went to see a used ms20 yesterday… chatted quite some time with the dude who was selling it … he asked me what I do in my life …
I started about having a job here and there, did something entirely different when I was young, started with the music like 4 years ago … blablablaaa dont earn money with music, never played anything live, love music to death, sit infront of my synths all day … love it, upload some shit to youtube, not taking myself too serious …
then he said: why do you not call yourself a musician?
(he also added , I should call my job my hobby which I earn money with to finance my (insert smart word here) (passion, life, reason for existence, thing, occupation)
(and I said, please elaborate and help me out of my existential crisis /the who am I thing )
asked the missus yesterday as well what she would say if I called myself a musician,… her big eyes and calm voice said … you gotta know what you are, and music is definitely what you do most …
Don’t try to mute your deepest inner feelings. If you feel you’re an artist, if you feel you’re a musician (even if you are not able to play all JS Bach pieces of music), if 10-90% of your life is dedicated to Music, to Music Composition, to Music Exploration, if you can imagine sounds, notes or songs in your head… just tell to everybody you’re a musician.
Yes, you are a musician if you can feel you’re a musician.
weird guys
why wouldnt you call your self a musician?
doesnt make sense to me,
i will say in the past
i’ve been a professional musician, played lots, earned lots, lots of girls.
maybe that colors my thinking and why i still call myself one…
an idiot that is!
sometimes being a musician is a hard axe to grind
long periods of isolation and issues with partners, “yor’re always in that room till all hours”
no recognition, even derision.
few if any monetary rewards.
etc.
still it lifts my spirits and well being and rarely lets me down
I think its a case of ‘whether you think you are or not, you are right’. I dont class myself as a musician, im not musically talented (I just love synthesis, music follows from that but for me I just love making sound first and foremost) - but I have also known people less musically talented who DO call themselves musicians. Sure there is a technicality that what pays your rent should be your occupation but we define ourselves, and others define us by how we define ourselves. Though inportant point - for official stuff, avoid being a musician wherever possible - is a credit risk and will up insurance premiums and/or void insurance (because you know, all musicians sniff coke and trash hotel rooms yeah?).
This is a tough one. If I’m chatting about myself to someone and let slip about the music side of my life I’ll often be asked if I’m a musician and I’ll respond with some sort of laugh and a “no,no, nothing like that” as if I’m totally embarrassed by it. But thinking about it, I’m probably more musical than the vast majority of friends and colleagues I have met so why not consider that a reason to claim to be a musician?
Per Wikipedia: A musician (or instrumentalist) is a person who plays a musical instrument or is musically talented,[sup][1][/sup] or one who composes, conducts, or performs music. No mention of needing to earn a living through it or to have x number of fans or to have played in y number of countries.
So yeah, call yourself a musician. It doesn’t really matter at the end of the day but at least it sounds cool.
So basically, anyone who’ve ever played the middle C on a piano is a musician.[/quote]
If you are happy classifying playing middle C as being musically talented then I guess the answer to that is yes!
So basically, anyone who’ve ever played the middle C on a piano is a musician.[/quote]
If you are happy classifying playing middle C as being musically talented then I guess the answer to that is yes![/quote]
The wikipedia article said “a person who plays an instrument OR is musically talented”. Playing the middle C on a piano is playing an instrument (it didn’t say you have to play it well).
So basically, anyone who’ve ever played the middle C on a piano is a musician.[/quote]
If you are happy classifying playing middle C as being musically talented then I guess the answer to that is yes![/quote]
And a genre is born…
If you feel that playing a solitary note on a piano is playing it as an instrument then by your criteria that is musicianship. I prefer to set my standards a little higher
So basically, anyone who’ve ever played the middle C on a piano is a musician.[/quote]
If you are happy classifying playing middle C as being musically talented then I guess the answer to that is yes![/quote]
And a genre is born… [/quote] Could be an AK Battle! Who can play middle C the most muscially. No note other than C3 can be used. No sub oscillators or pitch bending allowed.
So basically, anyone who’ve ever played the middle C on a piano is a musician.[/quote]
If you are happy classifying playing middle C as being musically talented then I guess the answer to that is yes![/quote]
The wikipedia article said “a person who plays an instrument OR is musically talented”. Playing the middle C on a piano is playing an instrument (it didn’t say you have to play it well).[/quote]
I prefer the Oxford English Dictionary definition:
“A person who plays a musical instrument, especially as a profession, or is musically talented.”
Sorry Barfunkel but your over simplifing this subject and your putting way too much importance in the term musician. The OP stated he spends countless hours with his synths composing music. Thats a far cry from screwing in light bulbs. So what, if you make money or not from your passion . Most artist and musicians don’t make any money. Some of the greatest artist in history died penniless and unknown, not to be recognized until after their death. For excample Vincent Van Gough. Where they not Artist because they couldn’t earn a living from it? On the contrary there are musicians that are very successful and that are not traditionally educated musicians. Some couldn’t even pick out any cords, such as a maj G. Look up Beatmeat Manifesto. Point is, your defined by what you do and why you do it, not by how much money you make from it. How sad would our world be if all art and music was created for money?
So basically, anyone who’ve ever played the middle C on a piano is a musician.[/quote]
If you are happy classifying playing middle C as being musically talented then I guess the answer to that is yes![/quote]
The wikipedia article said “a person who plays an instrument OR is musically talented”. Playing the middle C on a piano is playing an instrument (it didn’t say you have to play it well).[/quote]
I prefer the Oxford English Dictionary definition:
“A person who plays a musical instrument, especially as a profession, or is musically talented.”[/quote]
Surely you missed out the bit that mentions playing middle C though?
You could argue the “worth” of a piece of Art is entirely subjective, but the Artist has to demonstrate that they know what they are doing.
There is a huge difference between someone randomly dribbling paint on a canvas, standing back, calling themselves an Artist - and Jackson Pollock.
This doesn’t mean that all Artists must be classically trained. But if they have had no training at all, they are just wasting everybody’s time.
I don’t want to watch that training in progress. I don’t want to watch colours being mixed or listen to scales being played. I would rather spend my time enjoying Art from people who have done some studying and now have something original to add.
Eno wouldn’t call himself a musician, yet he’s been pivotal in lots of the most important music over the decades. I think being paid to perform musical instruments being a musician is the least debatable. I do loads of stuff, i can’t be all of them even if i’m proficient at lots of them, there has to be a line. Producer may be a better term around these parts, but is that if it’s your paid profession or not ? I guess i do X for a living and i’m a Y in my spare time allows you to be any Y you wish
Music and art is just too subjective. The question if the art is good or bad is anouther subject all together. Therefore the process of producing art or music can be defined, not the outcome.
for excample:
Jackson Pallock=artist (good or not)?
La Monte Young=musician (good or bad)?
Could be an AK Battle! Who can play middle C the most muscially. No note other than C3 can be used. No sub oscillators or pitch bending allowed.