Hello from New Mexico, US

Why not tell us a little bit about yourself? Welcome to the community!

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stephen_doonan
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Hello from New Mexico, US

Post by stephen_doonan »

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
Last edited by stephen_doonan on Thu Feb 04, 2016 6:18 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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GMaq
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Re: Hello from New Mexico, US

Post by GMaq »

Hi,

Welcome! Sorry to hear what you've been going through, sincere best wishes for your continued recovery both health-wise and musically. :)
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davephillips
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Re: Hello from New Mexico, US

Post by davephillips »

Hey Steve,

Welcome back ! I saw your post on the LAU list too, it's great to hear from you again. Looking forward to checking out your latest work. :)

Best,

dp
lfz
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Re: Hello from New Mexico, US

Post by lfz »

Welcome Stephen!

I'm now following you on soundcloud and your tracks are great. I've been getting into jazz lately and 'Arabesque 1' and 'Abstract 1' have given me a lot of food for thought besides being lovely to listen to!
Last edited by lfz on Mon Mar 21, 2016 4:30 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Ownlife - prog rock project: http://ownlife.lfzawacki.com
Mortticia - heavy metal band: https://mortticia.rocks/
Musical Artifacts - find sample libraries, presets, patches: https://musical-artifacts.com
Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/lfzawacki
lfz
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Re: Hello from New Mexico, US

Post by lfz »

Hey Stephen,

Saw your post on the linux-audio-users mailing list about the Latin Jazz track and wanted to hear your other stuff, but it seems you've changed your soundcloud account for some reason? The old tracks are gone too, which is a shame.

Anyway, keep on rockin' (or jazzin')
Ownlife - prog rock project: http://ownlife.lfzawacki.com
Mortticia - heavy metal band: https://mortticia.rocks/
Musical Artifacts - find sample libraries, presets, patches: https://musical-artifacts.com
Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/lfzawacki
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