|
Over the last eighteen years I have developed a keen interest in playing electronic keyboards. It's a great way of de-stressing after the rigours of the day (well even in
retirement it can get stressful....), but I am no Rick Wakeman! I am self-taught, but decided in 2004 that it was time to improve my playing technique with the assistance of
an experienced tutor who is helping me to develop a more structured and informative approach to keyboard playing.
I began in 1987 with a simple 49 note mini keyboard,
which gave me sufficient confidence that this was not a short-term fad, so in 1988 I took the plunge and brought a Roland E20 five octave synthesiser. By 1994 and after
consultations with the finance director (the other half!) I went for the Technics KN2000, at the time it was a major leap forward in functionality, which enabled me to more fully
explore my fledging musical talents. By 1999 technology and my skills had moved on sufficiently to justify a KN5000, which I kept until 2002
My current keyboard,
Technics KN7000, represents state of the art technology and contains many superb sampled sounds, as well as being highly configurable to enable me to be more expressive as well as
exploring a wider variety of musical taste.
I tend to enjoy playing big band/ orchestral pieces covering the 30's through to 70's period. Also, I get together with
friends periodically to jam - all good fun! I have also explored the use of the sequencer in conjunction with my computer running Cakewalk Sonar to widen my sound experience,
as well as helping me to improve my playing skills, particularly timing.
There are many web sites devoted to the distribution of MIDI files and a number of specialist sites
which contain some excellent examples of sound & rhythms submitted by other keyboard users or forums.
|
