

Ask HN: What music instrument do you play? - fromdoon

I read somewhere that most of the great hackers play some kind of music instrument. What instrument do you play?<p>It would be interesting to question, that what is about music and ability to play some instrument that goes so well along side programming and hacking.
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mtinkerhess
I started piano lessons in elementary school just before I started copying
QBasic out of library books. I also took lessons on guitar, trumpet, and
turntables (scratching), and ended up getting a Bachelor of Music in jazz
trumpet performance.

Then I decided I really wanted to make video games, so I got a master's degree
in CS and now I'm moving to Seattle to make video games. I'm pretty much only
playing guitar now, which is a much easier to play casually than the trumpet.

Programming and music (especially jazz improvisation) seem to involve very
similar kinds of problem solving. Both of them require thinking about a
problem at many different layers of abstraction simultaneously, and both are
fundamentally about recognizing and manipulating abstract patterns. Also, both
require a pretty focusued mindset--I learned that hours and hours in the
practice room can pay off musically, and now I'm spending hours and hours at
the computer in order to make games. Both are passions that, from the outside,
might seem like they require a lot more work than they give back in payoff.
But if you enjoy the process, it doesn't feel like work at all.

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mildavw
Well said. I spent 10 years as a full time pro playing upright bass, mostly
jazz. Now, I code for a living. Holding and manipulating musical/data
abstractions in your head is indeed a strong commonality.

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ecubed
I'd say I'm pretty proficient in bass, dabble in acoustic guitar
(Wonderwall?), and then hobby at electronic production.

Electronic music production is alot like web design/development in that you
start with a completely blank canvas, and then you tweak and change tiny
paramaters over and over again until you get a product you're satisfied with.
Overall I think the major personality trait that lends itself to both web
development and music production is being comfortable with long periods of
isolation/introversion, blocking out the world to see what your mind is really
capable of. An interesting look into this is ReGeneration (on hulu) where you
really see Pretty Lights buckle down and do some work on a track with only a
laptop and a pair of headphones. He's alone, in a corner, really tapping into
his inner self, which is what I think alot of hackers really are doing when
you get down to the root of it.

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flink127
Yep. I also do electronic music production. Like Pretty Lights, I've sat at my
desk late into the night working on a track. I'll have to check out this
ReGeneration thing.

It's definitely tough to do. There are so many parameters that you have to
tinker with, both in designing your sounds and beats and then the (ugh)
mixing/mastering process. It could indeed be compared to web design in a
number of ways.

~~~
ecubed
<http://www.hulu.com/watch/335303/>

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3riverdev
I've played classical piano since I was 5 (so, 22 years now). I'm a senior
software engineer and have always focused on math and development.

I always thought that classical music was extremely mathematical and, to me,
made the most sense. However, I'm interested to hear how many of you are able
to play jazz (or anything with improv). I studied under a jazz pianist in
college and, although I had a decent grasp on the theories and chord
structures, fell flat on my face during any form of improv.

I play a lot of guitar as well, but the above remains true -- more rhythm
guitar and "messing around with chords" and no "lead guitar" improv.

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Rust
I've never identified a strong correlation between my music playing and
coding, but I've learned guitar, bass, saxophone, sousaphone, trumpet, piano,
ukelele and drums over the years, and I know enough about violin, cello,
upright bass and flute to not sound like a complete tool.

I guess I'd equate that to the ability to write in specific languages (PHP,
Python, ASP, Javascript, C) and the ability to read other languages (Perl,
Ruby).

I've no doubt that being able to effectively and efficiently learn at one
(coding or playing) is incredibly helpful when learning the other one.

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CyberFonic
Piano, keyboards, violin, trumpet, clarinet, currently learning sax.

I guess a programmer is like a composer, the program is the score and the
computer the performer and the running program the performance and the user
the audience.

My CS interest is Model Based Software Engineering. In music, the score is a
notation and a model for what will be reified - performed. Much of music is
abstract and the playing the instrument is a learned automatic response to
reading the score.

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adrianwaj
Drums and percussion. I run a YT channel too with my favourite material
<http://www.youtube.com/user/adrianwaj>

Keeping layers and variations according to the music in the mind equate to
layers in code.. loops and conditionals... which can be improvised too. Also
setting up a context environment in music can be like setting up a context
with code... blah.

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_nato_
I play violin. It's a really difficult system to grasp and the left hand and
right hand have extremely contrasting rolls -- so one learns two difficult
systems just to play one instrument. It prepared me well for learning
languages and understanding how to code/hack. <http://nato.cc/> for some
violin music (warning: classical music YIKES).

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tjr
I play keyboards (piano/B3 organ) and bass guitar. I originally wanted to
compose and arrange more than perform, but recently have been doing more
playing than writing.

Here's one of my compositions, with myself on electric piano and other folks
on everything else: <https://dl.dropbox.com/u/1204208/amh.mp3>

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golgo13
I played the tuba in HS and college. In college i was in the marching band and
basketball band. Twice a year, all the band alums are invited back to play
with the band, again. I would love to play more often, but spending $6K for
sousaphone is a bit more than what I would be willing to pay

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joshontheweb
I've been playing acoustic guitar for 10 years, electric guitar I have been
picking up in the last 6 months. Playing music is definitely one of my true
passions along with programming. They both are provide very interesting
avenues for creativity.

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Quiark
I bought an electric guitar, like many metal fans do, but I don't play it very
well. Yet it's great for relaxing relieving stress..

What I found very interesting was that my kung-fu teacher plays the guitar
too, and very well.

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bandy
Nothing seriously now. In the past: sax, harmonica, lap dulcimer. Was working
on teaching myself how to play the banjo I had made some time ago, but I seem
to have forgotten what I'd learned about that.

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andyzweb
I am an organist first and foremost but I play piano/keyboards in general. I
also have played the violin since childhood

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pawelwentpawel
I play ukulele a lot. Unfortunately the only person really appreciating my
musical skills is my half-deaf grandma.

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tirrellp
Saxophone and a bit of piano (mainly to work out theory/chord changes/noodle
around)

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JackpotDen
I can play guitar, bass, keyboard and can keep time on the drums.

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Nikkki
Guitar

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mrose
I sing and play a variety of instruments including guitar and keys.
Additionally, I enjoy producing electronic music.

If anyone is interested, some of my works across a number of genres are
available on my SoundCloud: <http://soundcloud.com/magnus-rose>

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voxx
Air guitar. Air turntables. Air keyboard. Air drums.

Aw, yeah.

