Hello MIDI Maggers,
My name is Joseph Stephen. I'm 51 and am totally blind. I've been a software
engineer for about 26 years and have recently gotten back into music after a
very long break. I currently own a Roland TD17KV drum kit and a Roland Juno
DS61 keyboard. I have begun using Reaper and am thrilled to be able to produce
multitrack recordings. I have a friend in Adelaide Australia (I live in
Tasmania Australia) who I've sung with since 1986. In the 90s we had a
Christian band and played at many churches, camps and other events around
Adelaide. When I got married in 1996 I took a very long break from music to
raise a family of 9 children, 4 of which are still at home.
In 2019, when I visited my mother in Adelaide (who is at the end of her life),
I visited my friend and we sat on his bed and began singing as if we'd never
had a 24 year break. I knew then that I really wanted to get back into music.
IN the past three months (at the age of 73) my friend in Adelaide has finally
figured out how to record himself. I in that time have taken a crash course in
Reaper. He sends me a single track of him and his guitar and I add harmonies,
drums and keyboard here in Tasmania, and do the mixing and mastering here. Our
genres cover a wide range of music from soft ballads to rock. All our music is
original. Currently all of my recording has been audio but I'd like to get
started with MIDI since both my Roland instruments can transfer audio and MIDI
over USB. I hope to get some direction from this list. I've never worked with
MIDI at all and have no idea how to get started with MIDI and Reaper.
If anyone is interested in the Roland TD17KV/KV2, I've put together an
accessible guide which is still a work in progress. I'm doing the same for the
Juno DS61. If anyone has any notes on either of these instruments, let me know
and we can brainstorm together. I've also been in contact with Roland Australia
to try and work on some accessibility issues. Time will tell if they take on
board anything I've suggested, I'm sure I'm not the first to have written to
them. Given my background in software however, you'd hope they'd take me up on
my offer of help.
Other interests include making amateur radio accessible to the blind by adding
voice prompts to radio firmware. Two projects I've worked on include
AccessibleGD77 and OpenRTX.
I also enjoy walking, woodwork and writing. I've written 6 books and am
currently working on a seventh.
Thanks for having me. I look forward to what I can learn from you all and
hopefully what I can contribute.
Joseph
-----Original Message-----
From: midimag-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx <midimag-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> On Behalf Of
Jackie McBride
Sent: Wednesday, December 21, 2022 6:43 AM
To: midimag@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [freelists-midimag] Welcome New Subscribers
all, this is just a shout-out to the 2 newest subscribers on the list.
Please don't hesitate to introduce yourselves & let us get to know you.
I'm Jackie, and, along w/Mike Mandel, I co-moderate the list. If there's
anything either of us can do to make your stay more pleasant, please don't
hesitate to ask. Welcome aboard.
--
Jackie McBride
Be a hero. Fight Scams. Learn how at www.scam911.org Also check out
brightstarsweb.com & mysitesbeenhacked.com
