I have had an interest in amateur music since the late 1980s, early '90s.
During that time, in the early '90s, I bought my first musical instrument, it was
a small, foot-long, Casio keyboard and calculator. This keyboard, as small as it
was, gave me the opportunity to learn and read music, for the first time.
I discovered I was able to read the basics in music, like the notes, and play them
back on this Casio keyboard. I had remembered the theory and practical classes, I had, back in high school. I also remember, what a pleasure it gave me, to play
my very first tune, which was the Hymn - Silent Night. I knew then, I was onto
something, not only good but very "comforting to the soul".
It was not very long, before I decided to trade-in this small Casio keyboard, for
a much bigger, full piano-sized one. The new full-size, Casio keyboard, came
with many different instruments to play on the keyboard. It also came with
its own accompaniments - so this gave me some background music to play with.
After owning this new piano, full-sized Casio keyboard for a number of months, and
practicing my keyboard playing - learning the placement of my fingers on
the keyboard learning the notes and chords etc., it was not long before I was
ready for a more professional keyboard.
I decided to trade-in my full-sized Casio keyboard for a Roland JX-8P keyboard,
at a music store I knew, which was located off Queen Street, here in Campbelltown.
I decided on this particular keyboard, after listening and watching a friend
by the name of Chris Stevens, demonstrate his newly acquired Roland JX-3P
keyboard, which he played with great pride, in his backyard at a B-B-Q dinner he gave.
Chris demonstrated the many voices and sound effects that his keyboard could play.
His new keyboard also had many different Instruments which he could play on his new keyboard. I left this B-B-Q of his, feeling very impressed with Chris Steven's playing skills.
Anyway, it would have been only a few months after listening to Chris Steven's playing,
that I decided to buy a keyboard like his, so I bought the "big brother" of his keyboard,
the Roland JX-8P, which had replaced Chris's Roland JK-3P keyboard.
Needless to say, I was very pleased with my new keyboard, it was in many ways, just like Chris's keyboard. One tune which I played on it, which almost
bought me to tears, was one called Born Free, from the movie theme...
I spent many an hour, at different times of the year, in playing back Music I had found in the many music books which I bought at the same music store I had bought the keyboard.
I eventually, bought a second keyboard, a Roland Juno 106 to accompany my Roland JX-8P. I used both these keyboards together, in a type of organ playing instrument style, which worked quite well.
The second keyboard (Juno 106) I used for the Chords, while the first keyboard (JX-8P)
was used for melody. This worked out quite well. The Juno 106 was mostly analog
in makeup, while the more up-to-date JX-8P was fully digital.
Now, sometime later into the future, a number of years at least, and two above keyboards get sold, shortly before moving to our new home in Macarthur gardens retirement village. I didn't think we would have enough room for the two keyboards, in our new, smaller home, so I sold them locally, and was quite sad to see them go.
I saw an ad in Gumtree.com.au for a Kurzweil K2000 keyboard, going on sale for $650 Now the Kurzweil keyboards, over the years, for me have always been at the very top of the line as far as quality goes, and unfortunately, for price too.
So, this is why I jumped at the price when I first saw it advertised on Gumtree.
While negotiating for this Kurzweil keyboard, I decided to see what was currently available on the Internet, after all this Kurzweil keyboard,
as great as it was, is from around 1995 - which is when it would have been manufactured.
During my Google searches on the web, I came across some Yamaha professional
musical keyboards, which I also saw been played by some musicians, on various YouTube
videos.
It did not take me long, for me to hop out of my negotiations with this fellow on Gumtree,
over the Kurzweil K2000 keyboard, and look into a suitable Yamaha keyboard, for me.
I decided on the Yamaha PSR-S770 keyboard because it did everything I needed, plus lots more.
I looked at various YouTube videos on the Yamaha keyboards and various related Keyboards, before settling on this particular Keyboard.
I also ended up joining a musicians website called
Reverb.com - where various music-related gear, new and used are sold, around the world.
I found a new PSR-S770 Yamaha keyboard at a good price, new, for about $200 less
than anywhere else, so I decided to go for it. The seller for this Keyboard was a music store, located in Canberra, called DW Music.
It was not long before a Budget courier arrived at my home, to deliver this keyboard.
On opening up the new box, and setting up the new keyboard, it was not long before,
I realized I made the right decision on choosing this particular keyboard.
What I was also looking for in this particular keyboard, was anything geared towards
teaching the piano, as I was also interested in learning to play this instrument the proper piano way.
Kind regards,
Howard Pew.
27 May 2018, and 26 March 2021.