I play the following instrument(s)...

[vroom]

Guitar

 113/17%

Bass Guitar

 31/5%

Violin

 12/2%

Other Stringed Instrument

 10/2%

Saxophone

 26/4%

Trumpet

 14/2%

Other horn

 20/3%

Drums

 26/4%

Piano

 49/8%

Voicebox (I sing)

 40/6%

Many instruments

 90/14%

No instrument

 215/33%

646 total votes

[ignatz]

I spent many years of my life as a French Horn player wandering around the country from audition to audition... sleeping on people's couches... playing any gig I could find no matter how bizarre... the Christmas Brass Quintet concert with an open bar being a particular favorite (Why would you hire kids in high school and then let them have access to an open bar??!). My main teachers were Dave Krehbiel (French Horn Zen Master) who was principal of the SF Symphony for many years; and Robert Ward, whom I will without reservation say is technically the best Horn player of all time as well as one of the nicest.

Highlights that spring to mind include:

• my first concerto performance (Mozart's 4th with YPSO under Eric Hansen)
• doing Thea Musgrave's amazing Horn Concerto (Kent Nagano suggested it when he was giving me a lift one day after a rehearsal with the Oakland Symphony Youth Orchestra)
• being principal horn under David Milnes with the SF Symphony Youth Orchestra when we won the City of Vienna Prize
• playing 2nd horn next to Phil Munds for Beethoven's 5th with the SFYO (we kicked some major ass... no doubles, no assistant, just 2 horns balls out)
• getting to do the second performance of Charles Wuorinen's Double Solo for Horn Trio (not me playing) as a ballet no less
• coaching at the Sequia Chamber Music Workshop
• and playing Ring of Fire at the Berkeley Tower Records on a dare from one of the clerks
The most amount of money that I got for playing horn was when I got an offstage horn part with the SF Symphony doing Strauss' dopey Ein Alpine Symphony, which paid $780 for 3 minutes of actual playing which comes out to about $21,000 an hour (ahh Unions!). My specialty was modern chamber music, specifically playing very softly very quietly.

One day when I was about to take a major audition I learned who was going to win before the auditions even started and realised that this wasn't the right path for me and thus a Perl Monk was born.

I also play the flute, conduct, compose, sing, and engrave music with Score, Finale and now GNU Lilypond. The flute was just an attempt to get a hold on why I kept dating flute players. Never did figure that one out, but luckily there are a lot of flute duets out there.

()-()
 \"/
  `

[pfaut]

I voted for guitar since that was my first instrument and it's what I mostly play. I also play bass guitar and have on occassion abused a harmonica and keyboard. Some people have said I sound like Neil Young when I sing (I never know whether to take that as a compliment or not). Some people have actually said they like the way I sing. I guess there's no accounting for taste.

---
print map { my ($m)=1<<hex($_)&11?' ':'';
$m.=substr('AHJPacehklnorstu',hex($_),1) }
split //,'2fde0abe76c36c914586c';

[december]

It's funny how much more personal critics are taken and how much more unsure people are about their own voice, than on their instrumental skills...

I played guitar in front of lots of people, I don't care a bit how many there are (uhm... actually prefer rather more than less ;) ) but I can't even _think_ about singing.

[allolex]

Hmm. It's a lot easier to know how you sound on an (esp. a non-wind) instrument than it is to hear what is happening in your own head. Kind like programming: easier once down on paper.

--
Allolex

[jepri]

When I say 'play', I mean I haven't picked my violin up in three years, but I still consider that to be my instrument, the same way I think I'm a physicist even though I haven't done any science for over a year now.

Side note: Does anyone in Australia want to trade a viola for my two violins? My fingers are too big thesedays...

____________________
Jeremy
I didn't believe in evil until I dated it.

[ChemBoy]

I'm afraid I can't allow you to do that, sir. There are already too many people out there playing the Viola as if it were a Violin as it is... ;-)

I voted Voicebox because it's the only thing I'm currently in practice with (and, I admit, because I was tired and failed to spot "other stringed instrument"), but I still describe myself as a violist. It's a culture as much as it is an instrument.

Of course, my Java-enthusiast friends say I have the same attitude about Perl, but that's a different story.




---

If God had meant us to fly, he would *never* have given us the railroads.
    --Michael Flanders

[jepri]

Well gee, I'll just have to... I dunno ... grab this here cello and try and fit it under my chin :)

If only I could sing, I could make happy music everywhere I go.

____________________
Jeremy
I didn't believe in evil until I dated it.

[ignatz]

Viola, the blond of the Orchestral family.

()-()
 \"/
  `

[Anonymous Monk]

a viola for my two violins

You're really asking for it aren't you? ;-)

[jeffa]

I'm the guy that hangs out with musicans. You know ... the drummer ;) Actually, my first instrument was the saxophone. I started when i was 10 and put it down the summer before my senior high school year (1987). I quit the marching band (they wouldn't let me march quads or snare - i don't blame them) and got a job at Taco Bell (so i could buy my own drums). I have since learned how to play some guitar chords, but i am a drummer by trade.
Sigh ... shameless promotion/demonstration time: http://jeffa.unlocalhost.com

jeffa

L-LL-L--L-LL-L--L-LL-L--
-R--R-RR-R--R-RR-R--R-RR
B--B--B--B--B--B--B--B--
H---H---H---H---H---H---
(the triplet paradiddle with high-hat)

[thraxil]

Q: what does it mean when the drummer is drooling out both sides of his mouth?
A: the stage is level.

i have a drummer friend who collects drummer jokes. that's about the only one i can remember.

myself, i play the phallic symbol guitar. i have a nice black ibanez iceman that i run through a DOD effects pedal and into my computer. i have several large amps in my parents' garage but for my tiny manhattan apartment, i just play it through the stereo so my neighbors don't kill me.

anders pearson

[Louis_Wu]

I played Trombone for 10 years, but haven't touched it in several years. Therefore I chose "Other horn". But I would like to have seen another choice: Tech Support. Music and Performance Tech Support, that is. :) I contend that interpreting the sound of a band and singers, and deciding how the audience will hear that sound, is musical. I hope that the following provides evidence for my claim.

I am one of the media techs at church, so I get the band set up for our weekend services. (I'm the sound tech for the Saturday evening service, which is the first of 3 services for the weekend; I basically have to get everything set up correctly.) The band (and Music Pastor, and Worship Leader, and Senior Pastor) rely on me to balance the instruments and the vocalists, to ensure that every solo is heard, to balance the sensitive ears of our older memebers with the appreciation of volume our younger members and young guests have, and to ensure that every speaker and interviewee is heard.

The job is quite musical, though I don't make claims to be a musician based on my tech experience. :)

. . . Wow, it seems I'm a smug and self-important smart-guy. I don't mean to brag or make myself into more than I am. I just wanted to make the point that I'm not the guy who fiddles with one mike for the PA. :)

[JSchmitz]

I play guitar but seeing how this is a technical website lets get down to the gear!

Guitars
ESP M-1 guitar 1986
ESP Kamakaze 1991
Ibanez JPM100 B 1990

Pickups
All three guitars are outfitted with Seymour Duncan George Lynch screamin demon pickups

Rig
1971 100-watt Marshall Super Lead
Digitech GSP21 Signal processing unit
Eventide DSP7000 Harmonizer
Marshall 4x12 cabinet
Steve Vai model "bad horsie" wah pedal

cheers!

Jeffery

[Jazz]

Well what a loaded question. It asked what instruments we play, but not which we play well, or at least with a semblance of knowing what you're doing :)

I've been playing the bass for about a year now, can pluck strings on my husband's electric (which I bought for him at TPC '00), and strum some chords on his acoustic. My 1.5 year old nephew makes better sounds on our piano.

I can wakeup the kids for school exceedingly well on the trumpet and have been known to alternatingly enchant, amuse and make eardrums bleed at karaoke.

[hv]

At various times I've played recorder, piano, pipe organ, violin, viola, voicebox. I've also tried my hand at flute and trumpet, but not to the point of being able to hit a note. :(

Having done little of any of the above for many years, singing and piano are the only ones at which I'd expect to have retained any proficiency. My one professional engagement was to sing a selection of songs by Tom Lehrer, and Flanders & Swann: payment, my ticket to the May Ball I was singing at.

Hugo

[traveler]

I wish I were more musical. I play my voicebox a lot, but sometimes people object that Im "off key". All I know is "make a joyful noise..."

[LD2]

i play the guitar, trombone (a little..), and the clarinet.

mostly the clarinet..

(yes, i was a band geek!!)

how come there is other horn and other stringed instrument.. but no other woodwind instrument??!! :)

[hiseldl]

Yeah! Where are the other woodwinds?

I play Harmonica and Flute (a little).

--
hiseldl
What time is it? It's Camel Time!

[bassplayer]

With a name like mine, I feel obligated to comment. I chose Many instruments, since I do, but seeing that Bass Guitar has at this point gotten no votes :(, I think perhaps I should have voted otherwise.

bassplayer

P.S. s/Bass Guitar/Bass/g;

[DarknessX]

wait until you hear my family :-/
Father = professional violinist, with Philadelphia Orchestra
Mother = freelance Cellist, 40some kid studio of teaching
Brother = violin and clarinet
Me = Pipe organ/voice box

I've tried my hand at all of the above, so I went many instruments.

[hding]

Electric guitar, five-string banjo, trumpet and recorder. I can play a little flute, too. I own a trombone and a lap steel guitar, but it's a bit of a stretch to say that I can really play either one just yet.

Update: To satisfy the gear curious out there, I have two banjos, a Deering Calico (one sweet machine) and a Deering Goodtime (my starter banjo and the one in the picture on my home node). I also have two guitars, a Carvin DC127 (poplar) and a Carvin DC727 (seven string, mahogany). Two amps, a Carvin SX100 (which I rarely use any more) and a Tech21 Trademark 10 (which sounds better IMHO and is powerful enough for my church "gig"). The only effects I use very often are a Carl Martin compressor and a Tech21 SansAmp Original, though I also have an Alesis Midiverb 4, Lexicon Vortex, Boss DD5, Dod FX17 Volume/Wah, Ebow, and perhaps some other miscellaneous stuff floating around. My other instruments are pretty nondescript for the most part except for a relatively nice Roessler soprano recorder.

Any of the trumpeters out there want to recommend a good, reasonably priced trumpet (I'm still working with the one I started with in fourth grade some twenty years ago or so.)

[Willard B. Trophy]

aha! I knew they're would be another banjo-playing monk. But the real question: bluegrass or clawhammer? I frail, myself.

But I guess there aren't any other monks who play the saw, apart from me...

[hding]

Sorry to disappoint, but I'm a three-finger man myself.

[tbone1]

Actually, there has been some debate on whether or not I can play any musical instrument. I say yes, the rest of the world says no.

--
tbone1
Ain't enough 'O's in 'stoopid' to describe that guy.
- Dave "the King" Wilson

[jlongino]

I've played piano, trumpet, euphonium, trombone, saxaphone and guitar over the years but I voted piano since it is the one instrument I've stuck with and continued to take lessons on. It's nice to see that so many monks have musical interests.

A recent "notebook" recording.

--Jim

[LAI]

*Sigh* I miss my Les Paul.

I bought a sweet little Les Paul Studio about ten years ago, and loved it like a child. A couple of years ago I left the guitar at my dad's, went to England for six months, and when I came back the headstock was cracked badly enough that now it doesn't stay tuned.

The sh!tty thing is, I'm now too broke to fix or replace it. I have my crappy acoustic to play, but it's not the same. I keep on seeing the LP in my closet, all lonely...

LAI
:eof

[t'mo]

My cousin had (has?) one of those too, and the headstock broke on it as well. Coincidence?

[rozallin]

I've yet to find a musical instrument that I'm happy with and want to take the time to master. In the past I've played:
• Saxophone
• Recorder
• Flute
• Violin
• Piano
• Drums
And right now I play acoustic and electric guitar (neither of which I'm any good at, because I'm rather petite and the guitars are a little too big and heavy for me to hold). I did want to learn bass guitar, but my father wouldn't let me have one because he doesn't like the sound of it and he wanted the guitar should I decide I didn't want to play it anymore.

I also sing, my voice having been likened to Brian Molko's from Placebo (I'm not sure who's complimented more by that, myself or him), and I used to be in a band called Spookie Vampyre.

--
Rozallin J. Thompson
The Webmistress who doesn't hesitate to use strict;

[chainsawed]

What! No bagpipes? Come on, I can't be the only monk that plays pipes...

[logan]

I have a friend who plays the bagpipes. It is worth stating that I remained his friend throughout the painful (for us) period when he was just beginning to learn his craft. This includes the morning when he woke me up by walking into my room stark naked (all 6' 3", 320 pounds of him) and began to play "Scotland the Brave".

-Logan
"What do I want? I'm an American. I want more."

[mike_dietz]

You're not the only piper here!

[feloniousMonk]

guitar and hand drums like doumbek, djembe, etc.

guitar's fine but i don't connect with any instrument as much as i do with hand drums, they're just so organic and alive.

-felonious

[choeppner]

I play the Keyboard.

I use it to play TribesII, Quake, DAOC, etc.

[elwarren]

I'm amazed that computer was not a choice. Even to play the keyboard would have been a close enough choice :-)

[Anonymous Monk]

Many instruments: radio, CD player, etc.

[smitz]

/me suggests vanity links to cool instruments, cos I own the sexiest bass this side of the atlantic blah blah blah flame ON!

The Beast

SMiTZ

[dug]

This bass came from the side of the Atlantic listed on your homenode, and I find it sexier (davidgage.com) (although I *do* like your bass. Its body shape reminds me of a Zon.)

[zemote]

It's been a while since I picked up the trumpet, but I am considering taking up the guitar to pass the time away when I'm not coding/admining.

[hsmyers]

Once I played a Martin 000-18 made in 1915...could have had an Antiques Roadshow moment except hard times forced me to sell...<sigh>

--hsm

"Never try to teach a pig to sing...it wastes your time and it annoys the pig."

[BazB]

Drums!

I started playing about 13 years ago.
I'm not too bad, but unfortunately I've had quite a few years where I've not touched a kit - I don't have anywhere (soundproof) to stick a drumkit :-(

I'd think that jeffa is a much better player than me.

---

If the information in this post is inaccurate, or just plain wrong, don't just downvote - please post explaining what's wrong.
That way everyone learns.

[ilcylic]

Drums, keys, sequencer, analog synthesizer, and studio equipment. Plus various assorted powertools and heavy machinery.

[zakzebrowski]

I used to play the viola, a long long time ago...

----
Zak
Pluralitas non est ponenda sine neccesitate - mysql's philosphy

[Mr. Muskrat]

As a kid, I played the recorder in elementary school because it was required. I picked one up a few months ago and couldn't play a thing on it any more.

My grandma gave me a Jew's Harp one summer and I would play that thing for hours driving my folks batty! >:-)

In middle school, I played the French Horn. Ah! What an elegant instrument that is! I even played it at church on Sundays. I stopped playing it my freshman year of high school. Why? They expected me to march with it!

I have played the computer keyboard for only a short time but am becoming quite adept at producing "music" by programming the songs in Perl.

I purchased a musical keyboard last week! So I've been beating it to death trying to make something that halfway resembles music. ;-) J/k. I can't "play" it or do proper "keyboarding" techniques but in conjunction with my MIDI software I can do *great* things. .oO( maybe I'm biased? )

[vek]

Ah, the recorder. My sister used to play that at school. Sometimes I would, er, borrow it and try to play it myself. I was hopeless of course but it was rather fun :-)

-- vek --

[extremely]

I said "Other Horn" but only because of the rude joke punchline.

--
$you = new YOU;
honk() if $you->love(perl)

[TStanley]

Does the air guitar count as an instrument :-D

TStanley
--------
It is God's job to forgive Osama Bin Laden. It is our job to arrange the meeting -- General Norman Schwartzkopf

[greenFox]

"Other wind instrument" could have covered a multitude of sins - musical or otherwise :-) I voted for "Many instruments", but it's not really true- I play flute, tin whistle and the low D whistle, its kind of like saying I program many languages and then listing bash, sh & ksh :-)

--
Life is a tale told by an idiot -- full of sound and fury, signifying nothing. William Shakespeare, Macbeth

[joshua]

Well...Like many other monks, I play the piano. I like fast, difficult classical. I enjoy playing music by (in no particular order) Beethoven, Mozart, Liszt, Mendelssohn, Grieg, Schubert, etc. I really enjoy competition. It gets ya motivated to practice.

My dad bought a Samick acoustic guitar with electric pickup that I've messed around with a little. I don't have time to play it much any more though.

I like singing tenor, but I sing bass better. Bass isn't as melodic as tenor, though.

I haven't played any other instruments. I've messed with my sister's violin a little. Violin looks too hard for me, though.

-Joshua

[screamingeagle]

What do i play ? sometimes the guitar, the rest of the time, the fool ;-)

[Popcorn Dave]

I used to play the Saxaphone, but that was a good 20 years or so ago. Even did the whole marching band stint for 3 years, and jazz band for 6.

The only upside I've found to marching band was that I was the only one who could name the Sousa song at the pub quiz! :)

There is no emoticon for what I'm feeling now.

[Nkuvu]

I play only one instrument -- the triangle.

*ding*

*ding ding*

Um, yay.

I could have said that I don't play any instruments, but that wouldn't be as interesting... :)

[benn]

Sorry, but you hit my pet peeve here :) I studied orchestral percussion for years, and spent many hours on triangle technique *alone*. Trust me - there's a great difference between *hitting* a triangle and *playing* it. One goes *clang*, the other goes *ding* (or *ting* or *ping* or *schwiingg*, depending on where it's struck).

My favourite goes *widdleiddleiddleiddleiddleing* :)

[peppiv]

I played guitar for 16 straight years. I thought all musicians grew up to become computer geeks. So here I am!

I played the 80's and 90's rock scene for a long time. Did lots 'o touring. Opened for a bunch of big oldies - Blue Oyster Cult, David Lee Roth, Atlanta Rhythm Section, Marshall Tucker Band, MSG, etc.

There was never anything more fulfilling than playing good.

peppiv

[mrpilot]

I've played the drums since I was in 5th grade. They're a great stress reliever. Perhaps the coolest percussion experience I had was playing on a large Rubbermaid trash bin in our "Stinkin' Garbage" trashcan band. Roughly similar to "Stomp". I've played steel drums as well.

MrPilot

[Joost]

I used to play the piano, but now I mostly do electronic music on my PC. BTW: Does anyone know of some good music-generating modules for perl (MIDI or wave output)?

-- 
Joost       downtime n. The period during which a system
            is error-free and immune from user input.

[coolmichael]

Many: guitar (just learning), piano, voicebox, ukulele (seriously, I was once offered a scholarship!), clarinet, acoustic bass, bass guitar (but that was a long time ago).

Now, if only I could figure out how to study for exams and do homework instead of surfing the net...

--
negativespace.net - all things inbetween.

[mowgli]

I sing, if it can be called that. :) Also, I sometimes try my paws at computer-generated music.

--
mowgli

[Clachair]

I love music (especially Runrig), but when I sing people find it very disturbing, and children can get quite frightened. I once tried to join a local church choir, but when he heard my voice the guy in the white frock threw an artifact clean through a stained glass window.

[vek]

Does banging your fists on your steering wheel in a futile attempt to play 'air drums' count? If so, then I play the 'air drums' everday while sitting in traffic. I get some rather odd stares :-)

-- vek --

[pfaut]

I have a friend who likes to play dashboard piano...

---
print map { my ($m)=1<<hex($_)&11?' ':'';
$m.=substr('AHJPacehklnorstu',hex($_),1) }
split //,'2fde0abe76c36c914586c';

[jbeninger]

I play fiddle in a punk band - yes, you read that right.

[OverlordQ]

Alto Sax, since 5th grade, or 6th grade, can't remember which year it was exactly. Played it all through high-school, two of them years with MrPilot.

[gmpassos]

I think that every body need to know how to play a musical instrument! I can't imagine my mind without music!

Graciliano M. P.
"The creativity is the expression of the liberty".

[crenz]

It's good to see a lot of other musical monks out there! I think it is not a coincidence; at my University there's a lot of Computer Science students that also play an instrument.

Regarding myself, I play bass. Not "bass guitar" :). Have been doing so for about nine years, mostly in church and jazz contexts. I also play guitar and sing, but not on stage :). And I'm getting into the composing & arranging thingie -- lots of fun.

[talexb]

Cool survey question .. follows my theory that music and aptitude for computers are related.

Started with piano at age eight and loved it, followed that with bass guitar at age 15 or 16, then got into six string acoustic at age 18 and got good enough that me and my buddy Marty performed regularly at No Talent Night at the Co-op Residence near University of Waterloo in the '78-'84 time period, playing bass and acoustic guitar with the occasional harmony vocal.

In '82 I started working full-time and I picked up a Fender Rhodes 54 (still have it) along with a bass amp that I bought with an income tax refund. In '85 I lavishly bought a Fostex four track recorder and have had a blast with home recording ever since, moving up to an eight track Tascam back in 2000.

While working in California in '87 I bought myself a fabulous Fender 350 six string acoustic and was amazed at how much more of the neck I could use .. it stayed in tune higher than the third fret! Cool. Bought myself a lovely Ibanez bass as an engagement present in '88 ..

Then from '91-'94 I played bass in a loud rock band called Catfish Screaming (or alternately, Screaming Catfish) where I also got to sing a few songs. That ruined my hearing, or at least chopped off some of the high end.

Sometime after quitting the rock band, my brother dragged me out to a barbershop chapter. These guys were singing a kind of four part harmony, but they weren't just standing still like a church choir -- they were performing! After a couple of years in the hobby I joined a top notch group called the Toronto Northern Lights (shows coming up in Niagara Falls and in Mississauga -- come on out!!). The last two years we've placed second at the International Convention, and we're competing again this year at the 2003 Montreal hoo-hah in July. And I'm also singing in a quartet of my own called The Tomcats.

I still play the piano and the guitar occasionally .. haven't plugged in the bass in ages. Too busy doing whatnot with my Linux box (Mandrake 9) and various web projects.

Great question!!

--t. alex
Life is short: get busy!

[Acolyte]

Let's see, at one time or another I've played trumpet, guitar, bass, sax, flute. I've also sung and conducted. Blame it all on my short attention span...

Acolyte
Studying at the feet of the masters

[chazzz]

Since I chose 'Many instruments', I ought to at least specify what they are. I can play piano at grade 7, double bass at grade 5, and sing at grade 4.

Performances include:

Ein Deutsches Requiem (Bach)
Carmina Burana (Orff)
West Side Story
Carmen
Various Rogers & Hammerstein
Kyrie Eleison (William Byrd)
Various hymns
And many others I can't remember.

I have also taken part in a European music tour (Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Italy). The 2 most memorable performances were an ad-lib choral movement in the ice caves of Jungfrau (sung in front of a sole Japanese tourist with video camera), and a hymn sung in Saint Mark's Cathedral, Venice.

These days, one of my hobbies is making music... I use Cubase VST and Fruityloops for composition, and Steinberg V-Stack for live performances. VSTis include Reaktor, VSampler, Lounge Lizard and FM7.

[Anonymous Monk]

Does feeding song lyrics into festival count? 8^)

[MadraghRua]

Harp, bodhraun, recorder, flute, guitar. Uillean pipes may be next...

MadraghRua
yet another biologist hacking perl....

[yung_tw]

well.. I vote various: Piano, Guitar, Drums, Bass, and of course the keyboard ;)

[benn]

I've stopped playing pretty much everything else (50-odd instruments around the house) since I fell in love with my WX5/VL70 combo....yes - I *know* it's an electronic beast and nothing like a 'real' instrument - but it's the most expressive thing I've ever played - and the sounds, being the VL mathematical synthesis, are really quite superb. I promise I don't work for Yamaha :) If you see one - snap it up.

[Anonymous Monk]

I play Clarinet {Bb}, Tenor Trombone, harmonica, jaw harp, keyboard, voicebox {choir was required in my old school}, melody flute, and thats all I can remember, other than I can play George of the Jungle on drums. Hmmmm, and I only started a year 1/2 ago. For instruments I want to learn, in size six font would list about 3 pages.

[Anonymous Monk]

I use FL Studios. It's so good, Im about to make an album soon. All my songs are made from that program.

[elwarren]

I can't play, but I taught my girlfriend to play the skinflute ;^}