A Change Of Tack

[AndyB01]

Sooo, after far too many years of messing around with multiple DAWs and VSTs, owning a MIDI controller that thinks it's a digital piano (but isn't) and becoming increasingly frustrated by my inability to turn musical ideas and ambition into reality (due to a lack of chops); I've decided it's time to unplug for a while and cut out the distractions.

So I've sold my old Roland A-88 Mk 1 MIDI controller and some other gear, and at some point in the next few months I'll purchase a decent digital/ stage piano. My intention is to spend more time concentrating on becoming a better musician and less time being distracted by the tinsel and baubles of VSTs, or recording half-baked projects that never get completed.

I will still be able to use the new piano for some MIDI work if I get the urge, but I'm really looking forward to the shift in focus.

But in the short term I've got a gorgeous new grandson to spend some time with and a whole heap of home improvements to do, so music is going to take a back seat for a while.

As a result of all this, you'll see me around on here less often.

In the meantime, here's wishing all of you all the best in your personal and musical endeavours.

Signing off for now.

Andy

[57Gregy]

7 hours ago, AndyB01 said:

I've got a gorgeous new grandson to spend some time with

Is he VST or DX? 😁

Good luck!

[Shane_B.]

One of these days I'm going to get a real piano. There is always a lot of them for free online.

I recently saw one for free that was sad. It was in a 200 plus year old mansion. They had turned the mansion in to a museum and they were closing their doors. The ad read something to the effect of they were sadly closing and nobody would take the piano and it was going to the dump by the end of the week. It was a large piano so I can understand why nobody could take it.

[Amberwolf]

2 hours ago, Shane_B. said:

One of these days I'm going to get a real piano. There is always a lot of them for free online.

I found one a few years ago on Freecycle, and hauled it home; had to rebuild my trailer with duallies to be sure it would handle the weight.   Was not a lot of fun to get it onto (and off of) the trailer, and into the house, but was fun learning to tune it and then be able to play a real one (vs the keyboards i have always had instead).   

 

I keep thinking I should install some mics in it to see if I can use JamOrigin's MIDI Guitar to convert it's output to MIDI (since I can't replay anything I am playing; I am 195% "improvisation".  because my brain doesn't work right. 

 

2 hours ago, Shane_B. said:

I recently saw one for free that was sad. It was in a 200 plus year old mansion. They had turned the mansion in to a museum and they were closing their doors. The ad read something to the effect of they were sadly closing and nobody would take the piano and it was going to the dump by the end of the week. It was a large piano so I can understand why nobody could take it.

I would've loved a regular (non-upright) piano, but it'd have had to be disassembled to get it in the house. :lol:   

 

Edited 20 hours ago by Amberwolf

[mettelus]

12 hours ago, Amberwolf said:

I would've loved a regular (non-upright) piano, but it'd have had to be disassembled to get it in the house.

I was thinking that when Shane mentioned no one would take the free piano from the museum and remembered your trailer pic! A grand piano requires a lot of finesse and know-how (especially with disassembly) to move without damaging it. A dump is a sad fate, but a school could probably use it.

As much a a real piano would be cool, I always have to consider my own limitations. I get impatient tuning 12-strings, so a piano might get done once... it would end up becoming just a cool-looking piece of furniture. I have yet to tune a digital piano (or VSTi). I knew a guy who had a grand in his dining room (he played it often), but you couldn't dine in that room... kinda hard to scoot a grand piano out of the way to work on other projects.

  

On 2/22/2025 at 7:13 AM, AndyB01 said:

I've decided it's time to unplug for a while and cut out the distractions.

I made a similar decision years ago, so best of luck to you. Sitting in front of a computer is almost the antithesis of being creative. I play guitar mostly, so my last big purchase was actually hardware (HELIX Floor) and I use wireless so I am not leashed to anything while playing. Just being able to walk around or even sit in another room has been beneficial for me. I hope all goes well for you!

Edited 8 hours ago by mettelus