HN Explorer

Ask HN: How many of you play music?

29 points by bart ↗ HN
I think that most of people have the common passion - music.

Many people just listen and enjoy. But I would like to know, how many of hackers actually play the music and which music style?

82 comments

[ 2.5 ms ] story [ 142 ms ] thread
[dead] badger7
Guitar, Bass, electro-tinkerings and the odd bit of (bad) singing.

From metal to Folky-acoustic, via rock.

Gertm
I play guitar in a band. Mostly pop/blues/soul/rock, and a tiny bit of jazz.
jasongullickson
These days the instrument I play most is acoustic guitar, primarily out of convenience.

In the past (and when time allows) I've made almost anything into an instrument, and recorded styles that range from classical to noise.

For me the music I make has more to do with the context in which it is made than a purposeful selection of style, instruments and genre.

joshsharp
This has been asked before: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=428776

and my comment from that thread: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=428969

Retric
Thanks for the link I found: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=429043 to be an interesting take.

I have zero intrest in Music and don't link CS with Math. While I was well above average in math, relative to the average person, I am a far better programmer and consider it a compleatly seperate toppic.

PS: My college DiffEQ teacher got annoyed when I said I had little intrest in getting a masters in Math. I wonder how many programmers have the talent, but lack the intrest.

menloparkbum
The Knuth comment was very interesting. I majored in Math and everyone in the math department played some sort of instrument, even if it was the stereotypical "nerdy kid forced to play the violin". Since I left school and been in industry I'd say maybe 1 in 50 I meet play an instrument. However, probably 4/5 of programmers I meet are bicyclists, or at least at own an overpriced bike.
Maciek416
I don't play but I compose quite a bit (mostly random electronic styles) for my own personal listening.
tamas
I've been an amateur composer for a decade, and picked up guitar recently.

On a side note, coding VSI instruments and then utilizing them in my music can be really gratifying. (And sometimes annoying too, when after dozens of man-hours it still sounds like aliased hell.)

antirez
I play guitar and bongos for fun with my friends.
mullr
Electric guitar at the moment. Blues, jazz lately.
cousin_it
I'm an amateur with no formal training; play fingerstyle guitar, sing and beatbox. Love jamming in the street.
spooneybarger
guitar. punk rock. krylls.com.

there, i got the url in. sweet.

abyssknight
I'm a percussionist with a miniscule amount of guitar knowledge. :) As far as style, I've played everything from big band music and hymns through scream-o. I prefer not to lock into a style of anything.
wfarr
Single reeds and a bit of piano and percussion.

Classically trained, but I do a lot of jazz too.

ilivewithian
I'm learning the piano at the moment, I'm learning classical music.
seertaak
I play guitar, sing, and compose for the Signals. (http://www.myspace.com/thesignalsuk)
bart
Do you think that bands like Signals would like to auction their unique things (guitar, signed tshirt, special call ... like NIN drummer) to get some revenue?
access_denied
The standard is to do that to rise some funds for charity. I don't think you can change that into a business, becuase a band who would change from charity to profit would come of too greedy and self-important. You won't be able to sell that to the cool-kids.
bart
I think that you ha ve a good point of view. But I think that it is normal for bands to sell their own stuff on the concerts, etc. http://mashable.com/2009/02/20/josh-freese-album-promotion took it step further and he is selling package for USD 75K. Do you see it too greedy? I think that fans are ok with it, but there is a problem, that similar package can be bought just by few guys.
flashgordon
play carnatic violin and sing (south indian classical)... used to hate it in school.. what an idiot!!!
thebryce
Guitar, bass guitar, double bass, and most low brass. Progressive rock, blues, and jazz, baby.
sidmitra
I play my desk, the hand rest on the chair... i even play with my laptop keyboard when i'm on a role coding.

And i'm proud of it too :-)

ssharp
drums, guitar, piano/keyboards in that order.

i write melodic alt rock songs and produce hip hop as well.

TallGuyShort
I play piano, and I kind of have my own style. I can read music, but I generally take a melody, syncopate it, and add my own harmonies and nuances as I play it, by ear. Lately I've been taking guitar tabs, transferring them to the piano, and then tinkering with those.
sofal
I'm a drummer and I'm saving up for this bad boy: http://www.yamaha.com/drums/drumproductdetail.html?CNTID=568...

Oh, and I would rather stab myself with a fork than play punk.

TrevorJ
Some would argue that fork-stabbing and listening to punk have roughly the same psychological effects, so you might not be far off there :)

I don't play drums but that's a nice looking set, love the colors.

vitaminj
I've got a maple custom absolute and I think it's pretty sweet, but that PHX looks sick... how new is that?
turkishrevenge
"Oh, and I would rather stab myself with a fork than play punk." good for you, but music should be emotive and a 20-minute Neil Pert drum solo is hardly emotive. If you equate technical mastery of an (needlessly expensive) instrument as the sole determining factor of musical enjoyment, I feel sorry for you. I cannot see the appeal of some technical wizard like Yngwie Malsteen. It's really, boring music at its core. Instrumental competence does not mean good song writing.
delano
Technical wizardry may be boring to you but a lot of people really enjoy it. I agree that instrumental competence does not mean good song writing but the high of music is where those two skills intersect.

There is nothing boring about a Buddy Rich drum solo.

gruseom
I agree, but this is a harder problem than it sounds. What's satisfying to the musician and what's satisfying to the listener are often different. Many musicians are interested in things that are hard or unusual to play. But most great music is simple or at least has an emotionally accessible, simple core. To have both an intellectual/technical engagement with the instrument and an emotional engagement with the listener is not always easy. The intellectual side is seductive, especially for the hacker type of musician.

The greatness of punk rock was that it swept aside (or more precisely pissed all over) bombastic competence in favor of immediate vitality, which is much closer to what music is all about. But something like that inevitably becomes a formula and then you have the worst of both worlds: stupid and boring.

tjr
I play piano/B3 organ and bass guitar, mostly jazz/gospel.
TrevorJ
I play the guitar and from time-to-time I lay down some random midi tracks and generally just mess around with various sequencer software.
john_marsch
I try to play a guitar, but rarely have I the time lately trying to find the time to learn scheme and tcl/tk at the same time during some occasional readings of tao/zen/scifi literature. I try to keep myself busy, it wears off the time :)
zkz
I tried and I'm horrible. I'd really like to be a good musician but I spend my time programming and reading and drawing and writing and not doing music, so I'm not good at that (also I'm naturally awful). I'm a good programmer, but very bad at music.