[Genteel Death]

GUITAR
Because I've never been interested in its level of innovation. In retrospect the instrument I could chat about the most, and certainly not because I worship it to a point of hysterical stupidity. I don't worship any music instrument to that extent, but I could chat endlessly about guitarists in person. I don't mind people doing the same things that have been done with it already either, it's how they deliver it that I care for.
SYNTHS
Because they are, like guitars, often politicised to tedious extent, even though it should be clear by now that they are capable of sameness as any other instrument, possibly even in their most advanced guise. And when the ultra-advanced type do something new, it's ironic they still have to draw from more or less previous musicality to make themselves properly appreciated.
DRUMS
Because they inject movement into all the above. When played without thinking of their original function they can even dictate how all other instruments around them will sound as such.

[shabbray2.0]

When I saw that topic I was excited. after I read your first post I dont know what to add to this.
its almost the exact things which come to my mind (and even more).
but I try to enhance it with a developing-story:

I once was totally a guitar guy for the reasons you already said. after some time I learned the difference of keyboardists and synth-player out of a rock context and developed an interest to old analog synths. afterwards it never surprised me, cause I always was more interested in stompboxes as sound-creating devices then in the guitar itself.
from the dumb "only rock music is music" - teenager I developed this way to someone who is interested in sounds in general no matter where they come from.
the drums came last for me.
I cant rememer if I actually "listened" to them as a teen or if I just felt them subconcious. never thought about how damn important a drum sound is to a recording that features a drum sound.
alone the sound of a kickdrum can decide if a driving tune will work or not.
I highly agree with you over the last sentence, best example is hip hop. I bet each sample would also sound different if other drum sounds would be used.

ah yes, one thing that hasnt changed: I still prefer real-life instruments over software. and I prefer playing over programming.

hope I didnt drift too far off here.
so for me it must be:

STOMPBOXES // SYNTH (ANALOG)
GUITAR
DRUMS

[demonrail666]

Nice thread.

Fender Rhodes Keyboard.
On so many levels this is such cheesey instrument but I'm incapable of not stopping what I'm doing whenever I hear one. Just a really beautiful sound, tainted by its association with often dull as piss records.

It may be a real marmite thing but I could honestly listen to something like this for bloody hours.

[Genteel Death]

Originally Posted by demonrail666

Nice thread.

Fender Rhodes Keyboard.
On so many levels this is such cheesey instrument but I'm incapable of not stopping what I'm doing whenever I hear one. Just a really beautiful sound, tainted by its association with often dull as piss records.

I recently purchased a Yamaha Portasound PSS-570 for ten pounds off a guy in Brick Lane. It has one of the most stereotypically ''attacked'' range of synth sounds, yet one that I feel most confident playing along with my guitar when I rock it to maximum.

[GeneticKiss]

Guitar: The guitar can be made to sound like anything, and yet its own sound cannot be duplicated accurately. They work in pretty much any musical context, from the heaviest metal to the catchiest pop to the smoothest R 'n' B. They even work in music some people wouldn't even call music. Plus, put a guitar in nearly anyone's hands and watch their sexiness grow (though in some cases, it'll drop as soon as they play a note).

Bass: Say what you will about bass players, but without these, you just don't have a groove. The bass can either be the bed on which the other instruments lay or step out in front to take the lead itself.

Synthesizer: Music sounded good before these were invented, but it's never sounded 100% the same since. I imagine the reaction of musicians (and listeners) to hearing electronic music for the first time to be akin to painters discovering a new, never seen before color.

[demonrail666]

Originally Posted by Genteel Death

I recently purchased a Yamaha Portasound PSS-570 for ten pounds off a guy in Brick Lane. It has one of the most stereotypically ''attacked'' range of synth sounds, yet one that I feel most confident playing along with my guitar when I rock it to maximum.

the 'attacked' sounds you mention (that I'm assuming along with the Rhodes would include a Hammond and a Mellotron) do present a problem in that they undeniably tend to immediately date the piece of music they're used on. It's like you have to constantly battle against their historical associations. I used to love the sound of a the old Korg M1 but I had a go of one again recently and felt trapped by it's uber-80s sound. It's difficult to use them and not evoke or even find yourself slipping into the genres they're most associated with. They're like banjos in a way.

[acousticrock87]

Drums. Complex without [much] tonality.

I agree with demonrail, Rhodes are under/overrated. I like hearing them sampled in electronic music, trip-hop and the like. Similar to marimbas, I'd say.

And guitar, I guess.

[Genteel Death]

Originally Posted by shabbray2.0

When I saw that topic I was excited. after I read your first post I dont know what to add to this.
its almost the exact things which come to my mind (and even more).
but I try to enhance it with a developing-story:

I once was totally a guitar guy for the reasons you already said. after some time I learned the difference of keyboardists and synth-player out of a rock context and developed an interest to old analog synths. afterwards it never surprised me, cause I always was more interested in stompboxes as sound-creating devices then in the guitar itself.
from the dumb "only rock music is music" - teenager I developed this way to someone who is interested in sounds in general no matter where they come from.
the drums came last for me.
I cant rememer if I actually "listened" to them as a teen or if I just felt them subconcious. never thought about how damn important a drum sound is to a recording that features a drum sound.
alone the sound of a kickdrum can decide if a driving tune will work or not.
I highly agree with you over the last sentence, best example is hip hop. I bet each sample would also sound different if other drum sounds would be used.

ah yes, one thing that hasnt changed: I still prefer real-life instruments over software. and I prefer playing over programming.

hope I didnt drift too far off here.
so for me it must be:

STOMPBOXES // SYNTH (ANALOG)
GUITAR
DRUMS

I don't have a problem with software sounds, certainly not with samples, or composing music without the help of any instrument at all. It's when its sources are too blatantly treated and aren't expressing anything other than sterile manipulation that I think ''Everyone can make music, and still only few are good at it''.

[Genteel Death]

Originally Posted by Nefeli

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iu-Cpz_5NuM

ps. i have always found difficulty in describing music. so i gave up ages ago. i m mixing it sometimes with emotions or you know, energy that creates, or how it can make you feel at ease because "it" understands you.
i m tired. i should be in bed by now!

I'm a fan of how you describe music!

[shabbray2.0]

I dont have a problem with software based music at all. to be honest it can be an instrument by itself. and I love a lot of music which is created entirely by 0s & 1s.
what I wanted to say is that I just cant work it as an instrument for myself. I would love to use my puter as an instrument, so I could use it whereever I am but everything sounds not the way I want it to be.

[shabbray2.0]

Originally Posted by Nefeli

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iu-Cpz_5NuM

ps. i have always found difficulty in describing music. so i gave up ages ago. i m mixing it sometimes with emotions or you know, energy that creates, or how it can make you feel at ease because "it" understands you.
i m tired. i should be in bed by now!

thats the way I understand it the most when someone talks bout musiv

[Derek]

Guitar, clarinet, violin. No particular reason, I just always enjoy hearing them.

[Glice]

Uillean pipes. Utter cunts to play but just the most gorgeous tone to them. Phenomenally limited, in some senses, but in the hands of a master, just heartbreaking. I suppose I'd say bagpipes in general, but for me it's the Uillean pipes that are the pinnacle.

Voice. I'm not saying this to be glib, but it is an instrument, and a massively diverse and incredibly personal one. If I have to limit myself to a range, I'd say Basso Profundo, but they're a bit too rare to speak of properly.

Violin. As Nefeli says, it's the perfect instrument. It's also a complete beast. As some of you know, I play it. And, unlike the guitar, I can't ever imagine a time when I feel like there's a limit to how much you can learn on the thing. Preposterous, in terms of the simplicity of the idea and the complexity of the technique to playing it. I think that it's amazing that a complete genius like Heifetz would play things differently in his earlier career to how he did later - or rather, that that difference in playing is entirely audible.

[Genteel Death]

I'm glad to see the violin and the clarinet mentioned on this thread. Two instruments I find difficult to enjoy normally, especially the clarinet.

[shabbray2.0]

Originally Posted by Glice

Uillean pipes. Utter cunts to play but just the most gorgeous tone to them. Phenomenally limited, in some senses, but in the hands of a master, just heartbreaking. I suppose I'd say bagpipes in general, but for me it's the Uillean pipes that are the pinnacle.

Voice. I'm not saying this to be glib, but it is an instrument, and a massively diverse and incredibly personal one. If I have to limit myself to a range, I'd say Basso Profundo, but they're a bit too rare to speak of properly.

Violin. As Nefeli says, it's the perfect instrument. It's also a complete beast. As some of you know, I play it. And, unlike the guitar, I can't ever imagine a time when I feel like there's a limit to how much you can learn on the thing. Preposterous, in terms of the simplicity of the idea and the complexity of the technique to playing it. I think that it's amazing that a complete genius like Heifetz would play things differently in his earlier career to how he did later - or rather, that that difference in playing is entirely audible.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aF3fW4Nox9U

awesome

[Derek]

Originally Posted by Genteel Death

I'm glad to see the violin and the clarinet mentioned on this thread. Two instruments I find difficult to enjoy normally, especially the clarinet.

Really? I played it for years and gave it up when I couldn't rent one from my school anymore. My biggest regret in life is giving up that beautiful instrument.

[atsonicpark]

Home made instruments. The instruments of Harry Partch.

[atsonicpark]

Er, okay..

Electric guitar because I don't even think 1% of its potential has even been explored yet. You can do limitless things with it. Sure, you can with a synth, too (or any instrument, I guess, if you're imaginative enough), but every time I make a new riff, I know it's a riff that no one else has ever come up with (at the same time, a million other guitarists are thinking the same thing about the riff they just came up with). You can scream into the pickups, scratch the strings, put your fingers all over the guitar and tap away, bend the strings, put things under the strings, use a billion different effects, etc... it's ridiculous how much sound you can get out of a lil' old electric guitar.

At the same time, I worship the bass guitar, probably my favorite instrument to play, because I feel that it's really amazing, how compelling it is... if you know what you're doing, you can make an awesome bass line with just one or two notes.. look at some of those old songs by The Fall, 7 minutes of one note or something, albeit with some fills (I always feel like the fill made THe Fall, as far as their best songs go). I'm always interesting in a band like Joy Divison, where the bass is the lead insttrument, really. Just an amazing instrument, albeit often relegated as a space filler in a band. When it's utilized in an important and interesting way, there's nothing else like it.

Finally, one of my favorite instruments, one I always come back to and one that always makes me smile is a nice Organ. Bands like Le Shok and Phantom Limbs delivered short, spikey organ riffs that add fire, energy, and a haunting intensity to their songs, which would just sound like fractured punk ditties without that beautiful organ keeping it together.. at the same time, Messiaen delivered epic compositions built around a solo organ that is infinitely relistenable -- there is so much majestic, grandiose, amazing beauty with the organ, even when it's not played in such an epic way. It just always has a tone to it that makes my ears perk up.

[shabbray2.0]

I once heard the giant organ at notre dame playing and I was overwhelmed by its physical and emotional power.

[Genteel Death]

Big love for the organ here too. The bit about the guitar is probably the strangest post I happened to read from you, Mr Park.