Ask HN: Any interesting niche hobbies? • Hacker News Board

Re: Ask HN: Any interesting niche hobbies?

#661

Post by vectordust » Thu, Apr 09, 2026, 3:33 PM UTC

gglitch wrote: post #278

vectordust wrote: post #46

Despite AI starting to crowd this space, I've been spending all of my free time learning music production (doing it the old fashion way without AI). It's a great mix of technical and creative problem solving. Mostly focusing on dark ambient/cinematic composition, playing around hardware synths (Prophet 6, Subsequent 37, modular / eurorack, Digitone II). If anyone is curious, I put out a single recently (remaster from…

Ion Dunes is outstanding. Very nice work. I would be happy to hear more, and would very much enjoy a writeup too.

Thank you so much for that! I've actually been debating starting a self hosted blog (or maybe a Substack...) to capture and document my process and provide more context around the music I'm producing, maybe I'll spend some time working on that this weekend!

Edit: for anyone who may be interested, I've created a Substack for this: https://substack.com/@vectordust

I'll likely setup a self hosted blog on vectordust.com to mirror any Substack posts I make as well, so I truly own those posts.

Re: Ask HN: Any interesting niche hobbies?

#662

Post by dyauspitr » Thu, Apr 09, 2026, 3:35 PM UTC

vishkk wrote: post #641

dyauspitr wrote: post #431

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Qawali is some of the best music in the world, but I think it’s a little hard for a western audience to digest, especially without someone providing a running translation and context behind a lot of the things being said. That being said, your website is wonderful! Nice work.

Thank you, and absolutely! I have been trying to get more people to try — my friend and i host a Zoom listening session every 3 months or so where he curates a playlist to introduce new artists.

I would love a link if you’re willing to publicly share it!

Re: Ask HN: Any interesting niche hobbies?

#663

Post by nutjob2 » Thu, Apr 09, 2026, 4:06 PM UTC

pxndxx wrote: post #602

nutjob2 wrote: post #184

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> You have to accept that 5-15% of the people who would show up to something like this are genuine weirdos you probably don't want to be around. Yep, thats me.

We all find different people weird. You just need to find the weirdos you vibe with.

Exactly. I actually find normies quite unbearable.

My comment was not very serious. I can easily pull off a normie affect, but the most disappointing thing to me is most people's inability to cope with even a little strangeness.

Re: Ask HN: Any interesting niche hobbies?

#664

Post by vectordust » Thu, Apr 09, 2026, 4:09 PM UTC

evancarter wrote: post #428

vectordust wrote: post #46

Despite AI starting to crowd this space, I've been spending all of my free time learning music production (doing it the old fashion way without AI). It's a great mix of technical and creative problem solving. Mostly focusing on dark ambient/cinematic composition, playing around hardware synths (Prophet 6, Subsequent 37, modular / eurorack, Digitone II). If anyone is curious, I put out a single recently (remaster from…

Very nice listen. Perfect sort of song to have on while working. It reminds me of an album called Obsidian by Jónsi. It had a special exhibit at the museum of old and new art in Tasmania that was stupendous. ( https://www.tanyabonakdargallery.com/exhibitions/741-jonsi-h... )

That is a mighty compliment that this reminds you of Jónsi, thank you for that! He has been an inspiration of mine for a long time, amongst a long list of other very talented artists.

I had no idea about his Obsidian project, I will certainly be taking a look at that, thanks for the recommendation!

Re: Ask HN: Any interesting niche hobbies?

#665

Post by asaskevich » Thu, Apr 09, 2026, 4:11 PM UTC

My hobbies are not niche in themselves; however, they are giving me the chance to distract myself from IT and to do something that inspires me and gives me some skills.

My philosophy around hobbies is that every learned skill can be reused in different areas.

So, I'm trying to: - taking photos. I have photography equipment and some experience in nature/portrait photography;

- learning languages. Not only mainstream languages like English (I'm not a native English speaker), but languages like Latin or Interslavic;

- biking and running. Just get a good health habit to clear your mind and improve your overall state after a long working day;

- playing musical instruments. I have a ukulele, guitar, and keyboard so I'm trying to make my own music;

- collecting antique items. For that, on every trip I'm trying to visit flea markets, where sometimes I find interesting items.

- vinyl music. That hobby is connected with the previous one;

- playing Go. I found this game much more interesting than Chess;

- bartending. Not only classical cocktails but some random mixes;

Sailing, archery are some I'm looking into at this moment.

Re: Ask HN: Any interesting niche hobbies?

#666

Post by wazHFsRy » Thu, Apr 09, 2026, 4:11 PM UTC

kakacik wrote: post #619

wazHFsRy wrote: post #458

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thank you for sharing that. I am going to save this one. Does that work for you? Could you shift from winning at things to just doing them?

I can attest to this, in my own way. I had a headstart since nobody ever pushed me, parents werent competitive fuckups and thus their child wasnt. I do climbing, hiking, skiing, skitouring, diving, weightlifting, used to do paragliding, now trying to pick up wind surfing. None of those sports on high level, just keeping it cca the same. Climbing is a good example since every climbing route is exactly graded for overa…

That sounds awesome! I basically do all the same sports, but I always need to win or to get better at them. I am trying to move in your direction though.

Re: Ask HN: Any interesting niche hobbies?

#667

Post by jedberg » Thu, Apr 09, 2026, 4:29 PM UTC

bombcar wrote: post #652

jedberg wrote: post #317

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It takes about 10 hours per minute of song to make a sequence like that. Imagine if AI could help speed that up!

I wonder if you can break down the sequences into segments (parts) and then the AI doesn't have to know how to control LEDs directly, but can instead put sequences together in accordance with the music. Maybe even process MIDI files somehow ...

When we do it as humans, that's basically how we do it. We may have an overall idea for a theme across the song, but usually you're zoomed into a few seconds of music and adding light effects to it.

Re: Ask HN: Any interesting niche hobbies?

#668

Post by bombcar » Thu, Apr 09, 2026, 4:35 PM UTC

jedberg wrote: post #667

bombcar wrote: post #652

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I wonder if you can break down the sequences into segments (parts) and then the AI doesn't have to know how to control LEDs directly, but can instead put sequences together in accordance with the music. Maybe even process MIDI files somehow ...

When we do it as humans, that's basically how we do it. We may have an overall idea for a theme across the song, but usually you're zoomed into a few seconds of music and adding light effects to it.

I assume you've seen this https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47675446 which is related

Re: Ask HN: Any interesting niche hobbies?

#669

Post by ggambetta » Thu, Apr 09, 2026, 4:38 PM UTC

ttsalami wrote: post #653

ggambetta wrote: post #128

I'm into book restoration, here's a gallery: https://photos.app.goo.gl/1oNxCfKJp4k6yjoZ9 Much less niche, but I'm also really into acting: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=do5PicgU0Jw

Hi! I've been interested in starting book restoration as a hobby as well, are there any resources you recommend to start learning?

I learned primarily by trial and error, haven't found any good articles or videos :(

Re: Ask HN: Any interesting niche hobbies?

#670

Post by microscoper » Thu, Apr 09, 2026, 4:38 PM UTC

kraftverk_ wrote: post #510

microscoper wrote: post #319

I think a really underrated hobby is amateur Microscopy, I don't know why its not more popular. Looking at moss, pond water, microbes, tardigrades, paramecia, cells, plants, crystals, stuff around the house You can get a decent microscope for like $250 and just get a smartphone mount to take high quality pictures/videos. I feel like with astronomy/telescopes you spend a ton of money just to see a blurry blob whereas…

Any suggestions for a good bang for the buck microscope? I have been wanting to get one for ages

I got a Swift SW380T and have been pretty impressed with it

These are some examples of the quality taken with an iPhone: https://imgur.com/a/Fvgfk7J

When I started out I got a lot of good info from the youtube channel Microbehunter