My mom has played piano since she was a kid, so there's always been music in my life. My older brother played guitar, I play guitar and keys (some drums), my sister played piano. Born in the late 50s, grew up in the 60s - what a time for change in music! Can still remember watching the Beatles on Ed Sullivan.

Played in bands from '69 on. Started on drums, moved to guitar in '70, then to rock keys in the mid-70s. Came back to guitar a couple years ago.

Listen to everything from Coltrane and Monk to the Allman Brothers, Grateful Dead, Frank Zappa, etc. Can't get into any metal (cookie monster vocals?) or hip hop, just not my bag. Have friends that I respect in those genres tho.

Recently moved to Alabama and am absorbing the blues/country/R&B;/Memphis/Nashville stuff.

I´ve been a music lover all my life. But I didn`t get into rock music until i was 12. Then it all happened at once. Discovered Gary Moore, picked up the guitar and started playing, discovered Jimmy Page and it all went crazy from there

Favourite Musical styles:
Rock, Metal, Goth, opera, Classical Music, Trance, techno, dance and Blues

Also listen alot to Jazz, Rap/HipHop, Country & Western, and Pop music, but with these styles I`m alot more critical to the vocal performance and production. It the favourits styles I`m always willing to check out what apears to be crap, just to see if it picks up later on...

I work at an old AM radio station with a vast collection of music ranging from the most redneck locals, to some of the most elaborate major productions. Since I'm only 21, the best way for me to absorb the music of the past is to take out some 45's or 33's and run them through the studio monitors. I can't go to see Frank Sinatra croon. I can't take the weekend off to see Ellington, fitzgerald, Basie, or any of the other legends that we have captured on vinyl.

When it comes to the different genres, I like to think of how a song would fit into a movie. It may be any kind of song, but it will have its own place in some movie somewhere.

What saddens me, though, is when one type of music is run through the mill until it's dead. Maybe it's the nature of the business, but it's still sad.

At the moment, I'm listening to Prince's Dance Orchestra playing "Afganistan." If you want to look at your roots, don't pull your hair up, go here:

Early Recordings

I've also noticed that many artists will tell you at the drop of a hat that they listen to a little bit of everything, which only means they've heard a little bit of everything at one time or another.

I don't usually blabber, so I'm sorry.
Owen

I appreciate everything I've heard- but I have to admit I don't understand it all.

Each form of music seems to have a soul or a... well you either get it or you don't. Until I *get* a kind of music I'm really leary of offereing my services to record it! I'm just being honest- I'm not the best guy for the job if I don't really understand what makes a genre groove.

I have the most trouble with Hip Hop and hardcore/loud/fast/atonal metal. I've heard some *great* hip hop, but I don't record or mix it unless I'm helping a less experienced engineer (who *does* get it) solve a sonic or technical problem. I could if there was a strong producer on the project... but how often does that happen on low budget projects? I'd love to have that opportunity, though- I really want to understand hip hop!

One of my students is 14 and a Slipknot fan. Among the various exercises we do is picking a sound from some song that catches his ear and seeing if we can duplicate it. After a year and a half with this student feeding me interesting hard metal stuff (with more confusing sub-genre names that I haven't figured out, yet...) it was just last week that my ear final started to open up and I could hear the pulse and flow of the grove.

Anyway... I feel more native to rock, acoustic anything, bluegrass, classical, jazz, blues, hawaiian, folk. I haven't worked with much R&B; or pop, done *some* techno, electronica, and house but not at all the best guy for the job.

Its fun clicking into the different mindsets that are the different genres, though. That's why I want to *get* the genres that I currently don't: I'm just missing out and its my fault, eh?

Take care,
Chris

I love latin jazz
and many latin music
I like ballads
and all kinds of music
I have recorded a lot of kinds of music
The best recordings I think I have done are from a reggae band and alternative rock band

I've been playing music for longer than I'd care to acknowledge, and listening for even longer. To all genres, except for the crappy ones.

Well Nobby, I hate to say this and please understand that it comes with nothing but the utmost respect but...

there are no crappy ones.

Sure there are genres where you will hear more badly performed variations than good, but in every and I do mean every genre you will be able to find something that has a very compelling emotion expressed. Not to say that you have to agree or even care about that emotion, but to be aware of how that emotion is being expressed is very very important to a mixing engineer, and even to a music composer.

Wow, DiscoLightning, thanks for the link!

I wish I could list my musical influences and the things I listen to and write. But honestly that would be HUGE.

I played the trumpet for years, full scholarship to college. That alone put me into quite a bit. Then I started playing guitar...then I started DJ'ing in clubs, then I started bartending in clubs, oh and nevermind all the great stuff I came across from the many different people along the way.

I can honestly say I love music. There has never been a genre where I couldn't find quite a bit of stuff I like/own/written/et cetera. Tonight I might play a Michael Hedges song...maybe tomorrow I'll do a 2pac cover on my acoustic.