It’s not quite like the old song “If Only I Could Play the Piano,” but for someone who never even finished Beyer, there wasn’t much I could do.
To make matters worse, the piano I used to tinker with from time to time had to be given away when I moved.
Even so, I kept thinking — if only I could play Beethoven’s piano sonatas…
That's right—with DTM, I might actually be able to play piano properly! So after retiring, I resolved to start from scratch with MIDI input. It's been quite a struggle, but I've come a long way. I never took formal lessons—it's all self-taught. At least I've reached the point where I can produce sounds on the surface. Lately, I've been working hard to get to a level where I can somehow convey the sounds I think, "This is how I'd want to play it."
Beethoven — can you believe it!
And I might even be able to play the super-difficult “Hammerklavier”!
Perhaps a live cello could be played with MIDI piano accompaniment!
Thankfully, a former colleague who's a pianist is giving me remote lessons as my teacher. We communicate while sharing audio-converted files via the cloud. Sometimes, they even show me their fingerings on a real piano via Skype (now Discord). Wow, the attack sound is so different between the back and front of the keyboard! While lamenting my complete lack of musical ability as a total amateur, I receive harsh Type B comments daily, and it really makes me realize how amazing people who've properly trained truly are.
For now, I’ll be uploading my programmed performances one by one as they’re ready.