Have we reached the Paul quota yet?
My name is Paul Martinez. I am 40 years old and have lived in Dallas, Texas since February 23rd, 1987, 11:14pm CDT. I made a point to make note of the time when I stepped off the plane from Kodiak, Alaska (where I had been a working musician for 3 ½ years). Although I am not overly fond of Dallas, it doesnt suck bad enough for me to move anywhere else yet. I am buried in the deepest recesses of middle management for an enormous telecommunications firm, which suits me just fine.
I started out on clarinet when I was in 7th grade, and learned all the woodwinds and brass, as well as mallet percussion, through my senior year in high school. I had aspirations of becoming a band director, but they quickly faded when I came to the realization that I dont like being around kids. Dont get me wrong, I think kids are great, just not in proximity (I am the 11th of 13 children and have over 50 nieces/nephews my parents were that awkward combination of Catholics without a TV).
I picked up guitar when I was in high school and have played it to varying degree ever since. I bought a Korg Poly6 without a users manual when I was in Alaska and got hooked on the synthesis bug. Then MIDI happened
I have played keyboards, guitar, bass, sax and percussion in way too many non-descript bands over the years. I gave up live performance a few years after moving to Dallas, and now spend my spare time writing, recording and troubleshooting my gear (not necessarily in that order of occurrence OR preference).
My current set-up is:
- Roland D70 (mostly just used as a controller)
- Roland JV880
- Korg05DR (replaced my M1)
- Alesis NanoPiano
- Roland R-8M drum module (2)
- Proteus 1/XR
- Baldwin baby grand in the living room
- Mackie 1604VLZ
- Yamaha monitors
- Alesis RA100 amp
- A butt-load of low- to mid-priced effects units
- Athlon 900mhz PC w/256Meg of RAM, Audiophile 24/96 soundcard running Sonar XL with the included DXi synths
- Roland VS1680 w/two effects cards
- Electra MPC guitar circa 1981 (which I love more than any Strat, Tele or Gibson I ever owned)
- Cheapo Ibanez 4 string bass
- Martin Indiana alto sax that a friend of mine found in his attic years ago and gave to me
- Bundy Tenor sax in the attic waiting to be given to someone else
- One tabla that my roommate brought back from a trip to India, which I have no idea how to play but makes great sounds
- Variety of percussion instruments, noise makers, toy instruments
- AT C3000 microphone
- Thousands of feet of MIDI and audio cables, but never the right length for what I need
- Birds who live in the fireplace near my workstation that seem to really dig singing when I am trying to record
I write in varied styles, depending on which lyricist I am working with at the time. My own stuff is sort of Ambient/Prog/Jazz with a smattering of unidentifiable percussive sounds thrown in.
Thanks for the thread, and the opportunity to meet so many interesting people. One of the best things that happened to me this year was finding these forums, and I look forward to visiting as often as possible.
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What's on, your mind?
