Greetings from a Returning Member!

Hello everyone!

This is Frank.  I was a new member on this site back in the summer of 2010 (I'm not sure if Young Composers was even created that year, but this is to the best of my memory) under splincerhunterX.  Not very active most of the time, I missed out on the fun things going on here, like making friends with other fellow musicians here and sharing my thoughts on their compositions.  So I basically revived my membership here and made a vow to be (at least a bit) more active on this forum.  I'm not sure whether I'll stick to that vow or not, but I'll do my best.

Anyways, enough of that rambling.  I'm a 21-year-old Vietnamese-American guy from California, U.S.  My two main instruments are the violin (which I picked up in 2004) and piano (started in 2006).  I played viola for a short time in my music school's chamber strings group and learned how to play the harmonica in my (lots of) free time.  Knowledge about music in general came to me naturally, so I was able to write my own music easily.  Whenever a melody comes in my head, I can expand on it and add harmonies to it well.  Before I had a software to write music, I wrote tunes on music sheets which I got from my violin teacher and cousin.  Once I got my hands on my first music notation software, Finale Notepad 2003, I would spend countless hours writing simple melodies (usually for piano) and listen to them playback on the program.  Good times 🙂

Now, I have my hands on my reliable Finale (Ok, maybe not-so-reliable, as it has trouble saving recently >.< ), my go-to program for making compositions and audio,

I've been in an orchestra from elementary school to shortly after high school.  Orchestra is my love; I still have memories of my times in middle school orchestra and high school advanced orchestra.  Too bad I quit during 12th grade, one of my biggest regrets ever.  It was for the piano accompanist position in vocal ensemble, but I could've kept both with the right schedule.  Vocal ensemble was great too, anyway, although not as memorable as orchestra.  I've been in GATE Intermediate Orchestra for both years of middle school (I just love the people there).  The height of my piano skill was during 8th grade, then I stopped practicing as much and my abilities stagnated.  However, violin didn't suffer as greatly, since I loved it more and had a long-term mentorship to my interesting violin teacher.

Lastly, my hobbies aside from music are reading informational books (science books, encyclopedias, etc.), sketching pictures in pencil on my sketchbook, watching movies (in theaters and DVDs), swimming, hiking, travelling, spending time with family and friends, and eating.  Speaking of food, my favorite is orange chicken.  My question to each and every one of you: What's your favorite food?

I hope I didn't bore you with my essay-long introduction.  I hope my tone didn't come off as too forceful either.  Forum posting isn't really my forte, but this community is a keeper still.  Like I said, I don't know if I'll be as active as I promised, but again I'll do my best.  See you later, and have fun in your musical adventures! 😉

~Frank

Edited July 24, 20241 yr by Frank Normandy

Greetings and welcome. Hope you feel more inclined to be active this time around. As for my favorite food, I am crazy about chili peppers. First comes the sourness, then you get the sting, after that the slow burn and finally the warmth inside. You can't really live off of chili peppers though, so I guess the food I most enjoy eating is pizza. After I became a vegetarian I started thinking more about what nutrients are necessary to maintain a healthy mind and body so for the most part I try to eat strategically rather than what I want to eat. I also quit processed sugar a few years ago so there are basically no foods I eat purely for enjoyment anymore (probably one of the best decisions I've made). Now the only toxins I willingly ingest are ethanol and caffeine.

Just now, Gylfi said:

Greetings and welcome. Hope you feel more inclined to be active this time around. As for my favorite food, I am crazy about chili peppers. First comes the sourness, then you get the sting, after that the slow burn and finally the warmth inside. You can't really live off of chili peppers though, so I guess the food I most enjoy eating is pizza. After I became a vegetarian I started thinking more about what nutrients are necessary to maintain a healthy mind and body so for the most part I try to eat strategically rather than what I want to eat. I also quit processed sugar a few years ago so there are basically no foods I eat purely for enjoyment anymore (probably one of the best decisions I've made). Now the only toxins I willingly ingest are ethanol and caffeine.

 

Wow, that must be a strict diet you got there!  I like chilies myself, but in the form of Sriracha sauce which I put on foods like stir fry, yum!

Welcome back!

Since you've been around way before I was, you might know you're free to wander around, listen to our music and drop your comments to the best of your knowledge. Hopefully we'll reciprocate.

Thanks in advance!

PD. I am totally in love with Italian food - esp. the spaghetti with pomodoro sauce. And I'm also fond of meat, as much as to make sure I will never, ever be anything close to a vegan.

11 hours ago, Austenite said:

Welcome back!

Since you've been around way before I was, you might know you're free to wander around, listen to our music and drop your comments to the best of your knowledge. Hopefully we'll reciprocate.

Thanks in advance!

PD. I am totally in love with Italian food - esp. the spaghetti with pomodoro sauce. And I'm also fond of meat, as much as to make sure I will never, ever be anything close to a vegan.

 

Hey, I remember you from back then, Austenite.  Nice to meet you again!  :D

I wonder if you like eggplant parmigiana too; that's my favorite Italian food :P

Hello Franklin!

It's so great to see a returning member! I'd like to point out that piano is a difficult instrument - I've played it for around 10-13 years until "otherworldly" priorities took over and I let that busy tide sweep over my skills! I imagine it'd be quite difficult to get back into it again, so I have put it off continuously - As far as I'm concerned, finger strength building and dexterity is a bother. So IF you are interested in starting up again, then we should do it together...! Pleaseeeee!!! My lovely piano is always sitting in the dust and you've just reminded me of my responsibility to it!!!!

As for food, I think the one thing I enjoy is pizza, like Gylfi said! But again with the diet thing - I am in no means a health-enthusiast though...

I don't think I've ever tried "Orange Chicken": is it sweet and sour? Also, if we're ever on the topic of fruits, I would be incredibly enthusiastic with introducing you to something called the Durian!

Well! I hope to see you around. :) Take care!