(Bumping the thread, just 'cause!)
I am very analytical when it comes to music. Naturally, on a song with multiple instruments, if I listen closely, I hear all the instruments and know quite a few of the notes by ear. However, I'm sort of like Paul McCartney or Phil Collins in a way, as in I've never been an expert at reading or writing music in any way. Naturally, I am a percussionist in the high school band. I can easily play music for things like bass drum, snare drum, cymbals, even timpani, but only once in a while will I play mallets. Even though I love mallets dearly, I'm no quick music reader. It takes me a while to play things on 'keyboards' (which is what mallets are collectively called).
I have also been crazy about musical instruments for quite a while, whether it's a keyboard, a guitar, a bass, strings, woodwinds, horns, percussion...anything, really! Lately, I've had an obsession with them!