ColdWarBaby

I'm 61 years old. I’m an unemployed blue collar worker. An ageing hippy.
I was at Woodstock. I started playing in rock bands in high school. British invasion and all that. Played through the late sixties, seventies and most of the eighties. Never got anywhere though some of the bands were damn good. Danbury, Connecticut wasn’t exactly a Mecca for recording industry scouts. Probably still isn’t. I probably should have moved to NYC but I really hate cities in general.
I stopped playing around the end of the eighties and haven’t touched an instrument since until very recently. Picked up an acoustic guitar and am trying to get my calluses back. As John said, “I’ve got blisters on my fingers!”
I can’t afford any of the stuff that’s being marketed so I started downloading a lot of freeware electronic music gadgets this week and have been tinkering around with them. Seems very interesting. Just got an old Acid Pro version 3.0 which is a demo from before Sony acquired the Acid line. It was originally Sonic Foundry stuff but now all they do is medical junk. Go figure. I’ve been fishing around for Propellerhead Reason but haven’t had any luck so far.
Anyway, this AP 3.0 is actually a lot better than the new Acid Express 5.0. The old one I have has all the envelopes, effects, slicer and all the good stuff that Sony holds back from the 5.0 demo. Difference is that the Sonic Foundry item expires in 30 days. The Sony product doesn’t expire but it keeps popping up ads trying to get you to buy all the stuff they held out. I just got a crack for the old version and killed the expiration problem so now I’m learning about the new genre of contemporary electronic music.
I stumbled on this site while googling for loops and whatnot.

My primary axe was bass guitar. I also play pretty solid drums and a little guitar. I regret very deeply that I never learned keyboard.

Like I said, I'm just getting started and I can't afford any of the pricey stuff out there I'm trying to piece together some kind of virtual studio with the freeware I’ve found. Right now it looks like Acid Pro 3.0 will be the basis for the mixing and arrangements. I’ve got a few drum synths, HammerHead, Rhythm Rascal and whatnot. Dug up a virtual synthesizer for generating sequences for bass lines. I’m still looking for virtual instruments in can use to generate different layers for composition. I’m working on an old Gateway PC with a Pentium IV processor, MS XP and not enough memory but it’ll have to do.

I don't have any peripherals at this point. Don't even have a set of headphones yet. A midi interface would be nice so I could drive some of the generators with an electric guitar.

I don't really listen to contemporary stuff. I hate "pop" music despite the fact that there are some very talented performers. I just think the industry has completely commercialized everything to the point of obscenity. I don't have an Ipod and rarely turn on the stereo. On the rare occasions I drive my car I listen to talk radio.

The YES album Relayer is, IMHO, the greatest musical achievement of the 20th century.
Tales From Topographic Oceans is not far behind.
Close to the Edge comes next.
Pink Floyd, Dark Side of the Moon.
Who's Next, the Who.
The Jimi Hendrix Experience.
Led Zeppelin 1
The Beatles, Magical Mystery Tour.
Procol Harum, Shine on Brightly.
Yessongs, the live stuff is incredible and their concerts were life changing experiences!

My favorite music of all time is YES. Because of the time I came up in my influences have to start with the Beatles. Led Zeppelin, Jimi Hendrix, Pink Floyd, The Kinks, Frank Zappa, Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, Buffalo Springfield. I could write a book. Velvet Underground, Soft Machine, Emmerson, Lake and Palmer, Procol Harum.

The last band I was in, the early eighties, was called Cold War Babies. I really couldn't say who we sounded like. I'll put up a track and you decide. What I'm trying to do now? Who knows. I'm starting over from scratch. I used to play bass and drums. Now I'm playing a computer. I have no idea what will come of it.

Like I said, I'm 61. My wife is disabled and we're caring for our handicapped grandson so I need to be around to help her with him. After I lost my last job, Target Corp., we decided to try to hang on until I get my Social Security which I'll be applying for in October.