Hello everybody!!
I am very pleased and excited for having found a place with so many knowledgeable people who make up for an entire world of knowledge!
I hope that, as I learn, I will be able to contribute something to this amazing community.
To say a little about me... I'm a structural engineer by trade but one of my passions is music and things surrounding it. It has always been of interest to me how different instruments can produce the same tone and yet sound completely different at the same time. I have had formal musical education and even played in an orchestra. I was quite serious about it and during the 1997-2000 period, our orchestra won every major contest, both domestic and international music festivals here in Europe. We also managed to record three compact discs, all recorded, mixed and mastered in professional studios and to a very high standard. It is these recordings that I sometimes relate to as “my reference recordings”.
Then I went to college and just like that, I no longer had the time for the music as college classes took precedence. It wasn't until I finished college that my poor old dad bought me an acoustic guitar. I've been playing it for years but was never really able to master it properly. Playing for friends at dinners and parties - sure! But anything else is way too much for me. At around 2009 I bought my first synthesizer, a Roland GW-8. I never received formal education for piano, you see, but my music professors told me my hearing was “pitch-perfect” and that I should apply for music academy but even though I didn’t go that route, I guess it made it somewhat easier for me to play the right keys on first attempt. Despite that, too much work prevented me from ever really learning to play the Roland, even though I have been so looking forward to owning such an amazing instrument. I regret selling it even today although at the time, it seemed like the thing to do, to financially help my parents.
Since then, I've been working most of the time. Realising that work isn’t – shouldn’t be everything in life, I started thinking about music again. I own a nice HIFI system and often buy CDs, but there is a big difference between “consuming” music and actually making music. So, I've been intensely reading and trying to decide which instrument would bring me the most satisfaction and would also serve as a “vehicle” to drive me to places I have not yet been to – if that makes sense. I guess what I'm trying to say is that I feel inspired to do some composing like I used to twenty years ago. Obviously, I have no intention of winning any awards and I'll leave that to the people with talent. But perhaps I could compose a theme for an independent movie or arrange a section for strings in a pop/rock song. I have some friends who are professional musicians (one of whom is a really terrific singer-songwriter) and it would be interesting to see if I can create something they’d like.
This introduction is turning into an essay – I get carried away!!
In any case, through my reading and investigation, I concluded that the best instrument for me is the Yamaha PSR-SX900. After careful consideration of its facilities and how to actually afford it as it hardly affordable in this day and age, I bought it last weekend. As luck would have it, or the lack thereof, I've fallen ill and have not yet been able to unpack it. I am really looking forward to doing so the following week.
In the end, I'd like to say that I listen to and enjoy all kinds of music, from Classical to metal, including jazz. Once I took a nephew to a concert – some Iron Maiden tribute band. My nephew was really into this sort of a thing at the time and while I wasn't, I ended up enjoying the concert more than he did.
I apologise for all the typos (English is not my mother tongue, not even close) but I hope that despite my lack of knowledge and apparent illiteracy, I can make some friends here and contribute to this forum which isn’t likely to be soon because, well, I don’t actually know anything!!
Cheers everyone!
Antun