Anybody play any musical instruments...........

I play the role. 🎻

I’m a slowly retiring music teacher and player of various instruments and styles. Lots of different styles on guitar and mandolin, plus piano, violin/fiddle and bass. Wish I’d gotten anywhere good with a drum kit, but I was pretty miserable when I tried it way back in the 70’s.  I play several instruments a day (most days).

I play acoustic and/or electric guitar almost everyday.  I'm currently trying to to play bluegrass like Molly Tuttle and Tony Rice and failing miserably.  But i enjoy playing very much.  I have guitars, drums, and bass set up in my living room and play with my daughter (drums) and assorted friends (bass).  I also enjoy hifi and am amazed when people say their hifi sounds just like live music.  I don't really think that is possible to be honest.

Ex-pro guitar teacher. Still play six days a week and enjoy every minute of it. Mainly play Blues and Rock ( ala Robin Trower and SRV).

Great to see some players among the listeners.  Though I haven't gotten much better over the years, I regularly play music (acoustic guitar, fiddle, banjo & piano) until my fingers fall off.

Audiophiles in the "Tuning" movement/camp believe hi-fi components are themselves musical instruments. They are mistaken.

I played woodwinds instruments including clarinet, flute and tenor sax as a kid. I played in the marching band, a jazz group and orchestra throughout high school. It stopped when I graduated and I've only picked up a sax once in the past 35 years.

I took up piano about 3 years ago, something I always wanted to play since I was a kid. I am now working on jazz standards using a fake book and am also working on several Joplin rags and just completed learning my first Chopin Nocturne Opus 9 no 2. Its been a blast, all you need is a piano. With virtually all other instruments it is more fun to play in a band/orchestra.

The reason I posted is that I suspect there are others out there like me that always want to learn to play the piano, it is a most rewarding endeavor. If you do, don't hesitate and no, you're never too old!

Zinfan2,

Do you cup your hand while you're blowin.........?
Just wondering since most blues harpists use 2 hands....

Harmonica/blues harp -- one of the few instruments you can play along to the car stereo while you're driving.

I used to play guitar in rock and roll bands in the early 70's. Lately, I have been really enjoying jaming with a couple of radio stations that play blues on Friday evening. I have the guitars and amp set up in the stereo room.

I've played hand drums for about 30 years. Did some professional work before my kids came along but haven't done any since. I play a little with friends now and then.

Like several previous contributors I feel that my experience with drums has strongly affected my feelings regarding reproduced music. The steepness of transients and how sustained notes yield to silence are key to my perception of realism and musical flow from recorded percussion. These are very hard to get right, particularly for the big drums. When this is done right, though, a lot of other difficult stuff like, piano, brass and strings seem to be more correct as well. Therefore, percussion rich music figures prominently in the material I use to evaluate audio components.

I decided just a few months ago to get an acoustic guitar to help me understand music better and appreciate the craft with a different perspective. I have been taking lessons and learning how to read music. It has been a very rewarding experience so far and it has helped me enjoy my music collection that much more.

I've been playing bass guitar for over 35 years with a break in the early 80's when I quit a latin rock band and totally dove into the Punk/New Wave trend, and hacked away on guitar and drums for about 5 years. The refreshing do-it-yourself attitude in the late 70's was a great liberator and the high-energy 3-chord-buzz mania of the Ramones, Dead Kennedys, Buzzcocks,Wire, Devo, Plugz, Chrome, Minuteman et al. inspired me to form a power trio with my wife on bass and a drummer. Together with like-minded bands we put on our own gigs in whatever FOE or Firefighter's halls we could rent. Nobody made any money, but nobody lost any, either. With about 5 bands and their fans each gig was a big party. This was before hardcore reared its ugly head so generally there were no problems, although to the mullet-headed baseball-shirted population in Albuquerque we must've seemed like freaks. It was cool, though, because back then there was much more of a laid-back live-and-let-live attitude. Hippies and punks could co-exist peacefully side-by-side.
After our band "Straight Razor" fizzled out, I was recruited to play drums for a neo-garage outfit "Crawling Walls". My wife again played bass, we recorded an LP on Greg Shaw's Midnight Record label,(which still pops up on E-bay now and then)and we got to open a show for the Ramones 1984 "Too Tough to Die" show at UNM. Disagreements within the band caused its demise shortly afterward and my wife and I moved to San Diego; aside from occasional jamming here and there, nothing happened until 1995 when I started playing bass again with a re-formed band doing 50's and 60's surf and R&R covers. This quickly developed into a steady gig, because the music we play is seldom heard on radio anymore, but a lot of people still like it. We get hired mostly for car-shows, country club & yacht club parties, private parties and so on. The secret of our success is playing the best tunes from that era as faithfully as possible, vocal harmonies, leads and all, and not try to "re-interpret tunes in our own style", as heard in countless lounges around the world.
The fact that I don't play "original" music anymore doesn't bother me one bit. Ego trips are a thing of the past and this gig earns me enough to buy some nice equipment.
I've got 4 Fenders (Precision and Jazz), a Hoefner Beatle bass and a Gibson EB3 played through Eden amps. The members all get along, show up on time, sober, know the 150 or so songs inside and out, our equipment is top-notch and we have a lot of fun. We're just another hack-band in our little niche, way past visions of fame and fortune. How very boring. Unless you're one of us.

I started playing alto sax as an adult, at the age of 30. Gave it up for 5 years while my kids were young. I took it up just a few months ago, after visiting China and seeing the old folks practicing Tai Chi and playing traditional instruments in the park near the Temple of Heaven. I realized that the reason to play an instrument is not to become another Charlie Parker, but rather to experience the simple joy of producing music. My wife gave me a new sax for my last birthday and I love playing it.

Elected to try the fiddle in 3rd grade and Mom made me practice an hour a day for 5 years till I convinced her enough was enough. The fact my music teacher rapped me on the knuckles when I made a mistake made the experience all the more special.

I restarted playing 27 years ago and love every minute. I play in an orchestra with 80 muscians and let me tell you, there is nothing as exillerating as being onstage, participating in live music. My axe is a 1927 Luigi Mozzani.

Boy there sure are lots of drummers here.

My parents sent me to violin classes when I was a kid but I never got to like playing them when I grew older. If I get it right, the violin was a Cecilio, the cheapest student version in beautiful rosewood finish. Haven't got the time to 'learn' to play anything lately with my frequent travelling.

A little bit of piano

Drums, although I haven't played with anyone for years. Just play with myself.
I think that with drums, it's harder to keep up the interest than with instruments that cover a wider range of emotion. (Sorry, but when drummers jam, they rarely want to play mellow brush-work We tend to want to wail).
I give lots of credit to those of us who are just compelled to play, regardless of anything, but I'm not that driven. I got a set of tabla but haven't done much with 'em.
Drums give an audiophile a unique perspective - Bad digital cymbals etc. drive me crazy, and I think a solid bass foundation is more important to me due to my experience of truly feeling, no, BEING, the music.

I quit playing my violin because I couldn't stand listening to the noise I made with it! Somehow I never could match the likes of Itzhak Perlman, and the effort was discouraging.

Taught myself to play drums, mainly to Stevie Wonder, The Eagles, Cheap Trick, Big Country, and Rush. Later played professionally for about 10 years, including a couple of years with The Beat .

My wife says this Brady Drum kit is in my future, but I think this forwarding address comes first. Well, maybe not quite on that scale, but somewhere in the general vicinity will do.

Tvad. I hope you achieve your dream. From what I understand, the Vistalites are making a come back. I see other drum manufactures (Tama, Sonor, as well as Ludwig) marketing these sets. If you are not a subscriber, I’d recommend getting Modern Drummer magazine. After picking up a few issues at a news stand, I finally subscribed. I think it helped me to get back into playing — after seeing all the gear and great articles on so many great players. Good luck. Jim

After a 16 year leave of the drums (marriage, kids, work, etc) I built a home office that’s large enough to accomodate my new drums and audio gear. I changed my previous audio equipment with the goal of finding new gear that could effortlessly play loud and clean inorder to not overpower the music with the drums. I’m using a Denon 2900 (APL modified) Placette passive pre, Accustic Arts Amp IIHC (240wpc) and Zu Definitions (101db sensitivity). My drums are positioned about 7 feet in front and centered between the speakers. The set is a Taye Studio Maple (7 piece) with a large array of Zildjian and Sabian cymbals. I enjoy playing the music I grew up with in the 70s (Genesis, ELP, The Police, Steely Dan, Rush, Toto — to name a few). In case you hadn’t noticed, these bands all possessed great drummers—if only I could play like any of them.

Just graduated from conservatory with a degree in Clarinet Performance. Anyone have any gigs in Washington, DC???

Actually, I'm looking for people to play with, and Audiogon is probably as good a place to look as any!

My favorite music for clarinet has always been Brahms. The sonatas, quintet, and trio are all very special. The Poulenc sonata is also a great one.

There's a new clarinet quintet by Osvaldo Golijov called The Dreams and Prayers of Isaac the Blind. Great recording by Krakauer and the Kronos Quartet. Worth checking out if you're a klezmer fan (or a Golijoz fan).

I play soprano and alto sax, clarinet, various brass instruments (tuba, baritone, etc). In my childhood I used to play piano and sing in a choir. My grandpa played most instruments I can imagine plus was a conductor of the orchestra and choir. Same with my dad and sister and rest of my family is all into some kind of a musical instrument. While having broad taste in listening habits I prefer listening recordings of acoustic music where electric powered instruments are rare or not present.

Following advice of one audiogoner, I recorded myself playing sax and played it on different speakers. I bought the speakers that reproduced my sound closer to my original sound. Of course when I played rest of my CD's I really liked what I heard, but at least I know that there is not much coloration. I think that those who really appreciate reproduction of the sound as close to the original as possible can utilize their talents while shopping for gear.

I attempt to play my Strat.. LOL.. I love music so much that is fun to attempt to actually play it. LOL.. Anyway, still taking lessons and still attempting to play to the guitar.

What did Bono say: "3 Chords and the truth"

I am getting there

Chris

tenor saxophone.......when time allows, which is very rare.

I have fun with a nice Telecaster/Pod/Marshall(r)Fender Super Twin(l) stereo setup. I have a sub with it too and have a cheap bass and a Fender Rhodes. I can't read so I just figure out songs and improvise. It's integrated with a PC so I can record samples and then put songs together with SF Acid. Also I can play a rhytmn track and jam to it. I also have a lot of hand drums-Djembe,Doumbek,Udu and others and thumb piano.

ET

Piano
Alto Sax
oboe
guitar

Haven't touched any of them ('cept the piano) in years. BTW, I was equally poor on all of 'em.

I dabbled in 5-string Bass guitar

seven foot Baldwin grand (I like the bass tones) for Classical and some quiet Jazz pieces.

Drums... as in "rank amateur, with the emphasis on rank" but boy, it surely gives you an idea about dynamics and the ideal to strive for in your audio system!

im amusician from seattle area,played minneapolis area years ago.would love to start up again.great guitarists out here are everywhere.jazz,r+b,latin(brazilian)are my favorite things to delve in.so much to learn,i really admire the fultimers.live for the art of jazz.having a brother that played drums with(twin)i always listen for cymbals,toms,bass drum,keyboard naturalness.bobo stensons war babies,peter erskines as it is.nice recording to try for keyboardists....thanks dave.