Techno-Baroque

Day 76: For as many years as I've been alone for Christmas, it has been my tradition to buy myself a present. Okay, I haven't always bought it in December, but when I made the purchase, it was designated "Christmas present to self" regardless of the month. This year, I decided to forgo the custom and instead made a substantial contribution to my favourite non-profit. On Christmas Day, I had dinner with my fishing buddy's family and somehow got roped into playing carols on an electronic keyboard. I faltered badly due to the fact that I haven't played in a long time, and it made me realize just how much I'd missed my old upright piano. I'd sold the beast a year or so ago to free up space in my living room, an idea which was great in theory but in practice, not as effective as I'd hoped.

Over the last several days, I've been looking at electronic keyboards on line. What I wanted and the cost I could justify were dreadfully out of alignment. Nor did I like the idea of making a purchase without actually playing the instrument, so today when I went in town, I hit one of the region's best-known music stores. I came out with exactly what I had wanted...no, even more than I had wanted!...for a very reasonable price thanks to a close-out sale. This model has more keys than many I've reviewed, plus it has pressure-sensitive volume and half-weighted keys which make it feel more like a real piano. As for what all those buttons are for, I'm sure I'll find out eventually. Right now, I'm enjoying the sound of techno-baroque on the most basic settings.