sonicaddiction Posted March 27, 2015 Share Posted March 27, 2015 Hi I'm thinking of learning how to play a wind instrument. I've played bass for 25 years but have hardly touched a wind instrument. I'm a big fan of electronic wind instruments so I thought an Akai EWI would be a good place to start. My thought is:[list] [*]no struggling with learning how to just get a sound out of a reed or brass mouth piece [*]no disturbing family and neighbours. [*]fairly cheap if bought second hand [/list] I'm curious how it would be to learn to play a "non-linear" instrument. Have any of you bass or guitar players started to play a wind instrument and how was that process for you? Here's Jörgen Munkeby playing one of my favourite solos ever on an electronic wind instrument (Akai EWI I think). http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1D53hRuF10A Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CamdenRob Posted March 27, 2015 Share Posted March 27, 2015 (edited) Not woodwind I know but, I've been entertaining the idea for a while now of learning the cello. I'm not sure how much a decent clarinet, bassoon etc would be but looking at 'beginner' cellos it makes you realise how spoilt we are as bassists being able to pick up a serviceable instrument from the likes of Squier, Yamaha, Ibanez etc for a couple of hundred quid... Edited March 27, 2015 by CamdenRob Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jonesthebass Posted March 27, 2015 Share Posted March 27, 2015 Bare in mind as you look that the double bass is strung the same as your bass. The cello is strung differently so there are potential brain freeze moments. I teach woodwind thru the day as a job and occasionally fall victim to the brain fart when you forget which instrument you are on. The sax is prob the most accessible to learn and you can pick up a decent second hand for about £200. Clarinet is not too hard but has different fingerings in the different octaves. Flute is nice once you've sorted the embouchure(mouth shape) and can make a consistent sound. I'd get a feel get a feel for a real instrument before trying to deal with a leccy wind instrument. Just so you know what you should be doing. Have fun. It opens up a whole world. I really enjoy jumping between. In fact tonight starts with an orchestra play the oboe and finishes in a dog and duck type pub gig on bass. Aside from turning up to a pub gig in tails its fine! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CamdenRob Posted March 27, 2015 Share Posted March 27, 2015 (edited) [quote name='Jonesthebass' timestamp='1427464288' post='2730711'] Bare in mind as you look that the double bass is strung the same as your bass. The cello is strung differently so there are potential brain freeze moments. [/quote] Yes indeed... it's tuned in 5ths, although to be honest, with bowing and everything I'm going to be learning a totally new technique anyway so I'm hopefully my mind will alow me to associate the new tuning with the new instrument without too much trouble. I think it's a bit of a whim anyway, I'll give it a while and see if I still feel I'd like to give it a go in a few months before taking the plunge. Edited March 27, 2015 by CamdenRob Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Man Riva Posted March 27, 2015 Share Posted March 27, 2015 [quote name='CamdenRob' timestamp='1427464882' post='2730723'] Yes indeed... it's tuned in 5ths, although to be honest, with bowing and everything I'm going to be learning a totally new technique anyway so I'm hopefully my mind will alow me to associate the new tuning with the new instrument without too much trouble. I think it's a bit of a whim anyway, I'll give it a while and see if I still feel I'd like to give it a go in a few months before taking the plunge. [/quote] I got to play a mandocello for the first time a few weeks back and it was great fun - now looking to get one. If you've not tried one I'd really recommend having a play on one. If you're looking for a different challenge then this might be it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CamdenRob Posted March 27, 2015 Share Posted March 27, 2015 [quote name='Old Man Riva' timestamp='1427465214' post='2730729'] I got to play a mandocello for the first time a few weeks back and it was great fun - now looking to get one. If you've not tried one I'd really recommend having a play on one. If you're looking for a different challenge then this might be it? [/quote] Now they do look interesting... although I do fancy a regular cello. I suspect that my looking for a new instrument may simply be because my bass gear GAS has gone off the boil so my inner GAS demon is trying to tempt me elsewhere... Anyway enough about me and my hypothetical future cello playing. This is a thread about sonicaddictions woodwind interest and I appear to have hijacked it, so I shall withdraw... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gottastopbuyinggear Posted March 27, 2015 Share Posted March 27, 2015 (edited) I had a go at alto saxophone a few years ago. I really enjoyed it, but gave up when I got to the point where I needed to put a lot of effort in to keep improving at a good rate, and couldn't really justify (or find, for that matter) the time. Plus it's a very loud instrument, so not necessarily the most popular thing with those you live with... What it really brought home to me, as a hobbyist, is why they tell you to learn scales when you learn such an instrument. I never before "got" that by learning a scale, and getting the fingering pattern embedded in your brain, you didn't have to think about sharps and flats for a piece in that key, as you just thought about the scale pattern and automatically played the right notes. I found that totally different for guitar (when I took classical guitar lessons as a kid) when it always seemed impossible to remember which notes were sharps or flats for a particular key as you didn't have to do anything other than move your hand up or down a few frets to play a scale in a different key. I think most people with some sort of musical background would be able to have a good crack at a wind instrument, and probably get quite quickly to a point where you can play quite a few reasonably good sounding pieces. Not sure with an electronic instrument, but with a traditional instrument at that point you may find you have to put a lot of effort in to really learning breath control to improve quality of tone, so lots of long note scales (one or two bars of each note at a steady tempo), sustained notes going from soft to loud and back again, etc. and that's what takes real dedication, both from you and from everyone else in the house! Edit: I'd missed jonesthebass' point about sax, but having kids who play clarinet, and a wife learning flute, I can confirm that the sax with it's octave key makes life really easy compared to some instruments. Of course, that is over simplifying a little, and there do seem to be about a dozen different fingerings for some notes. Edited March 27, 2015 by Gottastopbuyinggear Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dadofsix Posted March 27, 2015 Share Posted March 27, 2015 I guess the harmonica doesn't fall into any of those categories. Oh, well. I'm teaching myself how to play one now. Kinda steep learning curve initially. But then, watch out world! lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
uncle psychosis Posted March 27, 2015 Share Posted March 27, 2015 Flute is my first instrument. Nearly went to music college as a flautist but didn't want to risk becoming a music teacher! Ewi are cool but I don't know that I'd recommend one as a starting point. There are loads of amateur bands and orchestras to play in if you play a more conventional instrument and in my experience that's the best way to learn. The "easiest" wind instruments to learn are the alto sax and the Bb clarinet. I'd recommend flute though, it's a great instrument. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fretmeister Posted March 27, 2015 Share Posted March 27, 2015 I'm rusty but I play sax. Great instrument. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Jecklin Posted March 27, 2015 Share Posted March 27, 2015 I did just this 6 years ago. Having had to stop playing the double bass due to injury, rather than walk away from music I decided to learn a woodwind instrument I'd fallen in love with through writing for it. It took/takes a lot of practice. At least an hour every day, ideally more, but it's been worth it and has allowed me to develop and evolve my musical direction in a way I hadn't imagined. I won't bore with my story but I will echo what others have mentioned and say go for a real acoustic instrument over the ewei. I'm fortunate in that my life is built around music so I have time to practice a lot, but don't be put off by sounding rubbish to begin with. You have to sound bad in order to get to sound good If I was starting from scratch on a new instrument tomorrow I'd lean towards a tenor saxophone, tenor (or bass, but that will be a lot of work) trombone or a tuba. The beauty of these instruments is they work in a supportive role, very much as a bass guitar does. Once you have basic tone production down you can get to a point where you can play parts under other instruments and progress at a better rate because of it. They all sound beautiful as a lead melodic instrument too in a variety of contexts and genres. Whatever you choose you will have a lot of fun and it will be a thoroughly worth while endeavour. Take it slowly, allow yourself to make mistakes and a terrible racket, focus on developing excellent technique and tone above playing "more" notes and you will see steady improvement All the best, Thomas Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul_5 Posted March 27, 2015 Share Posted March 27, 2015 (edited) What's wrong with the humble recorder? I really enjoy playing mine. Yes, it's got a limited range (until you get [i]really[/i] into it), but as an introductory instrument they're heap as chips, not particularly loud, and encourage you to take steps in the right direction with regards to breath control, fingerings etc... Available in different flavours too, including Soprano, Alto, and (you guessed it) Bass! Edited March 27, 2015 by paul_5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alyctes Posted March 27, 2015 Share Posted March 27, 2015 I bought a pBone recently http://basschat.co.uk/topic/234162-well-thas-an-interesting-horn/. I'm rubbish on it, but I'm better than I was Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xgsjx Posted March 28, 2015 Share Posted March 28, 2015 In my mid teens I took up tenor horn & trumpet, both good fun. More recently I've been playing a little tin whistle (D tuned), though today the only instrument that's been getting tuneful is the butt trumpet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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