Like a number of other commenters mentioned, folks like me who were in STEM majors all had to learn how to code in some form or another, though I don't think I ever took any classes as such.
A popular joke then:
"what do mechanical engineers do when they graduate?"
"they learn to code and become programmers"
In my case, I had a part-time job in a lab writing programs in C++ to get various lab instruments to be remote controllable from a terminal and had to learn on the job how to do it. One of the professors in the lab gave me a copy of "Numerical Recipes in C" to help me with the C++ code I was writing. It didn't help at all!
I was also part of the generation that learned basic programming on a TRS-80 (aka "trash-80") in BASIC, then in HS some Pascal and FORTRAN in an informal computer club. My family never owned a home computer, but the school had a bunch of windowsOS machines curious students could play with.
Looking back now, it seems like I was really primed to be part of one of the first waves of professional programmers, and indeed a number of my friends did go that route. But by the time I graduated from university, I kind of hated coding! Recall that in the 90s there was no stack overflow, no google, no way to see how others might have solved the problem. If you couldn't figure out how to get something to work, you had to just grind away at it no matter how long it took.
At the time, I honestly thought whatever future there might be for professional programming I sure didn't want to be a part of it. And I also didn't think it would take over the world like it did. I left uni and I spent a number of years traveling abroad and teaching ESL before dusting off my coding skills and getting a series of coding jobs in various industries.
I am extraordinarily grateful that I learned "the hard way" how to code, but more than once I wish I had gotten my degree in CS instead of ME.
My older brother did this and his advice to me entering college in 1999 was don’t waste your time and go directly into computer science you’ll end up there anyway… so that’s what I did
These days I compose electronic, ambient space music with synths, modular and otherwise, and sometimes acoustic bass and field recordings. In a previous life stage I played bass in jazz ensembles in and around Boston.
I experienced this when I lived abroad. I moved to a new country for work and didn't know anyone or speak the language well at that point. This was before the internet enabled instant communication around the world, and my new timezone was on the opposite side of the planet from my home country, so I couldn't make phone calls to family without making a plan.
In any case, for the first month or so before I started my job, I was totally alone in my apartment and didn't have any conversations in my native language (English) the whole time. I began to have imaginary conversations with loved ones, both in dreams and in waking life, very much like the kind you describe.
I am one who has always been introverted and ok being alone, but this was an extremely disorienting experience. I coped by keeping a journal. The upside was that I eventually developed an ability to not feel lonely even while alone for long periods.
It is absolutely true that adults can begin to learn piano (or any musical instrument) and reap rich rewards. And as you say the key is to set the right expectations and enjoy the sound, enjoy the process.
However, I don't agree that affordable to even high-end digital pianos will be able to approximate real acoustic pianos within 10 years in two primary areas: dynamics (being able to produce the full range of sounds from pianissimo to fortissimo) and haptic feedback (the subtle vibrations felt by the fingers and body when playing a real piano). Digital piano keybeds are getting better and better in these areas, but are just not close yet to a real piano sound and feel IMHO.
If anyone knows of any models of keyboards that prove me wrong, please share!
I wouldn't say it would prove you wrong, but the StudioLogic SL88 Grand with the sound coming from Pianoteq is stunning for the money. Obviously it's not going to feel exactly like a real piano, but it is absolutely similar enough to feel way more like a real piano than anything else I've tried, and at a bit more than $1KUS, the price is unbeatable for anyone up to a very advanced level. StudioLogic is Fatar's in-house brand, so you get the key-bed of a much more expensive digital piano in a cheaper minimal housing, blowing away anything else in the same price bracket on key feel. You might have to hunt for them. They have weird arrangements as a part supplier for other brands, so for instance I found it at long & mcquade in Canada, but it was not on their websites.
I've started to use a RPi4 instead (output is through a simple USB DAC) and the quality is pretty much the same. Additionally, it makes for a simpler setup if you have a dedicated unit for the purpose.
My Korg Kronos is just a dedicated mini-PC working as a synthesizer workstation appliance. It takes about 3-4 minutes to boot so hooking a RPi4 next to it would make for a great weekend project.
I think the dynamics is a solved problem in terms of technology: at the extreme, you only need to sample every note for every expression level, it's just that it's not feasible in terms of hardware cost. Then you have damper resonance but todays high end models have some implementation and given that it's software one can expect great advances there in terms of modelling (soundboard resonance will be there).
Regarding keybed, the Kawai MP11 is supposedly the best with wooden keys and long pivot points, but again it's a matter of expectations and obviously a professional player will be able to tell the difference.
Kawai's midrange and higher pianos have a soundboard feature that provides tactile feedback.
I've heard the top-end models are very good. They have the same piano action as the five-figure acoustic Kawais but with electronic sound generation.
(I have a cheaper Kawai which is suits my needs, but I'm planning to get either the top end Kawai or Yamaha when my playing gets good enough to justify it.)
They're more than fine for amateurs, even dedicated amateurs. The equivalent Yamaha model - no soundboard, arguably better action - has become a kind of semi-mobile standard for professionals to practice on when there's nothing better around.
Of course you can't compare a four/low-five electronic design with a hand-made prestige six figure concert hall acoustic. But you can compare it with an equivalently-priced acoustic, and increasingly the electronic designs are winning.
Will check out your stuff! Incidentally, I've toyed with the idea of "usefulmoose" for an artist name. [adjective-that-people-like][animal-that-people-like]. Good formula.
One of the reasons I got so much enjoyment from this book is that Swafford himself was a composer and described the works in great detail accordingly. The numerous anecdotes about Beethoven's life were fascinating of course too.
Does anyone know of similar biographies of other famous composers? Ones that tell stories of the composer's lives as well as give detailed analyses of their works?
A trick someone taught me to get into a lucid dream state is to 'touch your nose' while in a dream. The action itself is symbolic, so basically any simple command you can remember to do will open up your ability to consciously control your dream.
If you get into the habit of keeping track of your dreams by doing something like keeping a dream journal, sooner or later you'll be able to remember to 'touch your nose' and lucid-dream at will.
I enjoyed experimenting with it for a while several years ago; it can be pretty exhilarating. But ultimately I found I wasn't feeling rested after a night of living a dream life (oddly enough) so I discontinued the practice.
Like a number of other commenters mentioned, folks like me who were in STEM majors all had to learn how to code in some form or another, though I don't think I ever took any classes as such. A popular joke then: "what do mechanical engineers do when they graduate?" "they learn to code and become programmers"
In my case, I had a part-time job in a lab writing programs in C++ to get various lab instruments to be remote controllable from a terminal and had to learn on the job how to do it. One of the professors in the lab gave me a copy of "Numerical Recipes in C" to help me with the C++ code I was writing. It didn't help at all!
I was also part of the generation that learned basic programming on a TRS-80 (aka "trash-80") in BASIC, then in HS some Pascal and FORTRAN in an informal computer club. My family never owned a home computer, but the school had a bunch of windowsOS machines curious students could play with.
Looking back now, it seems like I was really primed to be part of one of the first waves of professional programmers, and indeed a number of my friends did go that route. But by the time I graduated from university, I kind of hated coding! Recall that in the 90s there was no stack overflow, no google, no way to see how others might have solved the problem. If you couldn't figure out how to get something to work, you had to just grind away at it no matter how long it took.
At the time, I honestly thought whatever future there might be for professional programming I sure didn't want to be a part of it. And I also didn't think it would take over the world like it did. I left uni and I spent a number of years traveling abroad and teaching ESL before dusting off my coding skills and getting a series of coding jobs in various industries.
I am extraordinarily grateful that I learned "the hard way" how to code, but more than once I wish I had gotten my degree in CS instead of ME.