ToneGym Hero: Kinsey Nietzsche

Game developer, self-taught composer, and lover of synthesizers, cellos, and rave parties, Kinsey Nietzsche has been using music as an emotional outlet for twenty years, and is now using ToneGym to build the theory foundation she never had the first time around. Kinsey Nietzsche is this month's ToneGym Hero!

How did you first find your way into making music?

That was about twenty years ago, when I was part of a group of five people with no prior musical experience who suddenly decided to start a band. The band didn’t have a name and wasn’t very successful, but because of it, I bought a MIDI controller keyboard and started to get familiar with how to make music.

My life was very emotional back then, polluted with unrequited love, and I found that making music made it a little more bearable. Nothing I created during that time survived to this day, and that might be for the better.

Aside from music, what hobbies or activities do you enjoy?

I like creative arts, and creative artists. I am a game developer by profession, and so computer games are an important part of my life as well. I also like rave parties, long walks in nature and getting to know new people.

What’s something you're surprisingly good at that has nothing to do with music?

I enjoy learning new things and figuring out how to teach myself. When I was a child, people considered me talented at drawing, but it never really developed into anything. I am also good at messing up human relationships.

If you could play or create with any artist, who would it be and why?

This is a tricky question, because (1) I don’t really know what the personalities of the people behind the music I like are, and (2) I wouldn’t want to “stain” their style with my own.

What musical instrument do you love the most, and what makes it irreplaceable for you?

Let’s be honest, nothing can really beat a MIDI keyboard connected to a virtual synthesizer in terms of irreplaceability. Among acoustic instruments, the one I like most is the cello, because of its expressiveness and how much control the performer has over the sound. And then there are instruments I love purely for their tone: the pedal harp, the harpsichord, and the church organ.

What daily or weekly habits do you have in place to keep you creating?

Currently, I’m not composing music, but when I was, I had a dedicated time each day when I sat at my MIDI keyboard, browsed through virtual instruments, and tried to make each of them play something interesting while recording everything.

After a few sessions like that, I would listen back to the recordings, pick out the parts I liked, quantize the notes, adjust the volume, refine the composition, add effects, and build the piece from there.

At the time, though, I didn’t know much about how music is supposed to be produced. This time, I want to learn how to do it properly first before I start again.

What keeps you motivated to continue making music?

Emotions, emotions that need to come out. For someone to be creative, things need to be happening in their life. Being stuck and stressed in a boring full-time job you don’t care about, that’s the end of it.

What song would you choose as the soundtrack of your life?

I don’t think it’s possible to fit anyone’s life into just one song. It would have to be something like white noise, or something like that. I have no idea.

What's your favorite feature on ToneGym, and how has it helped you in your musical journey?

When I listen to a familiar piece of music and start noticing new details, that’s how I know those exercises are useful. I didn’t realize just how much it’s possible to learn, but mastering them seems like a good start, at least.

What’s something exciting you're working on or looking forward to?

My situation is pretty dynamic these days, and I have many ideas waiting for the right opportunity, so it’s hard to say. Unfortunately, they all depend on my being able to scrape together enough money to pay the next rent, so earning money has to take priority.

At the very least, I can say I’m definitely looking forward to figuring out how to get that out of my way one day.

 

You can follow Kinsey on these following links!

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