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When Nathan's not working as the U.P. Web Maestro building websites throughout the Upper Peninsula, watching yet another Sponge Bob episode with his two year old, or staring at his three teenagers wondering when the heck he was replaced by these odd little copies of himself, he longs to lose himself in writing songs and playing the piano. The problem is, Nathan doesn't have a piano. In the summer of 2008, he owned an Alesis QS7 synth, and a Studiologic controller—the two together served as a piano (the controller felt like a piano and the synth sounded like one.) Rather than continue to haul these heavy items around, it seemed time to sell them and buy a single device to do both jobs. With no bailout from Congress promising to be available in the near future, he sold his equipment and used the proceeds to fund his new purchase. First he bought a digital piano online, only to find out when it arrived that it didn't sound at all like the MP3 samples. It got returned, and he bought an Alesis QS8 (similar to the previously owned QS7 but with the weighted keys the controller had provided). He bought this on Ebay. He shouldn't have. It arrived with several problems in the keybed which made notes sometimes disappear. Fortunately, the seller refunded the purchase and the second board got sent back. By this point, money had gradually been peeled away from the piano fund to pay of frivolous things like gas, heating bills, and food. Nathan now found himself with no piano, and no money to buy one. At first he figured this would be the perfect time to play more guitar. Doing so reminded him why he'd been playing piano in the first place. During all of this, Nathan had been playing less and less anyway, as work kept demanding more and more time. The time has come for rebellion. Work needs to stop being all needy and codependent, and accept that Nathan needs some piano time. This page serves as a reminder to Nathan to eat peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for lunch and put the $5.25 he would have otherwise spent at Wendy's into the fund. It also serves as proof to some of Nathan's friends that he really can be an optimist... by including a way for people to actually donate money toward the piano fund. Not having spent much time here telling you how depressed Nathan is by not having a piano, it's difficult to fully express the depths of gratitude that even the smallest contribution will cause. |
Nathan playing on his old keyboards before they slipped into the past...
CP33 audio samples
Technical specs:
Someone else who already owns one... |