|
In the beginning...
The first electronic keyboard I ever had was a Magnus organ. It had like 48 notes or some such number, and I remember it made this air sound when it was on. It had all these little buttons for chords on the left side, and had the names of the notes imprinted on this gold strip that ran the length of the keyboard. It stood on four legs not quite the thickness of a baseball bat and had these little plastic things on the ends that looked like upside down saucers and were clear. It also came with a big note songbook.
Years later around the 8th grade or so, I got a 73 key Fender Rhodes electric piano.
And then came the Christmas my parents surprised me with a CAT synthesizer by Octave Electronics. I think I was 16ish? Anyway, I was blown away. During my high school years, the father of one of my friends was an awesome keyboard player (his name is Bob Hogins and he played on one of Santana's gold records, as well as with Three Dog Night, and Barry Melton, just to name a few) well, not only did he let us screw around in his studio most every weekend (space jams), he also gave me a Fender Contempo organ to add to my keyboard arsenal. His knowledge and expertise were freely shared, and always with a smile.
I bought an Elka Rhapsody(strings) in 10th grade to finish off my setup. It was pretty cool for the time. Rhodes piano, CAT synth, Fender Contempo organ and a Rhapsody. But then I had to buy a van to carry all this damn gear around of course. Though thegear I had at the time was pretty cool I was also fortunate enough to have access to a Hammond B-3 w/Leslie, a Mini-Moog, and a Hohner Clavinet, as well as an awesome Yamaha upright piano and a TEAC 4 track reel to reel. All located in the studio at one of my best friends' house! We spent many weekends (while his dad was away playing music), jamming and playing music ourselves! There were 4 of us that were regular "space jammers" but we had many guest spacers. I think when it finally all ended in our senior year, we had close to thirty 60 minute tapes of the most bizarre music you could imagine! Thanks again to Bob and Christine for putting up with all our shit for so long, and to Bill for being an excellent high school friend.
|
|