I started on piano, but I didn't have one for a long time. I would go to friend's houses and improvise (they were usually glad to have someone playing their piano, as most go unplayed). I found one for $85 a year ago, and those same friends paid to have it tuned.
Remarkably, it's a fantastic old upright, and has a tone the the tuner says is so good it doesn't make sense. None of the strings are broken, and the construction of the instrument is way ahead of its time.
I can't stand digital keyboards, even the thousand dollar models- and I've played some of the most recent. They're incomparable to the real thing. Thus, I started to think about picking up guitar (before I got my piano, but while still practicing at friend's houses), so that I could make music in a portable fashion.
I got one from a friend who was moving up and getting a Taylor; he sold me his old one for $90. It was a $250 guitar, so I was very satisfied. It was an Applause (by Ovation). I played it for quite a while, picked the instrument up very quickly.
All the while I'd been thinking about strings instruments for a while- I asked my entire family to pitch in for Christmas/Birthday present & get me a cello (birthday is December 30), so not 3 months after the guitar, I got a cello. (It was another 1.3 years before I finally got a piano of my own).
I have been writing for as long as I can remember. I used to sit in my closet at night and write poetry that is comparable to haikus in third grade. I've done a substantial amount of writing since then, but no complete work.
I remember one my mom once found by memory, on accident... "good night, good luck, sleep tight, like a duck."
I lead a band currently, and do most of the composition & orchestration, and all of the lyric writing. Violin, Cello, Guitar, Electric Guitar, Irish Penny Whistle, Bass (acoustic or electric, we have several at our disposal), Piano, Accordion are the instruments we have between ourselves- we've barely tapped the surface of possible sounds.
And of course one of us has an iMac with garageband, which is a plethora of options in its own right.
I recently bought a Guild GAD 50, which is a
beautiful guitar; I also frequently play my little brother's Mini Martin LXM, though, which is astounding for its size.
I don't use a pick on guitar, and have a serious fingerpicking style that is almost classical. Still, I strum gladly & loudly with a raw fingertip. The calluses on that finger are a bit ridiculous. I use Cleartone 12gauge strings on the Guild, Phosphor Bronze, and so far it is opening up very nicely; it
really sounds like a $2000 Martin, with a little more clarity on the high end.
Also, I am kinesthetic/auditory in brain functioning, and thus love using film for a medium, though I have just dabbled. My primary attack at film was a video blog that was attempting to be a documentary of my life (link below). I tried video editing for the first time when I was about 12 or so, however, and made a preview for a film me and a friend were writing the script for. (We never finished.)
I had a time where I did drawing for a bit, and got really into it. I have some interesting pictures from that time (I started while I was in the hospital, totally sucked up in the weirdest romantic situation I've yet been involved in), and am glad I did it while I did. I'd love to pick it up again, but I feel I can't do everything.
A few songs from the band:
purevolume.com/craftsmen
(we have a website under construction-
http://ttech.co.nr/sapientia/craftsmen - [click "music" in sidebar])
The Vlog I ran for a while:
http://www.doculife.blogspot.com (be sure to check the "sweet reruns" section in the sidebar, if you don't want to go through every episode- the first episode is terrible, FYI, so I don't advise starting there. Start on Day 2 if you want to go chronologically.)
.L
.............but ventriloquism is definitely an interesting choice