyone else. And of course I'm never satisfied, even when I am being a musician, and I suffer from crippling self-doubt, which makes it worse still. As for the "special" thing, because I was always "Shaun, the artist" as a kid, I always felt different & special. I guess I'm vain too. However I did stand out, at the time. Now of course I've realised that in the greater scheme of things it all means very little.

I guess part of my problem is that in terms of underlying intent, I've probably always taken it all far too seriously. In terms of practical application, unfortunately these days I can't bring myself to take it seriously enough, not helped by the fact that those around me don't see it as I do. The dichotomy provides a never-ending well of self-conflict. I really envy those who do it "for fun"; it must be great!
[/quote]

Blimey mate, I think we were cut from the same tree. That's almost exactly me, although I didn't do an arts degree, just a calligraphy, typography and graphic design A level. I also got completely disillusioned with my design jobs. My work was unappreciated and I got sick of dealing with project managers and clients who couldn't tell sh*te from shinola. But I love it when I get the chance to do some design work. I love the creative process and find it quite simple.

However, I do NOT envy those who play music just for fun, I love how music winds through my soul and creates all sorts of emotional surf in its wake.

[4000]

What I meant was, I envy those who can simply enjoy playing. A friend of mine loves playing, could play pretty much anything and get enjoyment out of it. That must be nice. I could never be like that.

I suffer constant emotional turmoil but hate every minute of feeling like that. As we've sort of discussed before, I like things to be relaxed, pleasant, simple, and of course they never are. I actually create better when I'm relaxed and happy, which could explain some of my more recent output and playing!