Salutations, bronies! I would like to discuss a topic I haven't really seen as much, and that is instruments. I'm pretty sure we all know what these magical tools are, but I want to know how much members of our community use them. As we all know, the Pony remixes we have are essentially electronic, rather than jazz or rock, but of course, we have a few exceptions such as myself, Tarby, ISMBOF and many others.
Personally, I am not familiar with this type of music at all since I grew up listening to instrument-driven music, mostly hard rock and all forms of extreme metal. This fondness eventually got me to pick up the guitar and I spent several hours each night practicing since the guitar solos in the bands I listen to raise the bar so high. It was a different form of learning for me because I was basically brought up in a household that was apathetic towards music learning, and even discouraged should my guitar interfere with my studies. Most of my more fortunate friends reluctantly learned their instruments since elementary school, whereas I had to learn from a private instructor on my free time when I was a teenager since I was never given any chance to learn music in public school. Largely, I am self-taught, heavily relying on guitar magazines for lessons and techniques.
One thing my guitar playing taught me was music theory, which made composing midi a lot easier/faster for me. All I have to do is go on Guitar Pro 5, convert the tabs to midi, and that's all. And having total control of every note is a plus for me. The main drawback of relying on an instrument, though, is that unlike midi, you will have to rerecord parts several times should you play a note wrong or play too slow/fast. I don't mind, though, as I also find it a good way to better my skills with the instrument. I would like to learn every instrument, though. Unfortunately, I don't have the time or money, so I am pretty happy that we have virtual instruments these days, since I play non-guitar parts through vsts.
Of course, I guess one of the real reasons I enjoy the instrument is because I actually want to go on stage and play that instrument. I enjoy the thought of running around stage, power slides and 20-minute guitar solos. A far-reaching dream, I know, but who knows...
But enough about me. What's your connection with instruments? Are they just the tools you use to make music, or are they the inspiration for your music? It would also be pretty cool to get opinions of those who never played instruments yet still compose, too.