Using technology to make music!

Hi all!

I just wanted to introduce myself to the millions of devoted WindowsBBS folks.

My name is Rick, I'm an olde pharte, having started with:

1979 Commodore VIC20
1980 Commodore C64
1981 Apple ][e (original Datanet BBS)

.. before joining the ranks of the PC/Microsoft folks with my 1982 snazzy and ultra fast Acer IBM PC-XT clone, running at a blazing 7Mhz! (Wow!)

I've come up through the PC ranks over the years, operating a Fidonet node (1:108/90,DataNetBBS,Cincinnati_OH) prior to the unveiling of the public access Internet in the mid 1990's.

I have been a professional pit orchestra conductor / piano-keyboards for the past 35+ years, and in 1994 I managed to marry my three passions, music, theatre and technology.

I have a home music studio, where I produce full orchestra accompaniment recordings for musical theatre productions. If you have a church or school that is doing a Broadway musical, but you don't have the available talent or space to put a busload of musicans, plus their instruments and attitudes (grin), I produce and license (rent) all of the music on audio CD for your show.

Overture, songs, dances, scene change music, incidental (under dialogue) music, Bows, Exit Music, EVERYTHING musical that you need to put on your show. And, of course, the object of the "game" is to be a true authentic orchestra sound to accompany the live onstage production. Theatre is, after all, illusion!

It's a bear to do the work. To produce a full show from Overture to Exit Music with full orchestra instruments takes me around 8-10 weeks, working 6-7 days a week, 10-12 hours a day! FORTUNATELY, it only takes 4-6 hours to customize that same music for the SECOND client!

I have a MIDI studio that fills a 14'x30' room, and sometimes beyond. My saintly wife of 30 years claims that my equipment sometimes "throws up" into the living room. I use three custom sample machines, three stock sample players and 10 synths to create the full orchestra sound.

If anyone's interested, I'd be glad to chat about how it all comes together, sequencing theory, software, hardware and all that rot. Over the years, I've spent many an hour giving free "lessons" to folks that wanted to "roll their own." My buddies ask me, "But aren't you afraid that you're creating your own competition? "

LOL!

My current library is 35 Broadway shows, figure 9 weeks for each to create them, that's like 315 weeks = 6+ years, and I'm still working on new stuff. Investment in equipment runs into six figures. Nah, I'm a student of the theatre, music and technology, and love to pass it along to others that are interested!

I'm also an avowed tech/gadget nut. If it has an on/off switch, it's got my attention. So if you're looking for recommendations on equipment (computer or music), hardware/software or anything in between, I always have a "quiet" opinion on something that's good..

RE: Research

I have a fetish for doing research before parting with my hard earned dollars. I'm not a "bleeding edge" guy, I find it more cost effective to get LAST year's "latest and greatest" for 1/3 the original cost.

Example: I wanted a good home office type color laser printer, best bang for the buck.

So I started with about a dozen websites that rated printers, getting a basic "lay of the land," as well as putting together what I considered what would be included in a "dream printer. "

1) Color laser
2) At least 20 ppm (pages per minute)
3) All-in-one (print, scan, fax)
4) Economical supplies (toner, etc)
5) Duplexer (prints/scans both sides of the page)
6) Document feeder
7) Decent repair track record

I settled on a Brother MFC9840CDW color laser, street pricing around $600 at the time I bought it. It had all of my "dream features," plus:

a) front USB slot, will print JPG contact sheets or PDF's
b) connectivity: USB, Parallel 1284 (bi-directional), Ethernet, WIFI
c) paper: holds 50 in the custom paper holder, 250 in the machine, and another 500 in the "optional" drawer.
d) FAX could be setup to email rather than print out FAX's.
e) large toner carts (needs 4) run around $50 for black, $70 for color and the advertised limit is 7500 pages (color) and 10,000 pages (black). I can't attest to that, as I have owned the machine for two years, I have my "large" cartridges on the shelf and am STILL using the "starter" toner that came with the printer! And I'm not a shy printer. Lots of manuals, music, etc!

To date, no repairs or maintenance of any sort. I use it connected to my network hub, so a dedicated PC doesn't have to stay on 24 hours a day so that I can print from my various 5 PC's around the house, including a laptop in the (cough) "executive reading room. "

Well, it's New Years Eve, and I have to go play for a party! So y'all have a great holiday, and I hope to run into you in the forums!

If you'd like to hear some of my 700 music samples to get an idea of how "real" my synth orchestra can sound, feel free to browse my website. And anyone interested in chatting about music or tech toys, drop me a note anytime!

All my best,

Rick
musikman
www.bway2.com/tracks