Looking for asperger/autism musicians in Montreal.

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cornelius6
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30 Jun 2011, 5:30 pm

Hello my brethren. I am a singer musician composer based in Montreal. I have aspergers and thus I had very little success figuring out how to make a living with music. My lack of social skills got me ignored so many times in favor of charming NTs. I could never really make the necessary social connections to succeed. On the other hand, I obsessed a lot on making myself better, thinking I could remove the human element from the equation, trying to be "objectively" so good no one could ignore me. They still did. Only now in a more aggressive way, because they probably saw me as a threat. Anyways, that's not the point.

The point is this: all those NTs are succeeding because of their natural want and ability to group together. So I was thinking it would be very cool and probably to everyone's best interest to group up with others in a similar situation as mine, other high functioning autistics/aspergers who have a passion for music.

Here is some of the music I made: http://samuelbertrand.com
to give a better idea where I'm coming from.

Let us unite and blow some minds!



martyfan
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01 Jul 2011, 10:06 am

:D I like your music. I am a musician also, I just finished a music course with only a pass because 75% of the criteria was group related even though I feel to be a far more advanced than my peers in the realm of musical theory, song writing and technical ability. It frustrates the hell out of me that I have so many good musical ideas yet nobody to go out and express them with. Another negative besides difficulty with NT's is that I want to do more experimental music than is to most peoples liking.

I think your idea is a great one, the only thing I believe that holds us back as musicians is our different mindset. Perhaps we can discuss strategies to put our music forth if we are not as socially capable as NT's?

EDIT: Though I am in the UK, I think it would still be great for online discussion.



cornelius6
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01 Jul 2011, 1:06 pm

I think a brainstorm is a great idea!
So any of you out there have a special interest (read passion) for business, how to make money?
The point is not to get rich, the point is just to figure out how to make a living out of one's art.



Jonsi
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01 Jul 2011, 1:28 pm

If I spoke French and was good at working with others I'd totally help you. :D

Alas I am capable of neither. D:

Good music though. You've got potential.



cornelius6
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01 Jul 2011, 4:53 pm

I'd love to hear your music martyfan. And I found that it's true about the fact that since we don't follow trends, that we tend to make more unique art. I think this is an asset, that we can be capable of more imaginative ideas than NTs. The down side is that we're way less accessible to a large public, that don't have the patience or the capacity to enjoy something that's truly new.

Jonsi, the fact you don't speak french is of no consequence, I can communicate in english perfectly.
And listening to the lyrics might be a good place to learn a bit of french! :D
But your other caveat, the fact you don't work well with others (pretty general statement, have you ever worked with another aspie?)
is somewhat of a major bottleneck. And I realize that to gather a bunch of us together might be difficult, we're not the going out types to say the least. But I think it could be worth it to make the effort, I'm really curious to work with like-minded people.
Not necessarily to form a band (could be cool though), but to meet and talk, to give us perspective on what we can and cannot do with other people.

No weird mystical NT social games would be refreshing I would think.



martyfan
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04 Jul 2011, 6:20 pm

I would love for you to hear my music cornelius6. A lot of the more experimental stuff is still in the air. I have parts of things completed and such, I think you far more accomplished a composer than I. I just left college, I made an EP there of my music but it is more leaning towards the 'metal' realm (or at least progressive metal). I want to steer away from that and the material I am currently writing is very much in the vain of something different.

My very unsatisfactory music can be found here http://www.last.fm/music/Milambre . I shall be adding to it the music that I personally am most interested in doing is recorded to satisfaction. I am quite proud of Solace Drift - It's only two instruments but I feel the texture is quite dense. I really did enjoy your music though :)

An idea I conjured really for self-promotion without the need for the NT 'social games' as you quite accurately proclaim it to be is through setting aside money for advertising.

My plan is thus -

- Write and record (with decent quality) enough songs for an album.
- Create a professional looking website promoting my music.
- Upload the music to last.fm and perhaps set up a few bogus accounts to up scrobbling for more popularity.
- Put music on sale @ CDbaby or such.
- Set aside maybe £20 a month for facebook advertising targeting a specific demographic.

Biggest problem for me is lack of equipment and funds really. Got plenty of nice ideas circulating though :)



cornelius6
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06 Jul 2011, 9:24 am

You make really good music! I think you're onto something very singular and original.
Those are good ideas, but without any meatspace backing I found it really hard to make any money.
What you want to do is all part of a successful campaign, and I've sort of done something similar for a while.
But you need to sell yourself to people, in the flesh. And to do that you need an agent.
But since I suck so much at selling myself, I can't get an agent. It's a good old catch 22.
They only money I made was with shows. And very little at that.
I only made about $16 selling mp3s over the course of 4 years.

It's a shame you're in the UK! I have a fully operational space station, uh, music studio, which I live in.
I would love to collaborate with a fellow aspie musician.


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martyfan
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11 Jul 2011, 9:49 pm

Thank you, as do you! I apologise for the slow reply. I hopefully to progress into a more original innovative realm in the 'Milambre' realm. I know exactly how you feel about the meatspace as you call it. It's all well being able to sell yourself online but as soon as it comes to reality you need to prepared, I still think it can be learnt to an extent even though I feel on a fundamental level to be wired up a bit wrong :lol:.

I am very fortunate that I spoke to somebody in a bar once, had no idea as it was the first time I had met them but they said they knew somebody looking for a bassist (bass isn't my primary instrument but I thought it'd be worth the shot). So I managed to about 7-8 months ago get a place in this band which is currently my only source of income. I find it hard to communicate within the band and we're not playing the music I personally want to play - however I think it's a step in the right direction. At least I have the opportunity to go out and play.

I envy your space-station! I need some money to repair my computer, perhaps get a Condenser Mic, a MIDI Controller and a small bass amp. Then I'll have the bare essentials I feel to record something relatively decent (as I have other bits). The way I do things might be long-winded but I make do with what I've got. I'd love to collaborate with somebody of a similar mindset also! There is no reason I'm sure why we can't do something of the sort through the internet.

Again I apologise for the delay! :oops:



cornelius6
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12 Jul 2011, 10:04 pm

Quote:
Again I apologise for the delay!


No need for apologies! I'm not a neurotypical, and I don't expect the conversation to take place at a great speed. We often need more time to get back into it. I totally understand.

I would love to figure out how we could collaborate over the net.
And I too played bass for a band which I did not really like the style or music when I was your age. It was blues.
It taught me a lot, and really made my skills skyrocket. I recommend.

It took me 15 years to accumulate all the gear I have. The trick is to just buy what you need and work work work.
Limitations are a great asset to creation. You're on the right track. And knowing more about yourself early on might give you an advantage I have not had.


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martyfan
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16 Jul 2011, 10:45 am

I'm glad you understand. I've been thinking about it over the last 3 days, it would be a good experience to work with somebody of a similar nature. How to do so however - musicians have collaborated over YouTube and such, by dividing instruments and tasks up but I think collectively introducing ideas. There are still things I need to invest in, if that would be the chosen medium then I would have to invest in a digital camera.

I shall message you my e-mail address :)