My life is as diverse and varied as I can possible make it - I encourage you to do the same with yours. The subjects that I will discuss in this blog will range from my many hobbies and interests to issues and concerns about society, diversity and personal relationships.
My hobbies include, but definitely are not limited to: Music, tour bicycling, knitting (yes, men knit, too!), my pets - 4 dogs and a mouthy African Grey parrot, sampling as many different cuisines from the world as possible, and going to 7 nationally recognized outdoor art fairs in my area. I also go to seasonal festivals such as the Festival of Nations, The Pagan Picnic, The Japanese Fest - the largest Japanese celebration in the USA - and the Greek Fest - it's all about the food! I know I forgot some hobbies, but I will add them as they pop into my mind.
Today, it's all about the music, I will cover the other hobbies, one per day over the next few days.
I own 26 instruments, and the exception of an ocarina, an acoustic guitar, an electric guitar and a bass guitar, they are all keyboard instruments. Three of those are Hammond organs, and two of those have Leslie speakers attached to them.
Many people view an organ as this thing that a starchy little old lady sits at either on a Sunday morning in a small church, or when her family is politely gathered around on Christmas morning. Her face is stone cold, and focused on the sheet music in front of her.
As for classical or theatre organ music, I beg and beseech each of you to go to YouTube and search "Cameron Carpenter" or "Virgil Fox". They should relieve you of any images you might have of a little old lady sitting at an organ, playing 'trompy, starchy music.
Hammond organ is the most widely used and recognizable sound on the music scene. Almost every music genre, including blues, rock, country, Gospel and Jazz, to name a few, heavily utilize this instrument to this day, and most major bands still tour with this instrument. It is the same organ that Steve Windood plays, Paul Schaffer from the Tonight Show with David Letterman, Keith Emerson, Greg Allman, and many, many other artists play. You can look up Hammond organ on YouTube or Wikipedia.com for more information.
My taste in music spans every music genre, including ethnic / world music from countries across the globe. even though I think modern music styles (Hip hop / rap, etc) consists of repetitious, over-mixed souless money-making music that has long since lost the value of a real musical instrument, there are some songs in those genres that I like. Although I will defend to my death a person's right to play these styles of music, I have a bit less tolerance for extremely heavy metal rock, or heavy rap.
For 36 years, I have played keyboards 'by ear'. I have never had formal music lessons, and could barely read the simplest of music that was written for a child. A year and a half ago, I decided to teach myself to read music. While I an far from reading complicated pieces by site, I have grown by leaps and bounds. I learned the full version of "The Entertainer" by Scott Joplin, and I have just started (GOD HELP ME!) on one of his more difficult pieces - "Maple Leaf Rag". On a daily basis,I play 30 - 40 songs, from probably 100 lbs. of music books. The moral of this story: An old dog will learn new tricks until the day he dies. An old human that thinks they don't have to 'learn another damned thing as long as they live" will do just that.
At any rate - my musical instrument collection insists of:
* A huge MIDI set-up (6 keyboards) attached to a dedicated computer.
* 1 Kawaii II synthesizer
* 1 Korg MS-20 modler / controller
* one 1969 Hammond E-100 organ with a Leslie 122 speaker purchased at an estate sale for $350. Retail value: $4,000
* one 1963 Hammond A-100 (self-contained B3) with a Leslie 122 speaker
* 1 solid state early 1980's "Hammond Composer" spinet
* One 1888 reed organ
* 1 hand-pumped Indian Harmonium in perfect condition (portable reed organ) - bought at a flea Market for $25. eBay value: $300 - $1,600, depending on the model
* one 1966 Wurlitzer Electric piano (not digital!) - Think "Dreamer" by Supertramp. Here is a video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SfEyTIRsMFY
* one Casio Privia digital piano that is my practice piano and the work horse of my music studio
* one early 1970's vintage, rare Baldwin Synthasound synthesizer
* two toy pianos (check out this video - the intro is a toy piano:
(Coin-Operated Boy from the Dresden Dolls)
and
* two J Chein player toy pianos - they read and play real piano rolls that were made for this piano:
I intend to add to this collection an acoustic piano, a Rhodes Electric piano, a Harpsichord, a Clavinet, and a pianet - and anything else that might cross my pass unexpectedly.
My music studio and my brain cells awaits me. I cannot possibly impress upon you the importance of learning as much as you possibly can - every day! You should learn a new language, play an instrument, a good craft or a fine art form. Not only does this activity keep your mind sharp, but it will make that razor's edge even sharper. Learning more about the world around keeps you mentally and physically malleable. In a future posting, I will definitely cover the dangers of mental contractures. Limiting your mind not only cheats yourself, but can also lead to imposing those limitations on vulnerable souls around you. I have specific examples that I will discuss in future postings, and I will also discuss the more benefits to working your brain and your body.
- Michael
My hobbies include, but definitely are not limited to: Music, tour bicycling, knitting (yes, men knit, too!), my pets - 4 dogs and a mouthy African Grey parrot, sampling as many different cuisines from the world as possible, and going to 7 nationally recognized outdoor art fairs in my area. I also go to seasonal festivals such as the Festival of Nations, The Pagan Picnic, The Japanese Fest - the largest Japanese celebration in the USA - and the Greek Fest - it's all about the food! I know I forgot some hobbies, but I will add them as they pop into my mind.
Today, it's all about the music, I will cover the other hobbies, one per day over the next few days.
I own 26 instruments, and the exception of an ocarina, an acoustic guitar, an electric guitar and a bass guitar, they are all keyboard instruments. Three of those are Hammond organs, and two of those have Leslie speakers attached to them.
Many people view an organ as this thing that a starchy little old lady sits at either on a Sunday morning in a small church, or when her family is politely gathered around on Christmas morning. Her face is stone cold, and focused on the sheet music in front of her.
As for classical or theatre organ music, I beg and beseech each of you to go to YouTube and search "Cameron Carpenter" or "Virgil Fox". They should relieve you of any images you might have of a little old lady sitting at an organ, playing 'trompy, starchy music.
Hammond organ is the most widely used and recognizable sound on the music scene. Almost every music genre, including blues, rock, country, Gospel and Jazz, to name a few, heavily utilize this instrument to this day, and most major bands still tour with this instrument. It is the same organ that Steve Windood plays, Paul Schaffer from the Tonight Show with David Letterman, Keith Emerson, Greg Allman, and many, many other artists play. You can look up Hammond organ on YouTube or Wikipedia.com for more information.
My taste in music spans every music genre, including ethnic / world music from countries across the globe. even though I think modern music styles (Hip hop / rap, etc) consists of repetitious, over-mixed souless money-making music that has long since lost the value of a real musical instrument, there are some songs in those genres that I like. Although I will defend to my death a person's right to play these styles of music, I have a bit less tolerance for extremely heavy metal rock, or heavy rap.
For 36 years, I have played keyboards 'by ear'. I have never had formal music lessons, and could barely read the simplest of music that was written for a child. A year and a half ago, I decided to teach myself to read music. While I an far from reading complicated pieces by site, I have grown by leaps and bounds. I learned the full version of "The Entertainer" by Scott Joplin, and I have just started (GOD HELP ME!) on one of his more difficult pieces - "Maple Leaf Rag". On a daily basis,I play 30 - 40 songs, from probably 100 lbs. of music books. The moral of this story: An old dog will learn new tricks until the day he dies. An old human that thinks they don't have to 'learn another damned thing as long as they live" will do just that.
At any rate - my musical instrument collection insists of:
* A huge MIDI set-up (6 keyboards) attached to a dedicated computer.
* 1 Kawaii II synthesizer
* 1 Korg MS-20 modler / controller
* one 1969 Hammond E-100 organ with a Leslie 122 speaker purchased at an estate sale for $350. Retail value: $4,000
* one 1963 Hammond A-100 (self-contained B3) with a Leslie 122 speaker
* 1 solid state early 1980's "Hammond Composer" spinet
* One 1888 reed organ
* 1 hand-pumped Indian Harmonium in perfect condition (portable reed organ) - bought at a flea Market for $25. eBay value: $300 - $1,600, depending on the model
* one 1966 Wurlitzer Electric piano (not digital!) - Think "Dreamer" by Supertramp. Here is a video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SfEyTIRsMFY
* one Casio Privia digital piano that is my practice piano and the work horse of my music studio
* one early 1970's vintage, rare Baldwin Synthasound synthesizer
* two toy pianos (check out this video - the intro is a toy piano:
(Coin-Operated Boy from the Dresden Dolls)
and
* two J Chein player toy pianos - they read and play real piano rolls that were made for this piano:
I intend to add to this collection an acoustic piano, a Rhodes Electric piano, a Harpsichord, a Clavinet, and a pianet - and anything else that might cross my pass unexpectedly.
My music studio and my brain cells awaits me. I cannot possibly impress upon you the importance of learning as much as you possibly can - every day! You should learn a new language, play an instrument, a good craft or a fine art form. Not only does this activity keep your mind sharp, but it will make that razor's edge even sharper. Learning more about the world around keeps you mentally and physically malleable. In a future posting, I will definitely cover the dangers of mental contractures. Limiting your mind not only cheats yourself, but can also lead to imposing those limitations on vulnerable souls around you. I have specific examples that I will discuss in future postings, and I will also discuss the more benefits to working your brain and your body.
- Michael
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