Music

My musical interests have been through many phases over the years !

The first real intrument that I remember having any success with was a piano accordion given to me by an uncle when I was about 11. By the time I was 16, I had lost interest in playing this, and it was relegated to a cupboard. By the time I next touched a keyboard, I was nearly 30, and I bought myself a Casio keyboard. Then strikes the reality that I don't really know what to do with it, or what I want to play. But I bought a few books of popular music and learned a few basics of playing from them.

But over the years, my musical listening preferences had shifted very much in the classical direction, so I thought maybe I should focus my learning in that direction. So the popular music books were replaced with works by Bach, Couperin etc. After endless hours of practise, the inevitable happened and I got tired of the plink plink sounds from my keyboard. Just at that time, Roland had introduced a digital harpsichord, and when one became available at a bargain price, I could not resist a trip to the dealer to try it out. I was impressed, and it came home with me in the back of the car.

I was happy with the Roland for quite some time, but one day, I discovered the Early Music Festival which is held annually in London, and decided to attend. I wan't really sure what to expect, but quickly discovered that there were many harpsichord makers there with instruments on display. And they were all such nice people and inviting me to sit down and play. As a mere amateur, I felt well out of my depth, but did try many of the instruments there, and the halls were so noisy that nobody really noticed if I played some wrong notes.

I came away from that exhibition with the though 'I must have one' going around and around in my head. But I wanted to be sure, so I waited another year to visit the exhibition again. The year passed, and I still wanted a real instrument, so back to the exhibition again to choose from all the builders there. It was not long after the exhibition that I placed an order for my own harpsichord. Such a purchase is not off the shelf, so I must wait for the instrument to be built. But the wait was well worthwhile, and I am now the proud owner of a Ravelment Flemish Double harpsichord after Ioannes Ruckers.