gregb
07-16-2006, 10:31 PM
Hi there,
My name is Greg and I have just recently purchased Gold XP, but I have to admit, I've been lurking around this forum for a while before buying the software, and have found it to be fascinating, inspiring and really informative!
I have been passionate about music all my life, but put it on hold for quite a few years as I studied in the applied arts. I have worked for the last 25 years as a commercial photographer and a freelance art director - both careers that I still love. I also was semi-acquired by a College here in Vancouver where I taught for a few years and then evetnually took over as director of the applied arts division (I am responsible for 4 programs in Commercial Photography, Advertising & Design, Interactive Design and a brand new program called "The Electronic Music Producer's Program)!
I was introduced to Reason at first by an instructor in my Interactive Design Program and he still laughs to this day at the expression on my face when I saw it for the first time. That was about 4 years ago, and every spare moment of my time has been devoted to building a new home studio and production station since that day. I still work fairly often on Reason, and also use Ableton Live for creating my own loops (my musical background is as a guitarist and bassist). But most of the time I work on Cubase SX3 and a large collection of VST instruments and effects. I still remember being 17 years old (am 44 now) and belting out Beatle's tunes on a crappy old acoustic guitar - Man, what an extraordinary world we live in now!
Over the last few years, I have had the chance to meet some pretty amazing people in the recording, producing and music publishing industry in Vancouver, as well as the film industry, and found myself being pushed by a few of these people to work with them to create a new program for independant music producers at the College I work with. There's no other school in Vancouver that does this, so I was immensely keen to work on this with these individuals, if only for the reason that I could take the whole thing myself for free (grin). That was a year ago now - the program is doing exceptionally well, and the students absolutely blow me away!
Now I'm seriously considering a new change in my own direction. I've been an applied artist all my life, so simply making art for art's sake is a bit foreign to me. My photography has always been designed to solve a specific communication's need. I now find myself looking at music the same way - while I have enormous respect for songwriters, I don't think I would be very effective as one. However, looking at scoring for film, TV, the gaming industry, etc is immensely appealing to me as, once again, it is art for a purpose - there is a tangible problem to solve, and that is how I think best.
I've really been finding your insights, experiences and stories on this forum completely inspiring, not to mention some exceptional music! I'm afraid I have nothing up-loaded yet (I still need to figure out the best way to upload my music - perhaps MySpace). But I am also now studying mysic theory, orchestration and harmony, as I was largely self-taught as a musician, so I think I will concentrate on producing existing works first (I've been eyeing the adagio for Beethoven's 9th). This is all beyond fascinating, and I am hoping that I will evetnually have something worth sharing on this forum.
Man I'm long-winded!
Greg
My name is Greg and I have just recently purchased Gold XP, but I have to admit, I've been lurking around this forum for a while before buying the software, and have found it to be fascinating, inspiring and really informative!
I have been passionate about music all my life, but put it on hold for quite a few years as I studied in the applied arts. I have worked for the last 25 years as a commercial photographer and a freelance art director - both careers that I still love. I also was semi-acquired by a College here in Vancouver where I taught for a few years and then evetnually took over as director of the applied arts division (I am responsible for 4 programs in Commercial Photography, Advertising & Design, Interactive Design and a brand new program called "The Electronic Music Producer's Program)!
I was introduced to Reason at first by an instructor in my Interactive Design Program and he still laughs to this day at the expression on my face when I saw it for the first time. That was about 4 years ago, and every spare moment of my time has been devoted to building a new home studio and production station since that day. I still work fairly often on Reason, and also use Ableton Live for creating my own loops (my musical background is as a guitarist and bassist). But most of the time I work on Cubase SX3 and a large collection of VST instruments and effects. I still remember being 17 years old (am 44 now) and belting out Beatle's tunes on a crappy old acoustic guitar - Man, what an extraordinary world we live in now!
Over the last few years, I have had the chance to meet some pretty amazing people in the recording, producing and music publishing industry in Vancouver, as well as the film industry, and found myself being pushed by a few of these people to work with them to create a new program for independant music producers at the College I work with. There's no other school in Vancouver that does this, so I was immensely keen to work on this with these individuals, if only for the reason that I could take the whole thing myself for free (grin). That was a year ago now - the program is doing exceptionally well, and the students absolutely blow me away!
Now I'm seriously considering a new change in my own direction. I've been an applied artist all my life, so simply making art for art's sake is a bit foreign to me. My photography has always been designed to solve a specific communication's need. I now find myself looking at music the same way - while I have enormous respect for songwriters, I don't think I would be very effective as one. However, looking at scoring for film, TV, the gaming industry, etc is immensely appealing to me as, once again, it is art for a purpose - there is a tangible problem to solve, and that is how I think best.
I've really been finding your insights, experiences and stories on this forum completely inspiring, not to mention some exceptional music! I'm afraid I have nothing up-loaded yet (I still need to figure out the best way to upload my music - perhaps MySpace). But I am also now studying mysic theory, orchestration and harmony, as I was largely self-taught as a musician, so I think I will concentrate on producing existing works first (I've been eyeing the adagio for Beethoven's 9th). This is all beyond fascinating, and I am hoping that I will evetnually have something worth sharing on this forum.
Man I'm long-winded!
Greg