theshaggyfreak

While you might find something like this in your price range, you really won't find anything that has fully weighted keys. Some people can deal with that sort of drastic change in action, though. I would take her to shop that has something like the M-audio keyboard in stock and have her try it out.

Oh my! I totally forgot about the Stylophone! I got so excited about these that I just ordered one from Think Geek since they currently have them one sale for $15! It's so cool to see these little guys still being made and even Little Boots is using one! I only recently discovered her and I'm totally diggin her stuff.

Oh, wow. Sort of reminds me of the Chapman Stick in many ways. Would love something like that.

It's amazing what was built back then. I mean, many people don't know just how old the tech that's in a vocoder is. Granted, it wasn't for musical purposes but still. I was lucky enough to be raised by a father who was an electrician. So, I was educated about electronics at a young age. While some kids were playing sports, I was learning how to tell the rating of a resistor. I just wish my love for analog synths started at an earlier age.

Woops! Fixed that link for the Liberation. I almost got into a Monome back when I was using Live but I ended up giving up on it. It's a cool device, though. The Opal looks nifty! Kind of like a button box according layout. I could see something like that being fun. Speaking of analog synths, check out the Novachord. Apparently this guy completely restored one of these tubed bad boys. I've been meaning to visit his shop when I'm in the area at some point since I believe he's up near Bethlehem, PA.

Here's another strange one I've seen used a few times.. Electronic Bagpipes!

It's a touch board midi controller. The notes are somewhat set up like a piano. Velocity, though, is controller by where your finger is located on the touch board. Towards the bottom is softer and the top louder. I believe it also has aftertouch as well.

For some reason, I've always been fascinated by electronic instruments and controllers that outside of the normal crowd of keyboards and noise makers. Hell, I still have an affinity towards keytars even though they can be quite ugly. With the way technology is going, we're getting some really interesting gadgets these days. Here's some of my favorites from the past and present: Moog Liberation: I've wanted one ever since I first heard that Moog made a keytar back in the day. Right now they have one at Atomic Music but it's rather out of my price range. The Continuum: I think this thing is ingenious! Zendrum: This is another idea that I think is really cool. I've seen a few people play them and they can be quit expressive instruments. I'm in the process of building my own synth but I have yet to decide what controller to use with it. Since it's 100% analog I'm either going to need a CV keyboard or a MIDI/CV converted. I'm sure it'll be a while before it's all finished but I think it'll be fun to play once it's done. What are some of your favorite oddities?

Kel does have some audio samples on their website but I've got things you can listen to of stuff that I've done: http://pureshift.com/hear/ In Wild Mountain Thyme, the lead female vocals were done on the Studio Projects B1. In Wired Frame and No Trouble At All, the vocals were done with the Kel HM1. http://www.bsodcomic.net/music/ If you scroll to number 8, you can hear me sing into the Kel HM1. I admit, though, that the vocal track was heavily edited. Nice tune!

http://kelaudio.com/hm1.html This is one of the best purchase I've ever made mic wise and I use it a lot. It gets mostly used on vocals but I've used it on guitars as well. http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/B1Mic This is the other mic I use for vocals. I have an older one, though, that doesn't have the pad switch. I tend to use this one for recording female vocals. It's got a bit more clarity to it for that sorta stuff.

While I'm not a huge fan of the Mighty Mouse, I do like their newer keyboards of which you can get with the full set of keys including the num pad. It's actually quite comfortable to use but it did take a little getting used to since it takes a lot less pressure to use than a normal keyboard.

Not really. Since this is all in a basement, it stays fairly coolish in here. Even in the summer. Unfortunately the heat pump exchange unit is right outside this room but you can't hear it too much from within the closet. There's probably some things I can do to that closet to keep out more of the noise, though. For now, it works.

Got started on The Mantle today. So far it sounds pretty good and it's even a little on the hip hop sounding side which is a little rare for me.

This is my desk: Here's some various amps, guitars and stuff: Here's a wider shot of the room. The door in the middle is a closet for doing vocals and such. It's big enough for recording acoustic guitars as well. You can also see my other work station that I do my comic and other various 3D things.

I don't really have an affinity towards newer or older games but I do feel that there are too many current games that lack substance. It has been getting better as of late, though. I just can't get into most of the FPS or MMORPGs. Stuff like Shadow Complex has really grabbed my attention and I'm hoping to see more like it.

I'll go ahead and claim The Mantle.

Finished the game a couple days ago. Well worth the money and hopefully developers will start making more 2.5 like games.

I can probably pick up a few from Dulles since I live just about 15 minutes form it.

I used to run an online Celtic rock radio station several years back and I have a pretty decent collection of music both on the traditional side and contemporary. Some groups I like: Seven Nations Six Mile Bridge Lenahan Old Blind Dogs King Chiaulee

I may be a bit new around these parts but I wouldn't mind giving a stab at anything that's not taken. Picked the game up a couple years ago on ebay. Got the Japanese version since it was easier/cheaper to get. Awesome game! Still beats the pants of the newer Wii version.

NES SNES N64 Game Cube Wii Gameboy Pocket GBA SP Gamboy DS Sega Genesis x2 w/ 32x and Sega Master System adapter Saturn Dreamcast x2 Xbox PS2 Atari 2600 The funny thing is that most of these systems were acquired within the past 4 years. I didn't have the time or money for a long time to buy gaming consoles. Now it's kind of a hobby collecting them and I'm pretty good at finding bargains. It's amazing what you can find on craigslist sometimes.