Taking compliments when you know you played poorly? | Insta Q+A

[@percycardona]

"Compliments are more for the people giving the compliment than the person receiving it; it's a means of expressing thanks." Whoa! I wish I learned that sooner.

[@StanEclipse]

true that, I once blew an amazing opportunity by bitching about how bad we were to the festival organizer after she gave us compliments, we were never called to play again...

[@flitzmaster_piep]

That answer was amazing. Adam is a very wise... man.

[@lydiasteinebendiksen4269]

Well, it depends. A lot of the time it is, but also sometimes xompliments are there to reassure the reciever, like every time you open by saying you sucked, or even by asking what they think, because then the compliment is there to assure you you don't havevto beat yourself up. That said, it's not your responsability to let people "get away with" an inapropriate compliment, like if someone compliments you in a creepy or insensitive way, you can definetly call it out, and you probably should if it's safe.

[@Pedozzi]

Adam looks like the guy who knows a lot about internet but has to keep quiet about it in public

[@mmarocker]

I feel like that's the key to being successful, know a lot of memes but know not to share them with your coworkers.

[@-1subswithoutuploadingavid621]

A) Adam looks amazing with that filter (more amazing than normal which is pretty damn amazing lol). B) Please do more of these, they are good!

[@Tedd755]

Damn, girl. You are absolutely CRUSHING that shade!

[@calebknott8021]

That's totally your shade, Adam.

[@anonymousfyrefly3350]

Ha

[@nerothos]

Yeah man! I keep saying this to people around me. Whenever someone gives you a compliment and you respond with some sort of self-deprecation, you're essentially telling the other person "you have bad taste" even if that is nowhere near your intent. I don't think many people realize it on their own.

[@igloo_igloo]

Woah, that's a really good way to put it. Thanks!

[@christopher19894]

Nothing bothers me more than hearing a bumper sticker compliment after I bombed on stage though. I'm always brutally honest with the way I felt about my performance. If that makes someone feel dumb, maybe they'll reconsider throwing out vague compliments to musicians who just bombed. I'm too autistic to play along with these phony social conventions. I also want to constantly progress, and compliments with no substance get me nowhere.

[@GUIM1797]

Debussy and Ravel's pieces are so dope! I also really enjoy the string works for Ralph Vaughan Williams. That cat crushes it. His Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis for String Symphony, oh my... oh my... Checking out Felix Mendelssohn's string symphonies from when he was a kid is another great resource. That and a major kick to the ol' bum. Richard Strauss' Metamorphosen is also full of rich harmony. Absolutely gorgeous. And if you want them deep feels, then of course... Samuel Barber's Adagio for strings OR the original for quartet. Ugh. Anyways, most of these are string symphonies so... not exactly what that cat was asking about. Oh well... these pieces are still super informative!

[@kalelvigil1510]

YO SUP GUIM!

[@MrMoonCraft]

Adam, I love your answers to all these questions. Sometimes, you blow my mind with the knowledge you dish out. My question is, have you thought about compiling everything somewhere? I would personally love to be able to reference different questions and answers without having to search through hours and hours of videos. This might sound like a lot of work, but I feel like the effort would help a lot of people out.

[@metadaat5791]

A simple companion blog, with embedded videos, their description and perhaps a few extra lines would be a great and easy start, maybe. Each video its own blog post and use tags to categorize them (start with tagging posts with the playlist they appear in, etc). It's the simplest idea I can think of that would add some value next to just browsing the "videos" tab on Adam's channel. But given the amount of videos on various subjects he already has put out, this would still be a few hours of work.

[@coleemmersonhallman5329]

tfw when adam drops a new vid but it's just what you saw on instagram

[@camillajefferson386]

I changed my mind, this is my favourite video you've made.

[@NUGGet-3562]

That filter though 😍😂

[@anonymousfyrefly3350]

NUGGet3562 he looks great though

[@NUGGet-3562]

He does

[@sickcoaster]

Hey Adam, you mention that getting gigs requires just being at shows and joining the scene, but for me the scene is an hour away by train, and always run later than the last train back home. There used to be an indie showcase near by, but, it got shut down and I haven't really had a chance to go anywhere else without trying to illegally sleep in Union Station. Almost everything else nearby are acoustic open mics, and those don't work well with metal bands.

[@patonle]

"im not impressed" - your cat

[@FossilFishy]

This is why the Ig Noble Prize needs a music education category: Adam made me laugh*, then made me think. Perfect. *repeatedly

[@spencerostrowsky6603]

Question for Q+A: Do you think transitioning to equal temperament was a mistake? Personally would you have preferred that we stay in Pythagorean or Meantone? Or do you think that having a system at all is dumb?

[@mmarocker]

12tone did a really interesting video on some alternative systems, and by "interesting" I mean "wildly impractical and ridiculous but interesting nonetheless" kzbin.info/www/bejne/iKa3Z4xraLGMfpY

[@MaggaraMarine]

It was simply natural, since composers started experimenting more with chromaticism and there had to be a way of making the chromatic stuff sound good. If you think about it, since the 17th century we have had the theoretical understanding that there are 12 different keys (all of which have major and minor versions), so why wouldn't these keys be "equal"? We have also had the understanding of an octave being divided into 12 half steps. If we are going to call them half steps, why would these half steps not be equal? The conclusion is just logical. Now, it hasn't always been that way, for example in the middle ages music was based on three different hexachords. In a hexachord, you had 6 notes - Ut, Re, Mi, Fa, Sol, La, and the hexachords started on three different notes: C, F and G, so this way they basically had 8 different notes in use: C D E F G A Bb and B. And since people didn't have to worry about the chromatic notes, they didn't have to worry about a tuning system that would work well for all of the 12 notes in all keys. Also, instruments were a lot more limited back then... Pythagorean tuning is pretty much objectively worse than equal temperament because equal temperament has pretty much perfect fifths (only 2 cent difference to natural fifths that's barely noticeable) and chords sound a lot better in it, whereas Pythagorean tuning has 100% perfect fifths, but chords don't sound that good. Meantone temperament may sound better for some music (it may have a bit better sounding major chords), but it's still pretty limited - you can only play in certain keys because otherwise it will just sound way out of tune. Also, some intervals were avoided - the tuning system included a "wolf fifth" (usually between Eb and G# - and yes, this is enharmonically correct way of spelling the wolf fifth) which sounded horrible. Equal temperament is simply the best compromise we can have. It made modulating to any key and playing anything in those keys possible. If we hadn't adopted equal temperament, music would be much less chromatic. Basically, jazz wouldn't exist, at least as it is today. And we definitely need a system. Without a standard it would be pretty difficult to play with other musicians, and it would also be pretty difficult to communicate musical information, since every single music sheet should have instructions on it on how to tune your instrument.

[@leftaroundabout]

It was perhaps inevitable that we'd get some equal-tempered tuning once composers started modulating around like crazy - an equal-step system does have great benefits. But IMO it's a big pity that we settled with 12edo. In the meantone age, 31edo (as proposed by Christiaan Huygens) would have been more natural: it has much better major thirds in exchange for only marginally worse fifths, and it would have allowed us to go to 7-limit and even odd 11-limit without ever leaving the 31 steps. A _keyboard_ with 31 keys might be awkward, but a lute/guitar/BASS isn't that ridiculous if you put enough inlays in for orientation.

[@MaggaraMarine]

leftaroundabout The problem with 31-tone equal temperament would be that it would use 31 notes instead of 12 and would probably have required a whole different notation system. The change from non-equal temperament to 12 tone equal temperament was pretty slow and gradual - it didn't happen at the blink of an eye. Also, this kind of a tuning system would only be required for instruments with fixed pitches (keyboards, guitars, mallets), and it would only be realistic for guitars. It's really about practicality. Also, we need to remember that for a long time, guitar was a pretty irrelevant instrument. 31-tone equal temperament would require quite complex instrument design. It just wouldn't have been that practical, even if it was "mathematically" more pleasing.

[@leftaroundabout]

@MaggaraMarine 31-edo can use standard notation without problems, it just hasn't the same enharmonic equivalences, but for tonal music that doesn't really matter. (E.g. E♭ is a bit higher than D♯ - but even in normal piano pieces you'd make a distinction between these anyway, although it's understood that they're on the exact same key. Only in the 19th century did composers start to use chromatic lines without any tonal connection.) Sure, for some instruments it would require quite a bit more complex instrument design. But it might have been possible to retain playability of keyboard instruments, by offering only ~12 keys but shifting between the flat / sharp variants with pedals, using a mechanism like in concert harps. Or maybe keyboards just would have been tuned to the subset of 31edo needed for every performance. “Guitar was irrelevant” - guitar itself yes, but various lutes and viols were very much relevant. In fact these were the first Western instruments to use something similar to 12edo, to get along with frets spanning the whole fretboard.

[@matiaswargelin9829]

Question for Q+A: How do you approach writing a long instrumental song (such as Exigence)? I'm trying to write my own but it feels like an overwhelming task to compose a cohesive piece that runs for half an hour.

[@guitarmichael]

The bass solo questions always makes me wonder if you've heard G.O.A.T. By Polyphia and what your oppinion on it is. The solo in that is fire.

[@JohnHorneGuitar]

You are stunning.

[@olbluelips]

I thought you were actually wearing that! For some reason I didn't question the very fake stationary veil.

[@Gabriel-jx4or]

congratz you are rarted

[@thiswlad]

4:40 in fact, as rational numbers suggest, there's an infinite amount of microtonal scales you can create

[@shrapnel4213]

yeah, but depends on what you mean by creating. u can definitely use something that wasnt used before, even more if you get what cardinality means lol

[@loaferpatent101]

The 3 faces of Neely... I freaking love it

[@MisterAppleEsq]

Aw, no “Super Fast Instagram Q&A” theme tune?

[@Stemma3]

Ben Levin breathes art.

[@thoril.pegason]

Man Adam looks hot

[@Dowlphin]

And what about woman Adam there?

[@ikezola]

I feel like microtonal scales still have many grounds to be explored

[@eclate23]

strong lindsay ellis vibes on this one

[@andrewv.157]

These filters became effective as hell :)

[@wesowsley7625]

My pizza hit the like button before I could

[@AlKohaiMusic]

As someone who has done drag art. Do drag art. You look fantastic with only a filter on, I believe you’d be a fantastic performer with just a little make-up. Always enlightening content, but just wanted to throw out that request.

[@depicklator3526]

YES SUNGAZER VOL. 2 HYPE!

[@shrapnel4213]

for the new scale guy, if you take the human audible sound spectrum (20-20k hz) as a real(quic mafs) interval, which is infinite, you can arrange a series of frequencies that was probably not ever used before in a song in human history.

[@igorherstel5043]

Hey adam, how are you doing? I have a question: repeating your words, mastering side reading takes a lot of practice, like playing chess. Are there excersizes or ways of practicing tunes that i can use when practicing side reading sheet music. Thanks a lot.

[@Ted_DiSanti]

What if I knowingly made a mistake in a recital I performed in front of my fellow music majors in college? Is it a different situation? Cause I recently performed in front of my peers and after getting the usual "good job"s I just want to say, "nah, I could have done soooo much better" because quite frankly I was very disappointed in myself

[@Chickeneater5000]

The cat video was so perfect 😂😂😂

[@hypocriticalsailboat2143]

Well, we've only completely cataloged all of the scales and modes of a 12 TET system. Aren't there more harmonic colors to explore?

[@garrybrar4322]

Thoughts on J Dilla? Favourite project/song?

[@metadaat5791]

Love the face filter! :-) But could you next time (quickly) also read the questions out loud? :-) I had to keep pausing this vid because you start answering the question as soon as it appears on screen. Maybe it was on purpose to keep the video super quick but it took me longer to watch it anyway :-)

[@Lukz243]

so... where to ask questions?

[@pearspeedruns]

Why are there 2 channels now?

[@ПётрКусакин-о3ф]

Le Adam Fatale

[@josemiguelmaciasvocar2690]

that filter makes you look like Boy George

[@pineappleblack1449]

Lmao I can hardly take this seriously. Still good stuff as always

[@dextrodemon]

to be honest every time i see a man in make up i think men should probably wear makeup...as long as i don't have to.

[@spugintrntl]

Everyone should be able to wear whatever the hell they want.

[@Fopenplop]

men should wear makeup, but also makeup is a lot of effort

[@Livingeidolon]

Depends on the makeup, in my estimation, but yes, I don't see why men shouldn't wear make-up

[@FernandoCuadro]

0:44 just look that without context. You are welcome adam.

[@EJBS1991]

Sungazer vol II. Yeah boy TIME MOTION WINE II . YEEE BOIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII

[@renichbon]

Eve Neely...

[@austincovey5663]

#NeelyGang

[@anonymousfyrefly3350]

Austin Covey 👏🏽yes👏🏽

[@tungtobak]

This gives me so many confusing feelings...

[@thiswlad]

SSSPICY!

[@TheresaTV1]

“spicy” and “nuts” are totally a mood.

[@christopher19894]

I think the boiler plate compliments are mostly useless. It's only good when they're specific. When I have a bad show and people say it was good, I feel like no one was paying attention, and I get thirsty for some constructive criticism from an honest audience member. When I have a good show, the compliments are almost worse, because my ego gets bloated and I take my foot off the gas a bit.

[@Syffsy]

I'm not completely satisfied with your answer for "creating new modes/scales", particularly your comparison to visual artists creating colors. If you aren't familiar with the "feud" between Anish Kapoor and Stuart Semple over Vantablack, I highly recommend checking it out. It's both interesting and hilariously petty. As for modes and scales themselves, I think there's plenty of unexplored space in microtonality, which should also tell you about how relevant those modes and scales would be. The idea that "everything has been done before" is a popular response to people (especially young people) seeking some kind of complete originality, but it isn't strictly true, and it kinda misses the point. I'd rather emphasize that seeking complete originality is often a path to complete incomprehensibility, because no audience would have a frame of reference. (But for an instagram Q&A, the practical response of "no. learn to work with what you have" is probably fine.)

[@Schwa_Iska]

This was a nuanced response and I appreciate that

[@gilliangilliangillian]

cute and educational

[@pjmorley5785]

Did you change your body language at all for this video? My brain insists that you looked more feminine, but I think that is just my cognitive bias showing.

[@aknopf8173]

I think it might have to do with the way he talks, too. I definitely got that more feminine vibe as well, but it's hard to put your finger on it.

[@txsphere]

Justina is going to be upset you were in her makeup.

[@ArianSadrayi]

The way you say "Spicy". :))

[@sixstringsdaddy2477]

Please read the question. I can't read the question and listen to your answer at the same time, had to do a lot of pausing and backtracking. Not very user friendly.

[@timwilson032]

He was answering these on instagram stories originally where you only get 15 seconds per video.

[@sarasimionato5099]

Hey Adam I have a question for you. You just said that there are no more colours to discover in music and that we can only find new combinations. But what do you think about polychromatic music? could it be a new horizon in music? all the best :)

[@mystichamster5900]

Sara Simionato I think you already have an answer. It has been discovered. Now it's time to have fun with it. It is just as Adam said in the video.

[@tavicotavio]

Protip: make sure the strings and the strings and the strings and the strings are in the SAME KEY

[@threenplustwo9105]

Looked like a ProZD video title so I was expecting a sketch

[@shahargershgoren1873]

Who am I?

[@NUGGet-3562]

Hey Adam So I've been watching a lot of your videos recently and I've noticed that you talk A LOT about stuff like "tension and release" and "certain chords have certain roles" and music's emotional aspects and blah blah blah. I've been thinking about writing music for a while, but I've never once thought about all that scientific stuff and the music theory and the emotions and feelings and stuff. I mean, I took piano for 10 years so I'm not COMPLETELY ignorant of music theory. But do I need to understand all the modes and all the super technical terms and all that other stuff to write good music? Or can I just let cool melodies pop into my head and then write something that just sounds awesome? Because honestly, when I listen to music, I don't care about that kind of stuff. I listen to it and I like it. Thanks in advance, and until next time, *BASS*

[@Schwa_Iska]

There’s an interesting juxtaposition between the fact that you said you’ve *thought* about writing music and the fact that you would like to not get into the weeds of heady music theory stuff (to put it in my own words). What I would say is, don’t wait to make music period. If you’re waiting to save up for that perfect instrument or that perfect music software or to save up to take singing lessons, don’t. You don’t need to know all of that to make good music. Knowing those things will help 100%, but it’s no reason to not start writing. You can always seek out those things later when you run into roadblocks or your interests evolve in that direction.

[@MaggaraMarine]

You can write music any way you want, there are no rules. But having a theoretical understanding of how it all works will take a lot of the guess work out of it (basically, when you know theory, you don't have to reinvent the wheel). It's basically a tool that you can use. You probably already know a lot of these concepts subconsciously since you have a lot of experience with playing an instrument - you just don't have names for them. So, basically, you probably already understand how a lot of stuff works practically, but if you had to explain it, you couldn't. And that's totally fine if you don't have to explain it to anyone. But the benefit of knowing theory is also communication with other musicians. It's basically a language that lets you talk about musical concepts without having to play anything. Just start writing music if you have musical ideas. But I would also suggest learning theoretical stuff alongside it.

[@ChaosPootato]

"Shit tier e-celeb" hahahaha xD

[@charlesinsandiego2537]

Went to check out Esperanza Spalding, thanks for the suggestion. Found this vid: kzbin.info/www/bejne/bJjPeaSfat19qsk The second comment is from Jim Neely. Coincidence?

[@davetrombetti4240]

Interesting for a minute and then, yeah... got old quick. Answers to the questions were still good though Enjoyed that part.

[@AdamNeely]

sorry

[@thiswlad]

QFTNQAA: what does have a bearing on the worth of a piece of music?

[@myguitardidyermom212]

Looking like Sean Young in Blade Runner

[@spugintrntl]

I love your videos and I love you.

[@billhd]

Puffy. Hands down.

[@Giraffinator]

Yay!

[@Fopenplop]

so Adam Neely's definitely seen /gg/

[@AVoiceThatSuits]

When you transcribed a Cure song? That look. This one,not so much.

[@mizutoryu242]

Je ne regrette rian.

[@rapscallion52]

so unsettling...

[@habibie9929]

Are you challenging my sexuality

[@racejones8784]

Adam is getting in touch with his feminine side?

[@jackhammer5912]

is this a lindsay ellis cosplay?

[@mememem]

"okay now this is epic" - Ben Shapiro

[@fooball4589]

meme hi dad

[@georgev2346]

all the video is 16 seconds the rest... well i don't know if he can top it!!!!! :/

[@zombiezedtwin12]

That fucking filter lmao

[@djguydan]

You could have gotten away with more eye shadow.

[@horowizard]

I'm sure he's a fine musician but in no way is Ben Levin a modern day Frank Zappa. Not even close.

[@xJotto12345x]

HAWT

[@ddcddc_]

Thicc

[@benjammin3829]

What the fuck does 4chan know?

[@6stringstorulethemall967]

Why the fuck

[@anonymousfyrefly3350]

Hot

[@0nfir34h1m]

You are smart to keep the politics out of your videos. Please continue to do so. And yes Ben Shapiro’s views on music are fucking stupid.

[@Polyhat_]

I appreciate how you try and keep your videos politically neutral but the way you watch contrapoints, physically cringe at the mention of jordan peterson and call ben shapiros views stupid sends me good vibes

[@wizardsamboltoni]

Adam watches Contra?? That's so cool, they're like my two favourite people

[@Polyhat_]

Yes! Spotted him in the comments once, it was a pleasant surprise.

[@kalelvigil1510]

I love it.

[@modalmixture]

Seeing Adam commenting on a Contrapoints video was like, Ah, all is right with the world. And I think maybe a bit of her stylized aesthetic is rubbing off...

[@Polyhat_]

@@modalmixture Haha, maybe in her next video Contra will have short hair and a shirt with the lick on it and they'll eventually just become one beautiful musically gifted babe with a knack for discussing current affairs. Okay writing this comment quickly turned from a joke to a very appealing fantasy

[@chromaticswing9199]

First?

[@mirrorishmusic]

Second?

[@NUGGet-3562]

Third?

[@pearspeedruns]

Fourth?

[@Blackmore45]

first reaction "wut" second reaction "WUT"

[@felipemontero9839]

Adam is the new ContraPoints

[@livingbeings]

is this gender appropriation?