Hi everyone! My name is Amanda, and I'm a double-degree student currently finishing up a BA in History and a BFA in Art. I've spent the majority of my life in Anchorage, AK, but moved up to Fairbanks this school year to complete my degree(s) in residence. I hope to ultimately work on original 2D animations, but I dabble in almost everything creative.
I'd describe myself as a pretty musical person. I've been singing since I could talk, and I picked up viola in the 6th grade (though I put it back down in 9th; I also did a couple months on the cello, and plan to pick up both again once I'm out of school). I started studying guitar in high school to accompany myself, and took a year of voice lessons, with a little piano, as well as guitar chord theory for songwriting. The first thing I did with the money from my first job was buy a "nice" guitar (a First Act from Walmart can only get you so far in life). I have since been in possession of a few "nice" guitars — my most recent upgrade was to an Ovation Main Stage Balladeer. For a while there I was performing almost every week, but the last several years have been way too busy with going back to school to finish my degrees. I very recently started messing around with a few random instruments as a stress-relief sort of thing (ukulele, kalimba, lyre), but I still love my Ovation and hope to renew our relationship in the near future.
As far as listening to music, I actually don't do much of that — I'm usually playing a song of some kind in my head (often K-drama soundtracks, lately), though I sometimes look up a song if I don't remember all of it or just feel like getting the full experience. I love songs that tell a story, or remind me of a story (hence the K-drama soundtracks). I don't go to concerts because they're usually too loud for me, but I mostly find that I listen to music when I need to tune other things out, so that helps me to focus. My "art" playlist for school has been a few songs by Sleeping At Last (Woodwork, Sun, Mercury, Mars) on repeat.
To that end — here is "Sun."
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ReplyDeleteHa ha! A Walmart guitar doesn't get you very far. I hear you on that.
ReplyDeleteIt's cool that you had the opportunity to play a variety of stringed instruments, especially the guitar. I've played around with a lyre harp before, but sort of lost interest due to not knowing how to properly tune it. I hope to learn the bass guitar someday.
ReplyDeleteLike you, I also picked up a string instrument (violin) in 6th grade and put it down at the same time! In my case, I moved from a large school in New Orleans with a strong orchestra program to a tiny rural Alaska school with no string options.
ReplyDeleteBut it's definitely never too late! Also like you, I'm planning to learn to play a new instrument (ukulele) in the near future but have a few too many things on my plate right now to give it the attention deserved. Best of luck this semester!
That's so cool that you play and perform. I wish I would have gotten into more instruments and kept going with them when I was younger. I also love the song that you shared with us it is very relaxing. I also listen to music to tune out things as well.
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