Dusty Chalk

Funny, you don't look a day over 18,000. Me right now: Happy 19,946th unbirthday! (drinks)

@Hopstretch -- who was that guy who had a really groovy sound and French female backup singers and keyboardist (perhaps he was French)? I can't remember his name and I need to look him up again, and hear more music by him. I vaguely remember finding a video of an entire concert from him at a beach house or something.

Thanks for making me look -- Tidal now has it, too: https://tidal.com/browse/album/239031935 Haven't heard this in forever (I did buy it on CD way back when, so it's probably in my collection somewhere, still with the shrinkwrap on).

Happy belated! (party favour noise)

What a natural pairing!

I'm going to have a side project called, "God's Won't".

I, too, was entranced by a picture of a jazz pianist, but in my case, the picture looked like Connie Han: https://tidal.com/browse/playlist/f02f7017-d981-424a-a85f-082b69694d2b She's no Hiromi, but she's perfect for homework, which is what I'm doing right now.

Never was a huge fan, but she affected so many people so positively and brought so much joy to the world, I still feel the world just got a little bit darker.

LOL negatives on that list

Homework! The interview I had earlier this week gave me homework, so that's a good sign.

Audiobooks are books that are read to you. So yes, they do count as "books", but don't count as "reading". 😜

"...there's one underneath my bed..."

I have not, I have not played any besides the one I have. But that's a good point, you should -- if at all possible, go try play one in person. (I have a ginormous beast of a keyboard controller that I inherited for free, the Akai Professional MPK88. Honestly, I would not recommend it, it's not a good beginner's keyboard. And most of my others are "synth action" / non-weighted.) Yamaha and Casio totally dominate the digital piano market, and for a good reason. I think the hard part would be deciding on which one, but I think you're perfectly good choosing just from those two brands. I happen to be happy with all of my Alesis gear, and I found that one on a page of best MIDI controllers, and it was the only one with built-in sound, but I agree that you should stick with digital pianos, that way you get what you want straight out of the box. Something else I noticed is that some digital pianos come without a built-in stand, so if you're comparing standless pianos with pianos with built-in stand, I would add the cost of a good stand to the ones without, or just stick with ones with built-in stands. Sorry for the long delay in replying, I had an interview today. It went well, I think.

Fernando Perdomo made an entire album in the yacht rock style, and he's done others as well: https://fernandoperdomo.bandcamp.com/album/yacht

Happy birthday! party favour noise

Condolences. Good girl, Isabella, good girl.

Thanks, I appreciate it. I actually have all of those things, plus lentils, so I'll give the original recipe a try. (Doctor wants me to go even more plant-based, and I love beans, so...)

What's that powder in the middle, garam masala?

I'll do research later, but here are some pointers: MIDI is now largely USB. If you have old gear, it might still use the old DIN plug, but essentially what you're asking for in the 2nd and 3rd bullets is the same thing. There are still some modules that use DIN, but at this point, unless it has some features that you desire, I would avoid those. 88 keys vs. 76 keys vs. 61 keys -- 76 is much easier to come by than 88, but they're common enough that I wouldn't go less than 61. "real-piano feel" -- what you sound like you're looking for is weighted or at least semi-weighted keys. Fatar keyboards are the best (often advertised as a feature), but will make the keyboard more expensive. Its own sound vs. MIDI controller -- a lot of musicians (myself included) use mostly DAW plugins to make their sound, so all we need is a MIDI controller. Even the free versions of Cubase come with synthesizers built-in, which are quite functional. I don't use them, but only because I'm more familiar with the Arturia set of synthesizer emulations. That said, I'm not recommending it, but just something to be wary of -- don't accidentally buy a MIDI controller and then wonder where the sound holes are -- there aren't any. However if you feel comfortable running your MIDI-controller->computer->speakers, you probably already have the latter 2/3, you just need the MIDI controller and software. It is my understanding that GarageBand is the free equivalent of Logic Pro, but I don't know if it comes with any sound-generating plugins. Free ones do exist, but I don't trust things I don't pay for. If you just want to start out with piano sounds, and build up your timbral palette with plugins, I would recommend a digital piano. Something like this: https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/RecitalPro--alesis-recital-pro-88-key-hammer-action-digital-piano

Happy birthday, my friend! (party favour noise)

He's a brave man, reading the comment section of a 12-year-old YouTube video.

Also, 2, 5, and 7 are all divisible by one.

Exactly. FYI, that video was literally my introduction to Hiromi. I saw someone was playing with Chick Corea, so I watched it for Chick Corea, and ... she really holds her own! They communicate with their faces, she has her own style, is confident enough to come across as a duet partner/peer/equal, and has such joy that it's just effusive. Instant fan.