Musician pet peeves

[SticktheFigure]

(Let me preface this by saying I only read the first two pages. If I've missed some discussion on this already, that's my fault.)

I hate people being discredited for sampling. 90s rap was so deep in sampling you can't walk two feet without tripping in it. But who cares. It was about the message and the creative way they used the samples. I know a lot of the comments people make are about lousy sampling, but that's not what I'm referring to. I'm talking about those people who think it's the absolute devil. Sampling? 0/10, never do.

Mildly related, how does the thread feel about using presets or on-board sounds of something like a keyboard?

[Nine Volt]

I don't care if you use presets so long as you fit them in and don't make them totally obvious that they're presets. Like, we can tell you're using presets if one sound is much better designed than any other sounds in the song, but if it fits then whatever as long as you're not building the entire song out of them. I'm not going to pretend I haven't used presets I like before.

[JSynth]

- When people call the Piano a percussion instrument.

Its a key instrument. Like a harpsichord or a synthesizer.

[Fimbulin]

- When people call the Piano a percussion instrument.

Its a key instrument. Like a harpsichord or a synthesizer.

Dude what in the world. It IS a percussion instrument. It's not used for percussion like a drum, but the mechanics are there. If you want to properly categorize your instruments, piano is percussive. If you are referring to the way they are played, then your mythological 'key instrument' fits perfectly. Keyboard instruments do exist but aren't categorized together (like winds or brass) in the ancient or modern music world. A harpsichord is technically a plucked instrument the same way a piano is percussive. Pianos operate like mallet instruments (marimba for example) where the sounds are both created by mallet hits. The mallets on a piano are operated by the user pressing keys rather than operating the mallets directly. Since ancient times, pianos have been categorized by their mechanic, which is percussive.

[Freewave]

- When people call the Piano a percussion instrument.

Its a key instrument. Like a harpsichord or a synthesizer.

Dude what in the world. It IS a percussion instrument. It's not used for percussion like a drum, but the mechanics are there. If you want to properly categorize your instruments, piano is percussive. If you are referring to the way they are played, then your mythological 'key instrument' fits perfectly. Keyboard instruments do exist but aren't categorized together (like winds or brass) in the ancient or modern music world. A harpsichord is technically a plucked instrument the same way a piano is percussive. Pianos operate like mallet instruments (marimba for example) where the sounds are both created by mallet hits. The mallets on a piano are operated by the user pressing keys rather than operating the mallets directly. Since ancient times, pianos have been categorized by their mechanic, which is percussive.

^^ I get your point about mallets on strings BUT you don't use a piano as part of your rhythm section. You are playing notes and keys on a piano. You don't do that with drums or typical percussion (although noted percussion, such as the timpani is a crossover). JSynth has a valid point as do you.

[the4thImpulse]

- When people call the Piano a percussion instrument.

Its a key instrument. Like a harpsichord or a synthesizer.

Dude what in the world. It IS a percussion instrument. It's not used for percussion like a drum, but the mechanics are there. If you want to properly categorize your instruments, piano is percussive. If you are referring to the way they are played, then your mythological 'key instrument' fits perfectly. Keyboard instruments do exist but aren't categorized together (like winds or brass) in the ancient or modern music world. A harpsichord is technically a plucked instrument the same way a piano is percussive. Pianos operate like mallet instruments (marimba for example) where the sounds are both created by mallet hits. The mallets on a piano are operated by the user pressing keys rather than operating the mallets directly. Since ancient times, pianos have been categorized by their mechanic, which is percussive.

^^ I get your point about mallets on strings BUT you don't use a piano as part of your rhythm section. You are playing notes and keys on a piano. You don't do that with drums or typical percussion (although noted percussion, such as the timpani is a crossover). JSynth has a valid point as do you.

"The Percussion Family

The percussion family is the largest in the orchestra. Percussion instruments include any instrument that makes a sound when it is hit, shaken, or scraped. It's not easy to be a percussionist because it takes a lot of practice to hit an instrument with the right amount of strength, in the right place and at the right time. Some percussion instruments are tuned and can sound different notes, like the xylophone, timpani or piano, and some are untuned with no definite pitch, like the bass drum, cymbals or castanets. Percussion instruments keep the rhythm, make special sounds and add excitement and color. Unlike most of the other players in the orchestra, a percussionist will usually play many different instruments in one piece of music. The most common percussion instruments in the orchestra include the timpani, xylophone, cymbals, triangle, snare drum, bass drum, tambourine, maracas, gongs, chimes, celesta and piano."

[Alycs]

Except the piano, organ, clavichord, harpsichord, celesta, carillon, keytone and gurdy are a different class of instrument. They are categorically classified as Claviers, and really do not fit under percussion. Yes, the sounds of a piano and celesta are achieved through idiophonics, the mechanics of organs are areophonic. The Harpsichord and Clavichord are both chordophonic. As the clavier family is so diverse, it is defined (as its name suggests) by their keyboard (Clavier French: Keyboard).

So, while pianos could be put under percussion (or strings), it is more correct to label it as a "keyboard instrument" outside of the standard "Winds", "Brass", "Strings", and "Percussion". The basic definition of the category is "An instrument that produces sound through internal autonomous mechanics and is controlled via a keyboard." Thats why pianos (with hammers and workings outside of the player control) is a clavier, but a xylophone (whose sound is completely controlled via striking only) is not.

----

Also, the Clavier Family has been around since the 17th century, its not something I just made up.

[ClaviSound]

I hate people being discredited for sampling. 90s rap was so deep in sampling you can't walk two feet without tripping in it. But who cares. It was about the message and the creative way they used the samples. I know a lot of the comments people make are about lousy sampling, but that's not what I'm referring to. I'm talking about those people who think it's the absolute devil. Sampling? 0/10, never do.

Heheh. Being a rapper, I am familiar with this attitude towards producers. The trick is to sample something and then chop it up until it's unrecognizable. Just Blaze, for example, does this very well. Listen to Jay-Z's Kingdom Come track; the bass in the background is actually from Rick James's "Superfreak" (the same bassline used in "U Can't Touch This," which is a song you hopefully do know), but do you think you'd be able to tell if I hadn't pointed it out? That's where the real genius of sampling comes in; taking something old and twisting into a new product. That's art, baby.

I get your point about mallets on strings BUT you don't use a piano as part of your rhythm section. You are playing notes and keys on a piano. You don't do that with drums or typical percussion (although noted percussion, such as the timpani is a crossover). JSynth has a valid point as do you.

As a piano player for over ten years, I can tell you that piano is in fact categorized under "rhythm section" along with guitar, bass, drums, and any other auxiliary instruments, at least as far as jazz combos and bands are concerned, and I wouldn't doubt they'd fall under the same category in an orchestra setting. The piano, with hammers corresponding to each key that strike a thick string inside the piano's build, is made like a percussion instrument, so from a purely technical standpoint it does indeed reside in the percussion family, but it generally gets a better rap than that because people who listen to the piano and think "oh thats so beautiful" wouldn't want to file it in the same group as "those nasty, noisy drumkits." Thus, as Alycs pointed out, the keyboard instrument category, although it is nonstandard.

(Although if you wanted to think of it as "better" than such things as drums or glockenspiel, I certainly don't mind piano getting elevated, heheheh.)

Oh hey, and Alycs happened to mention the inspiration for my own name. Coolio.

As for a pet peeve of my own, people who think the extent of talent in rap lies in MC Hammer for "U Can't Touch This" and Vanilla Ice for "Ice, Ice, Baby." I understand if you grew up only listening to that, I did too, but those two are probably among the worst rappers of all time.

[SticktheFigure]

Ten years on piano. It is indeed percussive and also part of the rhythm section.

[ExoBassTix]

I think the point is clear.
Which gets me to another thing.

- Multiple people bombarding you with "wroooong wroooong wroooooooong"
- People forcing their opinions down others' throats. For example, "SKRILLEX SUCKS", "PSY TRANCE SHOULD HAVE GONE EXTINCT LONG AGO", "YOU FUCKING SUCK STOP MAKING MUSIC"

[Facade]

i hate it when music isnt as *insert "problem" here* as i'd like it to be!

/thread

[ph00tbag]

I was a percussionist for eight years through high school and college, and have never seen the piano classified as anything but a percussion instrument.

[HMage]

*hits everyone with a piano* am I doing it the right way?

[Mr. Bigglesworth]

When I tell someone about a new plugin or sample pack I'm eyeing and they just tell me to pirate it and link me onto a torrent. I don't pirate things, so people telling me to just go steal something I want just kinda rubs me the wrong way. Kinda like if I wanted to buy a movie and one of my friends just says "steal it" and shoves it in my coat.

[itroitnyah]

I hate nostalgia hipsters. No, Queen is not the best band in the world, neither is Eminem, Pink Floyd, etc. No, not all good music came from the 80's and 90's, and not all the music made today is god-awful-pieces-of-shit as you assume they are.

And then there are the douche bags who are like

You: "So I was listening to Imagine Dragons an-"
Douchebag: "WOW IMAGINE DRAGONS SUCKS ASS, THEY SHOULD ALL DIE IN A FIRE, AND THEIR FANS TOO"

I'm not talking about internet problems guys, I'm talking about real life problems.

[Nine Volt]

I hate nostalgia hipsters. No, Queen is not the best band in the world, neither is Eminem, Pink Floyd, etc. No, not all good music came from the 80's and 90's, and not all the music made today is god-awful-pieces-of-shit as you assume they are.

And then there are the douche bags who are like

You: "So I was listening to Imagine Dragons an-"
Douchebag: "WOW IMAGINE DRAGONS SUCKS ASS, THEY SHOULD ALL DIE IN A FIRE, AND THEIR FANS TOO"

I'm not talking about internet problems guys, I'm talking about real life problems.

Slightly related: I wish shirts for more modern bands were more widespread. I'll be at school and you can see a lot of people wearing pink floyd and nirvana shirts and such but nobody wearing like Imagine Dragons or whatever.

I want a pendulum shirt now.

[JSynth]

When I tell someone about a new plugin or sample pack I'm eyeing and they just tell me to pirate it and link me onto a torrent. I don't pirate things, so people telling me to just go steal something I want just kinda rubs me the wrong way. Kinda like if I wanted to buy a movie and one of my friends just says "steal it" and shoves it in my coat.

Same here. This is always gotten on my nerves.

lots of words about pianos

My thought process has always been:
Percussion: You are striking something
Clavier: You are pressing keys.

But I guess a lot of people seem to disagree.

[Mr. Bigglesworth]

People who assume I'm a guitar player when I say I'm a musician. I don't tend to mention it in conversation because of that. I can tell people think less of what I do when I have to awkwardly tell them that I don't play any instruments to make music.

A lot of the people my age I've told are still stuck in that idea that electronic music isn't 'real' music :I

[SticktheFigure]

People who assume I'm a guitar player when I say I'm a musician. I don't tend to mention it in conversation because of that. I can tell people think less of what I do when I have to awkwardly tell them that I don't play any instruments to make music.

A lot of the people my age I've told are still stuck in that idea that electronic music isn't 'real' music :I

Dude, I asked my band director about if we could run a small class about doing music in garage band since we have carts of Apple Macs for student use. He laughed and said that that isn't real composition or something to that extent. I then spent the next five minutes telling him about all the shit I do and how much there is to learn etc etc.

Just irritates me because he's a younger guy.

[FLAOFEI]

Wow O.O
I get people who say some breakcore isn't "real" music... but people who say all electronic music isn't real music. I didn't even know they existed!

My problem now is not being able to combine a science education with a musical education. I can either try getting in to a musical school and possibly throw away my chances of a decent income, or I can study electronics, which I enjoy allot, but I won't have much time left for music... I'm probably going for electronics and (at least in my free time) build analogue synths...

[Navron]

If you're torn between which type of formal education you're going for, I'd recommend electronics.

Any art degrees like music, art, animation, filmmaking, etc. will teach you the necessary knowledge, but only at a baseline level. Your own creativity and vision is what lands you a job as a musician, artist, or filmmaker, and when it comes to getting a job in one of these fields, employers are looking more at the quality of your work rather than the extensiveness of your education.

On the other hand, any jobs in the electronics field will generally be looking at what kind of formal education you have, and it's much harder for somebody without a degree to get hired.

You can land yourself a job with a degree in electronics and still become a kickass musician, whereas the other way around you'll likely have a harder time.

[CitricAcid]

If you're torn between which type of formal education you're going for, I'd recommend electronics.

Any art degrees like music, art, animation, filmmaking, etc. will teach you the necessary knowledge, but only at a baseline level. Your own creativity and vision is what lands you a job as a musician, artist, or filmmaker, and when it comes to getting a job in one of these fields, employers are looking more at the quality of your work rather than the extensiveness of your education.

On the other hand, any jobs in the electronics field will generally be looking at what kind of formal education you have, and it's much harder for somebody without a degree to get hired.

You can land yourself a job with a degree in electronics and still become a kickass musician, whereas the other way around you'll likely have a harder time.

To add to this, if you can, do both. That's what I did. I got me a degree in music to help with my film scoring aspirations, and a degree in mechanical engineering that helped me get the job I have now.

[S.P.P]

When people ask me to sing to them when I say I'm a singer. Why do people think I'm willng to just randomly burst into song?!

Irritates me beyond belief.

Also, when somebody expects me to be Sinatra-tier when I tell them I sing. Damnit.

[CitricAcid]

When people ask me to sing to them when I say I'm a singer. Why do people think I'm willng to just randomly burst into song?!

Irritates me beyond belief.

Also, when somebody expects me to be Sinatra-tier when I tell them I sing. Damnit.

You should totally burst into some loud sappy love song when they ask, just to show them how silly of a request that was. Make sure that everyone in the whole building can hear you.

[JSynth]

Dr. Drum