Since I'm new I thought I'd share something to better introduce myself. I'm terrible at introducing myself in thread form... There's something about the lack of immediate responses and feedback when you talk to people in front of you... I digress.
Anyway, since there is a forum dedicated to music I thought i'd share that I am a hobbyist musician. My main style (genre) is heavy metal. Heavy metal alone doesn't do it for me anymore so I began to dig into the sub-genres of death/doom/black/progressive/melodic metal. I like a balls to the wall heavy song as much as the next person but I like expressed musicality and mood more.
I own two guitars a Schecter C-7 Hellraiser (tuned to either B standard or half step down) an Ibanez SA series (always kept in standard). I use my Schecter for heavy down tuned playing and some melody. If you're unfamiliar with tuned down guitars the bottom B note has a very low-end bass-y growl when distortion is flipped on.
My main focus is more progressive writing... So experiment with both my guitars a lot. I'll usually make a riff and take the root note and play it the riff on different octaves. Based on how it sounds I'll form the song around it.
I also have a Takamine G series acoustic guitar because you absolutely can't have progressive/black/doom metal without eerie acoustic riffs as mood depressors.
I love taking a melodic, somewhat heavy riff and just depressing it. Reverb in front more, dark acoustic playing. My acoustic is either tuned to standard or open D tuning.
Currently I have a lot on my work in progress list. My last song I wrote lyrics for is just doom metal nonsense. They make no sense at all but the music I have planned for it will make sense because I need the mood in my music. I like to have feeling in my work.
Another one is called "Twilight Melancholy" which... Actually has some meaning. The setting is a bleak forest that a tormented soul is wondering through and he speaks to the spirits of that land and is finally granted eternal rest after learning that he is really dead and there's no purpose in him wandering the forest looking for his people in his life.
Once I buy Reaper (a very high quality recording software) I can post samples for you guys
Lastly, my influences (metal heads feel free to toss in your input as well!) include a lot of European death/black metal. They include: Opeth, Amorphis, Borknagar, Dimmu Borgir, Amon Amarth, Moonsorrow, Agalloch, Wolves in the Throne Room, Dream Theater, Nevermore, Iced Earth, (one more) and Necrophagist. That's only a fraction of what I listen to. But many of them influence and inspire me.
And that's my wonderful world of music!