I is back from Florida, though will be off to NYC for a few days next week with my friend

So school started today. So far I'm only officially in my neuroanatomy class, still wait list on another course. Hopefully I get in. But want to keep the summer session light.

So my lab partner is an utter idiot. Y'know those idiots that like to to talk and hear themselves, but not listen. The kind that ask for assistance 10 seconds after starting dissections  The kind that FUCKING STAB THE BRAIN 7 TIMES, CAUSING TISSUE TO FLY EVERYWHERE and thus jeopardizing structures that we'll work with later on. Yeah. Bah. BAH.

Needless rant. Not that I really care. It was just ridiculousness when the TA says "be super fucking careful, it's the only brain you get the whole semester", and them literally 2 minutes later there's gouges (superficial as they may be) to the top of the cerebrum. My, my....

Anyway!

Will also hopefully get my license this summer--plan to go to driving school soon. Not that I have any intention of driving, as time consuming and annoying as it is, public transit is still ftw given it's availability. But I've always said a license is important, if for nothing else, in cases of emergencies.

I_ACTIVATED_MY_XBOX_LIVE

I also got AC: Revelations!

And I'll be buying Blops 2 soon.

Gotta work on my applications for a thesis supervisor  soon! Need one for fall!

Edit: New CoD. Big surprise. My annoyance for that company grows.

Yay for having this entry open for a week!

So last week I got to play on the CP33 stage piano at the library downtown.  Though I might as well post my thoughts here for reference.

First off, I played this keyboard with headphones on. That being the case, you pretty much will get the best acoustics if playing through headphones so I have no idea if this keyboard would sound as nice through the speakers....though I'd assume so.

Pros:

-CP33 uses the same AWM sampling as the higher end Yamaha models, which sounds fantastic. Clear, crip sound. The Piano 1 mode is gorgeous with the reverb and bulit in room-ranged echo.

-Great authentic grand piano sound with 3 different piano modes, that includes mono.

-Has a bunch of voices (14?), and more importantly for me harpsichord. I believe you can customize the filers...but I didn't find out how.

-A nifty, but unnecessary thing: the keyboard is divided into two sections, for which you can control the acoustic seperatly. For instance, have the bass quieter than treble.

-Basically a bunch of other nifty features.

-Comes with the FC3 pedal which is awesome---controlled sustaining ftw!

Cons:

-by far the biggest problem: action

The action's very stiff and even harder than a typical piano---upright or grand. As a result, controlling the dynamic levels was challenging as applying a minimal amount of force would do nothing---until the threshold was met (which was about 1/3 of the key being pressed).

-Can't remember if the kick back was springy, but it defiantly didn't feel natural under my fingers like the p155 or p105 did.

-I would say it's one of those keyboards that fall into the "super-heavy" category.

-The keys have a very loud plastic sound when played. This is ridiculously noticeably when playing through headphones---I could hear every little way the person behind me violated their piano. This is actually probably why it's as cheap as it is for a "super-heavy" keyboard. They got the sound right...But ensuring the keys don't spring back or sound plasticity is probably what separates the stage piano series and the higher models.

-Possibly the most stupid and annoying problem: the audio jack is on the back of the piano. This is utterly stupid. You MUST have a headset with a long cord or otherwise you'll be tripping over the cord and getting tangled. Regardless of whether the cord is fished underneath or above the keyboard. As a result, I had a good deal of pain with playing. Such a simple thing to have paid attention to....

-There's no recording built in... midi, usb, direct, or otherwise.

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Biggest pros: sampling and features, comes with FC3 pedal,

Biggest cons: super-heavy action, springy, noisy keys, idiotic audio jack placement

Given that some people actually LOVE this type of action.....for $~1000, it's a good deal.

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 Back to Batman!

So yesterday in Ottawa we ended up dropping by Steve's music shop. Always enjoy that company's selection of instruments, every locations has two floors loaded with crap loads of instruments.

Hey, I even picked up a dirt cheap ocarina (which sounds equally as cheap)! The other big time shops near my house don't even sell them.

Anyway, I was uber happy when I realized they carried all the major retailers of digital pianos.

I've been throwing around the idea of switching to a digital piano from my upright for some time. Humoring the idea really. 

The P-155 is considered the best of the economy class models of digital pianos---and that comes in at over 1000$. Not exactly economic. But I was eager to try it out to really see if it was my kinda piano.

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P-155

I can't even describe how fucking fantastic it felt.

The action was med-to-heavy. I believe one of the few in that class and quality of digital pianos.  This is fantastic because uprights like mine pretty much have heavy action. So it felt very natural. The touch felt very comfortable, and there wasn't a lair of resistance. Rather, it was sensitive in all the right spots.

The resonance was pretty good too. And if I milked it, note duration could go for about 10 seconds, and when I used the sustain pedal, even more. That was quite impressive to me for an electric interface.

It has a great "tension" that is very much like a piano. Weighted keys were quite accurate to the touch, more than I expected. 

More importantly: It made my playing sounds tons better.

It gelled so well.

Aside from the touch, there's a MULTITUDE of settings and stuff that a n00b like me shouldn't even have. But....it's really quite useful. For instance, if I wanted to play some Bach pieces the way he intended to, I can do that by changing the piano filter.

Above all, the customization are massive. Be it to select the ambiance, effect, etc. Being the reverb whore that I am, learning that I could actually control how much I can use was a big treat :D.

All these things are quite fancy and pretty awesome, but not necessary for me. However, I do think it's useful given the times I say "I wish I could manipulate this tone".

For 1,100$ it's obviously worth the price. But I am not. I will probably take any chance I can get when around a music shop to fiddle around with it.

Oh! Also the ""heavy duty"" pedal comes with it. And, it's avalible in mahogany, which is the only colour I can have in my dining room

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P-105

So the biggest perk is the cost--about 400$ cheaper, at around 700$. Still obviously not cheap, but when you're looking for sexy weighted keys and all that, this is the starting. Obviously there's not as many options or pretty features. But still enough that once again, a n00bito like me should be happy with.

However, the biggest problem with this keyboard: medium action.

In compassion to the heavy action of an upright, the keys for the p-105 feel more sensitive, and less like a real piano. It would require changing my whole playing style, as someone who is used to applying considerable force.

The tone, also....seemed a little less dynamic--there was less range. I don't remember if it was also an obscene 128pp, but I don't think they were marketing  it as that, last time I read anyway. But it doesn't matter really, because I should be happy with 24pp.

Oh! Also, I didn't get to play the p-105 properly. It was perched on the wall, not resting on a stand whereas the p-155 was. So.

I think it's  pretty good piano. But there is definitely a jump in quality and attention to detail once you drop another 400$. Also, the heavy duty pedal doesn't come with it, and it's not available in mahogany.

Overall it was a great experience. I'd like to shop around a bit and see the different companies. Ideally, renting whichever I decide to (hypothetically) buy, would be the best way to go. Also, the P-155 is absolutely overkill for my purposes. But it'll be good to use as a reference to quality and the like.