Learning an Instrument

Growing up, I took piano lessons for eight years, dabbled in the guitar starting around age 10, and played the drums/percussion in school for 4 years. I have a good ear for music, but never had the dedication to become exceptionally skilled at any particular instrument. Now that I'm about to start working full-time, I regret not being more committed to music.

Does anyone practice an instrument while working a demanding job? Is there enough time in your schedule to progress beyond playing at an intermediate level?

 
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Depends on your hours. If you’re working 50 to maybe 70. I’d say maybe (but it will take a long time). If you’re working 70+, not a chance. Not only will you be very hard pressed to find the time to even practice, but the rate at which you develop skill will be absolutely minuscule. We see the same thing in strength and conditioning: athletes who are tired/not recovered well might be able to do the exercise, but the adaptations they get will be significantly less because of the fatigue. In other words, even if you somehow find time (which is a big if), you will be too mentally and/or physically strained to make substantial progress past the intermediate stage, as you said. Can you go from beginner to intermediate in these conditions? Probably. Can you go from intermediate to advanced? My money is on no. But hey, I hope you can prove me wrong. Good luck

 

A decent amount yeah. Typically during mixing will improv in an acapella on top of a beat or create a vocal loop from a song and mix that over a beat. Been playing around a lot with James Blake stuff lately. Haven't actually produced a complete song yet because I kind of like the feeling of improvising during live mixing.. sometimes you mess up and sounds like shit but other times you get something right and it sounds awesome. 

 

I think it would be super cool to learn to produce/make beats/remixes/whatever as a hobby. I love how those music battestations look. Read some books by producers. Follow their subreddits. I think it's all super cool. The idea of just being in your cave with your music and getting lost in time and being good enough to actually express yourself creatively with it. But I'm really intimidated by it cause I suck with computers and I suck with technology and the time investment to learn some shit like FL Studio seems sooooooo fucking much.

So I buy silly shit I hear about on podcasts like didgeridoos to scare my wife with instead and call it a day. 

heister: Look at all these wannabe richies hating on an expensive salad. https://arthuxtable.com/
 

When I was in junior high and high school, I would spend all my time making beats and got pretty good with FL Studio and Presonus Studio One. I even got some quality studio monitors, headphones, a couple of MIDI controllers, and an old turntable to sample records. It definitely helped to have some musical background and a decent ear.

The software itself isn't that big of a hurdle, in my opinion. FL Studio is especially user-intuitive and easy to learn from watching YouTube tutorials. If you're interested in it, I say go for it. Doesn't matter if it doesn't go anywhere commercially; it's just really fun to do as a hobby. I've actually been meaning to get back into it

 

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heister: Look at all these wannabe richies hating on an expensive salad. https://arthuxtable.com/

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