Seeking suggestions for a sonorous selection
October 7, 2016 9:54 PM Subscribe
This is kind of the definition of a problem of plenty, but I was recently gifted $1000 with which to buy a musical instrument for myself, and I have no idea what to buy. I already play a number of instruments, and between my girlfriend and myself (mostly her) we have a small selection of instruments already. I would love to hear any and all suggestions.
A wealthy family member decided to give me $1000 with the express instruction to spend it on musical instruments only. I'm a college student living off of tiny scholarship funds, and to be honest, I could really use the money for literally anything else. But I guess this is probably the only chance I'll get to buy an instrument (or instruments) for myself for a long time, so I'll fight the urge to spend it on, you know, food or something. It's not like I'm swimming in cash gifts all the time.
My girlfriend and I both play guitar, so between the two of us we have a classical guitar, an acoustic guitar, and an electric guitar (2/3 are hers). She also owns a banjo, a mandolin, and a ukulele. I own a hammered dulcimer and a mountain dulcimer, plus a cheap Williams digital piano that lives in my closet due to lack of space in our tiny apartment (everything else is on the walls). I also have a drawer full of cheap flutes I bought at one point or another (like a wooden recorder a friend's mom gave to me and a couple $10 pennywhistles). We can both play all the instruments we own pretty well, and on top of that I've been playing the drums since I was 9 (which was 21 years ago).
I've been mulling over some ideas:
* I've wanted to get a synthesizer since, like, forever, and I've been thinking about the Korg Minilogue. It's $500, which would leave me with ~$450 (after tax) to spend on something else, and it would be a great way to learn subtractive synthesis.
* On the other hand, I had to sell my drum set 6 years ago, and I haven't had one since. I really miss playing the drums sometimes. It was the first instrument I ever picked up, and it's still the one that feels the most natural to me, by far. Videos of the Purdie Shuffle make me sort of ache for a drum set. I've lately upped my "weird eccentric guy" image by air drumming while I'm walking around campus. But any decent MIDI kit is way outside my budget, and I'm not sure I'd be happy with something really cheap-sounding and cheap-feeling (even the expensive ones are too spongy for my taste). I could potentially afford a smallish kit (I primarily play funk/soul and country, so I don't need a Peart-ian setup), but I'd have no place to practice, and I don't have the money to spend on renting a practice space.
* I've also been getting into playing (my girlfriend's) electric guitar. Maybe I'd like to have one of my own?
* There's also a bunch of international instruments I've fantasized about over the years. Oud! Rebab! Veena! Nyckelharpa! But I want to get something I'm more likely to play, and I'm not sure I'm creative enough to be able to constantly entertain myself with a nyckelharpa. And some cool stuff is still way too expensive (I'm looking at you, pedal steel).
So... if you can't tell, I've been agonizing over this. $1000 is a hell of a lot of money to me right now, but I also know it's not that much as far as decent musical instruments are concerned. I'd rather get one thing that's good quality than have a bunch of cheap stuff, but for all I know I'd be happier with a menagerie of cheap stuff.
So what would you buy? I'd like to hear if there are ideas that hadn't occurred to me. I'm genuinely curious to know what I haven't thought of.
A wealthy family member decided to give me $1000 with the express instruction to spend it on musical instruments only. I'm a college student living off of tiny scholarship funds, and to be honest, I could really use the money for literally anything else. But I guess this is probably the only chance I'll get to buy an instrument (or instruments) for myself for a long time, so I'll fight the urge to spend it on, you know, food or something. It's not like I'm swimming in cash gifts all the time.
My girlfriend and I both play guitar, so between the two of us we have a classical guitar, an acoustic guitar, and an electric guitar (2/3 are hers). She also owns a banjo, a mandolin, and a ukulele. I own a hammered dulcimer and a mountain dulcimer, plus a cheap Williams digital piano that lives in my closet due to lack of space in our tiny apartment (everything else is on the walls). I also have a drawer full of cheap flutes I bought at one point or another (like a wooden recorder a friend's mom gave to me and a couple $10 pennywhistles). We can both play all the instruments we own pretty well, and on top of that I've been playing the drums since I was 9 (which was 21 years ago).
I've been mulling over some ideas:
* I've wanted to get a synthesizer since, like, forever, and I've been thinking about the Korg Minilogue. It's $500, which would leave me with ~$450 (after tax) to spend on something else, and it would be a great way to learn subtractive synthesis.
* On the other hand, I had to sell my drum set 6 years ago, and I haven't had one since. I really miss playing the drums sometimes. It was the first instrument I ever picked up, and it's still the one that feels the most natural to me, by far. Videos of the Purdie Shuffle make me sort of ache for a drum set. I've lately upped my "weird eccentric guy" image by air drumming while I'm walking around campus. But any decent MIDI kit is way outside my budget, and I'm not sure I'd be happy with something really cheap-sounding and cheap-feeling (even the expensive ones are too spongy for my taste). I could potentially afford a smallish kit (I primarily play funk/soul and country, so I don't need a Peart-ian setup), but I'd have no place to practice, and I don't have the money to spend on renting a practice space.
* I've also been getting into playing (my girlfriend's) electric guitar. Maybe I'd like to have one of my own?
* There's also a bunch of international instruments I've fantasized about over the years. Oud! Rebab! Veena! Nyckelharpa! But I want to get something I'm more likely to play, and I'm not sure I'm creative enough to be able to constantly entertain myself with a nyckelharpa. And some cool stuff is still way too expensive (I'm looking at you, pedal steel).
So... if you can't tell, I've been agonizing over this. $1000 is a hell of a lot of money to me right now, but I also know it's not that much as far as decent musical instruments are concerned. I'd rather get one thing that's good quality than have a bunch of cheap stuff, but for all I know I'd be happier with a menagerie of cheap stuff.
So what would you buy? I'd like to hear if there are ideas that hadn't occurred to me. I'm genuinely curious to know what I haven't thought of.
Response by poster: Yeah, I went to music school, and we were required to take a couple years of piano classes on top of our musicianship classes, so I've got kind of basic chops - I'm not exactly Liszt, but can hack out most of the songs in the Randy Newman songbook. I'd love to get back into playing piano, but my Williams 88-key is too big. I've thought about getting a portable Yamaha (like the P45) or a 61 key something, but I'm still not sure I'd have room for it.
posted by teponaztli at 11:02 PM on October 7, 2016
posted by teponaztli at 11:02 PM on October 7, 2016
I like the minilogue idea, and you could spend the rest on a couple of the korg volcas and a rack kit (ebay link for a 2-fer, they make some for 3 and 4 too) for them. They'd all work well together!
posted by destructive cactus at 12:22 AM on October 8, 2016
posted by destructive cactus at 12:22 AM on October 8, 2016
If you get the Minilogue, here's an idea for the remaining $450
posted by naju at 1:30 AM on October 8, 2016
posted by naju at 1:30 AM on October 8, 2016
Ooh. Electronic drumkit? Plus a small amp (or run it through the stereo if you got one). The rest of the time, headphones!
On the other hand, if I had a random $1000 for an instrument, I'd probably look into a Roli Seaboard. You might get paying gigs with one easily too, because novelty.
posted by yoHighness at 2:11 AM on October 8, 2016 [3 favorites]
On the other hand, if I had a random $1000 for an instrument, I'd probably look into a Roli Seaboard. You might get paying gigs with one easily too, because novelty.
posted by yoHighness at 2:11 AM on October 8, 2016 [3 favorites]
Get a beautiful electric guitar and hang it on the wall for everyone to admire in between you playing it. In my opinion the Fender Eric Clapton Stratocaster has been the best guitar on the market for many years at around your price (on eBay for a nice clean one). Lovely lightly varnished neck and active circuitry and tone boost for when you want a humbucker style sound, will hold its value as made in USA etc. Pete Townshend has used these guitars more than anything else since the 80s.
posted by Coda Tronca at 2:38 AM on October 8, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by Coda Tronca at 2:38 AM on October 8, 2016 [1 favorite]
Get something that you already have and sell the one you already have for food etc?
posted by Mistress at 3:37 AM on October 8, 2016 [2 favorites]
posted by Mistress at 3:37 AM on October 8, 2016 [2 favorites]
Will your relative end up knowing how much it cost? If not, get the synthesiser, since you want it and have the set-up to enable you to play it (unlike the drums) and spend the rest on essentials. Or at least stash it in the bank so you can tell your relative it's waiting for you to decide what you want to do with it, and privately regard it as emergency money.
posted by penguin pie at 3:56 AM on October 8, 2016 [3 favorites]
posted by penguin pie at 3:56 AM on October 8, 2016 [3 favorites]
OBOE. You can get a top-level oboe for that.
posted by Melismata at 4:09 AM on October 8, 2016 [3 favorites]
posted by Melismata at 4:09 AM on October 8, 2016 [3 favorites]
autoharp! how you can have that many acoustic folk instruments in one home and no autoharp I do not understand. and you can get one plenty cheap enough to buy food, also, or else eat the ukelele.
Or if you want to play more keyboard, I don't know what the Williams action is like but if it's not too good, get a Yamaha or Casio Privia with a better feel. I think you can do either for around $1000 and very worth it.
but my truest honestest answer, what I would do in your place, is a beginner cello. since you have all kind of string instrument experience but it sounds like nothing bowed? If your neighbors wouldn't kill you, and with the number of instruments you already have and play I'm guessing they will not. it is the glaring hole in your life as you describe it.
posted by queenofbithynia at 7:50 AM on October 8, 2016 [3 favorites]
Or if you want to play more keyboard, I don't know what the Williams action is like but if it's not too good, get a Yamaha or Casio Privia with a better feel. I think you can do either for around $1000 and very worth it.
but my truest honestest answer, what I would do in your place, is a beginner cello. since you have all kind of string instrument experience but it sounds like nothing bowed? If your neighbors wouldn't kill you, and with the number of instruments you already have and play I'm guessing they will not. it is the glaring hole in your life as you describe it.
posted by queenofbithynia at 7:50 AM on October 8, 2016 [3 favorites]
If you plan to have a baby at some point, I've heard anecdotal stories that in-utero babies like hearing the cello (it leans against the belly and the vibrations make the baby respond, apparently)
posted by pseudostrabismus at 1:03 PM on October 8, 2016
posted by pseudostrabismus at 1:03 PM on October 8, 2016
Doesn't it matter most what kind of music you'll be wanting to play?
But, for percussion, how about a modest-sized, yet versatile frame drum; like a bodhrán?
I also notice you have no low pitched instruments. You could go for an electric bass, or an acoustic bass guitar, or a nice loud bouzouki.
posted by bertran at 2:32 PM on October 8, 2016 [1 favorite]
But, for percussion, how about a modest-sized, yet versatile frame drum; like a bodhrán?
I also notice you have no low pitched instruments. You could go for an electric bass, or an acoustic bass guitar, or a nice loud bouzouki.
posted by bertran at 2:32 PM on October 8, 2016 [1 favorite]
look, 12-string.
12-string all day long. for all of the days.
posted by dorian at 2:24 PM on October 10, 2016
12-string all day long. for all of the days.
posted by dorian at 2:24 PM on October 10, 2016
$1000 can buy a very nice electric guitar, especially if you already have an amp and don't mind buying used. It could also buy a good guitar (Fender standard Strat/Telecaster for example, and higher-end Squier/Epiphone guitars are quite good these days) plus a decent practice amp.
If you were interested in exploring 19th century banjo (fretless, lower tuning, gut/nylon strings) you could purchase a good one from Terry Bell or Jeff Menzies (Jeff's banjos are a bit more expensive but $1000 would get you a very nice Menzies tackhead.)
Finally, an idea from left field: Moog Etherwave Theremin and an amplifier. (Theremins too often get written off as sci fi sound-effect/hipster noisemakers, but if you have a good ear and are willing to put in a lot of time they can be quite lovely and peculiarly haunting.)
posted by usonian at 8:30 AM on October 12, 2016
If you were interested in exploring 19th century banjo (fretless, lower tuning, gut/nylon strings) you could purchase a good one from Terry Bell or Jeff Menzies (Jeff's banjos are a bit more expensive but $1000 would get you a very nice Menzies tackhead.)
Finally, an idea from left field: Moog Etherwave Theremin and an amplifier. (Theremins too often get written off as sci fi sound-effect/hipster noisemakers, but if you have a good ear and are willing to put in a lot of time they can be quite lovely and peculiarly haunting.)
posted by usonian at 8:30 AM on October 12, 2016
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But to really explore the different musical dimension of keyboards, you need a wider keyboard than that Korg. Five octaves minimum, room for both hands!
posted by Rich Smorgasbord at 10:50 PM on October 7, 2016 [1 favorite]