HFLW

Making Music and DJing

So lately I've been getting into music. I've always been into music, but I guess now I'm starting to explore the more creative side of myself. Don't get me wrong, I love programming. I just want to try new things. Before I did it with web design, now it's with music.

I guess I've always been interested in making music, since in middle school I bought a bass guitar, and proceeded to teach myself some songs by ear (and I still do), but I never really got to play with anyone else since I was really specific about what kind of music I liked. I find that this sort of thing is a recurring problem in my life (I have a strong desire to do something, but nobody to do it with), but in order to play bass, you really need to be in a group, so my ambition to be a superstar bass player kind of blew up.

Electronic music, on the other hand, is different. One person can write a whole song and make a bunch of instruments from scratch using a laptop. Thanks to software, what normally would have required a whole room of expensive equipment can now be done after buying some software. Expensive software, mind you, but it's not unaffordable if you were serious about pursuing music production (not to mention there are questionable means of obtaining said software for free).

The learning curve for electronic music is pretty steep. I'm a fast learner, and I had a pretty good musical background, and even then I'm still struggling to learn everything. I guess at the very least I've been having more "aha" moments than I did when I was starting, so that has to be a good sign.

I haven't really made any songs yet, but one thing that I have been enjoying is DJing. With most of my hobbies, I wind up doing some really cool things, and although it's a great feeling to do something cool, it doesn't come anywhere close to the feeling you get when performing in front of an audience. That, and I guess the work I do usually doesn't allow me to directly interact with those who use it. So I guess it's a refreshing change from the things I normally do. I haven't really had any huge gigs yet, but I've always had a boost in self confidence right after playing in public. I can only imagine how I'll feel when I get a larger gig, if that ever happens.

So, here's a set that I mixed live one afternoon (after several takes of course). It may be missing eventually because soundcloud has limited space for each user, but I'm hoping the majority of the people reading this will be able to listen to it.

Posted by Will Riley

2 comments

Read More»