technician or musician - what is your id?

xh9o's icon

being pretty new to max i wonder what kinds of people hang around here. musicians trying to optimize their setup and workflow? programmers having a playground for trying some audio?

i´m not sure about myself. it confused me when a friend introduced me to someone as musician last weekend. cause since months i´m spending all my time on programming application after application, not able to use them as musician as i´m always finding another concept to start programming.

Ed's icon

You want confusing... I recently worked with a documentary videographer, a visual astist and a lighting designer adding interactive and live video effects with Max Jitter for a musical performance. What am I?

xh9o's icon

though there is an artistic approach i´d say the tendency goes technician.

;)

Roman Thilenius's icon

programming and making music is the same thing.

roger.carruthers's icon

Welcome to Maxland - you enter as a musician, and then a few years later you look up and realise you've all but stopped making music!
But as long as it's still fun...
Cheers
Roger

lewis lepton's icon

im a technical musician.

Mike S's icon

I used to spend a lot of time patching and making hardly any music. Now when I'm making something new all of my time is spent on the programming, but when it's done I use it to make music. I think it's important to have an end point with the software. It takes a stronger will to say 'this is it' than it does to say 'what if i add this, then this, then this'. I think it's a very important and overlooked skill to have as a Max user.

andrea agostini's icon

off topic: vanille béchamel, would you please contact me off list? I wish to discuss something with you in private - about music and programming, of course ;) - you can use andreaagostini at bachproject dot net. merci !

on topic, btw: I can drive a car, which doesn't make me a driver; speak decently three languages, which doesn't make me a translator; cook, which doesn't make me a chef... I'd say that I'm a musician because that's my education, the center of my professional world and, anyway, the thing I want to do in my life. And I happen to be able doing some computer programming, because my dad gave me a TI99 on Xmas 1983 and because I enjoy this thing since then, and in my spare time among other things I like to learn new stuff about computers and computer science. And since I have this tool in my hands I use it for my own music and for other people, which luckily makes me earn some extra money. I have the feeling that most people on this list are more or less in this position - and afaik several people at Cycling too, besides being extremely skilled programmers, are all-round musicians as well...

namaste
aa

Charles Baker's icon

Yeah,BIO:
worked my way thru school as orchestral/stage/church trumpet player: got my PhD in music comp. (thesis on functional languages in music comp., involved with writing parts of early releases of Heinrich Taube's CommonMusic), taught @ doctoral alma mater for a few years,became a MAX user aroung '91, p.o'ed the ludite*, EzraPound/Reagan worshiping dept. chair and got laid off (I'm a techno-phile, and strongly left leaning),
& I have made my living as a professional programmer since. but still make music, both locally/improv, & on small experimental labels and the occasional performance.
I am a certified Java programmer, and a member of ASCAP.
soooo...the answer is: both?
charlie
-cfb aka j2k
*he still has no email address.

Peter McCulloch's icon

Off topic (private messaging for the forum: please?):

Charles, could you contact me off list? I'm working on a Java-based music composition environment that might be of interest (with algorithmic and other interesting features). peter period mcculloch @ gmail.

Charles Baker's icon

Sure, as soon as I get to stop fixing these property insurance processes and damaged data rows for the day, :).

Tj Shredder's icon

I found the best word for it in french: Je suis un artison...

xh9o's icon

well, ok we´re on the way down to precision. why not calling it "human" straight away?

brendan mccloskey's icon

The term "artist" is vital; the medium is trivial.

Focus on the human, not the technology

Peace
Brendan