Poll: Any multi-instrumentalists with us on the escapist? + Best instrument ever! poll

[Berethond]

I'm able to play guitar, drums and piano...

...But there is one simple reason a favor the piano over any other instrument. If your working alone or making electronic music, the piano is your "All-In-Wonder" as can emulate nearly every other instrument and its a handy MIDI-controller. Also i think its one of the most easy to learn or self-study...

...but that's just me

So you play keyboard then, huh?
<url=http://www.sudbury.ma.us/services/library/custom/truck07/baby-grand-piano.jpg>Piano
<url=http://www.achamilton.co.uk/Yamaha/Keyboards/Pictures/psrs700.jpg>Keyboard

Also, piano is the hardest instrument to play, as it takes the most coordination.

ermmm....
i dunno where to start with this one, ermmm...
to be honest, I think that ''''piano is the hardest instrument to play, as it takes the most coordination'''' is not... (how to put it politely] ...correct.
I garuntee you, that you could give me a piano now, and I could play canon in d on it, and I have almost no experience in piano at all.

take cello/violin/viola/upright bass for some examples:
these instruments are harder to play than a piano, as they are not designed as comfortably as the piano (i.e.: the notes are not all splayed out infront of you in an orderly fashion, octave by octave,tones and semitones displayed in the layout), and on one of these instruments, while reading music, you have to pay more attention to more different things. i.e.: bow direction, vibrato (which is hard enough to learn in its own right)/no vibrato, pizzicato/arco/col legno, (which is easy to do, but hard to do well), how close to/far away from the bridge the bow should be, which hand position you have to be in to play the next note comfortablyand quickly, yet in the correct key, and with the right tone, all while contantly and individually moving your left fingers,and selecting the right string without clipping the wrong ones with the right hand, while moving the bow in the right direction,while not looking at the actual instument, as the rest of what litte concentration you have left is taken up by reading the music.


whereas,on the piano, you have to just know which octave of the piano you should be in, pedal/no pedal, attack/ no attack on the notes, quiet/loud.

You could play the melody in single notes, but not the full body of the song. You also take an overly simplistic view of playing the piano, which is actually common to everyone who doesn't play piano.

For example, did you know that each finger makes a different sound (on the same note, I mean.)? That every way you hit the key changes the notes?

Most songs have you playing upwards of eight notes at once at most times?
Most pianos have three pedals, actually, and using two at once is common. Switching pedals is also common. It's extraordinarily involved.

 

[DragonsAteMyMarbles]

String fan, perchance? Every option that isn't a "glorified whistle" involves strings.

Alto sax and piano/keyboard, myself. Tried both at the same a couple of times - sounds like complete and utter arse, but people seem to like it.

I'm able to play guitar, drums and piano...

...But there is one simple reason a favor the piano over any other instrument. If your working alone or making electronic music, the piano is your "All-In-Wonder" as can emulate nearly every other instrument and its a handy MIDI-controller. Also i think its one of the most easy to learn or self-study...

...but that's just me

So you play keyboard then, huh?
<url=http://www.sudbury.ma.us/services/library/custom/truck07/baby-grand-piano.jpg>Piano
<url=http://www.achamilton.co.uk/Yamaha/Keyboards/Pictures/psrs700.jpg>Keyboard

Also, piano is the hardest instrument to play, as it takes the most coordination.

ermmm....
i dunno where to start with this one, ermmm...
to be honest, I think that ''''piano is the hardest instrument to play, as it takes the most coordination'''' is not... (how to put it politely] ...correct.
I garuntee you, that you could give me a piano now, and I could play canon in d on it, and I have almost no experience in piano at all.

take cello/violin/viola/upright bass for some examples:
these instruments are harder to play than a piano, as they are not designed as comfortably as the piano (i.e.: the notes are not all splayed out infront of you in an orderly fashion, octave by octave,tones and semitones displayed in the layout), and on one of these instruments, while reading music, you have to pay more attention to more different things. i.e.: bow direction, vibrato (which is hard enough to learn in its own right)/no vibrato, pizzicato/arco/col legno, (which is easy to do, but hard to do well), how close to/far away from the bridge the bow should be, which hand position you have to be in to play the next note comfortablyand quickly, yet in the correct key, and with the right tone, all while contantly and individually moving your left fingers,and selecting the right string without clipping the wrong ones with the right hand, while moving the bow in the right direction,while not looking at the actual instument, as the rest of what litte concentration you have left is taken up by reading the music.


whereas,on the piano, you have to just know which octave of the piano you should be in, pedal/no pedal, attack/ no attack on the notes, quiet/loud.

You could play the melody in single notes, but not the full body of the song. You also take an overly simplistic view of playing the piano, which is actually common to everyone who doesn't play piano.

For example, did you know that each finger makes a different sound (on the same note, I mean.)? That every way you hit the key changes the notes?

Most songs have you playing upwards of eight notes at once at most times?
Most pianos have three pedals, actually, and using two at once is common. Switching pedals is also common. It's extraordinarily involved.

I take it you've never tried playing the organ? That involves a lot of fancy footwork, not to mention messing around with the different buttons and levers and things to change the sound at the same time.

 

[Horticulture]

take cello/violin/viola/upright bass for some examples:
these instruments are harder to play than a piano, as they are not designed as comfortably as the piano (i.e.: the notes are not all splayed out infront of you in an orderly fashion, octave by octave,tones and semitones displayed in the layout), and on one of these instruments, while reading music, you have to pay more attention to more different things. i.e.: bow direction, vibrato (which is hard enough to learn in its own right)/no vibrato, pizzicato/arco/col legno, (which is easy to do, but hard to do well), how close to/far away from the bridge the bow should be, which hand position you have to be in to play the next note comfortablyand quickly, yet in the correct key, and with the right tone, all while contantly and individually moving your left fingers,and selecting the right string without clipping the wrong ones with the right hand, while moving the bow in the right direction,while not looking at the actual instument, as the rest of what litte concentration you have left is taken up by reading the music.

You could play the melody in single notes, but not the full body of the song. You also take an overly simplistic view of playing the piano, which is actually common to everyone who doesn't play piano.

For example, did you know that each finger makes a different sound (on the same note, I mean.)? That every way you hit the key changes the notes?

Most songs have you playing upwards of eight notes at once at most times?
Most pianos have three pedals, actually, and using two at once is common. Switching pedals is also common. It's extraordinarily involved.

I take it you've never tried playing the organ? That involves a lot of fancy footwork, not to mention messing around with the different buttons and levers and things to change the sound at the same time.

That's all pretty impressive, but I'm pretty sure that my instrument takes the most skill. I started playing when I was 8, but still can't get it to sound good.

 

[Dauntlessidiot]

String fan, perchance? Every option that isn't a "glorified whistle" involves strings.

Alto sax and piano/keyboard, myself. Tried both at the same a couple of times - sounds like complete and utter arse, but people seem to like it.

I'm able to play guitar, drums and piano...

...But there is one simple reason a favor the piano over any other instrument. If your working alone or making electronic music, the piano is your "All-In-Wonder" as can emulate nearly every other instrument and its a handy MIDI-controller. Also i think its one of the most easy to learn or self-study...

...but that's just me

So you play keyboard then, huh?
<url=http://www.sudbury.ma.us/services/library/custom/truck07/baby-grand-piano.jpg>Piano
<url=http://www.achamilton.co.uk/Yamaha/Keyboards/Pictures/psrs700.jpg>Keyboard

Also, piano is the hardest instrument to play, as it takes the most coordination.

ermmm....
i dunno where to start with this one, ermmm...
to be honest, I think that ''''piano is the hardest instrument to play, as it takes the most coordination'''' is not... (how to put it politely] ...correct.
I garuntee you, that you could give me a piano now, and I could play canon in d on it, and I have almost no experience in piano at all.

take cello/violin/viola/upright bass for some examples:
these instruments are harder to play than a piano, as they are not designed as comfortably as the piano (i.e.: the notes are not all splayed out infront of you in an orderly fashion, octave by octave,tones and semitones displayed in the layout), and on one of these instruments, while reading music, you have to pay more attention to more different things. i.e.: bow direction, vibrato (which is hard enough to learn in its own right)/no vibrato, pizzicato/arco/col legno, (which is easy to do, but hard to do well), how close to/far away from the bridge the bow should be, which hand position you have to be in to play the next note comfortablyand quickly, yet in the correct key, and with the right tone, all while contantly and individually moving your left fingers,and selecting the right string without clipping the wrong ones with the right hand, while moving the bow in the right direction,while not looking at the actual instument, as the rest of what litte concentration you have left is taken up by reading the music.


whereas,on the piano, you have to just know which octave of the piano you should be in, pedal/no pedal, attack/ no attack on the notes, quiet/loud.

You could play the melody in single notes, but not the full body of the song. You also take an overly simplistic view of playing the piano, which is actually common to everyone who doesn't play piano.

For example, did you know that each finger makes a different sound (on the same note, I mean.)? That every way you hit the key changes the notes?

Most songs have you playing upwards of eight notes at once at most times?
Most pianos have three pedals, actually, and using two at once is common. Switching pedals is also common. It's extraordinarily involved.

I take it you've never tried playing the organ? That involves a lot of fancy footwork, not to mention messing around with the different buttons and levers and things to change the sound at the same time.

I only used the strings as one example, and an organ is not a piano, is it?
I alsoknowthat pianoshave three pedals, as there is one in my house, and that 'That every way you hit the key changes the notes?' basically is an -admittedley- amazing range of levels of softness to loudness, but that is a quality of the instrument, but when you play the piano, you do not have to concentrate on as much.

but there are more examples of instruments that are harder to play, like the organ (like the guy just said) which is bewilderingly complex, and just cos I did not include it in the argument, does not necesarily mean that i was just being biased towards strings.I happen to know about organs, and they are harder to play then string instuments, As there are more keyboards, the swell,the great, and the pedal keyboard, and also the knobs to mess around with,and how you sometimes have to program the keyboards so that when you play a note on the great, a different note will also play on the swell.

 

[Dauntlessidiot]

take cello/violin/viola/upright bass for some examples:
these instruments are harder to play than a piano, as they are not designed as comfortably as the piano (i.e.: the notes are not all splayed out infront of you in an orderly fashion, octave by octave,tones and semitones displayed in the layout), and on one of these instruments, while reading music, you have to pay more attention to more different things. i.e.: bow direction, vibrato (which is hard enough to learn in its own right)/no vibrato, pizzicato/arco/col legno, (which is easy to do, but hard to do well), how close to/far away from the bridge the bow should be, which hand position you have to be in to play the next note comfortablyand quickly, yet in the correct key, and with the right tone, all while contantly and individually moving your left fingers,and selecting the right string without clipping the wrong ones with the right hand, while moving the bow in the right direction,while not looking at the actual instument, as the rest of what litte concentration you have left is taken up by reading the music.

You could play the melody in single notes, but not the full body of the song. You also take an overly simplistic view of playing the piano, which is actually common to everyone who doesn't play piano.

For example, did you know that each finger makes a different sound (on the same note, I mean.)? That every way you hit the key changes the notes?

Most songs have you playing upwards of eight notes at once at most times?
Most pianos have three pedals, actually, and using two at once is common. Switching pedals is also common. It's extraordinarily involved.

I take it you've never tried playing the organ? That involves a lot of fancy footwork, not to mention messing around with the different buttons and levers and things to change the sound at the same time.

That's all pretty impressive, but I'm pretty sure that my instrument takes the most skill. I started playing when I was 8, but still can't get it to sound good.

I have to agree with you over the recorder, I've been playing one since i was six, and i have the same problem, I starting to think that when it was invented, the breif was: can we make an instrument that sounds utterly horrible, no matter how its played?

but this argument was over a piano, and a recorder,you'll have to agree, is not a piano,yet it admittedly is much harder to make a tune sound nice on one, but it may be due to the fact everyone is forced to learn it in primary school, and ends up hating it, thus not bothering to put the amount of effort in to get good at it. I know me and my friends hated it.

 

[Horticulture]

I have to agree with you over the recorder, I've been playing one since i was six, and i have the same problem, I starting to think that when it was invented, the breif was: can we make an instrument that sounds utterly horrible, no matter how its played?

but this argument was over a piano, and a recorder,you'll have to agree, is not a piano,yet it admittedly is much harder to make a tune sound nice on one, but it may be due to the fact everyone is forced to learn it in primary school, and ends up hating it, thus not bothering to put the amount of effort in to get good at it. I know me and my friends hated it.

It's true; a piano has a much fuller sound when thrown down a flight of stairs.

 

[Trafs]

I sing in choir and play piano. But I voted violin, chiefly because I am in love with the Scheherezade solo. <3

also WHO VOTED VIOLA AS THE BEST INSTRUMENT? o_o!

ME. SCREW YOU!
RIMSKY-KORSAKOV SUCKS

(I'm a Viola Player :3)

EDIT: by the way, to whoever was arguing about range: the French Horn has a larger accessible range than the Cello. As does the piano, harp, and guitar. But then, range means nothing, really.

GAAAASP YOU DID NOT JUST DISS RIMSKY-KORSAKOV. But you did own up to it, so I suppose you are a worthy opponent. BUT BACK TO YELLING! HOW DID YOU BECOME A VIOLIST?

Ahh, I'm only pulling your leg. Scheherezade is awesome. I'm actually playing in a performance of the whole work on tour in Italy later this year :L
And HELL YES I owned up to playing THE BEST INSTRUMENT EVER!

Lies, btw. Viola actually isn't that awesome: it's not the right size for its pitch so has trouble projecting. Most composers realise this, so they always give us boring parts and nobody writes us any solo music, so we just steal the Bach Cello Suites etc. :3

And originally, I became a Viola player because I auditioned for one of the National Youth Orchestras on both Violin and Viola and only got in on Viola, back when I was very small. So I play it by default, really :L

Florion says "YES!" to stealing Cello Suites. DD

Ohhhh, they pulled that on you? D: If you ever want to get into an orchestra for violin, never mention you play viola otherwise they will make you a violist even if you're good enough to play violin for them. My sister's a violinist in McGill Symphony Orchestra, and they eventually found out she played viola, so they were all like, "Hrm, you know you could be in first viola if you switched! " (she was second violin at the time), and she basically just kept saying "NO I'M A VIOLINIST" until they gave up and put her in first violin. xP But her not-boyfriend (they're both just shy) plays viola, just because he likes the sound; I have a lot of respect for people who willingly bear all the "viola burns longer," etc. jokes for the love of their instrument. <3

Well, I am one of those people. Just the circumstances surrounding my "defection to the dark side" were somewhat questionable...
I guarantee I can tell you the punchline of ANY Viola joke before you get to it. And yes, that's a challenge :L

...and yeah, I realised that as soon as I auditioned on Viola they wouldn't be interested in anything else some time later that year. But did I swap back? No, sir. I do prefer the sound of the Viola, it's just a lot more difficult to access that sound, whereas simply beating a Violin with a stick will produce a reasonable noise...
Plus if I'd swapped back, I wouldn't be able to play the Hindemith/Brahms Sonatas, and that would suck :3

 

[Daveman]

brass is way more challenging than strings so I don't know why they're "dissed" like they are in the poll. I play alto saxophone, 'lectric guitbox, 'coustic guitbox, used to play cello but it was too shit so I quit.

 

[Zombie_Fish]

My main instrument is drums and I can also play a little bit of piano (nowhhere near the level that Berethond can, but I can still play a bit). I'm calling that a multi-instrumentalist.

As for best instrument, I'd probably have to go with piano due to how much you can do with one. Unlike most other instruments, you can provide bothe treble, bass, rythmn and chords all at the same time. It's a god send for most people who want to be soloists (as well as the guitar).

EDIT: Though I do like the Mongolian Nose Flute.

brass is way more challenging than strings so I don't know why they're "dissed" like they are in the poll. I play alto saxophone, 'lectric guitbox, 'coustic guitbox, used to play cello but it was too shit so I quit.

My guess is because the OP's a string player, so they would have reason to be bias towards strings and have a dislikening for brass and the other instrument familes such as woodwind and percussion.

 

[Jory]

I spend all my time on electric guitar really, used to play acoustic more. I played Bass for a while in a couple of bands and used to play drums a good 8 years ago but I never got too good. I've also been known to try my hand at singing and piano/keyboard.

I wish I was better at Piano, it is the best instrument in my eyes.

 

[Datalord]

1. Tenor Saxophone, all the way
2. Piano
3. Guitars, violins, cellos (glorified peices of string)

 

[Kif]

-snip-

-snip-

-big snip-

You could play the melody in single notes, but not the full body of the song. You also take an overly simplistic view of playing the piano, which is actually common to everyone who doesn't play piano.

For example, did you know that each finger makes a different sound (on the same note, I mean.)? That every way you hit the key changes the notes?

Most songs have you playing upwards of eight notes at once at most times?
Most pianos have three pedals, actually, and using two at once is common. Switching pedals is also common. It's extraordinarily involved.

At last, someone who knows the difference between playing the piano and tinkering with the keys on a keyboard. My piano teacher has been playing for over 40 years and even he says you never stop learning with piano.

I can pretty much guarantee you someone who has had proper lessons will outplay someone who is self taught because something as simple as the angle of your wrist can change how well you play and the overall sound. You can spot a bad pianist just by the way they play and the way they play will denote what they can play, for instance Coldplay, I very much doubt Chris Martin has the ability to play anything by Sergei Rachmaninoff, in fact I would go so far as to say he probably couldn't whip through a C# scale in under 2 seconds.

Unfortunately, it is entirely justified to say playing full major chord voicings counts as playing the piano... however, that is why there are grades.

As a scholar of music and someone who plays a variety of instruments guitar is hands down the easiest I have picked up and learnt, excluding the bongos as I just hit them and haven't really looked into proper techniques.

 

[Jaranja]

why no drumset?

Discrimination! I'm a drummer too, just passed my grade 4 exam.

 

[NinjaDuckie]

Piano, clarinetist, flautist, & vocalist (primarily tenor, though capable of reaching the higher registers).

 

[RagingMetrosexual]

Glorified whistles!?!? You try playing a brass instrument you twit *shakes fist*

OT: I play most brass instruments i can get my hands on (hence the above outburst), guitar, some piano and i sing bass and sometimes tenor in a few choirs.

The best instrument ever created is the cello however and here is the best piece ever written for cello...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L5C99JyP2ns

 

[ribonuge]

I play Bass guitar + guitar and I know the basics of the harmonica, saxophone, piano aswell as the drums.

I've always been interested in the Zither

 

[Chunklin]

Bass, Electric and Acoustic guitar
Keyboard
Violin
Mutha F***in Drums

 

[Spookboy666]

Bass Guitar
Upright Bass (Classical, Jazz, Rockabilly)
Drums
Mandolin
Tenor Banjo
fife
Tin Whisle

 

[GrinningManiac]

The Piano

Why?

1. I play it, and that makes it the obvious choice for me
2. It can play ANYTHING, and I mean ANYTHING
3. It has the whole dynamic range, the entire musical scale and you can play out two parts on it (bass and melody)
4. Sounds nice

 

[NinjaDuckie]

Correction: It can play anything, and you mean ANYTHING with the right amount of training to do just that.