My 11-year-old twins have always gotten bored well before the 5 minute mark when I try to simply show them this world of beats, buttons, synths, sounds, effects, filters, etc. and now I think they get bored around the -1 minute mark. “No thanks, dad.” I have so much stuff, all hardware, to make music with but nothing interests them. It really breaks my heart but maybe I’m not introducing it well. Any advice would be appreciated. Love you, ‘naut-nauts.
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Maybe they just dont like those kinds of sounds.
Have you tried guitars, drums? Do they actually want to make music?
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theyre more likely to be interested in it if you leave them the freedom and access to those things outside of monitored-by-dad time. give them the space to become interested, trying to force it will only make it lame.
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A microphone and a recorder is already much fun (ahem, for them).
There’s also the Dato Duo synth, a good way to get them into sequencing and synthesis:
You don’t. You let them get interested if they want to be, or you take interest in what they’re doing. Haha.
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I dont bother, happy for them to rebel against everything i love and do their own thing. Great to see them be their own person and they’ll end up just like me in the end anyway 
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I agree if they are not interested don’t try to force it, they might decide to be interested at a later date, or not, but if you try to push too much they will probably never be into it.
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keep the studio open and if they feel like jammin. all that gear is definitely intimidating. have to allow them their own discovery. cant force that.
what you can do is just show em how fun it is.
i remember my dad trying to help me w homework…. it was the worst thing ever never asked for his help ever since.
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I wouldn’t try to instill a gear obsession on anybody. Especially not your kids, who you will most likely have to foot the bill for. Buy them a nice laptop with a controller. Maybe they will be able to even use it to learn how to program or something and make some money.
Make a competition out of it. Best track doesn’t have to do chores for a week, or gets $10 or something. Then post the tracks here and we can all vote on them. It’s fun for everyone!
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Consider yourself lucky. Maybe they will take to investment banking instead and fund your lavish retirement. 
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For the love of all that is good and wholesome, don’t try to force your kids to be the Rick Astley you never were.
Let them find their own passion for music by themselves.
My biggest joys as a teenager was discovering ‘my music’.
I remember my dad shouting into my room when I had The Doors Who Do You Love drum intro on LOUD on my vinyl ‘why are you listening to that old stuff I used to listen to’ … it took away a little sparkle from my discovery
Failed sports parents are bad enough, but finding one’s own musical journey should not be ruined by an overzealous parent playing mix tapes on long car journeys and ruining everything from Hendrix to Aphex Twin as ‘Dad’ or ‘Mum’ music.
Worse still would be to force your kids in to MPC finger drumming tutorials. The kiss of death on their ever wanting to find it by themselves.
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To add to my comment, my dad (whom I don’t talk to anymore, but it’s mostly unrelated to this story) was a vintage race car driver when I was a kid before my parents split. I was into comic books and had no real interest in cars. Instead of trying to bond with me on my level, he tried to make me bond with him on his level. This created even more rebellion and disinterest in cars.
Also, I teach middle schoolers, and trust me when I say that if they’re not interested in something, trying to push it is a mistake (most of the time). Haha.
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They had piano lessons but never practiced unless my wife and I made them. Drums and guitar do not interest them. Wife and I don’t play traditional instruments. I rock the machines-OT, MD, A4 and other goodies. We all love to sing songs freely.
By the way, I absolutely love these responses.
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Sounds like theyre not into music then.
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It must be absolutely forbidden to even look at your machines. Like its the worst thing in the world if they even think about it.
Then just leave the house for a few days…
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Yeah, if your kids know you like something they’re genetically compelled to hate it.
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No expert but I would suggest that at that age, unless there’s an element of competitive fun between friends for making music to not expect much interest. Around this age, outside of rollerblading, mountain biking, playing footy we all went through obsessions with matchbox cars, marbles, basketball cards, yo-yos and all sorts of weird throwbacks like we were 7-8 again.
I also remember when I was that age my music taste was still really underdeveloped and was largely filtered through parents and mainstream radio and tv.
It was then probably another 3 or 4 years (15/16 yo) of discovering some new music on my own before I started to get an itch to play/write music myself - hearing guitar riffs for instance that compelled me to do some air guitar and eventually get gifted an electric.
Of course by that age music is wrapped up in all sorts of pubescent and hormonal feelings and emotions which tends to make it a lot more compelling.
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I second this. Between my 3 kids they play drums/piano/violin and soon cello. If I try to get them to mess with some of my gear (DT/DN/Polyend Tracker/etc) they arent too interested. While I dont just want them to have open access to that gear just yet, they do have more interest when left alone with the Casio SK-1 or a Volca etc. Gotta just give them space. And in the end they may not take to it. No big deal.
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