buy a synthesizer

always loved the synth parts of old 70’s songs. Would love to play around with one. The ex had one and I totally should have used it more while I was living there!

I just bought it, so i hope its worth it.

Synths are pure joy! Everyone should have at least one, with a knob and a slider or 50! I’ve been through a few of them now and picked up a couple samplers as well.

If you want a good cheap starting synth, check out the electribes, Korg’s Poly800, Casio CZ101, or if you’re very patient and nerdy, the Yamaha TX81Z and their other FM synths. You can get a synth that will bring you many hours of fun for under $100 these days.

There’s always software, too, which can sometimes be had for free (see: buzzmachines.com) but is still not nearly as fun as having a synth on your lap or desk.

now only if it could call me everyday to sit there and play! why don’t i play more often? is it too much joy or just the opposite – am i afraid of lack of inspiration? during the childhood i had the habit of playing (the piano) everyday no matter what. And it was hard first couple years without it when i moved to other city. What happened? I want my playing habit back! And I want it now! :)

If one were to draw a ‘singing scale’ where Lata Mangeshkar defines one end and Amrish Puri the other. I would be two-thirds towards the Amrish Puri end. Perhaps, I would be right after Amrish Puri! :-p

As a kid, I have even suffered the ignominy of being pulled out of a chorus group. And I couldn’t believe my ears (yup deliberate pun)—how on earth did the teacher know it was ‘me’ and not one of the other 40 singers who was bad!

Antakshari times were miserable for me. The only songs I could sing without getting embarrassed were ‘Rang Barse’, ‘Mere Angney Mein’ & a few other songs sung by Amitabh Bachchan; where I believed no singing talent was required :-D

Ditto for music. Nothing would ‘move me move me’. I would listen to whatever would play. Yes there was the odd affinity towards certain artists; but nothing more.

In a nutshell I carry this burden of being ‘musically challenged’. Not tone-deaf—but nothing not to feel bad about either.

So what - ‘people must accept their shortcomings and be humble about them’ - right? The problem is that I ‘like’ singing :P. And my belief (howsoever mistaken) is that while I cannot do much about my vocal disposition - I ‘maybe’ able to do something about my ‘hidden’ musical sense. Nothing better than learning to play an instrument!

The next question is which instrument?

Guitar? No, since everybody knows how to :-p
Bongo? No, that’s something only schoolkids learn :-p
Mouth-organ? No, seems too difficult :-p
Flute? No, seemed too easy the one time I tried learning it :-p
Harmonium? No, it’s infra-dig for me now :-p
Saxophone? No, that’s something played only in hotels on Saturday evenings :-p
Violin? No, as it is my neck is gone with the time spent in front of computers & talking on phone with the hand piece stuck between the ear & the shoulder :-p
Tabla? No, there’s Zakir Hussain already :-p
Sitar, santoor, veena, cymbals? No, no, no, no, for some real or imaginary reason:-p

So that leaves me with the premeditated choice of a synthesizer (The rest was just to make a post) :-p
And my reasons are, one it is quite ‘gadgety’; two, most models come with their own bank of pre-recorded music - with lessons on how to play those; three, many let you simulate various instruments - drums, piano, most of the above-mentioned; four, the word ‘synthesizer’ relates closely with ‘synthetic’—which is how I see the relation between music and I…
Non-natural!

:-D

So, how much does a Yamaha come for…?

Synthesizers are the best thing that can happen to a man.