Way back when... (did you start writing music)

Good topic Quinnx. I started playing acoustic guitar at around age eleven and went to electric guitar a few years later and started writing music in the late 70's - before Artemiy was even born. :D

I had always wanted to play Piano and finally decided to jump in and go for it and bought an inexpensive keyboard to learn on. I developed a certified "bug" for Piano/Keyboard's and have owned several keyboards over the years since then with the latest being my beautiful and mind-boggling Fantom G7. It really is a work of art and at the time of its launch way back in May '08 was in my opinion the certified leader in workstation technology with its "seamless" patch transition (although only "one" seamless patch at a time unfortunately), as well as its huge LCD screen with the highest resolution of any keyboard on the market at the time and of course great sounds, albeit, with a few areas lacking like the lack of superior AC Grand(s) or exquisite B3 organ sounds or the inclusion of comprehensive Orchestra(s), etc. Hopefully Roland will do better in those areas on their next workstation. But of course there are many many great sounds contained within the Fantom G presets as we know as well. FWIW, Walgrafix has been a "lifeline" of third party support for the Fantom G (as has Artemiy obviously) ;) but hopefully there will be other third parties that will jump on the Fantom G bandwagon too. Time will tell.

Oh... I also sing. :)

for me i took classical piano lessons when i was a kid and played maybe 4-5yrs but got sick of it because i wanted accompanyment like drums/bass.

i bought my first keyboard (was some pos casio 8note polyphonic 49key, 8tone one with 12 drum patterns, etc. built-in mono speaker) and loved it.

wanted to play more so bought other synths (most of them used, ofcourse since i was poor when i was a kid/student) like juno-60 and CZ1000, DX100, RX7 rhythm machine, MIrage, etc. played in a copy-band...

then got a MMT8 sequencer started composing music back in the late 80's. then got a super deal on M1, D20 workstation, etc when they were phasing out, and many many mid-grade synths in my setup. then i got a classic2 and cubase and loved it. ive made over 100 tunes over the decades...mostly instrumentals but did try some vocals as well with my friends singing and did quite well in the auditions. just as a hobby but got considerable air time on commercial radio stations for many months, etc. i decided i never want to do this for a living and keep it a nice hobby of mine away from work... keep it fun and keeps me calm. :)

i still have my 01W/FD my brother gave me as a going away present. it's in new condition, and play it off and on. the pads in there are just awesome! :)

today my lineup is quite different, only buying top-end boards in small quantities and enjoy playing over 4-8 bar loops. i also enjoy making patches and playing with sound in general. will get back to composing more in a yr or so.

Great thread!

I started playing the piano at the age of 5 (my older brother taught me and I started taking lessons when I was 8). It wasn't until my brother brought home David Foster's self-titled album from 1986 that I realised what I really wanted to do. On the inside cover you could read about the equipment he used (artists should do that all the time, btw!) I was 17 then and played in a Depeche Mode coverband, using a Juno-106 and a JX8-P. Many years later I sold them both (for God knows what reason...) and got myself a Generalmusic S3 Turbo. I never understood what was so "turbo" about the darn thing but I liked the fact that it was my first workstation and sequencing was a new thing for me. The S3 was then replaced by a Yamaha EX5. Great stuff, but then I heard about the Fantom FA-76 which I just HAD to get. I did, but sold it a few years ago to get my G8.
Today I do mostly musicals. At the moment, my G can be heard doing all the string parts in The Beauty and the Beast in my hometown (Kristianstad, Sweden). I've also done Sound of Music, My Fair Lady, Can Can, Aida (Elton John's...), Tarzan, Rent and Sweet Charity. Last year, I took part in the recording of the latest Allen/Lande album "Showdown", where me and my G is on three tracks.
I do compose, but so far I haven't been very successful. That might change, though...

fatbrass- very interesting! i happen to love DavidFoster's "The Flight of the Snow Birds" waaay back when. was one of the main inspirations to start playing keyboards. :)

using a Juno-106 and a JX8-P.

Yeah I to had a juno 106 which impressed me alot at the time.. had a DX7 for a time and also the Roland D20 which if found all very interesting back in the day.

When I started sequencing I had a commodore 64 exec ( portable ) using Sonus 8 track sequencer software and an ESQ 1 the first poor man's workstation, a paltry facsimile of the then world renowned Fairlight and Synclavier

Along with my Ensonique ESQ-1 I used a DX-7, Korg Poly 800 and for drums a Roland 707 and Korg DDD-1 and eventually added an Ensonique EPS-1 though somewhat unreliable, it was highly innovative for the time sampling 40k for 19 sec, having Mac alchemy 8 track sequencer with 8 virtual tracks 8 individual outputs, a stereo output and performance switches that articulated the nuances of an instrument like the growl of a sax

Mines similar time to everyone else. DX7 followed by an Ensonique SQ80 with a Casio FZ-10M sampler. Served me well for years. ;)

Oh, I forgot... I had a TR-626 drum machine as well. Loved it, miss it.