The final toys

Two new purchases this week — so now I’m done shopping. No, really. Well, at least until late June.

Back in NYC, my setup looked like this:

When I moved to LA, I got a fancy new desk (with drawers!), and that massive, weighted-88-key Korg digital piano didn’t fit. I switched to a 49-key MIDI controller, then to a two-octave controller. The desk looked nice, but writing music with a two-octave keyboard is a pain. Plus, it’s kind of fun to just be able to sit down and play a “piano.”

A few days ago, I ordered an 88-key M-Audio ProKeys 88SX. This thing solves all of the problems I had. It’s lightweight (under 20 pounds!), thin and shallow enough to fit in front of my monitor but leave plenty of room for my computer keyboard, and black rather than ugly silver like my 49-key controller. The “ugly” issue is a real one, since my studio is actually the dining room in our house, so it has no doors to close it off and hide it from guests. It’s right next to the living room, not tucked away in a back corner of the house, so if you come over to visit, you’re gonna see it. (Why do so many large electronics have to be so ugly? Why can’t Jonathan Ive design everything?)

In addition to the new keyboard, I bought one more lens for the new camera. It’s the Canon EF-S 10-22mm f/3.5-4.5 USM lens. This is an ultra wide angle lens, creating significant perspective distortion, but also allowing a huge amount of area to be shot in the frame. It’s already a lot of fun to play with. It allowed me to shoot the new keyboard, making it look huge

… but at the same time, it’s not the most flattering portrait lens.

Sorry, kitty.

Comments

Sarah says

and now we know what anorexic loki would look like.

Cathy says

I love the M-Audio Pro-Keys 88. I have no reason to own it (except maybe the fact of having another gadget) but if I knew how to play piano better, that would be my choice. And that's not just 'cause I'm an M-Powered Educator! ;)
~C

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