An Office, A Piano, A School and a Concert

I can finally work!

In recent weeks I've been able to take advantage of a few opportunities, thanks to excellent timing and some very helpful people in the community. Always a good thing! As far as the timing, I was able to secure a space where I can work, plan and record music (and give lessons if I want) at any time that I wish and without distractions or interruptions. I spent quite a bit of time there when I was subletting part of the space from Shawn Dyer, filmmaker and computer guru (and, as it happens, an expert on Belgian ales). He vacated the space in the interest of financing a new vehicle, and as soon as the space became available I took over the lease. It's less distracting to write a blog post in this office space (which I'm doing right now) than doing it at home when my cat is sitting on my lap and demanding cuddles. Cuddling takes time. So does scratching her belly. So does napping. And watching TV. These are all distractions that I don't experience in a separate, quiet office space, and as such I've gotten a tremendous amount of work done. Yay for efficiency! :D

I was somewhat hesitant because of the cost, but the rent is extremely low because the owner knows me and he gave me a good deal, and the time I'm able to put in allows me to figure out how to make up those costs each month. I figured that since I'm paying more per month for an office space, I might as well invest even more money, and this leads me to my next acquisition...


The Yamaha AvantGrande N2 (a.k.a., "Zoey")

One of a few things that I felt was slowing me down in the progress towards recording is that if I used my old digital piano (the Korg) the sound quality would come out terrible. The only way I was able to get decent sound was by using a Yamaha DGX20-5 synthesizer and plugging it into my ProTools software. The sound was okay (I used this to record the "Heart of Storms" album) but the issue I've always had is that the keys on that particular instrument are not weighted, and they're "springy", making them difficult to play. Any pianist, I'm sure, will know how frustrating this would be. It was because of this that I was stuck in a "catch 22" situation where I either produce sub-par quality as far as recording, or spend money I don't have. Going completely "pro" when it comes to recording a piano involves actually getting a grand piano of some kind, making the room sound-friendly, and hooking up very expensive microphones to it. I've looked into this logistically, and financially, and I will probably end up doing this one day, I imagine, but at the moment it would take far too much money, lots of time, and an enormous amount of effort towards learning how to do this.

Despite these obstacles, I took steps towards this goal anyway, simply because I had to make a move, and that's when I stopped by Apollo Piano, a piano dealer in Chico. The woman who works there was fairly convincing, although a lot of it was probably the sound coming out of the seven or eight pianos that I tried out while I was there. To make a long story short I walked out of that building an hour later with a signed rental agreement for a Yamaha upright AvantGrande N2, a hybrid model that lets you play it like a real piano but also lets you plug into ProTools or even insert a USB drive, letting you record whatever you're playing and saving it as a MIDI file. It may be a possible solution to my logistics problem and I'm really excited about that prospect.

Aside from ignoring the people who've teased me for naming the piano (I mean, come on, what musician doesn't name his instruments?) I've already done a recording test, and so far I'm satisfied. If the recordings continue to yield quality it means that I can record my albums so that the sound will be decent and ALSO be able to play with weighted keys. This, again, would solve my catch-22 situation. In case you're curious, I do plan to continue a new-and-improved recording of Heart of Storms, but I'm focused on making a summer-themed album as well. Bet you didn't know that :D and yes, I'll have more details later. I'm still struggling with a name for this album, so I welcome ideas, as always!

And when it comes to the Yamaha N2, by the way, BOY HOWDY does it sound amazing! People should be able to tell this by the very fact that I just used the expression "boy howdy".


More Music Education for Chico!

After taking these steps towards my goals, and while testing out the new recordings, the woman who rented me the piano urged me to come and meet the owner of Apollo Piano. When I stopped by to meet him we discussed his plans to start a new music school in Chico, which he wants to call Yamaha School of Music. Even though my end goal is to be able to travel and perform on a regular basis, this idea excites me as well because it's an opportunity to continue saving money that I'll be putting towards later endeavors, and it's slightly more enjoyable than teaching people about verbs and adjectives. He has already expressed an interest in having me as one of the teachers, so I'm looking forward to seeing where this goes.

My hopes to tour and perform, by the way, are some of the few things that drove me to watch another soloist perform. And that brings me to my next adventure...


George Winston in Redding

George Winston

If you haven't heard of this musician he is an American pianist, guitarist and composer. He primarily plays on the piano and performs in the "new age" style that I often use (or neo-classical, contemporary, or what he calls "rural folk piano") as well as blues piano. I was lucky enough to discover that he was performing in Redding, so I jumped on it. The first reason I went to see him is fairly obvious -- I've been a fan of his since I was in my teens, and watching him play the song "Rain" on a YouTube video years ago was a "tipping point" which made me decide to leave the teaching profession and pursue music as a career. You can see a video of him playing this song below. It's one of my absolute favorites.

The other reason I went to see him is because I wanted to get an idea of how a soloist puts on a concert -- not just how he walks on the stage and plays the instrument, but how he works the audience, what he talks about, how he presents himself, etc., because I hope to do this one day and I want to get an overall picture of what that looks like. Of course, every performer does things a little differently, and I'm sure I will. Not to mention, many performers seem to have their own "shtick" or gimmick. There are a few things that I know I won't do (I went and saw Yanni perform in Sacramento four years ago, and he wore really tight pants. I'm NOT doing that).

George Winston (right) after I got his autograph 

Seeing as I've piled even more on my plate than I have before, I'm sure there will be much to discuss in future blogs. Comments, as always, are welcome, as are any comments or responses on my website forum, which you can go to here.