HOW MUSIC
CHANGED MY LIFE
By
PetBabyAmy
C 2013
Music has always been a big part of my life right from the age of 2. I was singing at that age and could sing very well. My very first musical instrument was a tin drum. I think a lot of parents give their boys this kind of instrument, or it was a popular thing back in my time. I'm not too sure why any parent would try to get any child interested in learning how to play a drum. Because it can be noisy, learning actual how to keep a beat is something a child learns to develop later.
So until they can get and grasp actual rhythm, it's not a most practical musical instrument to start a child off with. But that is just my personal opinion. Learning to play the drum never really took off. So my parents got me a small guitar, but I could not quite get the fingering right, or how to get a proper tune out of the guitar, though my brother Dennis had one, which is why they thought it probably fair and a good idea we both learn the same instrument.
It makes sense. So for a while my parents left things, until I began showing an interest on a piano, I could not play a proper note at first, but I seemed determined to play. I think that is what got my parents into thinking I would be better off, I was not given a toy piano. Because I was 8 years old by this time. But for Christmas I think it was my parents got for me a Bontempi Electronic Keyboard. It wasn't very big, it was of simple design, it had the letters of the keys in big lettering just above the keys on a panel. I will never forget it. The image below is as close to the actual keyboard I was given.
Yaa, I used to have a pair of Bongo Drums to make noise with, he he. I am glad you got the keyboard and liked it.
(My Very First Electronic Keyboard)
There was also a small guide card with even bigger lettering of the keys. C, D, E, F, G, A, B. C#, Eb, F#, Ab & Bb.
There was a little book of songs too, it had sheet music, but also it had the guide notes underneath, to help me learn to play. Most of the songs were On Top Of Old Smokey and other songs similar to that one of the times. Not many were really interesting to play. But until I could learn to play something that I really liked, I played the songs that were in the song book. Though I would not personally my self call that really learning to play. All I had to do was follow the guide notes. But reading and playing at the same time slowed down the whole process of me trying to play any way.
I was mildly, getting slightly better, but not by much, it was not until I saw the movie. Chariots Of Fire and heard that iconic piece of music that was composed by Vangelis. I did not know that though at the time. Little did I know that it was his music that influence me musically, among others, but there was an over all major influence in my life, musically speaking. But I will get to that later. I loved the tune, I really wanted to play it. The music kind of played out in my head, which paved the way for developing a good ear for music, as it was not just music in my head I could play.
I got the music eventually on an album cassette tape. I listened to the music piece of Chariots of Fire time and time again, but also tried the keys on my keyboard, it took a fey tries to get it right. When I had nailed it in one go as the saying goes, I was overwhelmed. I loved it, I listened to other music, to see if I could repeat the same process, to my amazement I could play not, all, but most of the tunes I could hear, that I liked. Sadly that little Bontempi did not last long and I was progressing quite well, I played a lot of the songs that they sang at church, which pleased my parents to no end.
I was wanting though to play my own music, but nothing would come to my mind. Then one day I heard a piece of music that completely blew me away. I had no idea at first what it was called, who was playing the music. But it it was unlike anything that I have ever heard of ever before. The piece of music in question was Oxygene Part IV at the time, I later found out who the artist was. When I learned it was a French man by the name of Jean Michel Jarre. I went out and bought the complete music album of Oxygene on cassette tape. I have in fact all of Jean Michel Jarre's music albums from Oxygene To Oxygene 7 to 13.
I wanted to so much play music like that, but with the keyboard that I had, which was an organ, not an Electronic Keyboard, I could not achieve that goal and it was unlikely that my parents would ever get me an actual synthesizer to play on. To those not in the know. The actual difference between a synthesizer and an Electronic Keyboard. Most though not all, synthesizers do not come with what is known as rhythm banks, those come with Electronic keyboards that allows a player to play the main body of a song with one hand, while change chord notes with the other playing along to a beat playing in the background. Like Salsa for example.
Though some synthesizers do come with rhythm banks, but have things like Filters etc. Basically they can do a whole lot more than what most other Electronic Keyboards can do. Jean Michel Jarre's music filled me with a hope that one day I could produce music like his. I later learned that a Male To Female Transsexual was the pioneer of the actual synthesizer, along with a man called Moog, who he had persuaded to put his name on the very first synthesizer. To which the co creator of it, also composed music on it, and his name was Walter Carlos, who changed his name to Wendy.
I loved his/her style of music too, then I heard Tubular Bells for the very first time and that blew me away too, even more so when I learned that the artist who had produced that, known as Mike Oldfield, had played every instrument in that music piece as I later found out how he recorded it, by recording one part first played on one instrument, then he recorded the next part on a different one etc. He experimented on doing multi track recordings, in a very unique way. I wanted to do also something along the lines of Tubular Bells, other music artists too influenced me.
Jan Hammer, famous for composing the original Miami Vice Theme and Paul Hardcastle, most famous for his hit single: 19. But in the back of my mind I more than anything wanted to produce music that was like the style of Jean Michel Jarre. I loved his music the most. But as I went through various other keyboards, as most did not last, nothing I was dong wrong, I played on them a lot, playing what I could. But I had not as yet accomplished playing my own music, as much as I loved playing music that I loved and knew.
The very first thing I composed, though not what I was expecting to compose was a music piece that I called Bright Lights, Big City. On The CASIO CT-470. I had composed another one which I could not give a title and one more other tune: Three White Candles & A Musical Box.
See Image Below.
I am not familier with Chariots of Fire, I do like keyboard music. I think I had one of those small pianos as a child. You have quite an interest in keyboards PetBabyAmy. I never even learned to read music or play any instrument.
(The CASIO CT-470)
Not much else was composed on this keyboard and I was getting really frustrated, with not being able to play the kind of music that I really wanted to play. I was playing the same tunes over and over again, my problem not being able to record them as well as making sure to keep the tunes in my head fresh. As I can not retain my own music for some odd reason in my head for far too long. I forget the music, tunes like Chariots Of Fire, stay in my head I guess, because those are so more memorable, not saying that that my own music is not so.
I honestly really can not explain it. I can as I have said before in a reply of post. I can remember some things better than I can remember others. Though this can be said and is true for most other people, I have that problem more so, due to my learning disability, this does effect me in many different ways. Anyway, as I soul searched for another keyboard, as I felt that the CASIO CT-470 was not quite the keyboard to suit the kind of music that I really wanted to compose. So I first found a second hand Electronic Keyboard that was a Technics, these are very good Electronic Keyboards.
From what I knew of at the time, of course CASIO and YAMAHA being the top brand names in the Electronic Keyboard Industry, with Technics being a possible third place runner up. It had promise, but sadly, I was not able to compose the kind of music that I really was wanting to compose. This was annoying, as well as upsetting, I had spent quite a fair bit of money on the Technics too, but not too much, thank goodness. But in the end, it did come in handy for a few music pieces I have composed with it.
Are you familier with Rick Wakeman of the rock band "Yes" ? He is outstanding on the organs and keyboards. I also like "Deep Purple" with their use of keyboards for their music. Long ago I desired to play music, but no support exhisted.
(The Technics sx-KN501)
There is a music piece I did like that I composed on this keyboard, one I will have to try and remember how to compose it, now that I have the means to record my work. More about that later on. I was at wits end, of what to do, I decided to keep the keyboard, since I hoped that I may one day get better use out of it. So, I soul searched again for another second hand keyboard, there was no way I was going to be able to afford a brand new Electronic Keyboard. Little did I know that one day this I would be able to do. Buying things second hand ranged between £30 to as much as £90, trying not to go over £95, but I was willing to go as high as £100 if the keyboard looked right and I felt it would be worth the price paying for.
(YAMAHA PSR-38)
Very nice keyboard pictures you are posting.
I found what would eventually turn out to be one of my most used and near perfect keyboard. When I first got the YAMAHA PSR-38. It was not as promising as I first thought and hoped it would be, but still I held out hope that I would be able to make better use of it. But as hard as I tried with this keyboard, I still was not getting anywhere and I fell into despair. I felt that I was wasting all of my money buying one keyboard after another, but not one of them could I use as I really wanted to use them for.
Anything that I could play I could not record and that fact was driving me nuts. I began to do a lot of saving up, since buying second hand keyboards was not turning out too well. I thought that I may stand a better chance by buying one. Brand New Electronic Keyboards were becoming more and more expensive as the years rolled by. I thought that I would never be able to afford one, I had managed to save up to £300. Even back then it was a lot of money, I was 23 years old by the time I bought the CASIO CTK-611.
(CASIO CTK-611)
Little did I know or even realise that this keyboard would be the most widely used, as well as the YAMAHA, and the KORG microKORG XL. More about that later.... I was able to play a few tunes I liked and knew on the CASIO CTK-611. But what really got me really started into proper composing work was when I was actually experimenting with the 6 multi track recording track facility that the CASIO CTK-611, has. This I found most fascinating, I loved it, as it it meant I could put together, a music piece with up to as many as 6 different instruments in the music piece.
I still could not manage anything remotely Jean Michel Jarre like, but the idea to do something like Tubular Bells was possible with using the 6 multi track recording system on the CASIO CTK-611. As I experimented with that, I found that trying more than three different instruments and have those all play back together at once was not really effective. As some of the instruments could not be heard very clearly. So I tried three in a music piece at the time had no actual title, but had elements of Tubular Bells to it, it had a similar sound and style to it.
I was lucky on this one, with it being so unique, a tune, it did not slim away from my mind. But the recording system only maintains the recording while the CASIO CTK-611 is plugged in, even when switched off, the song will remain in the memory bank, but not by switching off at the mains socket at the wall. Then again I did not have a computer or even a web-cam when I had the CASIO CTK-611. I eventually did get a computer, but it was nothing fancy a windows XP with a Pentium 3 Processor Chip.
I was beginning to loose all hope that I would ever produce a music album. That had been my dream, my ambition, my life long goal. I wanted to do a music album that was like Oxygene. I still wanted to do something like that more than anything. I went from having a Pentium 3 to a Pentium 4, not much of an up-scale, but it was better than what I had before, but I still had no microphone, or a way to record my music. Then I found a program one day known as: Wave Pad. I got my self a microphone, but no music album was yet insight.
Not even after I had all that I needed to get me started. I knew I had something good in my experimental music piece, to which at long last I had a name to. Aurora. But I had nothing else to go with it, I had been able to however compose another and new music piece which became Dreamscapes. My friend who lives with me was good at power point presentations, so I had him make a power point presentation for me, featuring my music to pictures I had found to best represent my music. I was so impressed with that, that I was confident I could do something similar to it, with Aurora.
More than ever I was determined to put together my very first proper music album. I began to work on using that 6 multi track recording system of my CASIO CTK-611 Electronic Keyboard. I found my self suddenly producing music, not knowing where it was coming from but I was composing it not only that, I had even decided that the very 1st experimental piece of music that I had come up with, was going to however be the second part of Aurora, the music for parts 1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 & 8. All came fairly quickly and I had managed to achieve my life long goal.
But it did not stop there. I wanted to do another music album. I knew that I would never really do as many music albums like Jean Michel Jarre had done. But I knew I wanted to do as many as I could manage. Having the right keyboard helps greatly. Now this next part you may have a problem getting your head around the concept and understanding it. It's not really easy to explain, the best way to put this to you is this. It is not completely possible to create and complete music albums with just the one keyboard.
Even Jean Michel Jarre uses several synthesizers to make his music with and it is easy to see how and why. I seriously doubt that Oxygene onwards would all have been possible to do with just the one synthesizer. With that said, I knew that I would need at least one more other good Electronic Keyboard. Not completely brand new, but nearest to it. To which lead to my friend buying me a keyboard to help out in that regard. I saw it, I was the one that liked the demonstration and thought it could be a good replacement for the CASIO CTK-470 that sadly completely stopped working. The Pitchmaster DU090463.
I do enjoy listening to music and have always had a deluxe Stereo of some kind. I collected Cassetts, Eight Tracks, Albums, and finally CD's. I have a great Yamaha stereo system with 16 speaker surround sound.
(Pitchmaster DU090463)
Sadly, this was not what I had hoped it would or could be, I only managed to record and compose on it. My old favourite. Three White Candles & A Musical Box on this keyboard. Something which I can even play on my KORG microKORG XL, with an even better voice. Gutted, my friend more so, we both looked for a better Electronic Keyboard. And we found the Schubert 10001615 Electronic Keyboard that helped me to produce part of Equador.
(Schubert 10001615)
However I could not complete all of Equador as I had hoped to do so with the Schubert Electronic Keyboard. I had to use the Technics sx-KN501 and the CASIO CTK-611 keyboards to produce the other parts and complete my second music album. By this time I had of course managed to get a web cam and people for the very first time could see me actually play the music pieces that I have worked on composing and producing.
I went on to do a music album entitled: The Simplicity Of Music, which was all produced on the CASIO CTK-611, with a total of 15 tracks, the most I have ever done, thanks however to the CASIO's Free Session Mode. From which I had used before to create Dreamscapes with. Free Session mode allows me to play with just the one hand, as I am not very much of a two handed player, I can play with two hands, but not like a professional pianist. I play the chord keys with my left hand and the main body of the tune with my right hand.
Aurora was all completely composed by me using the one hand. This is completely true and will be providing a music video with a demonstration of this fact. Anyway, with the rhythm mode also selected using Free Session Mode, it automatically plays chords in a certain order, for each rhythm selected and depending in which key touch to start off auto chord play with: Example C. Then the first chord will be C, but after that it the rhythm in Free Session Mode will play out a sequence of notes.
They form a set pattern each pattern is different according to the rhythm and the key that note I chose. Some people may think I'm being lazy or cheating playing with the one hand and let the rhythm beat do all of the other work. Actually not so. It takes a lot of effort to play along with the random generated chords not to mention play in time to the actual beat too. Not only that with Aurora, I have proven that good music can be produced just by playing with the one hand. I have small hands and my fingers are short and stubby, which does make playing keyboards more difficult than most people will realise.
But despite my somewhat physical downfall, I am able to play rising above such a disadvantage. My fingering can at times with playing the keys can slip sometimes, even play the slight wrong note, this happened once during recording The Shadow Of Morse. My tribute to the Inspector Morse theme and the TV series, though I made a quick recovery just in time that the slight hiccup is not overly noticeable or spoil the music too much. Though on the whole if I make a slip up I start all over again, but with that tune, though it may look easy, it was not, I at that time had not come up with the arrangement set up that I used with my Aquis music Album, which is now complete by the way.
Though you are yet to see the Parts 5 and 6. Though it wont be long to get to see those, I plan to post those one week apart from each other. I won't be composing any other new music for a while now, which is just as well, since sad to say my health is not improving, though it not getting worse, but it's not getting better either. So, I will be focusing now on getting well and putting back the missing images from my others when ever I can and as much as I am able to do so. I do hope to get better, though it may be a long time before I do completely recover.
The Shadow Of Morse was composed by me playing the music piece in stages. Stage 1 and opening part of it was played on the YAMAHA PSR-38. Stage 2 was composed on the CASIO CTK-810. Which I will explain shortly. Stage 3 Ended with me playing the YAMAHA again. I had to pause each stage of the video recording. I also need to point out, it takes a lot of concentration for me to play and compose my music, due to my slight handy-cap, if you want to call it that. I personally do not see it or even remotely think of my hands and my fingers as they are to be so.
Many of us have some type of disability. I am happy you manage to play keyboards with the finger/hand problem. Many like Stevie Wonder do amazing things for being blind. My mother went thru life with a broken finger that was never fixed.
I have seen some people with greater physical disabilities, do most extraordinary things. More so than my ability to actually be able to play my keyboards and if you look close enough, I only ever play using my thumb, first finger, middle finger and sometimes my third finger, but I never use at all my little finger, where as a professional pianist/keyboard player plays with all of their fingers. Just as a professional typist uses all of their fingers when typing.
With my fingers being so short and stubby, this does actually cause difficulty for me to use my little fingers in both typing and playing the keyboards. Yet I have never let it, nor does it hinder me in anyway from actually being able to play my Electronic Keyboards, or for me to type on my computer keyboard, for that matter. I have always been good with my hands from doing wood work, needle work even, regardless how small my hands to be and my fingers being short and stubby. Most keyboard players have long slender fingers, it does actually help with being able to play with both hands.
Hence why most pianists/keyboard players are known to always have long fingers. Apart from Elton John, who had to have a piano specially made so that he could play the piano better. As he too had a similar problem to me, he found it hard playing the natural large keys of a piano, I remember once seeing an interview with him, where he revealed this fact. He's the only person that I know that does not have long slender fingers, when it comes to playing on piano.
I do not have the luck or fortune of Elton John to have specially made keyboards more best suited for my hands, or I could get smaller ones with smaller keys. That being all very good and well, I did not see why I should not play on keyboards with larger keys, all because of my small hands, short and stubby fingers. I practised and I practised long and hard on playing the bigger larger keys of large keyboards. I perfected a way in which I could play on the big keys, it did not matter how hard sometimes some tunes were harder to play than others.
Not just on the physical aspect, some tunes are easier to play than others, only any real good musician will tell you this to be true. After I had completed Aurora, Equador and The Simplicity of music, I Knew that I would be needing a new keyboard to help me to produce Aurora 2, little did I know that most of it I would be able to do with my CASIO CTK-611 Keyboard. I knew I wanted to do a Sequel, since I enjoyed doing Aurora so much, and and the idea to do a sequel music album came to my mind by the time I had begun work on Equador music album.
So I waited for the right time to start work on composing the music for Aurora 2. I was not certain just how much of it I would be able to do with just my CASIO CTK-611 keyboard alone and I knew that there was not much at the time I could do with my other keyboards. So on Ebay I looked for another CASIO keyboard, since my other one had been so useful, not only that, I was thinking in terms, another, yet slightly different CASIO keyboard may serve me as well as the
CTK-611 Keyboard. And with it being another CASIO, it will be a keyboard I knew I could trust and I would be able to easily use it, as some keyboards and synthesizers, although they all look the same, some can have many complexed sliders, knobs etc. that control things in certain ways, the more technical, the harder it is to make any sense of the keyboard, playing the key maybe easy, but the keyboard would be pretty much useless if I do not know how to use all or even at best half of the functions on it.
(CASIO CTK-810)
The CASIO CTK-810 was used to compose Aurora 2 Part 8, that helped to complete my sequel music album. I Was quite surprised, but also happy that I had been able to produce using the 6 multi track recording system of my CASIO CTK-611, the music pieces needed to make that music album possible. I had played prior to all of this a few Christmas songs as well as compose two of my very own Christmas music pieces to make and complete my own personal Christmas Music Album.
Also I had composed individual music pieces, what are termed as singles. With music pieces like March Of The Clans. Soul Heart. Etc. Non of those were part of my music albums. Though once I had composed enough individual tunes, they now form their own album. I have even played well known tunes like Tubular Bells, the Doctor Who theme etc. All of these completely from memory, all stored in my head.
Using if you like, my inner ear. That is hearing music with my mind, not my actual ears.
The human brain is capable of processing and producing sounds, which accounts to how most people can in their dreams hear sounds as well as they would in the real world. Our dreams use everything we hear and see and fashion all of that auditory, visual and other input into what we call dreams. Just like my feelings and thoughts about wanting to be like a baby girl. The idea and dream of doing something similar in style to Jean Michel Jarre, was something I still wanted to do. I needed to do something like that, just as much as my need to dress and be like a baby girl.
So I spent time looking into synthesizers, I liked the look of the original KORG microKORG, in fact the original KORG microKORG was used for Blade Runner movie, so I looked on Ebay first, but I had a feeling that I would be far better off trusting a reputable keyboard seller, than buying it from Ebay. Not only that, the keyboard would come with a warranty so that if the parts should go, I would be covered for repair, plus I did not want to waste a lot of money on my very first synthesizer.
I bought what I thought was and it is classed as one. A Roland. It looks like an Electronic Keyboard. I'm suer a few synthesizers were made with inbuilt speakers. That is another difference between synthesizers and electronic keyboards. Most synthesizers are made with no speakers built in. A separate speaker system are needed for synthesizers or an Amplifier.
(The Original KORG microKORG)
I had found a very good music supply store called Intruments2Go.com I can highly recommend it. They had in stock this lovely classic small, yet mighty synthesizer and I had researched it too on YouTube and I like what I heard that it could do. I was certain that I could produce the kind of music album that I have always wanted to do. But never could. Though they did have that model in, they said that it was too old, and that the new improved keyboard of the older model could do exactly all of the same things the old one could.
Although they did not tell me on the phone, I got the idea that replacement parts were hard to get hold of, should the keyboard breakdown. I had seen images of the KORG microKORG XL, at first, I was not impressed, it did not have as many buttons and dials as it's original counterpart. I had doubts that it was as better as its original make and model was. I said that I could afford the original KORG microKORG. Although I could have given time afford the new model.
I was not though convinced that the new model was better than the older keyboard. It did not seem possible. But the people at Instruments2Go.com when I told them what I had and was willing to spend that amount and not not a penny or a pound,or even pounds more,they surprised me by offering to me the KORG microKORG XL for the exact same price they were selling the original KORG microKORG. That won me over, I only hoped I was not talked into taking a deal that would make me regret it later.
As I began to tinker about with seeing what the small synthesizer could do, I loved the range of sounds that it has, obviously just like with my other keyboards, some sounds were better than others, some were not so good. But it had the dynamic range, as I would like to call it that I so desperately needed to produce which became Soundscapes. The music was very close to the kind of music that I have always wanted to do. Though not close enough.
(KORG microKORG XL)
I also experimented with the ARP mode which is short for Arpeggio, which means a sequence set of notes are played as one key is touched, there is a pattern that is almost like a rhythm beat, but without the need for an actual built in rhythm bank. I also experimented with the Modulation wheel and those three control knobs/dials on the far right had side. These dials change the sound of the voice/instrument that is part of the many sounds built into the KORG microKORG XL.
I was amazed at the various different effects each dial has in changing the sound of the voice/instrument. I knew at long last that I did have the right keyboard at long last to do what I have always wanted to do with. Soundscapes 2 came a little more closer to what I was really wanted to do. Then it was after figuring out how I could have both my KORG microKORG XL and one of my other keyboards playing together at the same time. The first initial step came in the form of when I put together and played On Her Majesty's Secret Service main title theme from the James Bond Movie.
I had found a way to hook up my CASIO CTK-611 Keyboard to my KORG microKORG XL. With the one sound source, my 2 way speaker & Sub-woofer system that I got after an old variation of it had stopped working, I then had the perfect idea and tune for my very first part of Aquis. But I then realised that I did not have to have my other keyboard linked up with my KORG microKORG XL. I could use the keyboards own built in speakers, have my synthesizer plugged into my speaker system and record the sounds of both.
I had an idea how I could have my KORG microKORG XL as the lower keyboard, like how you see professional keyboard players play two keyboards at once on a special stand that has one keyboard above the other, and they play both at the same time. Something I have always wanted to do. This was going to be quite a challenge considering the problem that I have with my hands. But I was able to place my bigger keyboard. The YAMAHA PSR-38 on to of two old and disused stereo speakers, with the KORG pulled out slightly, right underneath the YAMAHA itself, with the keys of both keyboards within easy and comfortable enough reach of each other.
This had worked very well when I had put together, my tribute music piece: Ode To Vangelis (The Very Best Tribute To Vangelis). Part one of Aquis though was the style and feel of music that I never thought I would ever achieve, but needed to achieve it. The other parts of Aquis soon came to me a lot sooner than I had thought that they would do. I had no plans to rush it, even for something as short as 6 parts. Though I was prepared for it to extend into two more parts and be like Aurora and Equador. Both albums having 8 part music pieces to them. I did them way due to how Oxygene and Equinoxe inspired and influenced me, though Oxygene was only 6 parts.
Equinoxe was 8. 8 to me felt like more of a challenge to do when I first did Aurora, it was even back then a tall order to reach. But I reached it. I do feel 6 parts to be slightly short, but in the case of the original Oxygene, 6 parts was perfect. Though of course Jean Michel Jarre must have known, even felt that there was possibly an extension to his original Oxygene, and he produced Oxygene 7-13. So who knows, maybe, just maybe. I could end up doing something similar with Aquis and do the same as Jean Michel Jarre had done.
I would love to be able to do possibly something like that at some point. Though I do feel that now that I have one, I would like to have a full keys bigger synthesizer to play on to be able to make Aquis 7-13 possible, if I am ever going to do something like that. I do feel that I have used as much of the KORG microKORG as I can at the moment get out of it, though I know it can do so much more, though with another synthesizer at hand, the two together will help me to in the future develop better and grander music. One can at least hope and dream. Until then, at least now you all know how music changed my life.
THE END.
