ColRJB Posted September 15, 2019 Share Posted September 15, 2019 Hi. This is my first post and a tad long. So thank you for your patience and insight. I am retired military and almost 65. My musical background was trumpet/French horn in school and self taught guitar, drums and keyboards. I owned one of the very first issued Juno 106s, a MiniMoog, a Korg Dw 8000 and a DX7. I joined the military and was deployed and foolish me gave all my synths to a friend of a friend vs just keeping them. Yes I know total dumb move. Post military career I had a stroke. Lost all of my creative side of the brain. I can now drive, work, do analytical math, but as for music, my art and writing are all lost. I am slowly reteaching myself music. I mean literally notes, chords, scales etc. It’s been quite a challenge. I can now play on an old severely out of tune standup piano basic notes and cords with a single hand but trying to get both to work is my next wall. Ok so with all that said, I’m looking at a WK-7600. I am hoping the additional sounds offered as well as the ability to force my mind back into sequencing, etc will help rewire my brain. I am also looking at getting a small analog as well. I understand synthesis and sequencing and DAWs. It’s just trying to get my brain to talk with both hands. I don’t want to spend $$$$$ for a ModX, or DS 88 or Kross if I can’t ever retrain myself to play. Will the Wk7600 be a good fit? Thanks for reading. Colrjb Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
XW-Addict Posted September 15, 2019 Share Posted September 15, 2019 Go for it , you can always upgrade if needed. Surprising the WK7600 is still available and one that holds the top of the WK line. The magic happens when you behind the keyboard start exploring a single sound and the idea's for a composition starts to form. Thank god for internet you can get support or any additional information need as well, so you're in good hands :). 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jokeyman123 Posted September 15, 2019 Share Posted September 15, 2019 One of my students also has similar challenges as a mature adult, I am his piano/guitar tutor, his enthusiasm and progress is a gift. he is motivated! Music can be a beneficial mental and physical process as you probably are already aware. Sounds like you are already more than halfway there. I believe attitude and mental facilities can help heal physical challenges, I have experienced non-verbal autistic children in my music classes (ret. educator) sing with me, a shock to their therapists and social workers, and to me as well, at least early on in my career!.And how about one of my "idiot savant" students-what a horrible label-who could just sit at the piano and play-never had any musical training or background at all! He also knew all the scores for Yankee games going back decades (!) and could instantly calculate complex mathematical problems-corrrectly-if I hadn't been there and checked him, wouldn't believe it possible. We have alot to learn about how the brain works apparently. Playing several Casios-a Privia 560 and 360 and now the CTK6200, a 61-key and slightly less featured version of the WK7600 I am very pleasantly surprised by the quality of the tones and playability of the keys, even in relation to weighted piano keys. For sequencing, it is a pretty full-featured sequencer, very usable but a little confusing to me and I am an old hand with soft/hardware sequencers, so there is a challenging learning curve there. It's light weight compared to the Juno 106, Dw8000 even the DX7 , very nice for carrying around, very portable. You won't have the metal structure of the Juno, minimoog or DX but since it is so lightweight I have found the Casio less prone to major damage if dropped. A non-musical side note-one of my close friends here-(ret. military Marines) also had an almost identical stroke 2 years ago, was an avid golfer thought he'd never be able to play. Plays 9-hole courses now and is almost ready to go 18. Never say never. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe Muscara Posted September 17, 2019 Share Posted September 17, 2019 On 9/15/2019 at 10:02 AM, Jokeyman123 said: "idiot savant" students-what a horrible label A bit OT to this discussion, but know that "idiot" used to mean "a legal and psychiatric category of profound intellectual disability in which a person's mental age is two years or less, and he or she cannot guard against common dangers. Along with terms like moron, imbecile, and cretin, the term is now archaic and considered offensive, and was replaced by the term "profound mental retardation" (which has itself since been replaced by other terms)." I believe the idiot savant condition is now called "savant" or savant syndrome. IOW, the derogatory use of the word idiot came later. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jokeyman123 Posted September 17, 2019 Share Posted September 17, 2019 Right Joe. when I began teaching, including directing music programs for a county special needs school district-over 100 students in that school alone (I was their director and later on had a large part of this same county district's classes in my public school population as classrooms were being re-allocated) these terms were still being used for the various classes of students I taught. I could not believe-this in the 1980s, not during the Victorian age!)-these terms were being legitimately used to label these students. A happier side note, I already had several Casio keyboards I traveled with from class to class as a roving minstrel" music director-what an incredible experience. Good thing the Casios were so portable, and practically indestructible as students were playing them when i wasn't. No wonder I'm still a Casio "fanboy-fanperson".......probably why i stay so active here, the forum keeps me on my toes! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sslyutov Posted September 17, 2019 Share Posted September 17, 2019 The key point for me "It’s just trying to get my brain to talk with both hands. " it does not make a big difference which keyboard you will use. I think the important part it to get tutoring for musical exercises. Therefore I would recommend to take any keyboard and use pianomarvel.com Do not take me wrong, I am not trying to advertise this program. But what I can say. It will make your brain to attempt to talk to both hands for sure. About the instrument P45, P71, PX 160, etc. would be sufficient as an entry-point for piano lessons. If you get it from Amazon or another good musical store such as guitar center, sweetwater, kraft music you will have at least a month of a tryout period. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mike71 Posted September 18, 2019 Share Posted September 18, 2019 16 hours ago, sslyutov said: The key point for me "It’s just trying to get my brain to talk with both hands. " it does not make a big difference which keyboard you will use. I think the important part it to get tutoring for musical exercises. About the instrument P45, P71, PX 160, etc. would be sufficient as an entry-point for piano lessons. If you get it from Amazon or another good musical store such as guitar center, sweetwater, kraft music you will have at least a month of a tryout period. Absolutely agree. The experience as a piano leaner is try the brain to talk with both hands, at a basic level. The most important thing is to have a good teacher that could help you to find exercises good for you and help to correct mistakes. About the instrument to buy, go in a decent music store and try them before buy. Any entry level will do, or in a shop you maybe find used/refurbished ones. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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