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Michelle ggurl

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About Michelle ggurl

  • Birthday 11/30/1999

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  • homepage
    www.michellepollace.com
  • Location
    near San Francisco
  1. Not anymore. I have a school-age kid, my husband and I have busy daytime schedules, plus I am still leading a band (we play only 1 to 3 times per month at this point), and we don't do many date nights. As a family, we all do tae kwon do. That is a significant commitment multiple nights (and part of a weekend morning) per week. Aside from my own gigs, I seem to go out to see friends' bands on rare occasion, or do date night with hubs which involves a nice meal out but usually doesn't include catching a show. Just the way it is right now for me.
  2. I have well-documented arm issues here due to a neurovascular condition I developed before I really began playing out much ... I don't know if your problems feel the same, but I can tell you that I can play on a real acoustic piano all day, but really struggle with actions in digital keyboards. I have held onto my Kurzweil PC2 forever (and into the foreseeable future) because its semi-weighted action and aftertouch seem to be the easiest for me to tolerate. I also notice I like the Nord Stage HA with aftertouch, but when I had the Nord Piano HA88 *without* aftertouch, I couldn't really tolerate it. So consider that whatever cushioning the aftertouch ribbon affords might make it more playable for you (depending on the mechanics of your actual pain issue). I always feel like weighted actions on digital boards are either too heavy, or if they're lighter they just bottom out too hard. The only way around this for me has been as described above. FYI the Kurzweil PC2 and Artis 7 both have the Fatar TP8 76-key semiweighted action. And I like it just fine in both. (Although my Artis has a defect that means I can't gig it out anymore, so that sucks.).
  3. Hi Guys, thanks for the additional info. Yes, I would classify mine as an "explosion." It happened two times while setting up for a gig, and once while at home. It definitely is a full-volume shriek of a hiss, and, yeah, terrifying through a gig setup. Rockinroller, I remember you raving about the Artis! After PMing with you I realized this might be what I need, and indeed, I was so happy once I dug into it and started playing out with it. It really seemed to fit the bill perfectly. Tom, thank you for showing me the emails convsersations you had. I did not get that far when attempting to get help through Kurzweil. Very frustrating, but now that I know this is an issue that THEY know about, I'm going to press again.
  4. Thanks so much, everyone, for your replies. I did contact someone from Kurzweil initially, as the rep who answered my ticket was the one who gave me the places to take it to. So disheartening to know this is a Artis 7-wide problem. Actually, a Kurzweil-wide problem (Chris, Moj, Tom, you know my pain ...and Allan, with the Roland). I think I will not be replacing with another Kurz for a while. The rep closed out my ticket even though I responded it was still happening, so I think I will open another ticket and point him to this thread so he/she can see what a travesty this is. I will be trying the Casio PX-5 I have again ... I have been doing some treatments that are giving me better tolerance for other keybeds, and I do like that keyboard aside from the pain (what a weird sentence, lol), so I will have to see. Ugh. Thanks also, MoodyBlues Keys for the insight on lead solder vs. newer solder. I don't think I have the confidence, patience, or time to tackle a job like that myself, but the latter guy I took it to said he did get in there and check everything and clean it up ... but as you say, it's probably something you can see. *sigh* OK. Well, if Dave Weiser has any input, or if I get success in talking to a Kurz rep, I will let you know. It's not right so many of us seem to have had this issue.
  5. Hi everyone, long time no post! Sorry I've been a bit of a ghost around here for ... well, a long time. Certain demanding family issues mean I have very, very little time for even music at the moment (but I am still gigging, etc). Anyway, hoping someone here can help. I am at my wit's end. A couple years ago I bought a Kurzweil Artis 7. Thing is, I bought it used. From Guitar Center. Things were going great, until about a year into ownership, it started intermittently making this horrible digital-distortion noise, which would just come on suddenly and LOUD. The first time it happened, I was setting up my rig to play a coffee house/restaurant that has a nice listening clientele. We were using the house PA. I had set everything up, then suddenly, KSSHSHHHSHSHHSHSHSH!! Hugely loud static noise deafens everyone in the joint. We quickly start turning things down, realizing it's coming from my keyboard, but we don't know if it's the board itself or somwhere else in the signal chain. I turned off the keyboard (among other pieces of gear), and the noise did not return. The next time it happened some months later and after several uses in between, I was setting up for a gig in a LIBRARY. KSSHSHHHSHSHHSHSHSH!! Fortunately we were in a dedicated performance room, but it kinda shook me and made me wary of whether it would do it again during performance. This is when I realized, this was an intermittent problem and definitely was the Artis, not the PA since this PA was mine, completely different from the PA used at the venue we'd played at the first time the noise happened. Months went by. At this point the keyboard is sitting in my closet till I have time to take it up to one of two authorized repair places in my area, and I'm back to using my very old Kurzweil PC2, "the purple dinosaur". [Those of you familiar with me understand that I have a neurovascular condition that makes any digital weighted keybed hurt my arm ... dunno why, but only acoustic pianos and semi-weighted keys will do, and as a jazz piano player, the best I've found is the Fatar TP-8. Both PC2 and Artis have the TP8, totally the reason I bought it ... plus I like Kurzweil products in general.] I finally take it up to one place. They have it for 3 weeks, couldn't replicate the problem. There's a diagnostic fee down the drain. Months pass. I have time to take it to a second place, and the guy who runs it is in country (he leaves a lot). He has it for 3 weeks and gets the sound to happen. Problem is, he doesn't know if it's the motherboard, some other power circuitry, or one other thing he mentioned to me. It could be a bad solder. But without a $700 motherboard lying around, he can't just swap it out to "see". Ugh! What do I do?? This keyboard is a doorstop now ... unless someone knows about this problem and a solution for it. My PC2 is battle-scarred and has been a reliable tank. Really disappointed in this Artis, never expected a Kurzweil keyboard to do this. But I guess I took my chances buying it used, even if from GC (I think it was refurbed but for some reason, can't find this ONE receipt, out of all the receipts I have). I don't need a dummy controller, I have other boards that function standalone I can use for that. Can I sell it with the caveat that it makes this noise? Or do I have some kind of recourse I'm not aware of? You folks are the most knowledgeable group I know when it comes to gear, I figure if anyone has ideas on what to do next, it's you. Whew, that was longer than I anticipated! If you read this far, thanks for doing so.
  6. As a sufferer from chronic injury due to overuse injuries stemming from poor posture, I wouldn't advise this for any length of time. Not sure what benefit can be gained from sitting on the couch and "noodling" since your muscle memory from playing keys has a lot to do with your position relative to the keys; as Bobby said, you don't hold a keyboard like you do guitar. You sit at it. That being said, I have used a micro MIDI controller to input notes while creating charts, sitting on a couch. But not for very long. Get up and take breaks if you're determined to do this, for whatever reason. FWIW I had a minor flareup of my condition from using my laptop while reclining on the couch. Posture can be an insidious creator of body ailements!
  7. Crazy stuff, guys! I don't really have stories that compare, but there was the gig where some guy, a friend of one of the band members, was introduced to me. He had a brown paper bag with booze he smuggled into the bar ... So that's a red flag ... He takes my hand and acts like he's gonna kiss it (which I wasn't into) but LICKS it instead. Gross! I let loose with some angry words and caustic sarcasm that I'm sure mostly went over his head (figuratively and literally; and I'm pretty short, so ...). Then there were a few drunken marriage proposals (mostly while playing in the same band, same bar, different nights -- don't miss those days). But the oddest reactions had to be a couple times when women would come up to me after the band's set and say something like, "you're the keyboard player? Omigod, you are SUCH a BITCH!" Looking at me like she wants to start a fight, the woman quickly adds, "what I mean is, you are SO GOOD!!" Um, OK. Thank you? Had that happen twice, two different cities (and presumably different women). But those are past bands. These days, things seem relatively urbane and polite. I much prefer it this way, lol.
  8. +1! Nothing short of amazing, man. You may not want to replicate the woodworking portion of this, but the concept of "modular organ" probably has a market if you wanted to get into the MI field ...
  9. Wow, this brings back memories ... I used to play both (all three) of these tunes in college. I knew I was ignorant about how Scholtz did that bending sound on "Smokin'". I just used a pitch bend wheel and figured I was doing something "wrong" but it was the closest I could get to reproducing it and it seemed to pass muster, so ... Wastrel, I like your idea of the double-handed trill. How do the rest of you achieve the desired pitch changing affect when you play it?
  10. Well, I posted in the "CDs available" thread above so I hope it's not improper for me to post here too ... but, you know, maybe you just want to hear music and wouldn't think to check the CD thread for that purpose. Anyway, snippets of the new CD are up: http://www.zaratepollace.com/music.htm Since I took the old music off the site months ago ... now you know what I've been up to all this time. I hope you enjoy it.
  11. Wow, this is almost like a parallel universe of sorts ... reflects my past for sure! Except my Juno never collected dust (I didn't particularly want to be Nick Rhodes, either ...). You know I still have that Cube 60 sitting in a closet somewhere?
  12. OK, I've been lurking and lobbing the occasional post long enough, now. Hi everyone. I play keys, bass, and hand percussion and sometimes I try to sing and play guitar ... the results just aren't as good in that realm. I'm a self-employed writer/editor working for major publishers and small companies on books, magazines, marketing and technical docs ... and I'm currently about to release a self-published music instruction/method book with a fellow musician/teacher. I've played in lots of bands. I've recorded some stuff, my own and as bassist and keyboardist for other people. My keys rig: Nord Electro 2 and Kurzweil PC2. Not used: Roland U20 (anyone wanna buy it? heh), Roland Juno 106 (not for sale). The band I'm in now has music clips up: www.zspmusic.com So, hello everyone!
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