Music has always been a part of my life for as long as I remember. First learning how to play the piano by ear (which I have lost most of my ability for now) then taking up guitar which I have been playing for something like 8 years. Being a musician makes me feel like I can enjoy any type of music and this song (or remix) of this song Kiiara – Feels.
This song brings out the emotion which is quite hard to describe, it is chilling but also activating, it is inspiring yet also a bit melancholy. The song puts me in a state in which I feel like I’m floating and grounded. It is something I listen to now to fall asleep or to pump at the gym. The sheer contrast of the situations to listen to this song speaks volumes of how inspiring and enthralling it is to me.
IF you have a chance, listen to this song. This type of genre of music I have recently gotten more and more into over past two years. What really enticed me with this genre (Chillstep) is its ability to make me feel both relaxed and excited at the same time.
After watching the ‘reading’ on what music means to deaf people, it had me think on what music means to me. As a musician and guitarist I want to talk about my musical influences and how my interests in different genres has progressed.
My first influence in picking a guitar was listening to Metallica, mainly ‘The Black Album’. My favourite track from that album was The Unforgiven, from listening to this album I wanted to learn all of the best Metallica songs. I learnt how to play nearly all the best Metallica songs and I was also listening to other bands of that era too, like Guns n Roses, Bon Jovi and Green Day to name a few. I was very immersed in Rock Music and didn’t listen to anything much else in my young teenage years. I guess I loved the pure power of Rock Music, a real ‘gun ho’ type of feeling to it. I also felt like this type of rock music had a range, like in ‘The Unforgiven’ it ranges from emotional acoustic sound to heavy rock.
Then I got into some more acoustic music, Green Day’s softer alternative I think was the reason for that. I started to listen to a lot of Youtube sensations Boyce Avenue, Tyler Ward, Kurt Hugo Schneider etc. It got me listening to or acknowledging modern music through their covers. I enjoyed the laid back feel of the acoustics, I felt like it told a story rather than the ‘gun ho’ nature of rock music. My real love for these Youtube sensations was their original music, in which I haven’t heard anything like this. It was acoustic, soft, but also had range that was actually loud without being ‘loud’ if that makes any sense. It told a story more so and it moved me emotionally. A fine example is one of my favourite songs called ‘On My Way’ by Boyce Avenue.
It started off soft, like the start of a story, but as each verse and chorus progressed the music swelled and made it ‘loud’. This along with the lyrics really pulled at my heartstrings.
Nowadays I listen to a combination of above with soundtracks of my favourite anime, movie or TV show. But also I listen to a lot of trance or melodic dubstep. I listen to soundtracks because they generally remind me of a good moment in the series that I watched or convey the themes of the show or movie through the track, but sometimes I just listen to them because they’re catchy.
But with trance and/or melodic dubstep, I have been listening to a lot of it. Mainly through Youtube, through the youtube channel Arctic Empire. Here’s one of their playlists/podcast.
I really enjoy this because it is relaxing, but at the same time has a certain bliss about it. I generally listen to this when I’m doing something else, like playing games, doing work, studying etc.
Music is a tool for many things and for me it is a method for conveying and feeling emotion. Without it, life would be very, very boring.
Having playing guitar for over a decade I am used to every sound that have to go with them. One particular is my amp which I have had for roughly 6 years. Always makes a distinct sound when I turn it on. This sound still sounds the same as the first day I got my amp, so I’ve grown up with this sound getting used to it. A few more sounds from playing guitar that I love are ‘harmonics’ which are notes that are played by just touching the string and when you pluck the string at the same time you release your slight press on the string. This is in my opinion of the most beautiful sounds that you can make with the guitar. Every harmonic note is the same note but each has a different texture or timbre depending on which guitar you play them on. It depends on the wood of the guitar, how worn the strings/guitar are, the shape of the guitar etc.
Another sound or combination of sounds that has to do with guitars is the set up of a rehearsal or practice session. The tuning of the guitars, setting up of the amps, testing the sound levels and the jamming before any real practice starts. Everyone in the practice session starts jamming on their own and in time everyone will just join in one big jam session before we do any real practice or rehearsal. It brings me back memories of when I was in a band in high school practising every few days or so, it brings me back to the ‘think tank’ room that we used to practice in.
