Topic: Well, I did it...

[RossRoy]

Some of you may, or may not, know, but I used to play in a band. I used to play Trombone. And I loved it! But social life being what it is, and things happening in the group and all, opinions started diverging and I ended up leaving the group. This was about 3 years ago.

For some time now, I've had an itch. An itch I never could satisfy... and Rock Band just kept leaving me wanting more... I've been wanting to play music again!

Thing is, I don't want to be in a band anymore. Too much trouble for what it's worth. So I need an instrument that is fun to play alone. Trombone is out, I've always HATED playing alone on the trombone. So I was looking at alternatives. As you know, I've been playing Eternal Sonata lately. And what is Eternal Sonata based on? Frederic Francois Chopin's life. What is Chopin known for? His complete work for Piano! Which is some of the best piano music ever written! Without forgetting this, of course!

So it got me thinking. I did play some piano when I was younger. But I gave it up when I started playing wind instrument. Thing is, I loved it! So I thought piano is perfect! And there's so many resource for piano beginners: charts, lessons, tutorials, teachers, etc.

So I did. I bought a piano! Mind you, and acoustical piano is way too expensive, and anyway, i wouldn't have room to place it in the house, not counting how the neighbors would react! So, I got a digital piano. Small, recreates the acoustical piano feel with weighted key, and I can play with headphones until I'm better

The Piano / The Stand / The Pedals

I'm psyched! It all cost a lot less that I was expecting! I've been looking, searching, digging, I even went to a store to try a few out, and all the models I liked would have been in the 1200$-1500$ range. So this morning, I found this Casio model, looked online for reviews, which were positive for the most part. Went to my local music shop to see if I could try it out, and they did have one! So I tested it. Feels nice, I liked it. So I bought it! came to a little over 800$, including the stand, pedals, taxes and shipping.

I can't wait!  

[DJ Doena]

Congrats! Unfortunately I've never had any musical talent neither voice-wise nor instrument-wise.

That still doesn't stop me from singing, though.

There have been reports that I sound as worse as Angel's try to sing "Mandy" here:



Still doesn't stop me.



But congrats again, I hope you enjoy playing.

[Kathy]

Congratulations! There is a web site called Freecyle that I check in on frequently ww.freecycle.org). I signed up for the Buffalo section and have been very lucky with some of the free things I have gotten. One of the things I was able to get for a friend was an antique 1800's piano. For some reason musical instruments comes up a lot on this site. This might be the same site Pete got a bad scanner from but I have yet to get anything that wasn't terrific. I sometimes wish I had the internet at home because I often see things I want, a laptop for instance, but by the time I reply to the person it is already given away. The purpose of the site is to recyle things that would otherwise be thrown in the garbage and end up in a landfill. It couldn't hurt to sign up and check out the things available near you.

[Touti]

I used to be a pretty good guitar player myself, I started at around 10 years old, nothing deserving a job as a professional but I really wasn't bad if I can say but work and life getting in the way of things, just like you I put it aside but much more than 3 years ago.  Actually 3 years ago is when I decided it was time to get rid of this stuff so I sold my guitars and my mandolins (which I had started playing about 10 years ago).

My sister has been taking singing lessons for a few years and did a few shows with her school and she's decided to buy herself a concert for her 50th birthday next year.  She's rented a small theater (Le petit Medley in Montreal) for a an evening and "hired" a few friends to sing with her.

She asked me to get back to playing and do a few songs with her, I accepted and started practicing but quickly realized that I lost it completely.  I totally remember what to do but I just can't do it anymore, I couldn't play the simplest thing without screwing up.  To be able to play with them I would have to practice at least 2 hours a day and most of my week-ends for months to be ready on time to rehearse with them for a few weeks before the show.  I obviously can't put so much time on it and I had to let her down.

I was totally shocked of having lost it so much and now I regret I ever stopped playing and knowing how hard it will be to get my playing back to what it once was I don't have the courage to do it.

I don't want to hijack your thread Seb but I wanted to say how much I think it's great that you acted on your feelings on this and made the move, you would have regretted it later if you had not........believe me.

Congratulations.

Now get to your keyboard and learn a few songs from that Jackson fellow everybody's talking about!!!

[RossRoy]

Yeah I know what you mean Eric. I had stopped previously for about a year before joining my last group, and I had lost a lot of ability, even in just that single year. It's incredible how much you lose by not practicing for even a short time, so I can't even begin to imagine how much would be lost after 10 years!

The most frustrating part for me, after that year break, was remembering everything I could do, and not even be able to do half of it. It frustrated me even more to know I could do it before, than to not be able to do it.

At least with piano, I can still rely on the fact I have the basic understanding and can read music.. but I will not have the frustration of knowing I could do something in the past. I'll just be relearning a new instrument. We'll see how it goes, I should have the piano sometime next week.

Now get to your keyboard and learn a few songs from that Jackson fellow everybody's talking about!!!

Who?? I must be living under a rock...

But I just found a piano chart for a sing called Thriller somehow.. Wonder who did that?

[Najemikon]

Well done you! Looks like a nice little setup. Good to see you haven't gone for some USB powered tinny crap thing... 

[RossRoy]

Well done you! Looks like a nice little setup. Good to see you haven't gone for some USB powered tinny crap thing... 

Hehe Yeah! Well, right from the start, I knew I wanted something that felt like a real piano. I even started by looking at actual acoustic pianos!

But you know, this little getup does have a USB port on it It even has a flash memory card reader! (hell if I know what it's used for)

[lyonsden5]

Congratulations Sébastien!  I hope you have great luck with it. Looks like a nice setup. I like the pedals a lot. Typically you have the loose ones with the wire (like in the picture of the stand). Those things are a pain in the rump. 

I've been contemplating getting a piano again myself but am undecided between that and getting an organ. I do enjoy playing them both. 

BTW I played trombone for many years. Picked it up a couple of years back and could hardly play a note. Gotta keep workin those chops if you want to keep playing, that's for sure.

[RossRoy]

Aw man.. I've been a little over-enthusiastic when I found out that Amazon listed some sheet music.. Some prices were really great on the marketplace, but I never realised that they charge 6.49$ for shipping on books!! I paid more shipping on some items, than I did for the item itself! 

Oh well. . . guess it compensates my luck for the free shipping on the piano itself...

Still can't wait! Why hasn't it shipped yet?

[lovemunkey187]

Congrats! Unfortunately I've never had any musical talent neither voice-wise nor instrument-wise.

That still doesn't stop me from singing, though.

There have been reports that I sound as worse as Angel's try to sing "Mandy" here:



Still doesn't stop me.



But congrats again, I hope you enjoy playing.

Love this Angel clip too.

[RossRoy]

Love this Angel clip too.

 

Yeah, I remember when I was first watching Angel and came to this episode. I just couldn't stop laughing! I must've rewound the scene 5 or 6 times!

[Achim]

Now get to your keyboard and learn a few songs from that Jackson fellow everybody's talking about!!!

No more need to catch up with that. Jackson is dead.

[RossRoy]

I should probably make a new thread for that... but meh! This thread is already about music, so I'll add it there.

I don't know if any of you have ever wondered where I got my nickname from. Well, it's rather easy. It's the name of a song we played in competition, with which we got first place. And I loved the song. I'm excited about it now because, as you may or may not know, Wind Band music is kinda hard to come by in CD shops. But I finally found a place to order a CD with a recording of that song. 

And for the curious, here's the song on You Tube:


Basically, the songs represents the high school years. It starts off with a representation of the school itself, as a monument and solid foundation. It then moves on to the excitation of starting high school, morphs to the discipline students (should) acquire from high school. There's passages for the discovery of life, love, friendship, etc. The song ends on the opening of life and all the possibilities that open up after high school. It's a great song.

So there you have it. Ross Roy, by Jacob de Haan is the source for my name.

[Achim]

It seems to me as if Jacob de Haan is not entirely unknown to John Williams...


If done right, then I have always felt that wind instruments (so that's what they're called...) went very well with rock music. Horn sections are always enjoyed by me very much. Unfortunately lacking any example right now


EDIT:
I clicked on another video with music by de Haan on YouTube and found he was born in 1959. So, it may in fact be that de Haan simply enjoys watching movies that were scored by Mr. Williams.

[Jimmy]

Not really a rock song but I've always always appreciated the saxophone in one
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EgbGaYTkkPU

Another one from a mid-eighties underated Canadian band (I'm probably the only one here who know them) that got a lot of airplay when I was working as a dj.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9eiHvYpr8Vk