This is the area where you can listen to an amateurs music.
Let me explain…
So I started playing the piano at age 5. Forced I should say as I hated it. I had to practice five minutes per day. I could not go out and play with my friends until the practice was finished. Hmmm. Well, when I was five – that could be a battle between my mother and me. And battles with my mother never went well with my father when he got home after work. But battle we did for I don’t know (ask my sisters!) maybe 4 years? And trouble/beatings, well, let’s just say occurred on occasion. It was a different time…
Classical Music…with a strict teacher (who was great I would figure out. Where is she?).
Fast forward a few years. I was listening to my hippie sisters albums and liked some of those. Mellow mostly. Folksy. But good. Picture Cat Stevens “Morning Has Broken”. And let’s not forget The Beatles White Album with “Happiness Is A Warm Gone” (yes it is). Elton John, Yellowbrick Road was another. Janis Joplin. Woodstock.
A few more years go by. I like playing the piano. I can play quite a bit, in fact if I like what I’m playing it doesn’t take too long to master it. If I don’t like it – well, aint happening.
I want to go electric. I want an organ. My mother buys me a Baldwin church organ; a big organ with two manuals and a full foot board. It’s not a Hammond, but It works.
I’d guess at thirteen years old I buy my first album – The Yes Album by Yes. I don’t exactly recall why but I think it was Starship Trooper that I was into…
I can now improvise on the Piano which I love. I am playing piano for my high school Glee Club, easy credits and an easy grade. I am now creating my own music based upon chord progressions in key signatures that I like. I’m also rocking out on blues…I’m playing 1-2 hours per day. My fingers are cooperating and I like what they can do.
In hindsight, I might have been the first New Age Keyboardist. I like slower BPM. I like sound effects and background natural noise. When New Age actually occurs, I feel slighted. I had been playing those progressions, baselines, and leads for years and there are witnesses…But to be fair, I didn’t ever try to go pro. Didn’t have the cajones.
My first synth was an M1. I recently gave it to the Salvation Army. My second synth was a Roland JP-8000. I still have it. I’m keeping it. Fast forward !! 30 Years !! I’m Native Instruments based in a large way (think terabytes) including their keyboards and Maschine. I tried hard to like Presonus Studio One and I did/do. But it’s just not friendly with Native Instruments (enough for me). So now I’m Apple Logic based. My pieces are connecting and I’ve got flow.
Influencers: Classic Rock. It was the 70s. Zep. Who. Stones. Doors. Pink Floyd! Then came Queen, Yes, ELP. Pink Floyd! Etc. Being a keyboardist my idol was Rick Wakeman. More on this later.
It was a different era. I saw many of these bands, and many more, in little New Haven CT, in a little arena. I’d push my way to the stage to attempt to figure out what the hell the keyboard players were doing with their equipment. I was mesmerized. I had No Clue. So I became an Electrical Engineer.
