I grew up in a rather poor family. My parents were anything but parents. No details, but I was beaten up every day, locked up with a bucket to pee in every so often, was told to be an asshole, a piece of shit, a nothing. In short, I was physically and mentally tortured for at least 10 years (we couldn't find out when exactly it began, in therapy). I still see the hand of my father, with the hurting wedding ring. A symbol of love, used to express hate. I hadn't heard any music, except the one my father played on his record player. It were swing and rock'n'roll. I don't exactly know why I did it, but one day I took the old "Wandergitarre" of my father, that he hadn't touched for years. It was an all steel string accoustic guitar. I took it, went into the woods near our home to find a quiet place of my own and started playing. I only used the low-e-string, but I immediatly was in another world. I could express my feelings with notes. I started to cry. From that day on I was into making music. I lent a small book with lessons for a beginner. I learned that people always assume right-handed human beings. Because I was left-handed, but had no other teacher than that book, I went through the pain of learning to play mirrored (from my point of view). Up until today I'm not able to play picked or in high tempos. But as soon as I learned to strum just 2 chords, I also started to compose my own songs.

At the age of 18 I finally got free from all the pain and torture. I had nobody to help me in any way, and I didn't even had a start with furnitures, etc. I didn't care. I survived a hell, that was all that interested me. And I can honestly say, I wouldn't have survived without my music. The music expressed my feelings, and maybe because of that I soon had two fans. Both invested in instruments and soon we found ourselves rehearsing. I came up with songs and lyrics, the other arranged them and the third was our technician (being an electronics engineer trainee). First cassettes recorded made their voyage around town and soon we had our first gig (pretty much like on the oasis pic regarding stage and size, but without all those marshalls and monitoring), and other gigs followed. But never, never were we able to live from it, or get even more known than around town. I didn't care, it never was my motivation.

If your heart sings when you do your own music, keep at it. But do it for yourself, not to get rich by it, or famous, or make a living. Do it to free your soul, do it to be proud of your music sculpture. Be an artist, not a salesman.[/QUOTE]





When i read this i saw me and my life we have much in common be brave and stay tough brother!

 

That's the beauty of photography, you really have to question everything that you see. It is a wonderful medium and one of my favourites out of all the art forms. You might see guitars and amps and equate them with success, whereas I see 5 blokes squashed onto a tiny stage, playing for what seems to be a handful of middle-aged people. It's hardly rock n roll is it Also in '91 they didn't have any decent songs, they had only just started playing together, and probably quite badly too

Don't forget back in those days every man and his dog was in a band playing at their local pub, it was a very vibrant scene that sadly has all but disappeared now

 

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As has already been stated by a few others, you really have no excuse to not be making what you want, the tools and expertise are out there for the taking now, sure it will take a bit of discipline and a lot of trial and error, but effort is required for anything good really.

It is sure as shit a better situation than being stuck in the early 90's with a guitar, a distortion pedal, and a 4 track cassette recorder.
There are completely free options out there for daw and fx, or you can use a few softwares that aren't free to learn on, and EVERYTHING you need to know is on youtube and websites to get you going and keep you learning.

Soak it all up, even if you don't understand something you watch or read, eventually you will get to the point where even the stuff you didn't understand before now makes sense.
The important part is to always be working on something and you will just naturally get better and better at it.

Don't get drawn into the $$ = success trap, it rarely does.
Do your best with what you can get (everything you could need is available free in one form or another)

Getting someone to show you the tricks and traps of production back when i started in the late 80's/early 90's was either very expensive tuition, or making friends with people who were willing to pass on some learning. (and they were few and far between, the ones that had it figured out most certainly weren't going to just let everyone in on their secrets)

The internet slowly has become an insanely detailed resource of every aspect of audio/songwriting/production so don't take it for granted!
Dive in and get to it!

 

@xXDayDreamerXx don't let yourself get overwhelmed by the plethora of tools and devices out there. Simply look for how those tools and devices can help elaborate current ideas and propagate new ones in the making. Basically just have fun with what you know and explore a little because change, while frightening and uncomfortable, brings about growth and new techniques are constantly discovered this way. There's a lot to learn but this statement applies to the most ardent and experienced of us so, rest assured, we're all in this together.
'cept maybe Faoki.
He's in a league of his own.

 

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I feel your pain/stress on a super personal level & relate to it more than I'm willing to acknowledge. I may be able to help you & if I can, I'd be more than willing to. But it's hard to do over the internet with this shitty keyboard because I'd rather talk with my voice & I'm half Italian, so I use my hands a lot & talk really loudly and make my presence known. x-D I am a good drawer. I do photography, 3d modeling, computer animation, movie production, app developing, & I'm a good writer/poet.
But I do relate to it a lot. From a rich dad who's an asshole, to a mother who never wants to invest, to not being able to make it big, etc.
And it's not like I could make it big even with a ton of money - Listen here: http://soundcloud.com/claytonsfriday
It's basically dream-pop & rock (which are both good genres IMO, but not mainstream haha). I can do sound engineering but I'd rather just use stock presets so I can get right to the good part - making the songs. I browse thru the presets of any synth I own & I get an inspiration out of everything. I've even used some really crappy plugins like ReFX Vanguard & Slayer, but there were always these handful of sounds in the factory presets that sparked some sort of inspiration no matter how low end the plugin/synth was.
The music industry is shitty, tho. The record labels have tunnel vision, the consumers are dumb, the media is so biased, the artists who are famous are completely talentless, every hit song sounds EXACTLY the same - and they all suck, the good artists are all buried by the oceans of musical catshit & dumb-ass rap-stars. All that makes you suspect there being a strange program you join like "The illuminati". Because how could someone who sucks so bad, make it so big? How do celebrities like Kim Kardashian & Lindsay Lohan, make it so far with literally no true morals & nothing to contribute to society? I just find it hard to believe some worthless loser could just wake up one morning and be more notorious than the President of the USA. That kind of scares me, honestly. You truly realize how much society is fucked when that stuff happens.
That, and it seems like every young person is producing music in their mom's basement nowadays. There's so many people. I just had some local dude come to me the other day (he's 36 years old, lives with his mom, smokes weed 24/7) he's a rapper. He wants to be famous. But he doesn't know how to make a beat. So he hired a "beat producer" & did a rap & asked me to tell me what I thought of his mixtape. I took a good listen & wanted to kill myself immediately. I heard this "swaggery" & I thought to myself "Gee. I always felt sorry for aborted babies. But now I truly envy the shit out of them." So not all of them are good. Some of them are just as bad as the mainstream artists. But if society really digs that garbage, then why is there only a small handful of them that make it big? The problem isn't the genre, it's the time, place, reason, & people you know.
Here's how it looks in my eyes - Those artists I hate (& you probably hate, too, if you're a conscious minded human like me) got big from being noticed by the right people, at the right place, at the right time. It depends on what city you're in, what time it is, what you're doing, & WHO sees you. It's basically like the lottery system - you have a 1 in 295 million chance of winning the jackpot. But there's always them rich 96 year old cotton head with every rare testicle worm in the book who will buy 300 lottery tickets & win it all 4/10 times & give it all to their shitty greedy grandkids when they die.

 

@Zenarcist indeed I read something very similar to what you are saying...

"For recording the Oasis’s 1994 debut album “Definitely Maybe” Noel used Epiphone guitars, mostly because he was unemployed prior to recording and was not able to purchase a Gibson."

I also notice the forest of guitars just off stage in this 1991 photo,
which indicates to me, that poor Noel had his "choice" of instruments even at that early time,
so by 1994, I surmise he could have used just about any guitar he wanted to record with, but I'll admit I stand corrected
( if not entirely convinced of his rough road to stardom)

If anything, these guys did stumble upon some incredible luck, along with their talents..

" Showcasing its alternative rock style of music, in 1993 Oasis played in Glasgow, where they were discovered by record executive Alan McGee, founder of Creation Records. McGee took their demo tape to executives at Sony America, who were impressed and signed the band to a six-album contract."

just 2 short years to that champagne supernova in the sky

trying to get back on topic... most succesful people do have that period of struggle getting anywhere, just like anyone who decides to start playing guitar will have hurting fingers as they try to learn their first chords...

today you can sit comfortably in front of your computer and plunk out chords on
a virtual guitar..( not that it's quite the same tho )

 

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Calluses are a right of passage...no?

 

now you dun it.. where can I find an audience tape of Oasis in '91 ??

@Impressive thanks for the link, I keep trying to remind myself you are the
Rock Star formerly known as claytonr

 

Don't forget that Noel was a member of the road-crew for the Inspiral Carpets, so I would imagine he would be quite deft at acquiring bargain/free guitars through his line of work I know they had two Epiphone Riviera's and some Epiphone Les Paul's, but even if they had to pay for them they would have been fairly cheap second-hand. I remember every kid at my school had one

 

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@Zenarcist hence my assertion, considering he was a roadie, I can't fathom he used an Epiphone vs. a Gibson because
he was so skint, especially by recording time of their debut.. I applaud Johnny Mars all the same for his good nature. Being well connected could give him access to any number of loaners, guitars, amps , what have you, as you pointed out..

By the time they were signed, I don't doubt he could have used just about whatever instrument he wanted to record with,
as most good studios have some pretty nice instruments on hand. I rather like to think, (or fancy, as you like)
Noel used an Epi for some sentimental reason, as , after all ,he probably composed the demos for his first batch of songs
with that Epi.

You can hear in 1989 he was already quite accomplished with his song writing, and good at layering guitars as well,
they do NOT sound cheap, hear that acoustic?

Not being a guitar snob at all, as I own a Les Paul Epi too... just being a bit skeptical on the plight of "poor" Noel..

 

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I guess I better try to better understand what I'm doing then. As for classical, I have plenty of friends who play many instruments, and I actually play french horn myself..

This is a great idea! I'll try it as soon as I hop off the internet for the night.

Thanks for the words of advice, I get why I sound whiney and impatient.. I had a french horn for a long time, but the costs were killing my dad and my health problems were causing the horn to (feel like that it was going to) kill me..

Okay, note that my negative comeback comes first, then the positive thank you. Neither of my parents are very supportive of this hobby at all, and I said just dad was rich? But he's really selfish unfortunately.. Mom is poor and struggling to keep us all going, especially since my stepfather doesn't have a stable job. And my parents are supportive of anything else I do, just not this hobby sadly. Other than that, everything you said was absolutely right, just wanted to make that clear. I was really angry when I wrote that post, but I was directing my anger at the wrong thing, not having success with music was just a minor part of the true problems I have.

Wise words, thank you! I shall keep trying to learn.

Thanks a bunch! This is good advice

You have a point! I do have some connections if I wish to make it big, but that really isn't the plan, I'm just trying to this because I think I have some interesting ideas to express musically and found that in the past music was always such a lovely way to vent (unlike going to a forum and crying). I've had more luck with more traditional means of music- playing a guitar without knowing any real chords, french horn, singing.. I just feel like I am talentless and penniless in this digital world. I don't have my horn anymore sadly, and I need proper guitar lessons badly, but I'd prefer to focus on piano.

True! Did not think about that. I've had tons of calluses on my hands from writing in notebooks and drawing obsessively ever since I could pick up a pen. Those talents didn't come naturally, so of course I'm going to be bad at this new thing.. Also, I actually listened to that track when I saw it in the chat and thought it was really lovely. I would appreciate some help, maybe we could do some skype calls. Don't worry too much about the accent- I'm pretty good at deciphering those.

Thank you all for the wonderful support and advice- and thanks to the less-sympathetic people who gave it to me straight- I've been frustrated for a long time, so I'm sorry to you that you had to finally put up with my stupid whining.

 

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The acoustic is an Epiphone EJ-200 lol

 

how about the 12 string.. lol back

 

Yeah, he switched to Gibson acoustics later on, I see a pattern emerging

 

"In the more recent days Noel plays on a Gibson instead on his old Epiphone, and it’s safe to say that (E)J-200 is his favorite acoustic guitar."

Epiphone EJ-200

​

​

"Since the very beginning of the Oasis, Noel used this as his main songwriting guitar.
It can be seen in Live Forever Live on MTV."

sentimental... , and yes.. I want one now..

 

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I always loved Oasis. I will be a fan of Noel's & Liam's until the day I die. They inspired me so much as a musician. Especially Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds. That's an inspirational act right there & I wish today's kids would enjoy his music more than them stupid rap/pop "heroes" like Taylor Swift & Lady Gaga who contribute nothing at all to society & who's "music" has no emotional depth or artistic integrity to it whatsoever.
Think about going to a pop concert like One Direction. Think of the act - 5 (stereotypically prepubescent) kids go onstage & sing over a pre-recorded backing track while they slap each other's asses & wave their hands in the air & walk around. All it is to me, is just a karaoke night - except they're making money off the songs they're singing because it's their own music. But even then, those songs were written by a ghostwriter who just had the artists sing the lyrics while some completely unknown musicians recorded the backing music. It's really just a more sophisticated version of karaoke night at your local bar. Whereas if you go to a NGHFB concert, there's Noel who's playing guitar, and his HFB who are playing the backing instruments - LIVE! They have TALENT - & they wrote most of those songs. Sadly, the stupid people here in the USA will never know what real music is. And I'm ok with that. I like what I like, & I like Oasis & those types of bands. I'm pretty awesome like that.

 

Thank you. Sometimes I wonder myself why I never became a drug addict, or just (in whatever way) mad. But then again, the answer is music (and sometimes 42 ).

Thanks, and the same to you! To be honest, I needed a full day to decide wether to tell about it or not. It is a pretty deep view into my life for a medium such as this forum. I just hope I could somehow reach the op with my experiences. It would be too bad if money will still be the motivation.

 

Dang, you coming out and telling me that story was a huge move then (idk if u shared it on ths thread first ofc, but still.. Hard stuff). I appreciated it, and my eyes burned like they were going to tear up when I read it. As for the whole drug thing, some people just don't have the motivation to go buy drugs or have addictive personalities I guess. ^^; I'm actually shocked that I haven't tried to get pain killers on the streets myself (my disability is made up of a lot of aspects, but a chronic pain condition is the biggest problem) I really feel that thing about music though, and it was actually a program whose slogan was "Unity through Music and Education" saved me from committing suicide, because we do a music festival and give all of the profits to charity every year, and I decided to hold out on finally ending myself until my first one passed.. After that I just stuck around and not long before I was told about the world of music production and was encouraged by the creator of the Vans Warped Tour and a former "Yes I Can"er to take it up myself.. That brought me to where I am now, clueless but determined!

 

Entirely correct except for the ghostwriters, One Direction use some of the most well-known songwriters in the business

 

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Well, I left out my failed suicide attempt for a good reason. It was an act of pure despair, and although it brought me to a clinic where I finally got the time and ease to see that I should let go that feeling and instead make a decision, it is not the most important part of my experiences.
I just noticed your signature. If you really are a teenage girl in reality, then that might be a strong point regarding your situation. The thought of today, that girls and boys can equally do everything they want, may not neccessarily already be in the minds of your parents. Making music is still a boy's domain. Girls are accepted as vocalists, but rarely found among producers. But that's just an assumption, maybe your parents are open minded.
The history of music is full of musicians with disablilities, from Beethoven to Rick Allen, so that's not an issue. Keep at it, start small and let your heart sing.