For All the Musicians here at UD

[Jules]

I'm sure there are loads of budding, amateur or professional musicians here at UD (and I presume that with them come loads of instruments). I think we should have this thread where we can discuss our musical life and activities, share our talents (and our examination periods ) and er... just immerse ourselves in the ton of material (and rubbish ) that's bound to crop up sooner or later...

ENJOY!

First things first... I am a pianist. I'm wondering if there's any way for me to play some pieces you UDers. I know sites like photobucket allow you to upload video, but A) my connection is not ultra-fast - about 128kbps, it probably won't upload. B) If I take a video of myself with a digital camera, how do I reduce the file size? An mpeg video of 4 minutes can be huge!

[Jasmine1022]

hmm...i dont know how to help with the video.

but i'll get this thread on its feet! i am in a bad (i front it) and it's awesome. my lovely boyfriend writes all the music and lyrics and he is also the keyboardist. he plays by ear.

so...yeah. btw my band is called Inane and we are very much inspired by Evanescence.

[Jules]

Good to hear of you forming part of a band!

Your boyfriend plays by ear? Why that's just like me! You mean if he hears a piece of music, he can under normal circumstances immediately reproduce it on the keyboard, no?

In my case, I play by ear, and by music, in that I learnt my pianoforte through music, but when I was about 7 years old, I realized that I had the ability to play by ear aswell (if that's what you call it ), and I was thus not restricted to the manuscript. I play a lot of Disney songs by ear...such as "Part of Your World" from The Little Mermaid. I made my own arrangement.

[Jasmine1022]

well, he cant do it IMMEDIATELY, but you know. you're both pretty amazing to that, you know.

[Chernabog_Rocks]

I used to play the piano really well when I was younger, but than I moved and we didn't have room to bring my piano so now I don't remember anything I learned My friend really wants to start a band, but I don't know if I'd join since her style is more of a punk, emo things like that. Has anyone written songs? I've got a ton that I"ve written over the last three years, my mom told me about this Native American group here in town that would let me put a song on their cd, only catch is that it has to be religous They also offer singing lessons, musical lessons etc. So I might sign up for those.

[Jasmine1022]

thats cool, Chernabog_Rocks. Yes, my boyfriend has written all the songs for our band. we have all the songs we need, we just need to all get together and record. lately he has been on a script fix, giving me all these scripts he wants me to write so that's what we've been doing. i'd really like to get back on track with our band, though.

our band is inspired by evanescence, like i told you, and our style is just like theirs. creepy music with creepy vocals. plus an all male band with a female front

[dvdjunkie]

Julian Carter wrote:

learnt

C'mon Julian, that is not a word. You "learned" not "learnt".

[Jasmine1022]

Julian Carter wrote:

learnt

C'mon Julian, that is not a word. You "learned" not "learnt".

C'mon dvdjunkie, don't be so picky. We all knew what he meant and I'm sure he would say it correctly in person and spell it correctly on paper.

[Jules]

Julian Carter wrote:
C'mon Julian, that is not a word. You "learned" not "learnt".

C'mon dvdjunkie, don't be so picky. We all knew what he meant and I'm sure he would say it correctly in person and spell it correctly on paper.

Actually he's right...I absolutely should not be making spelling mistakes such as those, or I wouldn't be worthy as a student of English 'A' Level.

[Dottie]

Isn't "learnt" the British English version of it? I was taught "learnt" at school, but I always use "learned"

Now, on-topic:

I have singing classes, I sing in my school's choir and I'm actually pretty good. I love singing classic opera and musicals as long as it's not too fast. I'm better at slow stuff.

[Escapay]

Isn't "learnt" the British English version of it? I was taught "learnt" at school, but I always use "learned"

Yes.

Since Julian's from Malta, I'm guessing they might use "learnt" there as well, as it really isn't restricted entirely to the UK.

I used to take piano lessons, for six years (1993-1998, with 1998-1999 under a different teacher), and was considered good/okay by those that heard me play. But I chose to stop playing, and have since lost most of what I learned. I can still sight read, and can easily play a few songs that I've greatly remembered ("Where Do I Begin" from Love Story, for example), but otherwise, it'd be very hard for me to get back into that "groove" of playing the piano regularly.

I can whistle quite well, if that counts towards anything.

Escapay

[Dottie]

[
I can whistle quite well...

Me too!!

[TheSequelOfDisney]

I play the Bb/soprano clarinet. It's a wonderful insturment. Let's see, I started playing in 5th grade, and I'm still playing in 9th grade. The clarinet is very enjoyable.

[Jules]

Right ... I am currently trying to perfect my performances of "Aerith's Theme", "Final Fantasy VII Main Theme" and "One-Winged Angel", from the Final Fantasy VII videogame. I'm playing them all by ear, and have made my own pianoforte arrangments of these Nobuo Uematsu compositions. I feel desperate to share them amongst you UDers. But how? I don't even have a digital camera.

I would love to take "requests" form UDers (much like Aladdin from Agrabah did with his fan art thread) and play the Disney songs you want me to interpret. I'm sure I can play most of the songs I hear. That would be lovely.

[Jasmine1022]

buy a microphone! i wanna hear! i want you to do 'a whole new world', naturally! please! i get mine first

[PeterPanfan]

Yes, Escapay, I looked.

Anyway, is there any musicians here at Ultimate Disney?

I have been playing tenor saxaphone for three years, and piano for 1 1/2 years.

If I had to pick the one I like better...it would be piano.

So if you play an instrument, or are a singer, or even if you can play your nose(Yes, I have seen it happen.) Post here!

[AwallaceUNC]

I play several instruments, but I've never really excelled at any of them and have fallen out of practice in recent years. So saying I play them might be less than accurate but I do <i>something</i> on... saxophone (alto and tenor), piano, violin, harmonica, recorder, and guitar (acoustic -- never really tried electric). I took lessons for years for all of the above except guitar, which I am in the very slow process of teaching myself. I also like to sing but don't do it particularly well. I guess you could say I'm a frustrated musician, which is probably why I spend so much time actively engaged in listening to true artists' music.

-Aaron

[Escapay]

Yes, Escapay, I looked.

For All the Musicians here at UD by Julian Carter, created December 15, 2006

Anyway, is there any musicians here at Ultimate Disney?

I play the piano, both the "real" way and the "fake" way. Took lessons from summer 1993 to...fall 1999. After that I would only play when I felt like it, but didn't start playing regularly again until last year, as a way to de-stress. Somehow I got roped into being part of one of the music ministries at my church, so I play twice a month during Saturday mass.

Got quite a few songs in my repertoire, and always enjoy adding more. One of my absolute favorites to play is the theme from The Cider House Rules, and I'm really trying to tackle Cinema Paradiso's love theme, as well as the theme from Somewhere in Time. They're easy to fake, but I really want to learn the real way too, which takes a bit longer for me.

Scaps

[PeterPanfan]

Escapay...FINE! I typed in "instruments" and "music" and found nothing about playing instruments. I should have typed in "musicians"..

What exactly do you mean, "the fake way?"

Also, I played recorder for school, but really have no interest and continuing to play it.

[Escapay]

What exactly do you mean, "the fake way?"

From Wikipedia, the fake book...

A fake book is a collection of musical lead sheets intended to help a performer quickly learn new songs. Each song in a fake book contains the melody line, basic chords, and lyrics - the minimal information needed by a musician to make an impromptu arrangement of a song, or "fake it."

The fake book is a central part of the culture of playing music in public, particularly in jazz, where improvisation is particularly valued.

Fake books are not intended for novices: the reader must follow and interpret the scant notation, and is expected to have thorough familiarity with chords and sheet music. However, fake books can be an avenue to playing songs quickly; a few chords and a one-note melody line can allow even an amateur to play a passable version of any song with relative ease.

Despite the name, fake books are often unbound, consisting of a thick, loose stack of sheets.

Most regular sheet music for piano will also contain fake-book chord notations above the notes, thus saving me loads of money as I don't have to get "real" sheet music and "fake" sheet music! I've got reak sheet music for My Heart Will Go On but the entire song is based on chords so it's essentially as fake as any other fake book.

I prefer the "fake" method as it allows for more improvization (as wiki said). It's also for me easier to memorize fake sheet music (the melody and when to play the chords). Still, I love doing real sheet music as well, as it gives a more...unique...version of the song. After doing fake for so many songs, it can sound pretty average with just a melody and chords.

Scaps