OT: I decided to quit music

[Mediterranean]

Oh noooooooooo Tom:cry:

 

Quit the band if you must, but never quit composing music!

 

Best of luck:thu:

[keybdwizrd]

 

Here is a serious question: How does someone who has not played in a band for a decade or more (over two for me) "join a band?"

 

 

A couple of years ago I was in exactly the same situation (in Chicago). I went to craigslist and found plenty of bands looking for keyboard players. You can also run your own ads, or get a listing on Bandmix.

 

Tip: If you're looking for an established, gigging band, focus on bands/musicians that have MP3s or videos available. It can really help to ensure that you don't waste your time (or theirs).

 

It has been my experience that most of the people out there are 1) much younger than me, probably wanting to play original material and/or cover tunes that I'm not familiar with, or 2) guys my age wanting to play classic rock in bars (Lynyrd Skynrd and other similar material that isn't very compelling).

 

But no matter... my day job prohibits me from being able to play in a band any more anyway.

[epyon77x]

Just take a break from everything... I was in the same situation year and a half ago. I had a really bad spell, played in a crappy cover band which started out as a favor to a friend and turned into a serious drag, also there was an all originals band that started out awesome than slowly ground to a standstill...at one moment I realized that going to rehearsals was starting to really get me down and I really felt sick of it all because it started to DRAIN my energy and I got little to nothing in return...

 

I just quit the whole band thing for a while, noodled at home, composed for some student movies, did all kinds of stuff that I couldnt do with being in xy bands...

 

Ill exaggerate right now, but in some ways I felt about this situation like being in a long crappy relationship and then breaking up... You just need some time to distance yourself, figure things out...

 

Dont sell your gear or anything, pack it up, get it out of the way because one day youll wake up and want to resume where you stopped.

[ElectricPuppy]

Just for the record, name calling like that is grounds for a temp ban, Tom.

 

BUT: a) because you're a regular, and b) Tremens deserved it, and c) I'm MOD, so I can do what I want: I'm giving you a pass.

 

But please, no matter how much the troll needs it, please don't resort to name calling.

 

Tremens: If all you're gonna do is troll and make inflammatory posts, I'm going to ban you. Last warning.

[Bernard]

Hai Tomkeen

 

A little break from the routine will do you good, just think twice before selling the gear....

 

Give life some time.. do some other stuff and see how it all goes...

 

We need to enjoy life so I am sure you know what is best for you, follow your best gut instinct

 

All the best

 

B

 

[llamastorm]

Some of my favorite stuff is solo material. Neil Young and a piano, case in point.

 

Absolutely nothing wrong with keeping it to yourself, or just playing for yourself.

 

Haters be hatin' and what all, but I don't want to make my hobbies work.

[Gus Lozada]

c) I'm MOD, so I can do what I want

 

[Gus Lozada]

well, you're not alone. the most fun i've had is doing it for myself.

 

I wish you're talking about music, here

[Gus Lozada]

BTW Tom, for some artists, being alone is better.

For some, being in a band is the way to go.

 

You are still so damned young to "decide to quit" something which, lemme tell you, is a LIFE decision. I mean, I'm 38 y/o now. I've came back and forth with bands for decades now. The only thing I'm sure, is that I'm being a musician until the day I die.

 

The most important thing here is to be satisfied with what you're doing and have fun, while making sure you have what you need to keep being creative.

 

Good luck!

[Bernard]

quit music? that's a good one you've never been really into music to begin with.

 

[YOUTUBE]vvhr3PFHX-k[/YOUTUBE]

[liliththekitten]

have only done music on my own... wanted to do the band thing as a teen but noone else was serious about it. Recently I had the opportunity to be in a duo that I thought was perfect for both of us but the other person bailed.

[gregwar]

hai tomkeen

 

i don't really know what being in a band is like or even how jamming/song writing with others works tbh. when we used to 'jam' all we did was get hammered and rock out once or twice a week for kicks. always seen my role as either producer or performer, collaborations with credit where its due not a "band" per se even if it we did a whole album together.

 

i took a break from music from like 21/22 to 25/26 and actually sorta regret it now. that time is lost and thinking of how much skills and things could have evolved its too bad. plus i sold all my gear and really miss some of it like my voyager and super jupiter, virus c, etc. but if you choose to do that keep in mind softsynths, soft samplers, etc are faster to work with and can give pleasing results

 

when i was collecting gear it sorta reached a plateau where gains/differences were totally incremental so it reached its end or logical conclusion for me personally (however brief it was). not so with music there always seems to be too many projects and never enough time now. the gear is sorta secondary as long as its not too uninspiring to use.

 

speaking of results the classical world that i came from was fun in a lot of ways but seriously not fun in a lot of others. competition was fierce, songs always got more difficult to learn not easier, playing was increasingly more stressful with things like trophies and scholarships on the line. thats how you get better as a musician. my friends that rock out and get hammered can barely string together a korn song from '97 (that they've been playing for 13 years) not to put too fine a point on it.

 

my tracks that are the best imo are always the ones that took the most effort and supersede the last ones. this is what drives me personally, to try out different ideas and try to make the tracks better than the last ones. putting in a full shift (like 10+ hours) in the studio can be a drag and sometimes the results totally suck but sometimes you really nail it.

 

my advice on working with others is to begin with you. have a project or something going that you think is awesome and important. get your parts/{censored} together then make an itemized list of thoughts. seek out the help of a drummer, vocalist, etc for one part, one track at a time. finish it then move on. if it worked out good lather, rinse, repeat. thats the fullest extent i would take it and avoid "band" drama as much as possible.

 

gregwar

[jimtheswede]

Tom.

Don't sell your equip. unless you absolutely HAVE to! Give it a rest and try to concentrate and focus on possibly finding and devoting your energies to ONE band you are interested in (and they are interested in you).

 

You are too young yet to give up! There are opportunities that haven't yet come up.......

 

I am currently looking for another group after 6+ yrs of booking, promoting, etc the same group (I'm 52). You never know what kind of enjoyment you may find in a group you might never have thought possible! So - I am looking, and may have recently found a group that is great "therapy" for my current "gig withdrawal"! It may not be the gig I was looking for, but for the time being, it is fun, and that is what counts right now!

 

Take it one day at a time.....

 

Jim

 

Anyway, please keep the equip. for now, and take it easy!

Jim

[Buuzer]

Working on your own material is the best thing in the world. You can experiment with any musical genre you want and you will discover musical avenues you never even considered before.

 

But just keep in mind, eventually you will get stale just playing on your own. It's always best to keep in touch with other musicians who can add a little inspiration to your works (keyboard players, guitarists, etc.).

 

I know this well because I've been there.

 

Good luck and keep playing.

[zzzxtreme]

don't give up on finding that one band that you will love and be inspired to play with

 

you're still young

[Chando]

don't give up on finding that one band that you will love and be inspired to play with you're still young

 

 

true,.. but then quit that band too.. off and on is the nature of things...

 

good luck..

[Tomkeen]

 

Just for the record, name calling like that is grounds for a temp ban, Tom. BUT: a) because you're a regular, and b) Tremens deserved it, and c) I'm MOD, so I can do what I want: I'm giving you a pass. But please, no matter how much the troll needs it, please don't resort to name calling.

 

 

It's not my style to name call, and I thought about it three times before I actually hit "post", but this guy really gets on my nerves..

[Tomkeen]

Anyway, thanks for all the advice guys. I'll keep everything in mind. Maybe I'll look for a band again someday, when I have more time and patience, but for now I'll just see how it works out on my own. I'll NEVER fully quit making music.

[Purity_Control]

I'm not sure if that Ding Dong song is even legal in my juristiction?

[Gaul]

Tomkeen, I completely understand you. I stopped playing in my last band, some 13-14 years ago just because people turned to be garbage.

And as the years pass by, I see that it is harder and harder to get along with people. Something is very wrong with this planet, at least with my part of it.

Anyway, you are standing just before one of the most relaxing life experiences, playing and composing of your own. Enjoy every moment, and may not the sight of apparently happy band awake any memories or desires - you've been there done that, and you know that behind the veil there is lot other things going on.

Enjoy your time!

[Don Solaris]

Hey Tremens...

 

 

[Bernard]

I'm not sure if that Ding Dong song is even legal in my juristiction?

 

Get with the program

 

[soundwave106]

I'm not sure if that Ding Dong song is even legal in my juristiction?

 

No, it's probably only legal in Sweden.

 

[Suilebhain]

When I was 22 I decided to quit music. It was one of the most absurd, overly dramatic moves I ever made in my life. Not saying this is you, mind you, because I was in a band (well, the start of one, anyway) with two very devoted people and it was really more of a self-destructive act that was the culmination of a series of life disasters.

 

However, the idea here is that you can NEVER quit music if it is in you.

 

The band experience, well, that is another thing altogether. Now, no one commits to a band like they did back in my day. I had one guy who would drive over an hour through all manner of weather to rehearse in an original band that never made money for nearly a year. We had a bunch of material, though - worked hard at it and had it tight. Back then, though, you needed a whole night's worth to play out, not one set.

 

Now I find that people communicate through email and never even get back to you. It's like the mentality of one-night stands - the email gives them some sort of satisfaction and then it's hasta la vista, baby.

 

Take the advice the others gave you - do it for yourself. Then, after all is said and done, form your OWN band when you decide to get back into the game. Play by your rules. What you are finding is units that consider themselves "sufficient" and consider you "extra". They will never fully understand the contribution that you could have made if they accepted you fully as one of the band.

 

Who knows? You may actually find the people you need and they might actually enjoy committing to a band.

[Gribs]

 

But no matter... my day job prohibits me from being able to play in a band any more anyway.

 

 

For me as keys/piano player it is lack of skill and experience. As a guitar player I could spend a month or two really getting my chops back and plug-and-play as a rhythm guitarist or comping in a jazz or musical pit band with no problem, but other than jamming with a buddy for fun (and *not* getting hammered) I am not really interested in guitar right now - just a personal choice is all.

 

What is interesting is that I am also learning that some of my piano teacher's other adult students who are far better classical piano players than I am are totally clueless when it comes to understanding what it means to comp for a song or follow a lead and chord sheet. So I am starting to try to dedicate some of my time to going in the direction of knowing what I know for guitar work to piano, but it is slow going.

 

Anyway I think it would be fun to play in a band if the right people are found. There are actually quite a few 3M-related bands that pop up and down, most being jazz-related and relying on a sax or horn player to carry the melody. One played a Xmas party in the cafeteria last year and were pretty good; I was surprised to see the Corporate Scientist (highest non-managerial rank for a scientist at 3M) from Traffic, Safety, and Security division fronting the band on soprano sax and playing quite well at that!

 

I totally get the human-interaction thing though. I have a tough time with it and always have had a tough time fitting in with regards to human relationships and socially with bands, all the way back to junior high. If they asked me to jam as a try-out and went to smoke weed or drink alcohol afterward and I said no thanks (even without saying anything negative about it) I would not get called back. That is one of the reasons I fell in with the swing band and musical pit band thing when I was younger. If your behavior is professional, your playing is competent, and the director is good (which they will be if the production is going anywhere) then you can be in the band and have fun playing music.