Hello from New Mexico, US
Posted: Thu Feb 04, 2016 5:39 am
Hello all.
I'm a long-time musician (piano), and a fairly long-time Linux user (since the late 1990's).
I had a somewhat difficult year last year (2015) with a painful cancer that populated my nerve sheaths from my spinal cord to my right shoulder and down my right arm, disabling my arm, hands and fingers. The cancer treatment (chemotherapy and radiation) was sucessful at putting the cancer in remission (it's still in remission so far), but the treatment was harsh and the recovery is slow.
For months both my computer and piano were unused as I could not type or play the piano because of the damage to my arm and hand. However, the computer and the piano have become part of my therapy to recover what I can of the use of my right arm, and so far I'm pleased with the results.
It's great to be able to communicate via the computer and to play music to some extent again, and I've enjoyed composing some new pieces.
The equipment and programs I use are:
Audio/MIDI interface -- Focusrite Scarlett 2i4
Keyboard -- Yamaha CP5 88-key digital piano (I plan to buy a Roland RD-800 as well)
Software -- Ardour (digital audio recording and editing) and Qtractor (MIDI recording/editing), MuseScore and LilyPond (notation)
I've uploaded some recent performances (played as well as I can manage right now) of my original material to SoundCloud (link in my signature). I'm just happy to be able to play again, and happy to join this community of Linux-oriented musicians. Thank you.
Steve
I'm a long-time musician (piano), and a fairly long-time Linux user (since the late 1990's).
I had a somewhat difficult year last year (2015) with a painful cancer that populated my nerve sheaths from my spinal cord to my right shoulder and down my right arm, disabling my arm, hands and fingers. The cancer treatment (chemotherapy and radiation) was sucessful at putting the cancer in remission (it's still in remission so far), but the treatment was harsh and the recovery is slow.
For months both my computer and piano were unused as I could not type or play the piano because of the damage to my arm and hand. However, the computer and the piano have become part of my therapy to recover what I can of the use of my right arm, and so far I'm pleased with the results.
It's great to be able to communicate via the computer and to play music to some extent again, and I've enjoyed composing some new pieces.
The equipment and programs I use are:
Audio/MIDI interface -- Focusrite Scarlett 2i4
Keyboard -- Yamaha CP5 88-key digital piano (I plan to buy a Roland RD-800 as well)
Software -- Ardour (digital audio recording and editing) and Qtractor (MIDI recording/editing), MuseScore and LilyPond (notation)
I've uploaded some recent performances (played as well as I can manage right now) of my original material to SoundCloud (link in my signature). I'm just happy to be able to play again, and happy to join this community of Linux-oriented musicians. Thank you.
Steve