Necrox Posted August 17, 2013 Share Posted August 17, 2013 It seems like some people here have a lot of skill for their age. Did you guys start when you were 12 or what? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AngelCityOutlaw Posted August 17, 2013 Share Posted August 17, 2013 It seems like some people here have a lot of skill for their age. Did you guys start when you were 12 or what? When I was very young, like as far back as I can remember, I would hear music in my head. I would hum little melodies and put funny words to them. The ability to create music in such a way is something I think is just part of being human. But I got serious about it when I was 11 and got my first electric guitar and wanted to write music like Guns N Roses. Since then, I've destroyed my brain with music theory and the guitar. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ethan Rex Posted August 17, 2013 Share Posted August 17, 2013 I had a musical background since I was 11, but I only started composing for about a year and a half. Experience helps and a lot of people here have it, but having an ear for that kind of thing helps loads. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sci Posted August 17, 2013 Share Posted August 17, 2013 I started making noise (literally like music in the genre of harsh noise) at age 15. I started making decent music at age 17 or 18 or so I'm 22 now. I don't think I'm good because I started at an early age, per se. I think I'm good because I am obsessed with working on music ALL THE TIME example: I went to a con a few weeks ago, mostly to hang out with friends. I still made 1 song per day when I was there --often with friends. Working on a skill will lead to improvement. Breathing a skill will lead to very quick improvement. I breathe music. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Magnetic Ether Posted August 17, 2013 Share Posted August 17, 2013 I've been composing since I was like 10 or something, lol. Not very well of course, but I would always sit down at the piano and make something up rather than play what I was supposed to. Or, like Angel, just hum melodies and make things up in my brain. I imagine that having that drive to create from a young age has helped me in some way when I started to really take composing/arranging seriously. At the very least, it made me realize that I was more happy writing my own stuff than playing things that other people have written. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jnWake Posted August 17, 2013 Share Posted August 17, 2013 (edited) I started when I was around 14 or 15, at the same time that I started to play piano. My first songs were terrible though! EDIT: To give that some meaning, I should point out that I'm 24 now. Edited August 17, 2013 by jnWake Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PixelPanic Posted August 17, 2013 Share Posted August 17, 2013 started a rock band when I was 8, named Gravel, played bass, didn't work. started a ska band at 16, didn't have a name, didn't work. I just sorta make things in LSDj and I fool around in FL Studio now. Still play bass sorta pretty well. All the local scene is emo folk or noise stuff, not really motivated for a band. I'd say I haven't really started aggressively arranging, but I have been passively arranging stuff since 15 really. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Argle Posted August 17, 2013 Share Posted August 17, 2013 Jeez, you young punks. I started in my early 20s. I'm a doddering old man now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ectogemia Posted August 17, 2013 Share Posted August 17, 2013 I started when I was 22, and I'm 24 now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phonetic Hero Posted August 17, 2013 Share Posted August 17, 2013 I've had Finale since I was probably 13... but I didn't really do much with it. There'd be a couple weeks at a time every six months to a year or so where I'd write out like a quarter of a video game cover (MIDI rock! Yeah!) and then stop. I'd arranged a Super Metroid marching show opener when I was 18 for school, then dropped composition again for a while. I decided music was what I wanted to do with myself and got much more serious about it. I got FL Studio a couple years ago when I was 19. I'm 21 now Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
timaeus222 Posted August 17, 2013 Share Posted August 17, 2013 I started when I was 16. Of course, my music kinda sucked until I had about 1 year and 10 months of experience. By then I had archived a bunch of my old terrible songs, and from that point on I put loads of attention to detail on my future songs and remixes, and I'm pretty happy with where I'm at right now. I didn't really compose outside of DAW work, but I did have 8+ years of piano experience prior to composing, which helped, and I'm 18 now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DjjD Posted August 17, 2013 Share Posted August 17, 2013 I started when I was 18, 22 now. I never had any sort of formal training though, just got into it because of isolation. I guess you could say being in high school drumline helped with sense of rhythm greatly, but as far as melodic sensibility? There was next to none. lol I was diagnosed with chronic migraines, and had to go get multiple MRIs over my junior year. At that point, I had to stop going to regular high school and go into online high school because my grades were slipping rapidly. So it basically created a situation where I was stuck in a town 30 miles away from any friends or any events that might have happened in what was my social life. Music became somewhat of an obsession, completely engulfing my life and making me learn a new skill I never thought I'd pick up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ethan Rex Posted August 17, 2013 Share Posted August 17, 2013 ITT: Learning everyone's age Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moseph Posted August 17, 2013 Share Posted August 17, 2013 Started playing piano when I was 8 or 9; started composing when I was maybe 14. Didn't take it too seriously until college, then got a master's degree in composition at 24. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chimpazilla Posted August 18, 2013 Share Posted August 18, 2013 I've only been at this for two years. I have two songs in the "to be posted" queue right now. I won't tell you my age. I'm leaps and bounds older than absolutely everyone here, though. It proves you *can* start late. It's never too late. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Legendary Zoltan Posted August 18, 2013 Share Posted August 18, 2013 That's right Chimp. Start when you're 77, and it can still happen! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chimpazilla Posted August 18, 2013 Share Posted August 18, 2013 That's right Chimp. Start when you're 77, and it can still happen! Noooooot quite 77 yet... bwahahaha! But, yeah. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WillRock Posted August 18, 2013 Share Posted August 18, 2013 I started composing at 14. I'm 23 now, so yah... been at it a while. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Meteo Xavier Posted August 18, 2013 Share Posted August 18, 2013 Ten years ago. Probably the stupidest decision I've ever made, but I'm ten years deep into it now - no sense in quitting at this point. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AngelCityOutlaw Posted August 18, 2013 Share Posted August 18, 2013 Ten years ago. Probably the stupidest decision I've ever made, but I'm ten years deep into it now - no sense in quitting at this point. You know, when I saw that Meteo Xavier was the most recent poster I thought "Here comes a gloomy comment from the most jaded person on this site" You did not disappoint Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nabeel Ansari Posted August 18, 2013 Share Posted August 18, 2013 I was about 11. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Garrett Williamson Posted August 18, 2013 Share Posted August 18, 2013 I started messing around and writing my own stuff when sitting at the piano from the age of 5 or 6 Of course, it was simple melodies, but it was entirely me writing my entirely own stuff I didn't really know how to generally play the piano until I was 7, though, and from then on I've been writing nonstop Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Final Kingdom Posted August 18, 2013 Share Posted August 18, 2013 While I made my first original songs when I was around 15 or 16, I didn't start doing it seriously or very often until this past January. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cash Posted August 18, 2013 Share Posted August 18, 2013 August 2011, so two years ago. I've come a long way, but still nowhere near where I want to be. I won't be satisfied until I make a song I actually want to listen to. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Meteo Xavier Posted August 18, 2013 Share Posted August 18, 2013 "Here comes a gloomy comment from the most jaded person on this site" You did not disappoint I will gladly accept an award trophy of this if you will make one. To clarify, I mean to put that in the context of "if I knew then what I know now" then I would've put that time and money towards better use. My music ministry of gloom is to balance the reality of doing music for people who want to do more than just compose for their own amusement - because any time I see someone posting for advice on what its like to actually do music for a living, 95% of the response is "Well, just do the music you love and people will buy it. :D" or "Well, just work hard, never give up and you'll succeed. :D". It's all flowery philosophy that never even touches the reality of doing music commercially. I frankly would've wanted someone giving me blunt reality 10 years ago instead of all-purpose fortune cookie advice and most newbs today damn well need it. It wouldn't be a problem except a huge portion of them really believe if you just buy FL Studio and EWQLCC, you'll be the next Jeremy Soule. We still occasionally get people posting "Should I release my album on an indie label or a major label?" as if they actually believe you can just walk into Interscope with a CD-R and walk out with a contract. It's baffling. Didn't mean to rant or go offtopic here, but surely I'm not the only person in this thread who's been composing for a while and really felt that sting no one talks about. I will accept your award, but I do it with glee knowing because there is actual community service in it. While you guys are out there giving fortune cookie advice to boost their self-esteem and your own album sales, I'm telling the other side of the story to separate the real artists from the poseurs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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