TyPie
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Posts posted by TyPie
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The Roland W-30 Workstation (the world's 1st "workstation" !) rocked and completely changed my world.
Primarily a trumpet and guitar player, I had endless hours of fun learning not only piano, but synthesis, sampling, music theory, harmony, arranging, sequencing / recording.....I could go on for hours.
I still have it!
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Gillette,
I was in a similar boat not all that long ago. Trumpet player & guitar player here, and some 'functional' piano (which means I'm terrible at piano....), but am heavily into writing and recording. I will never be a concert pianist, or a performing pop / rock pianist for that matter. (But then again.....one can dream. I'm starting to get around the boards a little.).
I wanted 1.) a keyboard to aid in writing, arranging, voicing, and getting my ideas into my DAW. 2.) MIDI for dialing in sounds 3.) a good selection of on-board sounds 4.) Light, and less than 88 keys.
I started looking at the smaller 46-key boards.
I eventually landed on a Roland FA-07. No matter what I compared it to for what I was looking for, I found it hard to believe the bang-for-buck of this board. You can stay as simple as you like (I spent the first few weeks just auditioning the sounds, mostly various pianos, electric pianos, string & synth pads -- a matter of pressing a single button, or maybe TWO buttons. OR, you can go significantly deep if you want to. There are quite a few other features, some of which I may never use much, though it's definitely something I will spend a long time growing into, which is not a bad thing, since digital music tech is changing more rapidly than we think.
All the best in your search!
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We generally never allow sit-ins unless we know them.
For one memorable exception during a wedding reception, a guy walks up to me at the end of the gig and says, "I'll give you a hundred bucks to let me borrow your guitar for one song."
Now, I'm REALLY protective of all my babies, but I asked him a couple questions, made sure he wasn't completely toasted, thought about it for, maybe 5 seconds (acting really reluctant), and said, "SURE! DEAL!".
The gig was over anyway, and I was about to pack up.
The crowd loved it, I loved it (for the 5-minute short-term 'rental' and the guy's impressive GUTS), and the guy's girlfriend was duly impressed, as the love song he played and sang solo was dedicated to her. Win-Win-Win!
Love is a beautiful thing, no?
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This scam has been going around under different scenarios.
A friend of my wife was recently looking for a relatively rare (and very expensive) breed of dog. She located one out-of-state in a Craigslist ad, I believe. On contacting the 'seller', she got the same set of instructions, to contact specified "middle man" that will ship the dog for............ you guessed it............. $450.00.
Beware! Whatever your wants and interests may be, there is a scammer in the shadows.
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Some guitar jewelry, as well as a nifty pick holder complete with velcro:
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I still have mine! Mint condition! I believe this was one of the earliest all-in-one 'workstations', if not the first, to combine a synth, sampler & sequencer in one box.
Ahhhh, the fondest of memories. Great machine for its time.
Yes, the OS 'system' is on a floppy disk (The 'System' Disk). Sound libraries are still available, also on floppies.
The only 'hacks' I am aware of, is that the floppy drive can be replaced / converted to a USB drive, with the System Disk and sound libraries now available on a USB stick. Roland sampler data & sounds of that era can also be read and manipulated by the W-30. (I haven't made the conversion.).Parts, the drives, sound libraries, scsi conversion kit, and updated chip all appear to be available if you look around a bit.
I don't know of any hacks to the software, though. May be capable of being hacked, but even today's keyboards most likely have the built-in capability to do more than what we are fed, I think.
This site may have additional info: The W-30 Page
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Very surprised to hear about your experience with Musicians Friend!
20 years ago, I looked all over for a turn-of-the-century American Fender Strat with an Ash body in a natural (blonde) finish, because I couldn't find one anywhere. MF had it and I ordered it sight unseen without problems. (What a guitar!) Since then, I have purchased a bunch of PA sound equipment (including a mixing board), accessories, and a $2,000 workstation (3 years ago). All told, I'd say pretty close to $10k. The keyboard had an unresponsive key. I returned it and they sent a new one without incident.
I'm not affiliated with MF in any way, but I sure know the feeling of waiting for a $2k piece of fragile, delicate electronic gear to be shipped and 'dropped' at your front door! Sorry it had to happen to you.
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I've been a keys-only player all my life (40+ years), and never really had the bandwidth for a second instrument until now.
Drums, bass, and guitar have all been attractive, but I've landed on guitar, since that's the biggest "pull". I've started/stopped guitar practice and lessons at least three times in my life. Now's the time to make significant headway.
Guitar definitely requires rewiring my older brain, as there's an additional axis of control and as well as totally different hand coordination. (I'm a lefty, too, so my "air guitar" instinct is to strum with the left hand, although I manage well enough with the right.)
For the moment I'm working through a method book with a small guitar but will audition beginner acoustics soon.
For anyone else who has made this same leap, what was your path?
Johnchop,
I am going in the opposite direction. Too funny! Is the grass really greener over there?
A lot of years here on both guitar and trumpet, looking to develop some fundamental keyboard skills. I lurk on here often, as I have a degree in music, a workstation, and less-than-squat piano chops. Plus, I am always interested in what is going on in the world of keyboards, synthesis, music tech, plug-ins, etc. Thanks to step sequencing and the ability to slow down tempo (a LOT), I am usually able to plunk out decent progressions & voicings. Just trying to get the time it takes down from maybe 3 months or so to a couple of weeks for one complete progression......lol. I have the theory - I can see complex chords and inversions, with extensions on the keys. But actually PLAYING them, in time, is a whole nuther story.
Here' my suggestions for guitar, in somewhat of a high level overview of 'areas', in a workable order of study:
Did I mention callouses yet? (John Lennon's quote, "I got blisters on my fingers" was yelled out for a reason-----agony!).
1.) The 'open' chords (cowboy chords), the triads at the nut of the guitar: Maj, min, dim, aug, dom7. While you're in this area on the neck of the guitar, learn the E and A Blues scales in this position - it will make practicing a lot more fun (if you ask me).
Start learning the accessible Major scales in this area of the neck: E, F, G, A, B, C, D. (I suspect your lesson book is centered around this area of the neck.)
2.) 'Barre' chords plus 'Power' chords: There are 3 main 'groups'. The foundation of rock & pop. (Getting this far, you'll be able to adequately get up on stage and play TONS of stuff)
3.) The 'C-A-G-E-D' system of 'guitar theory', with chords (& scales) based on the chord shapes, C, A, G, E, & D chords & their derivatives min, min7, min7(-5), dom7, dim, aug, etc,
4.) Pentatonic Major, Pentatonic Minor & Blues scales, arpeggios.
5.) 7th Chords: Maj7, min7, min7(-5), min(7#5), dim7, dom7, dom7(-5), then, add / substitute available 'extensions' (2nds, 9ths, #9, 11, b13, 13, altered).
6.) Scales: Learn the Major, Minor scales in the 5 positions (C-A-G-E-D) with roots on the lower 2 strings. (Note: there are more positions / more 'forms' of the Major scale, 2-string, 3-string, etc.,& others especially if you have big hands and long fingers.)
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While studying any of these areas, dedicate time to play familiar melodies or phrases in different keys / different positions. Name the notes as you play them.
While studying the more 'advanced' chords:
6.) Pentatonic Maj, Pentatonic Min, & Blues scales in all positions (If you know these and can get around within them, you can play a TON of solos all over the neck.)
7.) The Modes - modal progressions, scales and where / when to use them.
Sorry - I'm getting carried away!
Not sure how much theory you have, but there is a whole lot of stuff here. (Lifetime journey if you want to really dig in.). You can do a lot with just the open chords. If you get thru #4 above, you can really do a lot of things with a guitar.
Good luck - hope this helps!
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Read an article the other day that said only 8% of the normal amount of workers in downtown NYC are coming in. The majority are remote working from home and the rest are laid off. There are now surveys of the major employers saying working from home has been much better than they expected and will probably continue with it going forward. That has huge implications for every downtown city center in the world much less NYC. We could be in the middle of a massive paradigm shift concerning where we live vs where we work. We're focused on all of the music venues because that's who we are but that could be the smallest part of this. Once this pandemic is over if less than 50% and it could be much less than that, return to work in NYC what does that do to city finances? Real estate prices, leases and rents, mass transit and probably much more I can't think of right now. People are starting to have that same conversation in LA and especially San Francisco. Traffic density in the LA area is about 60-70% of normal which is great on the surface but under the surface, it's horrible for the economy if it stays like that. LA is in the middle of a huge revitalization of downtown around Staples Center and it's mostly high rise residences. If people don't need that to work downtown, they can work remotely what does that do to that whole concept? People start moving out and those buildings are sitting on 30% vacancies or more? Major disruptions are coming I think.
Most people think that's great if it happens. Much less population density, less pollution, less expense, wonderful. But, look at the economic side for downtown areas. All those buildings have huge mortgages on them based on the value of those buildings which is based on construction costs and income those buildings can generate. If a large percentage of tenants leave, the valuations get cut by a large percentage leaving all those mortgages under water and the banks are sitting on huge losses. It's things like that that cause big recessions. Oh, wait we're already in one now so this would be in addition to what's already happening. That's not good at all. Eventually yes, it will all work itself out and we could wind up with a better world to work and live in but getting from here to there? It could take ten years or more. Here's now it could work for one of those NYC venues you guys are talking about. There's a big recession in NYC because of people moving out and working remotely. The venue is on a lease. The landlord can't get out from under his mortgage and goes BK. The whole building is shut down and so is the venue.
Pretty much everyone including me have thought a vaccine and better treatments are coming, it's just a matter of time and things will be as they were. Now I'm not so sure about that at least in the large metro areas.
Bob
I think there is much merit here to the real estate implications of covid-19 and working remotely.
One of my 'other' jobs is as a licensed certified general real estate appraiser, which encompasses both commercial and residential real estate valuation. The loud sucking sounds you are hearing around major US cities is the exodus of BOTH city-dwellers AND businesses fleeing them in droves, due both to the virus as well as the rioting, violence, and crime. Home prices in the suburbs are rising with the historically low mortgage interest rates, and with the state of technology and remote connectivity, the covid-19 crisis has clearly shown that there are not many GOOD reasons in many cases for employees to report to a physical office, what with commuting, tolls, pollution, wear-and-tear, the price of real estate and cost of maintenance, etc, etc, etc.
In my 'other-other' job as a computer programmer, we have received numerous company-wide 'kudos' since March for how smoothly our operations are running, and how quickly problems are resolved. (FWIW, I spend MORE undisturbed, focused and concentrated time working from home than I EVER was able to at the office with its open cubicle / open floor plan.)
The coming months, even if there is a treatment and / or vaccine sooner rather than later, will be interesting to watch to see how things play out. I believe there will be a reckoning.
Music? (my REAL job, heheheh). Not so good right now. I'm hoping that once there IS a treatment or vaccine, that there will be a huge pent-up demand for celebration with live music. One can hope and dream.
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Long time lurker here. LOVE this thread! (Can relate to every post)
1. Can"t remember the venue from years back, but it was an old, historically significant building for a wedding reception. We did the typical schlep of the equipment from the parking lot, through the kitchen, to a very narrow wooden stairway, complete with handrails. Destination? A tiny postage stamp sized 'balcony" over-looking the dining room where we needed to fit 5 pieces with full drum kit, keys rig, guitar rig, and 2 horn players. The only way we could fit, was to position the drummer"s throne DIRECTLY inside a small restroom, which opened to the balcony.
My comment to drummer: 'how perfectly fittingâ¦..'. Wouldn"t speak to me the rest of the night.
2. I do 2-3 gigs a year at a private club, upper east side, NYC. Schlepp gear for 5 pieces from the street, double-parked (there is rarely street parking available), a ½ block to the rear of the building where there is a TINY service elevator (designed for MAYBE 2 people). We are on the 3rd floor. BUT, the elevator door automatically closes after 5 seconds. We place a heavy case for a door stop. The elevator BELL then loudly sounds when the door is blocked. Club manager runs down, SCREAMING at top of lungs to NOT block the elevator door! So, we wind up THROWING the equipment in as fast as possible before door keeps closing to make a full load.
Go to park the car 2 city blocks away ($60.00 to park for the duration.)
End of gig, reverse the process.
On one of my recent trips, on a very busy NYC weekend, officials decide to CLOSE most lanes of the Lincoln Tunnel! Took no less than 4-1/2 hours of complete gridlock (in every direction), a foot at a time, to get from the upper east side of Manhattan to the Lincoln Tunnel, I kid you NOT!
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Fender Srat, Gibson Les Paul, Effects pedals galore, Bach Stradivarius (Trumpet)...
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Roland W30 - released in 1989, thirty years ago.
That would be a different twist for Behringer. A vocalist/songwriter I did some work for in the 90s had a W-30 in her home studio, and a collaborator from a few years earlier had a brand new Roland S-50. I used both keyboards quite a bit - for local demos and corporate training film underscores. In the late 80s and throughout the 90s the Roland sample library was very popular.
Still have mine. This was the machine that introduced me to synths, sampling, sequencing, midi, digital recording......the whole package. Brings a tear to my eye! I will never forget the feeling I had the first time I put together my first couple of original songs on it. I could hardly believe what was becoming possible!
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Mighty nice beer holder, there!
Will this accommodate one of those large red plastic cups, which I tend to gravitate to?
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Roland FA-07, with super duty x-stand & musician's bench. Ooooh la lahh........! Tremendous fun!
New to Musescore Libraries
in The Keyboard Corner
Posted
Not sure if you mean INSTRUMENT libraries or not.
I'm certainly no expert, but I use MuseScore 4 occasionally when I'm doing a quickie lead sheet, a quick song idea, or when I need to clean up or create a new version of an old lead sheet. It has the ability to play back any or all of the parts using built-in instruments (selections of brass, strings, piano, guitar, and others.), including the ability to play included chord changes that have been entered via chord symbols. It gives me a quick idea of what a piece will sound like. I can then export both a pdf and an audio file (in various audio formats such as .mp3, .wav, and more) into MobileSheets, which I have just started using, converting all my loose sheets of music and cheat sheets to digital files on a tablet. You can also export audio and MIDI to the DAW of your choice.
In browsing around the program, I see that you can load plugins, which I have not explored yet. Not sure if you can load your own, or if you must use designated MuseScore plugins. If I can get some quality time, I plan on exploring the plugins situation ----- I have TONS of them----and will report back.
The full version of MuseScore has come a long way, BUT...... Just last night I was looking at the android version. It does not support creating sheet music in the mobile version, and there are apparently no plans to do so. (That would be a real game-changer, and I think would put MuseScore on a par with StaffPad, which I have not used.)
Hope this helps!