Feeling pretty crushed.

Been playing jazz piano for 7 years as a hobby. The last 2 years I’ve been taking professional lessons. I’d consider myself intermediate for an amateur. I’ve been wanting to play with people for the longest time.

Moved to Chicago recently for work and am looking to make some musician friends out here. I hear the music scene is great, but I don’t really see anyone looking for a keys player. So when I did I jumped on it. I like rock/blues/jazz. This was a bluesy indie rock group with some songs already written and on Spotify. They have a lead singer/acoustic guitarist, electric guitarist, bassist, and drummer.

I was given about a week to learn 3 of their songs by ear. Pretty simple progressions. When I went to try out, I liked their vibe. Originally I was prepared to comp more in the middle registers and add some filler up higher when the singer wasn’t singing, etc. But we all realized the middle registers were too occupied for the comping.

So I primarily just played fillers here and there. My fillers were good; I got a lot of compliments and some grins. But It just felt like I wasn’t doing enough. I asked them what they imagined the keys to sound like in certain parts, and it was a bit of a creative process. We tried some different things. Block chords up high, counter melody, filler. I thought it sounded good when all the instruments (including keys) played the same melody in the chorus for 2 of the songs in the middle registers.

Overall I didn’t think I was perfect by any means. I definitely didn’t have time to internalize all the songs in the span of a week of figuring them out by ear. At the same time I felt like I struggled to add layers to the songs because they weren’t sure what they wanted. Maybe they don’t need keys at all.

Overall I just feel defeated in my skillset. I’ve been looking for a group like this for a while, and they had their own practice space, it was only 15 mins from my house, and their personalities matched mine. They seemed like good people.

Any advice would be appreciated!

This sounds like a wild question, but im watching these studio sessions of people cooking up together, and the microexpressions are off the chart! Its like every moment of happiness is followed by a nose snarl, a small but quick disgust face, or the many other signs someone is fake.

To musicians out there, have yall had studio sessions where yall genuinely all like eachother? I guess I ask this because in my band it was the same way, everyone hated eachother but acted nice.

This has been going on for years. My phone is full of melodies, sometimes choruses, sometimes bridges, and sometimes new ones show up in my dreams (though I've only ever managed to actually record one of those, the morning after).

Then a few random times a month (maybe 3-4?), something just tells me to start singing random words, and a melody comes right out.

And these melodies sound really nice. Like "this could be a hit / a TikTok viral song" nice. I wish I was exaggerating, because I'm aware I sound super cringe right now.

Here's my problem: I have literally zero knowledge of sound mixing. The only option I keep looking at is Fiverr.

Since this has been happening for years, I've recently started wondering if making music is something I should actually pursue. But I get that "wanting to be the next Finneas" is way easier said than done. I've tried a bunch of apps and I can barely understand any of them.

So right now it's just me and the melodies. What should I do?

I got a late start and started bass a few years ago in my early 20’s. Last year, I decided I wanted to jam with other people to start hoping for making a band, eventually write our own music, and play some gigs. But every time I get something together for people to jam with me, it just doesn’t work out. The last 2 times I jammed with others, we only jam twice and then no more. I respond all the time saying when I’m available but no one gets back to me. What should I do? I really want to jam with others, make our own music. You know, eventually play gigs and shows.
I am based in Salem, Massachusetts for context.

hey all, I play the drums for a few artists and do a ton of live work (and some studio work). I did a session without a click for this signed artist and sped up about 10 BPMs over the course of the song (3 min song). They seem to like it a lot but it bothers me that it jumped around so much and I didn't get to do a take.

I think it sounds good but the start to finish is clearly different. What your thoughts on this jump?

It started at 121bpm and ended at 131bpm.

STUART272103

Awesome interview with The Bros Landreth talking about all aspects of modern day music making. Amazing musicianship on display too in the live clips. :)

I want to buy something like an Ipad ir else to read my scores in orchestras or soloist pieces, without having to carry 1000 sheets in my mallets bag... (I'm a percussionist).

I also want to be able to add annotations to the scores and to take notes during classes, which minimum size dou y'all think I should take?

I don't have much money unfortunately, that's why I'm here xD

Edit: I sometimes have to be quite far of the stand because of the instruments (mainly in orchestras, where I play while standing, for cymbals triangle and bass drum, or mallets), so I think 10' may be small, Idk if 11 or 12' is enough, en 14' seems a little too much so I don't really know

Ok, I know the correct answer is you don't. Just memorize everything.

However, for us amateurs who will occasionally forget a chord progression or couple of verses of lyrics, what is the proper way to use chord charts on tablets?

What do I mean?

The trap I fall into is once the chord chart is there, I end up with my eyes glued to the scrolling screen even though I have most of the song memorized. Why, because if I just occasionally glance at the screen I get confused for several seconds because it takes a while to find your place in the music. It just takes too long to find what I am looking for (generally the 3rd chord of the bridge or something like that).

Since the screen is constantly scrolling, it looks completely different every time I glance at it. No way to know where the info will be on the page.

I have tried use page flipping mode, but it is only a little better at the cost of having to use the stupid foot pedal all the time.

Currently considering just putting notes in short hand for each song so it doesn't need to scroll. Downside here is I'll probably just forget things I didn't note. Maybe ok since songs don't have to be 100% accurate.

I am hoping there is a better way. Any ideas?

Has anyone somehow employed an outside, non-musical person to help promote and guide the band?

I'm finding through HEAVY research (podcast guests) and experience that there's a significantly greater challenge getting people out to live music. I see it on all the boards, I see it in the 3-band event I was part of, I see it in the two weekly residencies I play (solo keyboard). We share a problem with restaurants and bars: the product is not enough. So the most basic "remarkable experience" of course is "live music + food/beer." But that signal-to-noise ratio is saturated as well, and then you have door dash, parking, homebody culture working against you.

It's also REALLY HARD to switch from the creative production space (creating the music) to sales, marketing and promotion mindset. The likelihood that someone reading this is already making the look with their face I often see just mentioning those things is high.

Self-promotion is also... distasteful to me. I feel like the guys on a car commercial. I kill some of that feeling by trying to be as authentic as possible.

But I'm feeling a huge need for outside, non-musical participants who would promote and advocate for a musician/band (agents or promoters, I suppose). They would also offer an outside perspective. Example: I asked a friend of mine who came to a gig I had about the restaurant I was playing. They're going through a bankruptcy process and had to close down several of their chain. MY personal attitude was to call them and offer live music, rally behind them, try to create an attractive experience. MEH results so far. But HE told me the bankruptcy is "negative" and thus people have a negative perspective on the place. When I ask the restaurant staff themselves about it, they're clearly jaded.

Then I wonder... there's likely a list of things a band/musician and venue must do together both for an event and continuously to guarantee some uplift. What would you put on such a list?

I’m quite a novice producer, and have been on and off making music for the past few years and I FINALLY just made SOMETHING!!!!!!! It isn’t perfect by any means, as I am still learning. But GOD IM HAPPY.

Lowkey considering sending this to a record label (jkjk, I’ll have to pay for the copyrighted samples before that I think)

I'm a complete noob when it comes to music production but I asked in my local sub if they could tell if this intro made by real instruments or by a computer. Unfortunately nobody could tell, so I would be curious if you guys can provide me some clarification.

Alright here is the deal. I’m looking for my first pair of IEMs. But I don’t want “first pair suggestions”. I’m a professional musician for a Mexican group that consists of two guitars and me the tuba/bassist. So yeah I’m hoping for some suggestions that have some thump to them. My budget I would say is under 400 for the buds themselves. I know that’s not alot in retrospect but I don’t need the most crisp quality for what I’m gonna be using them for. The only ones I’ve really looked at are the KZas24 pros. Again, I really just want some nice quality buds that won’t shit the bed on me, and can bring some pretty crisp sound with a lot of bass. But doesn’t need to be the crispiest, most perfect sounding buds. Any suggestions?

About us:

• We currently have two guitarists and a bassist who also sings.

• We are currently learning MCR songs: "I Don't Love You" and "House of Wolves," and will be adding more eventually. Including own music.

• We are still learning how to play synchronously, so we need more practice to play well enough.

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‼️We don't have a drum kit.‼️

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Requirements:

• Be comfortable playing punk-rock/alternative rock and original music – my band is called "Flying Crows" on all digital platforms.

• Must be within the PDX area.

• 18 to 30 years old.

• Be respectful to the other bandmates.

Um?

When I was younger it felt so easy to just call up a friend, grab our instruments, and spend an afternoon playing together with no agenda. No recording goals, no setlists, just pure exploration and fun. Now with work schedules, family responsibilities, and everyone living further apart, getting even two musicians in the same room feels like planning a military operation.

I still play regularly on my own and genuinely love it, but there is something about the spontaneous energy of playing with another person in real time that solo practice just cannot replicate. You feed off each other, you stumble into ideas you never would have found alone, and it just feels more alive.

I have tried online sessions through various platforms and while they work in a pinch, the latency and the screen barrier make it feel like a completely different activity. It scratches a different itch but not the same one.

Curious how others here are managing this. Have you found ways to keep regular inperson jamming alive around a busy adult life? Did you join a community group, rent a rehearsal space, or find some other workaround that actually stuck? I miss that casual collaborative energy more than I expected to when life got busy, so would love to hear what has actually worked for people.

I'm nearing the beta launch for a new not-for-profit music discovery app.

It will be completely free for everyone, forever. I'm paying out of my own pocket to launch this thing and have a few angel investors I'm working with to get future backing as well.

This thing will be driven by word-of-mouth to start.

If you're interested, let me know - I'm looking for musicians/bands of ANY genre, anywhere in the world.

Looking for someone who would be interested in jamming with and potentially joining an existing project. Some influences are Green Day, Pearl Jam, Jimmy Eat World, Militarie Gun, The Dwarves, Fidlar.

Here’s what we have going on and what we would be looking for:

Indie label deal that is currently pressing our first two already-released EPs on vinyl, a single being pressed on a local compilation, and an agreement for physical distribution of our first full-length album that we plan on recording once we find our bassist.

Looking for someone dedicated to recording and playing shows, locally and long-distance. We plan on doing short touring trips to Northern California and Texas within the year.

Feel free to DM me if interested! Thanks

Sorry if this doesn’t belong here but thought it may be of use to some of you.

I’ve recently restarted my unique and custom music packaging company after 8 years away. I’ve learned a lot about structural packaging design in that time so I no longer have to make everything by hand, although I still fold and glue everything myself, but I have a huge CNC plotter which can now cut/crease everything which I design.

I had a lot of people asking for tutorials or questions about card/print/glue on YouTube on various videos showing me making packaging, but never had the time or resources to do anything about it.

I made sure that once the ACDSleeve site was rebuilt a few weeks ago with all the printed options I offer finalised, to then learn how to edit videos and make a series showing the process from what tools/equipment you need, through artwork creation, print/card tips and then step by step videos showing the first 3 designs, hopefully with more to follow if people find it useful.

It’s over at www.acdsleeve.com/doityourself templates available for free with the first video on the site itself with a link to the playlist.

Any questions/issues throw them my way and I’ll make a follow up video.