Dancing for Engineers

Now here’s a topic I’ve been thinking about for a while. I started going to salsa dancing lessons fairly regularly this fall, but am having a hard time remembering the long sequences of complex moves that I learn in the MIT lessons (which are great, by the way). Even when I can remember them, it’s hard to do them on the dance floor with a girl who doesn’t also know what is coming, while staying on the beat, etc. etc. So, at some point this fall, I thought to myself that there must be a better way to learn enough sequences of moves not to bore a good follower to tears.

Useful Guitar Hero

When I bought my MIDI cable a while ago, I had assumed that mostly I’d be recording myself play piano, and I have done that a bit. However, it turns out that there is more to having a MIDI keyboard than recording. You can also play games with it.

One of my favorites is Synthesia – a Guitar Hero clone, but for piano. I love the concept of this; Guitar Hero is such a fun and addictive game that some people will play for long hours to become good at it. Why not use the same format to teach people a useful skill?

Local Music

A few months ago, my friend Louis Matteo performed with his band, The Modern Minstrels, at the All-Asia bar on Mass Ave. Of course, I went, because concerts are always fun, and I especially wanted to support my friend. The big surprise of the evening, though, was his opening act – Katelyn Benton. Katelyn played piano with a bass accompaniment, and even though her drummer never showed up, I really liked her piano style and voice. I decided to look for any of her future concerts in the hopes of catching the whole band together.

Well, tonight was the night. I convinced Batya to head out with me at 6:00 for the 6:30 concert. Since we were a little early, we stopped by Toscanini’s for some ice cream first. By the time we got back to the bar, the music was just starting. As expected, Katelyn’s band was really good. Her music is generally upbeat, and has a sort of bluesy feel to it. Apparently, she’s from Denver, but has a little bit of Louisiana influences via her grandmother (or aunt? She told a story about it, but I don’t remember all the details). If you want to hear a few samples of her music, you should check out her myspace page: http://www.myspace.com/katelynbenton.

After her band’s first set was done, the bass and drummer left the stage, and two guys with guitars, Will Knox and Kyle James Hauser, came up. For this section of the concert, the three of them took turns playing generally solo pieces that they had either composed or just really liked. Will and Kyle are in a band together, but tonight Will was a little better than Kyle. Apparently Kyle has only played solo twice in two years, so he hasn’t had much practice performing like this. Batya and I were both having a great time listening to the three of them, so we left slightly reluctantly when she had to go to a meeting at 8:30.
There seems to be a pretty vibrant local music scene in Boston, and I never really knew about it until this year. I’m excited, though, because maybe if I keep going to events like these, I’ll be able to continue to hear good artists and my network will just expand. I’m looking forward to hearing more.

Midi is Great

Well, my new Midi-to-USB converter arrived in the mail today, so now I can use my Casio WK-1630 keyboard as an input to my computer. Combined with GarageBand, I think I’m going to have a lot of fun. I love the fact that I can transcribe the music I play as I play it, even when I’m just improvising. Far too often, I make up something that I kind of like, then I forget it and can never get it back. Now I can.

So far, however, I’ve only recorded one piece – it’s just me making stuff up without a plan, so there are a few shaky parts. Perhaps now that I have it transcribed, though, I’ll go back and improve upon it… Listen if you wish.

Improv Song (m4a)

Improv Song (mp3)