My DIY

A History of Me

I'm many things. A silly, but lovable movie I saw called Renaissance Main (1994) had a sub-story where our protagonist was telling a student of his that you can be more than one thing in lief. This is what a Renaissance Man means to me.

That said, I'm a son, brother, husband, father, writer, physicist, musician, creator, martial artist, teacher, hobbyist software developer, and forever a Student.

I try to learn one new thing each day. Anything will do, it doesn't have to be some major revelation, but simply anything new.

How I Got to this Point

I started piano lessons when I was about five years old, and took them for around six years. I enjoyed it, and still do.

As time has marched ever forward, so has technology. I bought my first synthesizer keyboard in 1991 and it was life-changing for me. I had worked with a friend who had a Yamaha V50,

and the music he was able to create with it was absolutely insane to me. I looked for the same keyboard, but it had been around for a few years, and I wasn't overly knowledgeable about the myriad of offerings on the market at the time. I ended up getting a second hand Peavey DPM 3se.

I save my life-guarding money for an entire summer, and purchased it cash for about half it's normal retail value, which at the time was $3000.00 US).

This digital beast was a turning point for me in creativity. I loved creating new songs using all of the voice polyphony (16) that this thing could give me. The drums were incredible, the piano sound was really good, strings were awesome, and so many other great libraries. They all fit on a tiny 3.5” floppy disk. You also saved your song files to floppy as well. I used that machine for the next 14 years.

I finally decided I wanted to try something new, and had seen some weighted key keyboards at a music store. Full sized, 88 key machines that were even more amazing than the Peavey I loved so much.

After doing a bit of research, I purchased a M-Audio Keystation Pro 88.

What i wasn't expecting was the lack of synthesizer, build in sounds, no built-in sequencer, it was just a giant, heavy, $500.00 controller. My research wasn't so great it would seem. Once I hit a few forums, and I'm sure gave a few people the opportunity to shake their heads, and laugh at my naivete, I understood what I needed. I needed a special separate box that would act as the brains of the operation. I jumped over to eBay and started the search. I picked up a Yamaha ESXR synthesizer,

and with some fiddling was able to get it to work beautifully with the Keystation midi controller.

A few years later, I bought a first generation Macbook Pro with the Intel core chipset. It was then that I discovered Garageband! This software, combined with their incredible sound libraries was an absolutely insane step forward for me. I could not only record a track, but I could see the piano-roll, the position on the timeline, and duplicate tracks, sections, and so much more. I was in creative-person heaven for sure.

Time Does Fly

When I say these devices unlocked my creative side, I mean I could sit down at my Peavey in the evening around 6 PM, and I would look up thinking I had only been there for 20 or 30 minutes, only to find it was past midnight. I lost all sense of time when I was working on a new song.

My Grandest Idea

Here we are, 20 years later, and I'm trying to realize a dream that I've had since I was around 14 years old. I've always wanted a Baby Grand Piano in my home. Not just because they are magnificent looking instruments, but because I love to play.

I worked for a couple of years as a Police Officer at a University, and every spring they would fill the main hall of the Fine Arts building with about 20 different Baby Grand Pianos. I would take my break and lunch in that hall the entire time they were there, unlock the doors, and play on each one. I'm not any kind of amazing pianist. I play mostly by ear because my eye-sight is worse now, and music is generally pretty small. I love to play and sing along (by myself because I'm also not any kind of singer). I play songs I loved growing up. Songs my daughter thinks are old and crappy no doubt, but it relaxes me. it's a chance for me to get lost for a few minutes at a time.

I started watching videos about tuning pianos earlier this year, because we have no piano tuner in my town, and my Aunt wanted her piano tuned up. I learned how to do it, and did (at least an ok job). As it does, the algorithm of YouTube brought me to several videos on people refurbishing old grand pianos.

I then watched several really great videos on the Late Night DIY channel by a guy who plays at piano bars, and builds a baby grand style cabinet for his digital piano to use in his show.

I saw one guy take a fairly nice baby grand as far as aesthetics go, and tear it down and put int he guts of a digital piano he bought for it. It was awesome! I was inspired.

I started shopping for old baby grand pianos for sale, and eventually found one that seemed to fit what I was looking for. I was able to purchase it,

and with the help of my Wife and her brother, we gutted it clean.

Now, the real work begins...