►► FREE finger drumming lessons → questforgroove.com/ - The song at the end can be found on all streaming services → found.ee/W64Ka - Here's a fun song from my musical comedy group → th-cam.com/video/JiPcSXxTW_E/w-d-xo.html Timelinks: 0:00 An artists downfall 0:25 The dangers of moderate success 5:17 'Passive' income 8:22 Hey! Want a job? 10:24 Things I noticed 14:25 🎵 "See You At The Office" Music Video
Mooi verhaal, ik heb bijna altijd een fulltime job gehad zodat ik in mijn vrije tijd muziek kon maken of spelen. Ik zou zo graag fulltime muziek willen spelen en stoppen met mijn fulltime job (zoals de meeste artiesten wss) maar je moet deels geluk hebben dat je voldoende shows hebt en ook nog goed betaald wordt, anders ga je er niet mee rondkomen. Als je muziek componeert, ben je ook genoodzaakt om deels je artistieke visie bij te sturen door bv commerciëlere muziek te maken of bepaalde opdrachten te aanvaarden en dat zorgt toch ook voor extra druk. Met een job heb je tenminste financiële rust en kan je op artistiek vlak gewoon je ding blijven doen. Je hebt zeker geen slechte keuze gemaakt. Tof nummer en leuke gitaarsolo 😁
I've been following you, I am a music producer, I actually quit my job in architecture to go to Berklee. But I am always working to have a living wage. I have learned that having a day job, doesn't make you any less of an artist, or any less of a musician. You don't have to be starving to be a passionate artist. Love your work and this was very insightful!
Thanks! I now start to realize this thing you're saying more and more. I used to be kind of scared of the office but I honestly really like the balance I found now.
Thanks! I guess that's exactly what it is. A little sad that things did not work out as planned, but at the same time I'm completely fine with it and I'm having fun at my job so... no real harm done I guess!
Thanks for the honesty Robert, recognizable to some degree also: I was in a rockband in the 00’s that won some minor band contests here and there. But the investment of time, money and effort we had to put into it was draining and the returns were slim. I’ve said farewell to the wannabe rockstar life since a decade or so and am enjoying a simpler (read: peaceful) life with a parttime office job and am happier than ever. I still play instruments but just for the sake of expressing myself, by myself, for myself, instead of desperately trying to ‘put it out there’.
Thank you for sharing your story. It is inspiring to me. It takes courage to tell it. Part of the problem we now have is that too many people are trying to make everyone else believe they are successful and/or got it all figured out. Your honest story is a refreshing change.
You're an inspiration dude, awesome story. I've always wanted to be a full-time musician but I never had the courage to go to music school, so I went the classic business-school route to be financially independent. I sometimes regret the fact that I couldn't focus on music the way I wanted to, and at one point I even quit. I started out playing guitar again and discovered QuestForGroove, what a gem. I began making beats with your help and created my own TH-cam channel this month, which is something I've been wanting to do for years. Comforting to know that some really talented musicians out there are creating art while working at an office, too. Thanks for everything Rob, keep it up! Cheers Larry
I feel this, man. I'm in a similar boat. We're close in age. I never had that moderate commercial success that you had, so I got in on the office game earlier, but it let's me spend my free time on music. I do find that it's hard to stay driven to keep creating art when there isn't some external accountability though. For that I try to stay connected with my other artistic friends and hold each other accountable to record something new every couple of weeks. I also agree that working on the art in the morning before work is best, since I'm usually drained after work. That gets hard when you're working full time though. Anyway. Appreciate the honest peak into your struggles with this sort of thing. It's refreshing and reassuring knowing I'm not the only one going through this.
Yeah for me the external accountability is this TH-cam channel actually :-) I know that at leats some people will hear me, which makes it easier to do my best to make something nice. If I had no adience at all I would keep messing around in the studio for sure, jamming and stuff, but I think I would hardly ever finish anything.
Hi Rob: This was a pleasure to watch. I have to say, as a fellow-obsessor, I really identified with the things you talked about. And I appreciated your candid, humble and genuine way. Not to mention the creative tune. Big smile came up as you sang, 'Write yourself a haiku; you think the girls will like you; just because you play the guitar.' Thanks a lot!!
Haha thanks! I liked that line a lot too. I guess it came naturally as I was simply adressing my younger self and I knew exactly how to push that guys buttons :-D
More artists need to hear your story, because this is the truth of art and those who create art. There is nothing wrong with having a day job, while still pursuing art creation. Having an actual living wage provides the opportunity. You do not have to be a "starving artist." That is a myth. I create my own music and videos according to my own tastes and needs. I do not succumb to commercialism. Is my art popular? Not a bit. Do I make any money from it? Not a penny. But do I love making my own very weird, obscure, practically un-listenable music? You bet I do.
Somebody called you a "great Internet find" below and I can only concur, Robert. I've never been a starving musician but always struggled with office life. A few years ago I decided to take this music thing more seriously, got myself a modular synth after giving up on DAWs because I am in front of computers the whole day in the office already anyway. So you could say I'm coming into the same conundrum from the other side. I found your channel when looking for a MIDI controller with pads, but ended up buying a Linnstrument, and now just found out you own one too. Anyway. This video is a great reality check. I'm daydreaming sometimes of doing something with music full-time, but yeah, it's actually OK to split the time between office work and more creative moments. I'm lucky to work at a broadcaster as well, so there's a lot of talk about production, both in content as well as the gear. It helps keeping it interesting! Oh, and about that personal trainer - I should really look for somebody in that area, too. To compensate for all that cream in the flat whites.
Thank you very much for this video, I think I needed to hear that today. You have a lot of courage. Also thank you for all of your work: it will always be useful for someone somewhere. Love from France!
This video (and the song) are so so endearing. I don't often comment on youtube videos, but my sentiments echo what others have said. I'm a musician in Brooklyn and have a full time job and it's just so inspiring to hear this because of where things could be headed artistically. Dig the tunes, dig the video - subscribing!
This was a great video Robert. Very inspiring! And thank you for having the courage to talk about career "failures", not many people would make a video like this for that reason. I could relate to alot of what you were saying. Working an office job and doing music can definetively go hand in hand. I worked in IT full time during the year that I produced the most amount of music.
Thanks for sharing your experience. I used to be scared of office life but I'm actually enjoying it now and I am actually making more of my own stuff than ever before. I guess because I used to use all my creative juices for making other peoples music and I would not have room for my own. So that's a nice thing to realise.
Wow, your story at 11:30 was really touching.... right in the feels. One of the worst things for an artist is that you can't live off exposure applause. But fuck that, all the art you made was worth the effort and suffering. And music is still a gift and you got it!
Wow, thanks Maarten. I'm so happy I managed to invoke some emotions in people with this video. Even though the message is (partially) a little bit of a bummer, I actually had a blast building this story and writing the song and I'm actually having a blast now with the nice responses to the video!
You are right On. The name of the game is Have Fun. Wow what a Great video. Especially the song. Very Cool 80'sish Tone and Vibe. Well Done Rob, I dig that a lot.
Ahhh the track at the end made me laugh, especially you playing guitar to the person on their phone ignoring you 😂 Would love to see the outtakes one day!
Thanks for sharing this, it’s rare to come across such honest content and it is really useful to put things in perspective. I am coming from the opposite side, office job for 20 years and willing to make more time for music creation, your post helps me moderate myself into choosing the right approach 😅. Continue the good work and keep on posting content, long live The Quest For Groove 🙌🏽
Thank you! I'm glad this video helped you out. Making more time for the things that are important to you is something one should always strive for. In my experience it does not immediately have to be an "all in, head first" kind of thing though. :-) Rock on!
Bear with me with this story, one of the reasons I started finger drumming is to get better at fighting games with hitbox style controllers, hitbox style controllers have been around since 10 years ago, no one really cared about them, it took time for the public to notice their benefits, the people at hitbox arcade never gave up and developed their product all this time, finally this year thanks to EVO 2022 every japanese player was using hitboxes and their techniques and their popularity exploded. Where am I going with this, is that I think there's future in finger drumming but still hasn't caught on (as it happened with Hitbox Arcade), mostly because DJing nowadays is a joke and finger drumming requires actual skill and practice, I think you should focus finger drumming to the electronic and hip hop crowd rather than making traditional drumming in MPC controllers, and in time you'll be one of the pioneers of teaching maybe? I don't really know but I see more and more people finger drumming, and maybe it will have its EVO 2022 moment where everyone will want to do it. So maybe you can keep the site and some tutorials from time to time. Keep up the good work we all have ups and downs in our careers!
Hey thanks, these are some interesting insights. One thing I want to make clear is that I'm not in any way giving up on finger drumming. I just got a part time job to pay the bills, but I'll keep developing myself and who knows, look into the electronic side of things at some point maybe? I need to get myself a Midi fighter, that's probably step 1 :-) Thanks!
Thank you so much! I have some more stories to tell, but sometimes I have to many other responsibilities and no time to tell the story in the way it should be told. I will be back soon!
That song had no business being that good. Thanks for sharing your story. It’s a paramount realization to separate creativity from success or even fame. And one has to determine which one is more important. One book that has helped me a lot was “Big Magic” by Elizabeth Gilbert. Just leaving that info here in case it’s of use to anybody. Have a good day! 🙏🏻
Just found your channel/Quest for groove recently in my quest to get the most out of the mk3 Loving everything you have shared so far Many thanks from South Africa🇿🇦
I think it's important to know and experience the sides. And it seems that, not unexpectedly, a balance seems to be where we want to be. My movement was the opposite: I worked in the system for 15 years, but I was always an artist. At 34 years old I had more money than time and energy to spend and that put me in a bit of a strange situation. When my son was born, something changed, my time became too expensive for me to continue working 44 hours a week. Nowadays I work playing, teaching and I earn exactly 1/3 of what I earned in my office job. But with the recent appreciation of my time spent with my son, in many ways I feel like I'm getting more. As you said, there is no goal, an end to be reached. So it's good to choose our investment from the most expensive currency of all: time. That said, thanks for all the free content. Excellent production and teaching. I learned figerdrumming from your videos and it has been very useful in many production jobs.
Hi Robert (and all)! I so appreciate this video. It is incredibly relevant to my day-to-day, and frankly, watching it feels like a huge relief. I've been playing music since I was a kid, in various capacities, sometimes professionally. I got an office job out of college while trying to do music on the side, and I found the balance so difficult and draining. I was let go from that job about 9 years ago, and I've since taken that opportunity to really develop my "career" as a full-time musician. There has been some success I suppose, since I live in one of the most expensive cities in the world (New York), make 100% of my income from music, and I CAN afford to pay my rent, eat, and even save a small amount for retirement... but the compromises are large, from my vantage point at least. I spend a lot of time driving. I don't really go out. I can't afford vacations without going broke. I don't own property. My blood pressure is higher than ever before (stress). I definitely can't afford a personal trainer... and, I'm your age Robert - I've watched all my friends go do those things I can't afford to do, for years now. I've started to come around to the realization that perhaps it WASN'T that the office life wasn't right for me - I may have just not been at the "right" job. I do see folks like you who, in the grand scheme of things, are INCREDIBLY successful at music. I, for one, have definitely never played to an audience of 500 who bought tickets just to see me perform, and I have less than 100 subscribers on my youtube channel. If having an office job enables you to produce/perform/execute in the way you want, then it's just a tool you use, and what could be wrong with that? I guess some have to work independently for the sake of their artistic soul, but I think that says a lot more about them than it does about Art itself, or "what it takes to be an artist." Like you, I obsess. I don't really know how to do something in a half-assed way (or if I do, I feel really bad about it, LOL). I've always taken that as a signal that my career focus should be unidimensional. But I've also just started to realize that how I setup my day (trying to do creative stuff in the morning and late at night, while leaving the admin work to the middle of the day) is itself a compromise of that focus. And, if I don't do the admin work (which is basically selling myself as a performer, arranger, artist, etc.), then I don't get paid. No one pays me to do the part that I really enjoy UNLESS I do the boring stuff I don't want to do. So, I could scramble as I have, to get every opportunity and dollar that comes my way in order to play music for a profit, or, I could show up for an unrelated job, get paid handsomely, and use the rest of the time and money to do something I love... It does feel like a hard choice.
Hey Grant, thank you for sharing this! Your comment resonates with me as much as my video resonated with you I think. Figuring out what to do is very difficult, since there is no one size fits all answer. Interestingly enough, having no success at all and making no money with your art makes the choice easy, since you don't really have one :-) It's the medium success that really gets you in trouble because it's all about finding the balance that you personally want at this particular stage of your life. I think taking some time, looking at your options with an open mind and then making a plan on how to proceed is sort of the way to go and I hope that my story makes people feel like they're not alone in this struggle. It's very very personal though. Everything matters. The city you live in, your perspective on your own future and maybe also the future and state of the world and all of that. I wish you good luck plotting your own course!!
I’m very pleased I ran across your ‘tube channel and website. I’ve gone through quite a few of the points you make- congratulations to you for successfully making the shift while keeping your creativity intact. Great self-interview. Your video production and audio tracking are “top drawer” as the kids used to say… in the 40s. I’m really enjoying the content. Good luck to you moving forward. WTH
hahaha. There are two groups of people who will probably see this video as very incomplete and a big oversimplification. The guys from Herman in een bakje Geitenkwark and my colleagues at the office :-D Good to know I've got your support at least.
IMO I think your content around finger drumming is legendary. There aren't really a lot of top skill tutorial content creators on TH-cam in this field (I know around 5). Your life choices are yours and no one can argue with them. I think the one thing I can understand the most is the feeling of "I want to try whats on the other side" and that ok. But, BUT.. As someone escaped from " the other side" I can tell that It can be a golden cage which will consume your creativity. And the most dangerous part of it, is that it happens very very slowly so you will have hard time to notice the huge changes happening in you and your creative skills been forgotten. Its ok to try out this office life, but as soon as you notice that it hurts your creative part, seek out. Now you mentioned that you are able to spend the same time in the studio, and that mite be right but its the same time for your current state, it mite be holding you from growing. Here are a few examples came to mind where you could do more and grow but probably don't have the time for it at this point: - Making more finger drumming videos on a consistant basis and push your online course through them which probably is also a gold mine - Make finger drumming shorts content for the major 3 platforms which will also push the above - Make your own music - The song buried at the end of this video is a banner! I kid you not. You post this thing couple of times on TikTok it will probably explode. Do more of these on the big 3 and you will grow a lot Surly there are more ideas for top quality and pretty rare (at this skill level) of content you can think of and create.. Please please don't let this skill die. PS: Sorry for getting a little bit personal, I mean it in the best way possible.
Hey thank you for your thoughtful message! I am not giving up on finger drumming or making music. I am also definitely not giving up on the courses and lessons on my website. I'm actually improving and creating more content for the courses as we speak. That will not die anytime soon. If anything, it will just get better. Keep on grooving and who knows, maybe I'll switch back one day (will make another video when I do).
You're welcome! And while it might be a little bit of a sad message, it's also just as optimistic. I like my job and I still make all the music I want to make, so yeah. Maybe I'm not Lady Gaga, but I'm happy with the balance I found at the moment. I hope you are (or will be) too!
@@TheQuestforGroove It makes a lot of sense, Rob. It's easier to focus on the things we love if we have financial stability. I'll try to find that balance myself. Thanks!
I totally relate to your story, I even got that espresso machine of my dreams a couple months ago haha I will really consider changing my schedule as you do... creative work early in the morning for couple hours (after a good coffee) and spending the rest of the day on mundane tasks.
Thanks for your video! The only important thing is to keep making music for your enjoyment, whether you have a full-time job or not to pay the bills. Often we forget that having new subscribers is not the main goal.
Exactly. There is no actual "end goal" in music so make sure to adapt and move things around to fit your needs and wants in every new phase of life. Keep on creating!
Ah good to hear! I hope the message did not come across as too negative. I think there's a lot of great combos to be made between art and some work on the side and that sometimes this can make your life and even your art better. I don't think there is no hope or anything :-) I do think that the advice "if you're willing to make sacrifices you'll make it" is incomplete advice, mostly given by people who happened to "make it" a some point. But I'll keep on making cool stuff and I hope you will too!
Bro that song at the end slaps really hard. I'm glad you found your resolution and i think it's very important to show this type of perspective on being an artist. I've heard the same point of view from Sam Hyde hilariously enough, but his outlook on it was far more darker and blunt. I've lurked a bit but couldn't find it, do you have more songs like this? Would be nice to listen to an album like that.
Hey thanks, that's so nice! Another song I made is this disco song because my girlfriend (who ignores my guitar solo) told me to: th-cam.com/video/xbQ59s4UK9M/w-d-xo.html
I feel like this is the same thing hollywood does with romance where we fetishize the idea of a starving artist. In the sake of entertainment, we see this glorification of that lifestyle where people are sitting at the top with everything they ever wanted. Now that I have graduated from music school, and have experienced professional music shows and have met a few celebrity musicians with that you start to see how a lot of music industry stuff is played up and exaggerated. I used to have same dreams of being a musician full time, but after I met my significant other, I started seeing the value of being around people you care about and spending time with them when you can. That impedes with practicing 5 plus hours a day. I don't think getting side job to support your art is a bad thing, especially if its something that you can enjoy. I also do agree with how those two hours of just dialing yourself in is nice. With 5 plus hours a day on music, you burn out so quickly. It really is a marathon and not a mad dash to the finish.
Thanks for sharing. This resonates with me a lot. I actually remember graduating from music school with this final exam concert that I had practiced for all year. I played all this incredible stuff and then it was over... And I was so glad my parents were there and my grandparents and my close friends. I realised in that moment that there's totally no point in being the best if you cannot share that with people you care about.
Awesome, funny and honest video! Nothing wrong with having a (somewhat meaningful) desk job and being a great artist the rest of the time. Zero f*cks were given by Ms. Questforgroove in the making of this video. 😂
Hahaha, thanks for this. And secretly Ms. Questforgroove was my camerawoman for an entire day shooting the videoclip :-) She cared a lot and yet acted out the zero f*cks perfectly... what a woman, what an actress!
It sounds like it was worth it just for the coffee. While I can't totally relate to your situation, I vividly remember the feeling of finally getting a decent job and being able to enjoy life a little. Good for you, Robert. Like you, my instrument is guitar, and while I think music is a great hobby, it is almost impossible to make a decent living as just a musician. Almost. I know some absolutely phenomenal musicians who are always broke. One really needs to be able to compose marketable music to make a living, and the real money is in writing hit songs. If you can play, great, but what you really need to be is a good songwriter. It's also worth learning to sing, if you have the voice for it. Some people think Jimi Hendrix was the greatest guitar player, ever. I view him as a hit songwriter who could play guitar and sing. That is why the public respects his innovative guitar playing. I think John Mayer is a great modern example. His voice was fairly weak, early in his career. He always was a solid guitar player, but he's nowhere near the best. He stayed relentlessly focused on writing songs and lyrics that straight-out pander to the ladies, and developed his voice over time. Well done. Writing catchy tunes is the paramount skill in music. If you can do that, and somehow find a way to sing them (like Bob Dylan), you can hire a bunch of great musicians to back you up when you perform them.
Thanks for sharing! I totally agree it's the actual song that matters. I wish you lots of fun with your guitar career. Maybe making money is hard, but the fun never has to stop.
@@TheQuestforGroove Thanks Robert. I wish you luck with your new office job and your continued musical quest. I've watched some other videos of your songs...keep writing!
Do you think there is a correlation between having higher value options in life and not accepting low ball offers in all walks of life that allows us to move into higher states of living and being? For example, years ago I decided to work 2 jobs instead of one for extra income. The moment I did this, I realized that at my new 2nd job, I was treated much better and that I really liked it. I also started to figure out that if I wanted to, I could walk away at anytime from my first job because I had options now. This gave me the power and confidence to tell my first job "No!" when they tried treating me as a 2nd class employee. (I worked my ass off and I never complained, yet they didn't seem to care). So being fed up with being walked all over, I now had the security to tell them to F off to their faces. I sort of monkey branched my way to an ideal position. It seems like people treat other people like shit sometimes, and the best way to defend against that, is to have better options in your back pocket so that incase someone tries treating one in a crappy way, that person has the power and ability to just walk away. Also, the starving artist thing, it sounds like you empowered yourself and got that leg up in life, and now you can demand more from others instead of being on the low ground and not having bargaining power. Just my 2 cents.
Yeah I think you're absolutely right. I'm actually quitting my current office job and will spend some time next year looking for another (I don't think I'll be a full time artist again any time soon) but the reason I dares to quit is simply that I have savings now. I can sustain myself with those plus what's coming in from my online teaching business for at least a year no problem so it's not as much of a risk for me to quit and expand my horizon when the time has come to do so. If I was broke I would not have had anywhere to go, My guess is this "bet" will work out in my favour over time and I will grow as a person. It's really nice to be in such a position.
Nice to see you're figuring it all out. Little tip, I've gone to your website a few times but haven't signed up because I can't see any courses (even free) without giving you my email. Maybe you could make a couple of the free courses available without signing up just so people can see what the curriculum is all about?
I loved the song is super catchy /./ Next time check the main voice level is a mistake that many guitar players do. Just a linit up front and with more bass. Is a super fun song
do another drumpad comparison! with the keyboards that have drumpads. Some have 16pad layouts, it'd be cool to see how they stack up to an mpd218 or a Mikro.
Haha, I got that question a lot but I'm not gonna have a bunch of keyboards shipped to my house. I draw the line at pad controllers without keys, unless some company sends me something or I happen to just have it already.
I had lots of big smiles listening to your story, sorry about that but you told it so funny. I do regret never seeing your show even though I live in the Netherlands as well. The song was cool and the girlfriend not giving a f* was hilarious.
Pleas help: I have a MPD218 by Akai and I simply want to finger drum ethnic drum instruments. Any software suggestions? Kontakt instruments are not set up for finger drumming so I would like other software VST suggestions. I use Reaper as my DAW. Thanks!
I'm not up to date on great software instruments for ethnic drumming. I only know Addictive Drums 2 and their percussion expansion pack, which is more Brasil type stuff.
@@TheQuestforGroove Thank You - That helps a lot. I will be looking at Addictive Drums 2. At least now, I have had a chance to ask the question to the right person verses more endless searching.
Hey friend! alright? I really wanted your help. I also had a problem with my maschine mk3, and I saw his video where he talked about the contact sheet. managed to solve? because I'm having the same problem, mode in Brazil and Native doesn't answer me anymore. If so, I would like to know how, I really need your help. Thanks
I'm thinking of getting into finger drumming for a more natural feel with drum patterns in Cakewalk. I'm curious is it easy to do mersey beat type cymbals in finger drumming where the speed of the cymbal hits seems to merge the sound together giving that pleasant background noise effect. For example, the cymbal drum sound on early beatles records like 'A Hard Day's Night' th-cam.com/video/AMSiHdrHl0g/w-d-xo.html
You can probably get this done by selecting a ride cymbal in addictive drums and then selecting "shaft" hit type. That way you're hitting it more bluntly and it gives an effect like this.
Oof. I'm 30, have had moderate success as an artist, a lot of the things you say here resonate A LOT!... Except, I really don't feel ready yet to accept an office job.. I guess I'll have to accept a few more years of pain.. :/
hahaha, if you still feel the fire, you should probably just keep going. It might be nice to know that (temporarily) making some money on the side can be fine sometimes. I feel like I just told you Santa isn't real, but I also hope I told you that Christmas can still be awesome. Rock on! :-)
Completely unrelated to your video here but I'd really be intrested in a review of the new lpd8 mk2, it's meant to have pads taken from the MPC X that are much better, I know it probably isn't as useful for finger drummers that want 16 pads for drums and samples but it could have the potential for the best cheap starter drumpad now in 2023. If it's good hopefully akai make a new mpd218 with the same pads as well, I might order one to try but no longer have a mpd218 or any N.I stuff to compare it to
Hey I might check it out, but I'm not the biggest fan of 2x4 controllers since they just don't have enough pads to play the stuff I want. Secondly... that thing about AKAI saying "premium pads from the MPC line" is what they always say. See the mpd218 description "First, we stepped up our game by adding new, ultra sensitive Thick Fat MPC pads, creating an amazingly responsive user experience. " It doesn't mean the pads cannot be good, but I have heard this story before. Quality control is something to always be cautious about with akai.
@@TheQuestforGroovecool, yeah I get yourself and most of your viewers need/want 16 pads, I do more production that finger drumming, recording one part at a time so I could live with only 8 pads. I've decided to order it and give it a try! If it's bad then back to amazon it will go :). I'll reply back with what I think in the next week
@@TheQuestforGroove So the LPD8 mk2 came today! I was disappointed to be honest.. I started on the old LPD8 mk1 years ago and moved onto the mpd218 (I no longer have either to compare) to me I think the new LPD8 mk2 is similar to my old mpd218, going by what I've seen I don't think I had a great mpd218 eithet sensitivity wise compared to some others. I don't think it's much of an upgrade compared to the mk1 version but without having the old devices I can't be 100% judgemental! I watched loads of videos on other pads from other brands and you can see the superior sensitivity and Q/C.. so I've bit the bullet and ordered the maschine mk3 mikro. I'll wait and see what other people say, maybe I just had a bad LPD8 mk2.
With the mikro, quality control seems to be better, but since I recommend it to everyone I by now do sometimes hear of someone getting a bad unit as well. If you suspect yours is not responding great after setting it up, you probably want to swap it out and try another one. You can also contact me and describe the problem. In my experience, The Maschine mikro mk3 will make you happy, so if you're not happy, something's wrong with the unit.
Hi Robert. Your story makes me treasure the choice I made many years ago in choosing between studying music or science. Very early I went to the conclusion that I'd prefer doing art for art while having a sustainable job, rather than doing art for money, without a sustainable job. I'm still an artist, and maybe still even more since I have the liberty to give no importance to what people may think of my art 🙂. I wish you the best!
Probably the Push 3? I tried one out and the pads are good. If you're ok with small pads and you're using Ableton a lot I can imagine the Push will work for you. Finger drumming with Ableton might require you to do some complicated stuff in drum rack. There's no way around that. I don't really know how to set it up but I do have some links in my beginner course to videos I found. Otherwise, just check out my gear recommendations. They're always up to date with everything I know. questforgroove.com/gear-recommendations/
@@TheQuestforGroove I was looking at the Maschine Mikro MK3 at first but you have to run custom scripts for it to work with Ableton Live 11 apparently.
It depends on how you want to use it. If you just want to play drums you just have to configure drum rack to work with your drum plugin and you can use Maschine Mikro in midi mode. So no custom scripts. I think that's when you want to use all the buttons and knobs and stuff. It is still a big hassle to set up though.
Inspiring and honest, thank you for this. And I'd say that you ca n still get the quest for groove to pay you a lot more (as a fellow course creator who 4Xed his income this year). I'd offer- learn how to profitably advertise using YT ads and FB ads (YT ads can be better for you since it's easier to sell to people who already showed some interest in a very niche thing such as finger drumming by watching your YT channel or other finger drumming videos, than to try and "produce" demand on FB for people with so far zero interest in the subject. The YT ads course from Foundr (with Tommy) is excellent. Then the other key is don't be afraid to make your prices much higher. I have a course that now sells way way more since I upped the price from 19$ to 99$. (One time for a lifetime access) People appreciate more what they pay good money on. And they're more likely to stick with it. Your courses helped me a lot when I was getting into finger drumming. Veel succes! 🙏🏻awesome track too, the self-humor made me laugh like no other song have done recently.
Capitalism is a machine. The newspapers never report on the 100 failures and so offer a Lotto-winner delusion to aspiring people in any field. But I think you were destined to succeed whatever you did because of your attitude. Many others wash up on the rocks of despair.
The attempted career you explained though seemed like it was absolutely destined to fail... comedy troupe and then finger drumming courses? I mean outside of god himself blessing you with the gift of pure holy luck that wasn't going to work out to begin with lol
Yeah, should have just become a plumber. People always need those... and in my defence: I got pretty damn far with both of those things, which is pretty crazy actually! :-)
►► FREE finger drumming lessons → questforgroove.com/
- The song at the end can be found on all streaming services → found.ee/W64Ka
- Here's a fun song from my musical comedy group → th-cam.com/video/JiPcSXxTW_E/w-d-xo.html
Timelinks:
0:00 An artists downfall
0:25 The dangers of moderate success
5:17 'Passive' income
8:22 Hey! Want a job?
10:24 Things I noticed
14:25 🎵 "See You At The Office" Music Video
Mooi verhaal, ik heb bijna altijd een fulltime job gehad zodat ik in mijn vrije tijd muziek kon maken of spelen. Ik zou zo graag fulltime muziek willen spelen en stoppen met mijn fulltime job (zoals de meeste artiesten wss) maar je moet deels geluk hebben dat je voldoende shows hebt en ook nog goed betaald wordt, anders ga je er niet mee rondkomen.
Als je muziek componeert, ben je ook genoodzaakt om deels je artistieke visie bij te sturen door bv commerciëlere muziek te maken of bepaalde opdrachten te aanvaarden en dat zorgt toch ook voor extra druk.
Met een job heb je tenminste financiële rust en kan je op artistiek vlak gewoon je ding blijven doen.
Je hebt zeker geen slechte keuze gemaakt. Tof nummer en leuke gitaarsolo 😁
I've been following you, I am a music producer, I actually quit my job in architecture to go to Berklee. But I am always working to have a living wage. I have learned that having a day job, doesn't make you any less of an artist, or any less of a musician. You don't have to be starving to be a passionate artist. Love your work and this was very insightful!
Thanks! I now start to realize this thing you're saying more and more. I used to be kind of scared of the office but I honestly really like the balance I found now.
@@TheQuestforGroove Forgot to add, I've been following you since a loong time ago. Keep at it!
This is sad and heart-warming and hilarious at the same time
Thanks! I guess that's exactly what it is. A little sad that things did not work out as planned, but at the same time I'm completely fine with it and I'm having fun at my job so... no real harm done I guess!
Thanks for the honesty Robert, recognizable to some degree also: I was in a rockband in the 00’s that won some minor band contests here and there. But the investment of time, money and effort we had to put into it was draining and the returns were slim. I’ve said farewell to the wannabe rockstar life since a decade or so and am enjoying a simpler (read: peaceful) life with a parttime office job and am happier than ever. I still play instruments but just for the sake of expressing myself, by myself, for myself, instead of desperately trying to ‘put it out there’.
This was so amazing!! The story was actually quite inspiring and the finishing song was so much better than I ever could’ve imagined - well done 👍
Thanks, you made my day!
@@TheQuestforGroove no problem it was great
Thank you for sharing your story. It is inspiring to me. It takes courage to tell it. Part of the problem we now have is that too many people are trying to make everyone else believe they are successful and/or got it all figured out. Your honest story is a refreshing change.
Thanks, totally agree!
You're an inspiration dude, awesome story. I've always wanted to be a full-time musician but I never had the courage to go to music school, so I went the classic business-school route to be financially independent. I sometimes regret the fact that I couldn't focus on music the way I wanted to, and at one point I even quit. I started out playing guitar again and discovered QuestForGroove, what a gem. I began making beats with your help and created my own TH-cam channel this month, which is something I've been wanting to do for years.
Comforting to know that some really talented musicians out there are creating art while working at an office, too. Thanks for everything Rob, keep it up!
Cheers
Larry
I feel this, man. I'm in a similar boat. We're close in age. I never had that moderate commercial success that you had, so I got in on the office game earlier, but it let's me spend my free time on music.
I do find that it's hard to stay driven to keep creating art when there isn't some external accountability though. For that I try to stay connected with my other artistic friends and hold each other accountable to record something new every couple of weeks.
I also agree that working on the art in the morning before work is best, since I'm usually drained after work. That gets hard when you're working full time though.
Anyway. Appreciate the honest peak into your struggles with this sort of thing. It's refreshing and reassuring knowing I'm not the only one going through this.
Yeah for me the external accountability is this TH-cam channel actually :-) I know that at leats some people will hear me, which makes it easier to do my best to make something nice. If I had no adience at all I would keep messing around in the studio for sure, jamming and stuff, but I think I would hardly ever finish anything.
Hi Rob: This was a pleasure to watch. I have to say, as a fellow-obsessor, I really identified with the things you talked about. And I appreciated your candid, humble and genuine way. Not to mention the creative tune. Big smile came up as you sang, 'Write yourself a haiku; you think the girls will like you; just because you play the guitar.' Thanks a lot!!
Haha thanks! I liked that line a lot too. I guess it came naturally as I was simply adressing my younger self and I knew exactly how to push that guys buttons :-D
More artists need to hear your story, because this is the truth of art and those who create art. There is nothing wrong with having a day job, while still pursuing art creation. Having an actual living wage provides the opportunity. You do not have to be a "starving artist." That is a myth. I create my own music and videos according to my own tastes and needs. I do not succumb to commercialism. Is my art popular? Not a bit. Do I make any money from it? Not a penny. But do I love making my own very weird, obscure, practically un-listenable music? You bet I do.
now I am intrigued :)
Somebody called you a "great Internet find" below and I can only concur, Robert. I've never been a starving musician but always struggled with office life. A few years ago I decided to take this music thing more seriously, got myself a modular synth after giving up on DAWs because I am in front of computers the whole day in the office already anyway. So you could say I'm coming into the same conundrum from the other side.
I found your channel when looking for a MIDI controller with pads, but ended up buying a Linnstrument, and now just found out you own one too. Anyway. This video is a great reality check. I'm daydreaming sometimes of doing something with music full-time, but yeah, it's actually OK to split the time between office work and more creative moments. I'm lucky to work at a broadcaster as well, so there's a lot of talk about production, both in content as well as the gear. It helps keeping it interesting!
Oh, and about that personal trainer - I should really look for somebody in that area, too. To compensate for all that cream in the flat whites.
Thank you very much for this video, I think I needed to hear that today. You have a lot of courage.
Also thank you for all of your work: it will always be useful for someone somewhere.
Love from France!
This video (and the song) are so so endearing. I don't often comment on youtube videos, but my sentiments echo what others have said. I'm a musician in Brooklyn and have a full time job and it's just so inspiring to hear this because of where things could be headed artistically. Dig the tunes, dig the video - subscribing!
Wow, thank you! I'll be telling some more stories and making some more songs in the future, so stay tuned :-)
This was a great video Robert. Very inspiring! And thank you for having the courage to talk about career "failures", not many people would make a video like this for that reason. I could relate to alot of what you were saying.
Working an office job and doing music can definetively go hand in hand. I worked in IT full time during the year that I produced the most amount of music.
Thanks for sharing your experience. I used to be scared of office life but I'm actually enjoying it now and I am actually making more of my own stuff than ever before. I guess because I used to use all my creative juices for making other peoples music and I would not have room for my own. So that's a nice thing to realise.
Love the story and your awesome track too. What a great TH-cam find you are. Thank you for your insight and honesty.
Hey Thanks Matt! I'm very happy with the video and the track. It's nice to actually have something to say. Really helps with the lyrics 😀
Wow, your story at 11:30 was really touching.... right in the feels. One of the worst things for an artist is that you can't live off exposure applause. But fuck that, all the art you made was worth the effort and suffering. And music is still a gift and you got it!
Wow, thanks Maarten. I'm so happy I managed to invoke some emotions in people with this video. Even though the message is (partially) a little bit of a bummer, I actually had a blast building this story and writing the song and I'm actually having a blast now with the nice responses to the video!
You are right On. The name of the game is Have Fun. Wow what a Great video. Especially the song. Very Cool 80'sish Tone and Vibe. Well Done Rob, I dig that a lot.
this is so real and honest, your experiences and the way you're able to articulate them are invaluable to other artists, thank you
Wow, thank you! That means a lot.
Ahhh the track at the end made me laugh, especially you playing guitar to the person on their phone ignoring you 😂
Would love to see the outtakes one day!
Thanks for sharing this, it’s rare to come across such honest content and it is really useful to put things in perspective. I am coming from the opposite side, office job for 20 years and willing to make more time for music creation, your post helps me moderate myself into choosing the right approach 😅. Continue the good work and keep on posting content, long live The Quest For Groove 🙌🏽
Thank you! I'm glad this video helped you out. Making more time for the things that are important to you is something one should always strive for. In my experience it does not immediately have to be an "all in, head first" kind of thing though. :-) Rock on!
Bear with me with this story, one of the reasons I started finger drumming is to get better at fighting games with hitbox style controllers, hitbox style controllers have been around since 10 years ago, no one really cared about them, it took time for the public to notice their benefits, the people at hitbox arcade never gave up and developed their product all this time, finally this year thanks to EVO 2022 every japanese player was using hitboxes and their techniques and their popularity exploded. Where am I going with this, is that I think there's future in finger drumming but still hasn't caught on (as it happened with Hitbox Arcade), mostly because DJing nowadays is a joke and finger drumming requires actual skill and practice, I think you should focus finger drumming to the electronic and hip hop crowd rather than making traditional drumming in MPC controllers, and in time you'll be one of the pioneers of teaching maybe? I don't really know but I see more and more people finger drumming, and maybe it will have its EVO 2022 moment where everyone will want to do it. So maybe you can keep the site and some tutorials from time to time. Keep up the good work we all have ups and downs in our careers!
Hey thanks, these are some interesting insights. One thing I want to make clear is that I'm not in any way giving up on finger drumming. I just got a part time job to pay the bills, but I'll keep developing myself and who knows, look into the electronic side of things at some point maybe? I need to get myself a Midi fighter, that's probably step 1 :-) Thanks!
Wow that guitar solo was awesome. I don't understand how she's just looking at her phone like that 😄
I really enjoyed your story and the approach how you presented.
Thank you! I'm working on another one :-)
A fan from China，very miss you as a youtuber. the quality of your video is so good and they helped me a lot ❤
Thank you so much! I have some more stories to tell, but sometimes I have to many other responsibilities and no time to tell the story in the way it should be told. I will be back soon!
That song had no business being that good. Thanks for sharing your story. It’s a paramount realization to separate creativity from success or even fame. And one has to determine which one is more important. One book that has helped me a lot was “Big Magic” by Elizabeth Gilbert. Just leaving that info here in case it’s of use to anybody.
Have a good day! 🙏🏻
Hey thank you for this. Very thoughtful! I put the book on my list. Thanks!
Just found your channel/Quest for groove recently in my quest to get the most out of the mk3
Loving everything you have shared so far
Many thanks from South Africa🇿🇦
Ah welcome aboard! Thank you for your kind words. I hope you stick around for a long time.
man you could never fail at being an artist ,even if you try it.
thanks, I really needed to hear this, life is so funny.
see you at the office! ha
I think it's important to know and experience the sides. And it seems that, not unexpectedly, a balance seems to be where we want to be. My movement was the opposite: I worked in the system for 15 years, but I was always an artist. At 34 years old I had more money than time and energy to spend and that put me in a bit of a strange situation. When my son was born, something changed, my time became too expensive for me to continue working 44 hours a week. Nowadays I work playing, teaching and I earn exactly 1/3 of what I earned in my office job. But with the recent appreciation of my time spent with my son, in many ways I feel like I'm getting more. As you said, there is no goal, an end to be reached. So it's good to choose our investment from the most expensive currency of all: time. That said, thanks for all the free content. Excellent production and teaching. I learned figerdrumming from your videos and it has been very useful in many production jobs.
Hi Robert (and all)! I so appreciate this video. It is incredibly relevant to my day-to-day, and frankly, watching it feels like a huge relief. I've been playing music since I was a kid, in various capacities, sometimes professionally. I got an office job out of college while trying to do music on the side, and I found the balance so difficult and draining. I was let go from that job about 9 years ago, and I've since taken that opportunity to really develop my "career" as a full-time musician. There has been some success I suppose, since I live in one of the most expensive cities in the world (New York), make 100% of my income from music, and I CAN afford to pay my rent, eat, and even save a small amount for retirement... but the compromises are large, from my vantage point at least. I spend a lot of time driving. I don't really go out. I can't afford vacations without going broke. I don't own property. My blood pressure is higher than ever before (stress). I definitely can't afford a personal trainer... and, I'm your age Robert - I've watched all my friends go do those things I can't afford to do, for years now. I've started to come around to the realization that perhaps it WASN'T that the office life wasn't right for me - I may have just not been at the "right" job. I do see folks like you who, in the grand scheme of things, are INCREDIBLY successful at music. I, for one, have definitely never played to an audience of 500 who bought tickets just to see me perform, and I have less than 100 subscribers on my youtube channel. If having an office job enables you to produce/perform/execute in the way you want, then it's just a tool you use, and what could be wrong with that? I guess some have to work independently for the sake of their artistic soul, but I think that says a lot more about them than it does about Art itself, or "what it takes to be an artist." Like you, I obsess. I don't really know how to do something in a half-assed way (or if I do, I feel really bad about it, LOL). I've always taken that as a signal that my career focus should be unidimensional. But I've also just started to realize that how I setup my day (trying to do creative stuff in the morning and late at night, while leaving the admin work to the middle of the day) is itself a compromise of that focus. And, if I don't do the admin work (which is basically selling myself as a performer, arranger, artist, etc.), then I don't get paid. No one pays me to do the part that I really enjoy UNLESS I do the boring stuff I don't want to do. So, I could scramble as I have, to get every opportunity and dollar that comes my way in order to play music for a profit, or, I could show up for an unrelated job, get paid handsomely, and use the rest of the time and money to do something I love... It does feel like a hard choice.
Hey Grant, thank you for sharing this! Your comment resonates with me as much as my video resonated with you I think. Figuring out what to do is very difficult, since there is no one size fits all answer. Interestingly enough, having no success at all and making no money with your art makes the choice easy, since you don't really have one :-) It's the medium success that really gets you in trouble because it's all about finding the balance that you personally want at this particular stage of your life. I think taking some time, looking at your options with an open mind and then making a plan on how to proceed is sort of the way to go and I hope that my story makes people feel like they're not alone in this struggle. It's very very personal though. Everything matters. The city you live in, your perspective on your own future and maybe also the future and state of the world and all of that. I wish you good luck plotting your own course!!
I’m very pleased I ran across your ‘tube channel and website. I’ve gone through quite a few of the points you make- congratulations to you for successfully making the shift while keeping your creativity intact. Great self-interview. Your video production and audio tracking are “top drawer” as the kids used to say… in the 40s. I’m really enjoying the content. Good luck to you moving forward. WTH
Wow, thanks for this! I'm indeed happy with where I am now and will keep moving forward, hopefully with many fun videos and songs to come. Cheers!
You are so cool! Very inspiring and very good points for everyone who struggles with the same situation! Thank you ❤
Thx a lot for sharing this very interesting development. Very reflected, very mature, you made some right decisions!
Thanks, that means a lot!
I can't believe you were ignored while playing that tasty solo! Blasphemy :) Catchy tune and I'm sure the journey resonates with many of us.
Awesome song!! Such a great way to 'deal' with this topic!
As a proud member of Herman In Een Bakje Geitenkwark's PowerTeam I approve this message.
hahaha. There are two groups of people who will probably see this video as very incomplete and a big oversimplification. The guys from Herman in een bakje Geitenkwark and my colleagues at the office :-D Good to know I've got your support at least.
Thank you, precious talk, inspiring. And nice Genesis ish' song at the end
IMO I think your content around finger drumming is legendary.
There aren't really a lot of top skill tutorial content creators on TH-cam in this field (I know around 5).
Your life choices are yours and no one can argue with them. I think the one thing I can understand the most is the feeling of "I want to try whats on the other side" and that ok.
But, BUT.. As someone escaped from " the other side" I can tell that
It can be a golden cage which will consume your creativity. And the most dangerous part of it, is that it happens
very very slowly so you will have hard time to notice the huge changes happening in you and your creative skills been forgotten.
Its ok to try out this office life, but as soon as you notice that it hurts your creative part, seek out.
Now you mentioned that you are able to spend the same time in the studio, and that mite be right but
its the same time for your current state, it mite be holding you from growing.
Here are a few examples came to mind where you could do more and grow but probably don't have the time for it at this point:
- Making more finger drumming videos on a consistant basis and push your online course through them which probably is also a gold mine
- Make finger drumming shorts content for the major 3 platforms which will also push the above
- Make your own music - The song buried at the end of this video is a banner! I kid you not. You post this thing couple of times on TikTok it will probably explode. Do more of these on the big 3 and you will grow a lot
Surly there are more ideas for top quality and pretty rare (at this skill level) of content you can think of and create..
Please please don't let this skill die.
PS: Sorry for getting a little bit personal, I mean it in the best way possible.
Hey thank you for your thoughtful message! I am not giving up on finger drumming or making music. I am also definitely not giving up on the courses and lessons on my website. I'm actually improving and creating more content for the courses as we speak. That will not die anytime soon. If anything, it will just get better. Keep on grooving and who knows, maybe I'll switch back one day (will make another video when I do).
@@TheQuestforGroove Happy to hear that! You are helped/helping me and Im sure many others a lot on our musical journey :) Thank you
Man, you are a fascinating person! Very interesting and pleasant the way you tell your story…
Thanks for sharing and being so open about it.
This is just pure synchronicity, as Dr. Jung would say, regarding my current situation. Thank you for sharing, Rob!
You're welcome! And while it might be a little bit of a sad message, it's also just as optimistic. I like my job and I still make all the music I want to make, so yeah. Maybe I'm not Lady Gaga, but I'm happy with the balance I found at the moment. I hope you are (or will be) too!
@@TheQuestforGroove It makes a lot of sense, Rob. It's easier to focus on the things we love if we have financial stability. I'll try to find that balance myself. Thanks!
I totally relate to your story, I even got that espresso machine of my dreams a couple months ago haha I will really consider changing my schedule as you do... creative work early in the morning for couple hours (after a good coffee) and spending the rest of the day on mundane tasks.
Great to hear! Wishing ou happy holidays and a 2023 filled with musical mornings!
Thank you for sharing your experience and insights
Thanks for your video! The only important thing is to keep making music for your enjoyment, whether you have a full-time job or not to pay the bills. Often we forget that having new subscribers is not the main goal.
Exactly. There is no actual "end goal" in music so make sure to adapt and move things around to fit your needs and wants in every new phase of life. Keep on creating!
this is therapy 💯 thanks for sharing, man!
My favorite of all your videos so far
Wow, thanks! I'm planning on telling some more interesting stories over the next year, so stay tuned :-)
@@TheQuestforGroove FYI - your increase in views on this video over night is from me sharing on reddit. Hope you don't mind!
Haha, yeah that was a crazy surprise! I always welcome more views. And I replied in the reddit thread to make some things a little more clear. Thanks!
Ha Ha! Nice story. Thanks for being so honest. Never give up!
great lesson, great video, great music as always.
This gave me a huge refresh on perspective, thank you very much.
Ah good to hear! I hope the message did not come across as too negative. I think there's a lot of great combos to be made between art and some work on the side and that sometimes this can make your life and even your art better. I don't think there is no hope or anything :-) I do think that the advice "if you're willing to make sacrifices you'll make it" is incomplete advice, mostly given by people who happened to "make it" a some point. But I'll keep on making cool stuff and I hope you will too!
Bro that song at the end slaps really hard. I'm glad you found your resolution and i think it's very important to show this type of perspective on being an artist. I've heard the same point of view from Sam Hyde hilariously enough, but his outlook on it was far more darker and blunt.
I've lurked a bit but couldn't find it, do you have more songs like this? Would be nice to listen to an album like that.
Hey thanks, that's so nice! Another song I made is this disco song because my girlfriend (who ignores my guitar solo) told me to: th-cam.com/video/xbQ59s4UK9M/w-d-xo.html
I feel like this is the same thing hollywood does with romance where we fetishize the idea of a starving artist. In the sake of entertainment, we see this glorification of that lifestyle where people are sitting at the top with everything they ever wanted. Now that I have graduated from music school, and have experienced professional music shows and have met a few celebrity musicians with that you start to see how a lot of music industry stuff is played up and exaggerated. I used to have same dreams of being a musician full time, but after I met my significant other, I started seeing the value of being around people you care about and spending time with them when you can. That impedes with practicing 5 plus hours a day. I don't think getting side job to support your art is a bad thing, especially if its something that you can enjoy. I also do agree with how those two hours of just dialing yourself in is nice. With 5 plus hours a day on music, you burn out so quickly. It really is a marathon and not a mad dash to the finish.
Thanks for sharing. This resonates with me a lot. I actually remember graduating from music school with this final exam concert that I had practiced for all year. I played all this incredible stuff and then it was over... And I was so glad my parents were there and my grandparents and my close friends. I realised in that moment that there's totally no point in being the best if you cannot share that with people you care about.
I’m happy for you. Not for those that abuse the starving artist. Enjoy that fucking coffee! Cheers.
Important and insightful video. thank you
"That's life boy" 🤣 thanks for sharing, never give up!
Awesome, funny and honest video! Nothing wrong with having a (somewhat meaningful) desk job and being a great artist the rest of the time.
Zero f*cks were given by Ms. Questforgroove in the making of this video. 😂
Hahaha, thanks for this. And secretly Ms. Questforgroove was my camerawoman for an entire day shooting the videoclip :-) She cared a lot and yet acted out the zero f*cks perfectly... what a woman, what an actress!
Epic solo! And great song 🙏😄
This thing happened to my friend , it’s brutal . He tried raising his prices , lost everyone .
It sounds like it was worth it just for the coffee. While I can't totally relate to your situation, I vividly remember the feeling of finally getting a decent job and being able to enjoy life a little. Good for you, Robert. Like you, my instrument is guitar, and while I think music is a great hobby, it is almost impossible to make a decent living as just a musician. Almost. I know some absolutely phenomenal musicians who are always broke. One really needs to be able to compose marketable music to make a living, and the real money is in writing hit songs. If you can play, great, but what you really need to be is a good songwriter. It's also worth learning to sing, if you have the voice for it. Some people think Jimi Hendrix was the greatest guitar player, ever. I view him as a hit songwriter who could play guitar and sing. That is why the public respects his innovative guitar playing. I think John Mayer is a great modern example. His voice was fairly weak, early in his career. He always was a solid guitar player, but he's nowhere near the best. He stayed relentlessly focused on writing songs and lyrics that straight-out pander to the ladies, and developed his voice over time. Well done. Writing catchy tunes is the paramount skill in music. If you can do that, and somehow find a way to sing them (like Bob Dylan), you can hire a bunch of great musicians to back you up when you perform them.
Thanks for sharing! I totally agree it's the actual song that matters. I wish you lots of fun with your guitar career. Maybe making money is hard, but the fun never has to stop.
@@TheQuestforGroove Thanks Robert. I wish you luck with your new office job and your continued musical quest. I've watched some other videos of your songs...keep writing!
Do you think there is a correlation between having higher value options in life and not accepting low ball offers in all walks of life that allows us to move into higher states of living and being?
For example, years ago I decided to work 2 jobs instead of one for extra income. The moment I did this, I realized that at my new 2nd job, I was treated much better and that I really liked it. I also started to figure out that if I wanted to, I could walk away at anytime from my first job because I had options now. This gave me the power and confidence to tell my first job "No!" when they tried treating me as a 2nd class employee. (I worked my ass off and I never complained, yet they didn't seem to care). So being fed up with being walked all over, I now had the security to tell them to F off to their faces. I sort of monkey branched my way to an ideal position. It seems like people treat other people like shit sometimes, and the best way to defend against that, is to have better options in your back pocket so that incase someone tries treating one in a crappy way, that person has the power and ability to just walk away.
Also, the starving artist thing, it sounds like you empowered yourself and got that leg up in life, and now you can demand more from others instead of being on the low ground and not having bargaining power. Just my 2 cents.
Yeah I think you're absolutely right. I'm actually quitting my current office job and will spend some time next year looking for another (I don't think I'll be a full time artist again any time soon) but the reason I dares to quit is simply that I have savings now. I can sustain myself with those plus what's coming in from my online teaching business for at least a year no problem so it's not as much of a risk for me to quit and expand my horizon when the time has come to do so. If I was broke I would not have had anywhere to go, My guess is this "bet" will work out in my favour over time and I will grow as a person. It's really nice to be in such a position.
Great video. Thanks for that.
Well, that was terrific!
Nice to see you're figuring it all out.
Little tip, I've gone to your website a few times but haven't signed up because I can't see any courses (even free) without giving you my email. Maybe you could make a couple of the free courses available without signing up just so people can see what the curriculum is all about?
Thanks! Maybe this video will help you out: th-cam.com/video/m2CkMfQYDRg/w-d-xo.html
@@TheQuestforGroove I didn't even realize they were videos - I thought they were PDF's!
This gave me much more to think about than it should of.
Absolutely great!
I loved the song is super catchy /./ Next time check the main voice level is a mistake that many guitar players do. Just a linit up front and with more bass. Is a super fun song
do another drumpad comparison! with the keyboards that have drumpads. Some have 16pad layouts, it'd be cool to see how they stack up to an mpd218 or a Mikro.
Haha, I got that question a lot but I'm not gonna have a bunch of keyboards shipped to my house. I draw the line at pad controllers without keys, unless some company sends me something or I happen to just have it already.
@@TheQuestforGroove yeah, I get it. It's so nice that you replied anyway.
I had lots of big smiles listening to your story, sorry about that but you told it so funny.
I do regret never seeing your show even though I live in the Netherlands as well.
The song was cool and the girlfriend not giving a f* was hilarious.
Thanks! I was trying to be honest but also keep it light. It's not a huge drama or anything. Just life (boy) :-)
@@TheQuestforGroove I recognized a lot from my own life, and I nodded in agreement here and there. This is indeed life boy.
Pleas help: I have a MPD218 by Akai and I simply want to finger drum ethnic drum instruments. Any software suggestions? Kontakt instruments are not set up for finger drumming so I would like other software VST suggestions. I use Reaper as my DAW. Thanks!
I'm not up to date on great software instruments for ethnic drumming. I only know Addictive Drums 2 and their percussion expansion pack, which is more Brasil type stuff.
@@TheQuestforGroove Thank You - That helps a lot. I will be looking at Addictive Drums 2. At least now, I have had a chance to ask the question to the right person verses more endless searching.
Hey friend! alright? I really wanted your help. I also had a problem with my maschine mk3, and I saw his video where he talked about the contact sheet. managed to solve? because I'm having the same problem, mode in Brazil and Native doesn't answer me anymore. If so, I would like to know how, I really need your help. Thanks
Hey Pierre, yes the contact sheet from MPCstuff works! Cleaning only also works, so that's the first thing to try and completely free.
I'm thinking of getting into finger drumming for a more natural feel with drum patterns in Cakewalk. I'm curious is it easy to do mersey beat type cymbals in finger drumming where the speed of the cymbal hits seems to merge the sound together giving that pleasant background noise effect. For example, the cymbal drum sound on early beatles records like 'A Hard Day's Night' th-cam.com/video/AMSiHdrHl0g/w-d-xo.html
You can probably get this done by selecting a ride cymbal in addictive drums and then selecting "shaft" hit type. That way you're hitting it more bluntly and it gives an effect like this.
@@TheQuestforGroove Cheers, thanks for the reply.
Love the video, sad but true. Unless you are a lucky teenager, we need a job to pay the rent and play the guitar from time to time.
You're a hero
Oof. I'm 30, have had moderate success as an artist, a lot of the things you say here resonate A LOT!...
Except, I really don't feel ready yet to accept an office job.. I guess I'll have to accept a few more years of pain.. :/
hahaha, if you still feel the fire, you should probably just keep going. It might be nice to know that (temporarily) making some money on the side can be fine sometimes. I feel like I just told you Santa isn't real, but I also hope I told you that Christmas can still be awesome. Rock on! :-)
to be honest i think nowadays to be succesfull as a artist you have to be an influencer at the same time. drama queen, very charismatic, eccentric etc
Yeah, the drama part always bugs me. I don't want to start fights to grow my channel 🙂
Completely unrelated to your video here but I'd really be intrested in a review of the new lpd8 mk2, it's meant to have pads taken from the MPC X that are much better, I know it probably isn't as useful for finger drummers that want 16 pads for drums and samples but it could have the potential for the best cheap starter drumpad now in 2023. If it's good hopefully akai make a new mpd218 with the same pads as well, I might order one to try but no longer have a mpd218 or any N.I stuff to compare it to
Hey I might check it out, but I'm not the biggest fan of 2x4 controllers since they just don't have enough pads to play the stuff I want. Secondly... that thing about AKAI saying "premium pads from the MPC line" is what they always say. See the mpd218 description "First, we stepped up our game by adding new, ultra sensitive Thick Fat MPC pads, creating an amazingly responsive user experience. " It doesn't mean the pads cannot be good, but I have heard this story before. Quality control is something to always be cautious about with akai.
@@TheQuestforGroovecool, yeah I get yourself and most of your viewers need/want 16 pads, I do more production that finger drumming, recording one part at a time so I could live with only 8 pads. I've decided to order it and give it a try! If it's bad then back to amazon it will go :). I'll reply back with what I think in the next week
@@TheQuestforGroove So the LPD8 mk2 came today! I was disappointed to be honest.. I started on the old LPD8 mk1 years ago and moved onto the mpd218 (I no longer have either to compare) to me I think the new LPD8 mk2 is similar to my old mpd218, going by what I've seen I don't think I had a great mpd218 eithet sensitivity wise compared to some others. I don't think it's much of an upgrade compared to the mk1 version but without having the old devices I can't be 100% judgemental! I watched loads of videos on other pads from other brands and you can see the superior sensitivity and Q/C.. so I've bit the bullet and ordered the maschine mk3 mikro. I'll wait and see what other people say, maybe I just had a bad LPD8 mk2.
Ah good to know!
With the mikro, quality control seems to be better, but since I recommend it to everyone I by now do sometimes hear of someone getting a bad unit as well. If you suspect yours is not responding great after setting it up, you probably want to swap it out and try another one. You can also contact me and describe the problem. In my experience, The Maschine mikro mk3 will make you happy, so if you're not happy, something's wrong with the unit.
Hi Robert. Your story makes me treasure the choice I made many years ago in choosing between studying music or science. Very early I went to the conclusion that I'd prefer doing art for art while having a sustainable job, rather than doing art for money, without a sustainable job. I'm still an artist, and maybe still even more since I have the liberty to give no importance to what people may think of my art 🙂. I wish you the best!
Awesome guitar solo! it's nice that you chose to take a job, but don't give up on passive income and music.
That solo,
Seriously😂
RED AND BLACK, I DRESS EAGLE ON MY CHEST, GOOD TO BE AN ALBANIAN🇦🇱🇦🇱🇦🇱🇦🇱🇦🇱🇦🇱🇦🇱🇦🇱🇦🇱🇦🇱🇦🇱🇦🇱🇦🇱🇦🇱🇦🇱🇦🇱
Great song!!!
Doubt you’ll see this but what drum pads are worth using in 2023 with ableton live 11?
Probably the Push 3? I tried one out and the pads are good. If you're ok with small pads and you're using Ableton a lot I can imagine the Push will work for you.
Finger drumming with Ableton might require you to do some complicated stuff in drum rack. There's no way around that. I don't really know how to set it up but I do have some links in my beginner course to videos I found.
Otherwise, just check out my gear recommendations. They're always up to date with everything I know. questforgroove.com/gear-recommendations/
@@TheQuestforGroove You think the Push 2 is still a good buy or might as well get the Push 3 at this point?
@@TheQuestforGroove I was looking at the Maschine Mikro MK3 at first but you have to run custom scripts for it to work with Ableton Live 11 apparently.
Push 2 has very decent pads as well!
It depends on how you want to use it. If you just want to play drums you just have to configure drum rack to work with your drum plugin and you can use Maschine Mikro in midi mode. So no custom scripts. I think that's when you want to use all the buttons and knobs and stuff. It is still a big hassle to set up though.
Very insteresting! Something to think about
Relevant AF
Lekker bezig Rob
My sources tell me the bass player from 1:05 also has an office job nowadays.
hahaha yeah! And I bought a real musicman bass in the end :-)
interesting, well i think you found something that works well for you, thats is already more than most people have :)
Yes.
nice song btw! ))
Inspiring and honest, thank you for this. And I'd say that you ca n still get the quest for groove to pay you a lot more (as a fellow course creator who 4Xed his income this year).
I'd offer- learn how to profitably advertise using YT ads and FB ads (YT ads can be better for you since it's easier to sell to people who already showed some interest in a very niche thing such as finger drumming by watching your YT channel or other finger drumming videos, than to try and "produce" demand on FB for people with so far zero interest in the subject. The YT ads course from Foundr (with Tommy) is excellent. Then the other key is don't be afraid to make your prices much higher. I have a course that now sells way way more since I upped the price from 19$ to 99$. (One time for a lifetime access) People appreciate more what they pay good money on. And they're more likely to stick with it.
Your courses helped me a lot when I was getting into finger drumming. Veel succes! 🙏🏻awesome track too, the self-humor made me laugh like no other song have done recently.
Miss your content. I hope you're doing well.
Hey Doing well! About to upload a video for the first time in a long time actually...
@@TheQuestforGroove That's great! I'm watching out for it.
thansk makes me feel better about taking my foot off the gas on my creative endeavor
Capitalism is a machine. The newspapers never report on the 100 failures and so offer a Lotto-winner delusion to aspiring people in any field. But I think you were destined to succeed whatever you did because of your attitude. Many others wash up on the rocks of despair.
Can you do a tutorial for message in a bottle by the police cover
Not anytime soon, but never say never!
Song is fire
Thank you so much!
Tellement vrai 😅🙏✌️
I didn't watch the video, just came to answer no. You did not fail. Cheers
hahaha. That must have been the first nice comment I've ever read from someone who did not watch the video :-) happy holidays!
@@TheQuestforGroove hahaha, glad to cheer you up. Happy holidays
The song slaps wtf
haha thank you!
👏👏👏
The attempted career you explained though seemed like it was absolutely destined to fail... comedy troupe and then finger drumming courses? I mean outside of god himself blessing you with the gift of pure holy luck that wasn't going to work out to begin with lol
Yeah, should have just become a plumber. People always need those... and in my defence: I got pretty damn far with both of those things, which is pretty crazy actually! :-)
shut up and take my money xD today siging up for your course
haha, welcome aboard!