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I am getting really good at making songs on my keyboard. I made one tonight in about ten minutes. It amazes me how easy it is. The only problem is I can't come up with song lyrics. I can only do the instrumentals.

I was just wondering, has anybody else managed to make any money or gain recognition for their music? I will definitely keep making music and one day hope to play in a band and come out with my CD.

I've played in bands before. We did covers and instrumentals. I've been known to write a tune or two. We've released CD's before and have played live shows all over. I haven't been in a band in about 4 years and I have no instruments anymore. I guess what's in the past remains in the past.

I specialize in instrumentals. I've tried songwriting before, and I'm just not cut out for it. I'd do better working with a lyricist, but I'm content with instrumentals for the time being. I do make a living performing in church and teaching piano. My job allows me plenty of latitude for improvising, and as lead instrumentalist with my church worship team I get some say in creative direction. I'm pretty much in charge of rehearsing small ensembles, which is kinda cool, and I'm the only paid staff instrumentalist. Beyond that, I play in bands and do solo gigs besides, usually weddings, fundraisers, and every now and then some private party.

I'm an active church musician, as I mentioned earlier. It wasn't what I started out in life wanting to do, just kinda where I landed, and I'm honestly very happy with where I am. What I'm experiencing at the moment is dichotomy between contemporary worship arts (a la Hillsong and Christ Tomlin) and "traditional" worship along the lines of Bill and Gloria Gaither. There is a need in my church among the older crowd for more of the "golden oldies" types of traditional hymns, and my immediate goal is to record an album or two that cater specifically to the 60 and older crowd. I plan on using some contemporary playing and recording techniques as well as featuring other solo instruments such as handbells and woodwinds (clarinet, recorder, EWI, and MAYBE the alto sax…I dunno…) to breathe new life into old standards. I'm working on Christmas hymns and Christmas-themed originals to start with and will go from there. I have a nice pile of synthesizers that I'm using: Akai S2000 sampler, Yamaha TX802 and TX7, Oberheim Matrix 1000, Korg X50, Roland alpha Juno 1, and a Synclavier. Consequently, if you enjoy 80's music, you'll LOVE this stuff. I'll be using a 1st gen iPad running ReBirth and the Fairlight CMI app. I do all my recording/mixing/editing on Logic and Reason. Oh, and I also do all my own synth programming, pattern sequencing. I had fun recently putting together a Reason patch that will pretty much give you an instant synth rhythm section, all you have to do is hold chords.

Aside from that, I'm working on some New Age and ambient tracks. I love church music and am passionate about worship, but I enjoy meditative and contemplative music, too, and think I have a lot to offer in those areas as well. I spent a lot of time composing atonal music back in my college years, and I'm in the middle of fusing contemplative, atmospheric, spectral textures with an integrally serial composition process. I developed my own sort of serial method for my master's thesis, and over the next two years I'm trying to resurrect that approach. Since September I've accumulated several hours of that kind of music and I'm not slowing down any time soon! Right now I'm taking a simpler approach than what I used for my thesis and will start using my thesis approach next year.

I have tons of this stuff, but I'm not quite ready to make it public just yet. I did compose 4 tracks entitled "Space Music," three of which are on my YouTube channel. Those are all-Synclavier, with very little post-processing. I have a 4th that I'm not ready to post just yet. I was thinking I'd post that back in November, but I think maybe I'll wait just a few more months before I start putting that and my other stuff up. I like to do little videos, and I haven't even STARTED that on my other stuff yet, so waiting is a good thing.

Here's the link to my channel with all my instrumentals:

http://www.youtube.com/user/angelrho/videos

The most recent thing I did was a Reaktor ensemble based on some Synclavier FM percussion and sfx samples I made. I'm not particularly proud of that piece, at least not as far as musical effect and overall writing goes, but I think the sounds are kinda cool!

"Rejoice!" is the only piece I've made public that combines Synclavier and live performance with an orchestra…I have another one that's handbells and orchestra (no synth), but it's just…well…SAD. Life caught up with my duet partner, so I haven't been doing duets and I'm just too depressed to keep the handbell thing going anymore. I'll keep writing for solo albums, but I just can't excited about it like I used to.

Anyway, I'm moving on and focusing on solo piano work primarily and will begin posting those kinds of things probably early next year. I'd like to start working on kinder, gentler kinds of ambient music within 3 years and maybe go more commercial with that later on. So I may not be making much money off my own work right NOW, but I'm hoping after this year all that will change. You just have to set goals and work towards them.