Piano Recordings! (now with video)

[AnotherSchmoe (Ronnie)]

Hello all, it's me Ronnie (formerly known as Trials-=Of-God=-). I know it's been a few years since I've stopped by but I was just thinking of you all and wanted to drop in and say hello. I'm doing well, I haven't played America's Army since I parted ways with the clan but I have been playing piano and put a few recordings up on YouTube, was thinking who I could share them with and figured I'd post them here for you guys.

I don't know how many of the old members that I knew are still around, or if anyone remembers me (I'm not that memorable!) but here's my channel if anyone's interested:

www.youtube.com/user/AnotherSchmoe

Yes Jeff, I am still using your Schmoe name, and for just about everything now, from Xbox Live all the way to YouTube lol. Sorry, it just stuck!

If anyone else plays piano please feel free to share if you have recordings or a YouTube. I don't own a camcorder so I apologize for not having video, so I just recorded it with my old headset microphone (same one I used to talk to you guys on Ventrilo with back in the day). Anyways, take care all. Have fun out there and try to stay out of trouble!

P.S.
I know this post is pretty random and out of the blue but I know there are other people out there who play instruments! I've had a lot of fun learning to play the piano (even though I'm not very good, but I really only play as a hobby so it's alright) and just wanted to share with you guys.

Consider this post a follow-up and piano progress-report to this thread from 3 years ago: ;D
ofgod.proboards48.com/index.cgi?action=display&board=hangout&thread=7509&page=1#70518

I do plan on buying myself a nice digital piano sometime within the next few months (hopefully) to replace my crummy old spinet. When I do finally get around to buying one I'll re-record everything I've got up there (and probably relearn some of the old stuff I've forgotten but never posted). It will sound a lot better I'm sure.

[Peace-=Of-God=-]

  Wow, talk about old times -- it's great to see you here again, Ronnie! As for "not being that memorable", don't know if I could vouch for that for you ... I know that I have a lot of great memories of our time together with you and your dad (yeah, a couple bad memories too ... but the good far overwhelms the bad .
  Thanks for sharing your work with us ... I'm listening to the Chopin piece as I type this ... beautiful ! And I appreciate your attitude toward your music, which I share toward my own; I have a poster with a statement that embodies this attitude, from J. S. Bach: "I play the notes as they are written, but it is God who makes the music."

  Have you decided what kind of keyboard you want to get? If not, definitely take the time to visit a music store and play a few different kinds to see what feels best to you. Two things that you'll definitely want to make sure that it has are weighted keys (so they feel more like a real piano) and touch-sensitivity (so it plays/sounds more like a real piano). For recording, be sure that it has audio output and not just built-in speakers (most usually do, for at least for headphones ... I use the headphone jack to output to my computer's microphone jack). And don't forget a comfortable bench (even if you have to get it separately, or even continuing using the one from your spinet) -- after all, you'll be spending a lot of time sitting on it!

  And now that I've covered that, I'll share my personal bias regarding the Yamaha DGX-505 Digital Grand Piano that I've had it for almost three years now -- I love it, and I'm still learning more and more things that I can do with it . This particular model has been discontinued, but you may be able to find one available (and much cheaper now) at some locations; if not, check out the newer models DGX-520 or DGX-620 (which have some additional features that I wouldn't mind having, like USB flash drive support ).

  Anyway, enough blabbing from me for now ... thanks for stopping by again, Ronnie! Keep up the good work, and may God bless your continued efforts in learning music.
    ~ Jeff

[AnotherSchmoe (Ronnie)]

Thanks for the tips! Yeah, I've been researching them for awhile. Unfortunately I live in a very small town and haven't gotten out to try anything yet, but I've been searching a LOT online and have narrowed it down to either a Yamaha Clavinova CLP-330 (or CLP-230), or a Kawai CE200 or Yamaha YDP-223. Going to have to call around and see if anyone carries them in the cities nearby (they're all 1-3 hours away though).

I'm not sure how much the Clavinovas would cost though, but they'd be my first pick. The reason I don't know is because no one sells them online unfortunately, only Yamaha certified dealers are selling them from what I gathered on Yamaha's website, and the closest to me is 3 hours away so I'd have to call. But the Kawai and YDP-223 are both sold online and retail around $1600. (More than I really want to spend but I want to get something that I will be happy with and not want to replace in a few years) It's a lot of money to spend on just a hobby but I really enjoy it and I want something that's really nice to keep me coming back for more, the spinet I'm on now just makes me not want to play, lol. I think if I get something and am very happy with it I'll probably play a lot more often than I do now.

Anyways! Wish me luck, I'm hoping the Clavinovas aren't over my spending limit (i.e. more than the YDP or Kawai) but we'll see. And even if they are, the YDP-223 and Kawai CE200 are both great from what I hear.

In any case, any of those four choices will be oodles better than my 50 year old spinet. Which is way out of whack right now and probably beyond all hope of ever sounding decent again. And I've been looking at digital pianos online and debating whether to buy / what to buy for probably a year now, so it's definitely not on a whim, ruled that one out!

[Fortress-=Of-God=-]

Ronnie!!! long time no see anyway the songs sound great wish I could play the piano like that (someday I'll actually sit down and learn the guitar or piano...someday)

[AnotherSchmoe (Ronnie)]

Jan 22, 2009 9:38:09 GMT -5 Fortress-=Of-God=- said:

Ronnie!!! long time no see anyway the songs sound great wish I could play the piano like that (someday I'll actually sit down and learn the guitar or piano...someday)

Thanks! Yeah, you should play something sometime, guitar is great too, I've never played it but it sounds really good. (maybe some year I'll try it). But yeah, anyone with hands can learn to play an instrument it just takes a lot of patience, don't expect to really be able to play anything for awhile. At least not in my case, haha.

[AnotherSchmoe (Ronnie)]

Just a little update, I bought a camcorder and have replayed and rerecorded everything on my YouTube channel, it all has video now! So feel free to watch if you're interested, thanks. I'll keep adding new things as I learn to play them. ;D

[Tested-=Of-God=-(Ed)]

Watched the video - and the instructions on how you did it! Good playing style Ronnie - but that piano .... man my ears. Praying you find the new one soon.
I am an organist (and a few other instruments) and my spouse a pianist - hence the "ear"

[AnotherSchmoe (Ronnie)]

Feb 7, 2009 19:10:01 GMT -5 Tested-=Of-God=-(Ed) said:

Watched the video - and the instructions on how you did it! Good playing style Ronnie - but that piano .... man my ears. Praying you find the new one soon.
I am an organist (and a few other instruments) and my spouse a pianist - hence the "ear"

LOL, I know it's rough. I guess I've gotten accustomed to it (okay, not really it still bugs me to no end but not as bad as it used to). I comfort myself in the knowledge that a lot of other YouTube pianists also have subpar instruments, not that that helps me any.