PSR-2000
Larry Gard

(Dec, 2003) My wife Marcia and I live in Richmond, Virginia, where I've been serving as the artistic director of an educational theatre organization called the Carpenter Science Theatre Company, which is part of the Science Museum of Virginia, since 1998.

Musical Background: When I was born, my mother was the rehearsal pianist for the Kansas City Opera. She went on to teach music in public schools for 30 years, and was also a concert pianist for the South Bend Symphony (South Bend, Indiana). My father was not a trained musician, but he sang beautifully and played the harmonica. He enjoyed classical, folk and some popular music. So, I was always exposed to great music of all kinds while growing up.

In 3rd grade, I took one year of violin lessons, then switched to piano. After two years of piano, I switched to trumpet, and stuck with that instrument until I graduated high school. In high school and college, I studied theatre, which became my profession. Over the years, I've been applying my musical ability as much as possible in a theatrical context. Aside from occasionally singing in musicals, I've been composing music for my own enjoyment as well as for public use in theatrical productions, and the PSR 2000 has been the most wonderful and productive musical instrument that I've ever owned.

As an actor and storyteller, I'm very comfortable being on a stage in front of people. But as a keyboard musician, I have no confidence to perform live and am primarily a composer. Occasionally, I multi-track arrangements of popular or classical songs, most of which are 14th, 15th and 16th century Renaissance tunes. I am familiar with all the basics of music theory, but I cannot sight read chords. I am not an accomplished keyboard player, and I absolutely avoid performing in front of people. When I compose music for theatrical productions, I transfer the songs to a CD using a Marantz CDR500 connected directly to the PSR2000, which is then played over a sound system. Unless it's for close friends, the songs I play are always in private and are usually my own simple compositions.

On the PSR2000, I do not use the styles, and I do not know how. I multi-track all of my compositions, with each track being a separate orchestral or percussive voice, and each track is recorded as a "main" voice. I also enjoy the process of mixing the tracks to achieve some desired dynamics.

All the songs in volume one are my original compositions, and several of them have been used in various theatrical productions over the past year in Virginia and Georgia. Please note that all of these songs are Copyright 2003 by Lawrence Gard. Feel free to download and listen to them, but if you want to use the music in any other way, please contact me at Larry@GardSite.com. Volume 2 contains 16th & 17th century Renaissance tunes. No styles were used; each instrument and/or harmonic line is recorded on a separate track.

An additional note: "Song for the Blue Ridge" is in six parts: 1) Fanfare for Strings 2) The Priest 3) Crabtree Falls 4) Along the Tye 5) Eagle's Flight 6) Raven's Roost.

Thank you, Joe, for the opportunities you give us to share our music!

Larry's MIDI Songs

midi Larry provided 20 songs in midi format. These were created on the PSR-2000 (2k). Individual songs are shown in the table below and any one song can be downloaded by right-clicking on the song link. The table displays the song title, tempo (T), time signature (TS), lyrics (L), chords (C), where possible, the style used, the original volume (V), and the keyboard used (K). Click on this link to download Larry's 20 MIDI files: LG-2k.zip.

Bill's MIDI songs
Title T TS L C Style V K
Avalon Bay (c) 148 4/4 N N 01 2k
Branle De Malte, Arbeau 160 4/4 N N 02 2k
Branle Royne, Praetorius 147 4/4 N N 02 2k
Branle Simple, Praetorius 160 4/4 N N 02 2k
Carnivale (c) 130 4/4 N N 01 2k
Celtic Mist (c) 130 4/4 N N 01 2k
Clarence (c) 90 4/4 N N 01 2k
Courante, Praetorius 180 4/4 N N 02 2k
Highland County (c) 110 4/4 N N 01 2k
Holburn's Farewell, Holburne 110 4/4 N N 02 2k
L'allemande, Arbeau 195 4/4 N N 02 2k
Night Owl (c) 135 4/4 N N 01 2k
Pavane De Spaigne, Praetorius 145 4/4 N N 02 2k
Robin Is To The Greenwood Gone, Anon 145 4/4 N N 02 2k
Shadow Dance (c) 140 4/4 N N 01 2k
Shepherd In The Shade, Dowland 200 4/4 N N 02 2k
So Ben Mi Ch'ha Bon Tempo, Vecchi 220 4/4 N N 02 2k
Something For Strings (c) 145 4/4 N N 01 2k
Song For The Blue Ridge 4 (c) 148 4/4 N Y 01 2k
South Of September (c) 112 4/4 N N 01 2k

[top]