Just wondering how everyone is doing?

[Jeremykeys]

Well, it seems like it's been forever and that's justified. A year or thereabouts has gone by since this nasty pestilence has plagued us and if you're at all like me, you've had enough of it. I've been coping though. In my own way. I'm fortunate enough to have my own little bedroom recording studio that allows me to indulge myself in making my own music, good or bad. At least its fun. I've been off work for most of this year due to eyeball surgery. My cats love to invade and offer up their 2 cents worth. My big one is here begging for rubs as I type. So all in all, I'm making due and in one sense I do have to admit that over the last year because we haven't been able to go out as much, I"m making more music than I normally would have. I guess that's a plus. Gotta find one somewhere. I know for a fact that I have struggled a few times. But by the by, I'm alright.

So I guess my question is, are you alright? Hopefully none of us in this little group has gotten sick.
Just to satisfy my nosiness, what have you been doing to cope?

All the best and please stay safe!

Jeremykeys

 

[Biggles]

Our saviour since the start of the pandemic has been our dog.

She has to be walked a couple of times a day, she gives us the chance to meet and talk to others in our local woods which are only a couple of minutes walk away from home.

Being well into retirement work is a four letter word spoken in hushed tones so we have no need to satisfy the needs of others with deadlines or quotas to meet so its a case of household chores then whatever activity we want to undertake.

Its not been a good year for health, two years ago I had a hip replacement op that went wrong and it has left me in pain permanently and with a limp. Not letting that bother me so just getting on with life best we can. I did get covid symptoms before Christmas and went off for a test, it came back negative but I am convinced that the test was in error and I had a mild form of covid.

We are still in covid lockdown so are not supposed to travel outside our local area and this is where it hurts, being bound to just our local area and not being able to see friends and relatives, especially my older Brother who has the onset of dementia and its his birthday next week.

At least we had our first covid vaccine a few weeks ago and our next is due the third week in April by which time lockdown will hopefully have eased and we can get out and about more. Infection diagnosis published daily in the UK are still high at over 6000 a day but at least the death rate is now falling rapidly.

Still learning away on keys, even dusted off the Gibson and played a few sixties instrumentals the other day. I really should sell the Les Paul as my arthritis plays havoc with my fretting and the weight of the thing is getting a bit much for my old back.

In one respect I am a kid again. I bought Microsoft’s new Flight Simulator and have been spending more hours than I should planning flights and flying various routes. I do have a Pilots License, I used to fly Piper and Cessna light aircraft and the flight sim relives my time spent airborne and its way cheaper than the real mccoy.

So thats about it from me here in England.

Take care

 

[happyrat1]

Amazon, Pot, Skype, Skip The Dishes, & Instacart.

I no longer believe there is an "outside world."

I have my books, my toys and plenty of streaming media to keep me sane.

February has been the same as every February since I was born in Canada.

Cabin fever is Canada's second favorite winter sport.

Solitary confinement is OK if you have the right equipment to handle it...

Gary

 

[Rayblewit]

Your eye surgery Jeremy sounds frightening. I trust the outcome will be worth it. Best of luck man!

Covid down time "down under" was painful. It lasted months.

I am doing okay! Survived the lock-down and kept fit and virus free.
Most days keyboarding and learning new songs . . my playing has improved immensely. That is a positive ending to the isolation.

Now we have some freedom (still with restrictions) so life looks good from now on!

keep smiling!

Ray

 

[3dc]

I am doing fine. Thanks for asking. I am also glad you guys are doing fine.

Me? I am practicing every day my piano skills on my midi controller, learning about music theory and how to use all those software synths and effects in my DAW. Yesterday I learned how to recreate analog synthesizer voice in software synth with saturation and distortion filters. Today I learned how to setup a robotic voice with Vocodex in FL Studio. Cool stuff!

I think I am sinking in this music world more and more. All I wanted is to learn how to play a simple song on Yamaha E463.

As a family we had our share of serious problems but buy now we all grow strong and prepared for these life storms. Life is good at the moment - no storms in sight.

Keep moving forward and stay safe.

"The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.
“If you can’t fly then run, if you can’t run then walk, if you can’t walk then crawl, but whatever you do you have to keep moving forward.”
- Martin Luther King, Jr.

 

[MusicwithHarry]

Myself and family are fine and have been throughout all of the COVID thingy. My wife is a teacher so she works outside the home most days, but does have a few where she can teach remotely.

My day job was playing at nursing homes. I was doing about 50 performances a month when COVID hit last year, closing down the nursing homes to visitors like myself since March 2020. I have not seen the inside of a nursing since then. I played a few outdoor shows at a couple of nursing homes last summer, but since I live in Iowa, it gets cold here in the wintertime and so outdoor shows cannot happen.

Our teenage daughter has been virtual learning all school year and we are going to attempt to do this for the rest of her schooling career. She was homeschooled before public school last school year anyway and actually prefers it over going to a brick and mortar building. I oversee her education.

I took all of this time off (which I am still off until the homes open up again) to revamp my recording studio, get more gear, dial in my live setup with the band I am in, dial in my solo show on another live rig, dial in the PA system for when I can go out, and got even more gear

I rather like being home and generally do not go out much anyway, unless it is music-related. The band I am in has a full calendar this summer and I believe that almost all of them are outdoor shows, so they are still on.

I also took this time to really clean up the house (it wasn't dirty much anyway), and get some home projects done. I also started new projects and completed them too. I rather liked it and my wife wants me to stay home anyway to focus on the music.

I have 27 synths right now, and have the Behringer VC340 coming next week (hopefully, when it arrives at the store to ship it to me).

I also have unlimited MIDI sequencing and a 32-track audio recorder that I have been using. I also use a DAW but it is more for mixing and mastering than audio capture... this time has allowed me to get the studio in order so I can start recording bands/artists again. Time to put that Recording Engineer schooling back to work for more than just my solo albums...

I also released two more albums and have at least 3-5 more in the pipe....

Sure, I took a few days off here and there, but I was still busy, even though I was not playing at the homes every day.

The focus was safety, making sure my wife had/has coffee in the morning before she goes to work, making sure my daughter completes her studies, and that we are all healthy and without COVID. Now that the weather is warming up here, I plan on putting some miles on the mountain bike again. I am getting too old to fee this old

Grace,
Harry

 

[Keroleen]

Musically I found myself a in person studio band with a few non COVID freaks that want to continue jamming. So I’m excited that even I’m brand new to playing I have this opportunity

i got my new full sized piano and a Squier Strat (It’s pretty and pink). I enjoy the guitar more but I switch between the two to fulfill my duties on piano.

The pandemic is the best thing that could have happened to me professionally. But my work and sector in the forefront. Things will never be the same and thank goodness as it needed to change.

Ive had loads of adventures mountain biking, road biking and skiing this winter despite crappy conditions out west. I miss beer league hockey so much. At least I got more time to plinker with My musical toys now.

I hope to chatter more with folks here and maybe even meet up in person in my travels.

 

[MusicwithHarry]

Musically I found myself a in person studio band with a few non COVID freaks that want to continue jamming. So I’m excited that even I’m brand new to playing I have this opportunity

i got my new full sized piano and a Squier Strat (It’s pretty and pink). I enjoy the guitar more but I switch between the two to fulfill my duties on piano.

The pandemic is the best thing that could have happened to me professionally. But my work and sector in the forefront. Things will never be the same and thank goodness as it needed to change.

Ive had loads of adventures mountain biking, road biking and skiing this winter despite crappy conditions out west. I miss beer league hockey so much. At least I got more time to plinker with My musical toys now.

I hope to chatter more with folks here and maybe even meet up in person in my travels.

I plan on getting back on the mountain bike here in Iowa after it warms up a bit more. I miss riding and it is hard to do during the winters here. It is much different than in California (where I am from) , where I could pretty much ride all year round... I have thought about an e-bike here and there too, so I can go a bit longer or have help on the way home from a longer ride in the beginning... it has been a while since I have ridden...

My band had a few COVID scares, but we have still gotten together to practice as well, albeit a bit abbreviated than in the past. I would prefer to be safe, but that is because I have asthma and have already died from that once in my life... It is okay to be safe, at least for me.

I do not think that things will be like they used to as well, but I hope that we can get back to some sense of normalcy. People will be who they will be, though, and that can mean whatever that means

Grace,
Harry