My Music

Summary: Music always played an important and joyous part in my life. I grew up with, listened and danced to it, now learning to play it. Music has such a profound effect on our emotional life; emotions invoked by music are manifested in our brain functions.

What makes your soul move? Well for me it is a broad range of music. Classical music takes part in it, so does contemporary music, such as rock, jazz, pop and R&B.

Alfred Gockel: Music Is My Life

Your mood leaves much to be desired… Everything around you is getting on your nerves… It seems, that this lasts forever and there are no changes for the better to wait for. But still, there is one thing that may save you.
This is your favorite music!
How many times did you turn on your music and it gave you a hand of help in your troubles?!

My musical journey has given me access to a broad range of music with a variety of genres along the way. I always had the desire to make music, though my choices in life did not cater for the opportunity of making music; until 2007. On June 1st, 2007 I took my first professional classical piano lesson, and have been hooked ever since… currently in my second year and second grade on the AMEB scale.

Kid's Tunes

I can not really remember the first tunes I really liked or hummed along. Yes, I do remember the children songs my mother sang for me when I was a little child… in context of the page, I actually mean music I actively learned to enjoy.
I remember a piece of music I learned (actually very quickly) on the piano at the age of seven or so. My girlfriend at the time had lessons and showed off her skill, and was all so keen to teach me the odd thing.

Teenage Music

Growing up, maybe at the age of thirteen, I started to get into contemporary young music. The first single I owned was from the "The Beatles: The Long and Winding Road". I had no record player at that time, and build my own, from Legos™… no kidding. I could build the same thing today. It was finger-driven, with a pot-stirring motion. The sound was picked up by a needle glued to a paper funnel. It worked! Of course the sound was lacking sophistication, but you knew that 

Stereo Equipment

It did not take long for me to find a real record player. Not really; a friend's parents dumped a 1950s portable turntable with integrated amplifier. I picked up a few more singles; a few more Beatles and Creedence Clearwater Revival pieces. At the age of fourteen I worked for most of the summer break to earn some serious pocket money. I used it buy my first stereo system: a receiver (Graetz), a turntable (DUAL 1214), and some speakers. And the party begun. I started collecting LPs. I was interested in electronics at the time (started around 12-ish), which enhanced my understanding of how this technology worked. Well, I took extreme care of my LPs. I noticed that the constant playing of the few LPs I had at the time actually chiselled out the modulation from the track, decreasing the sound quality. My friends made fun of this finding for years to come. It was true, and a better turntable had to be bought. I eventually bought a DUAL 1248, and eventually a DUAL 714Q.

The DUAL 714Q was the flagship at the time (1973–1976) and sold for 800 DEM (400€ in today's money). This was the next generation model of the first DIRECT DRIVE turntable from Dual, the 701. I loved it. I got more careful with LPs. The sound really came out of these black disks. I bought more and more LPs, and the collection grew over the years to 800 LPs.

Better Technology

I become a music enthusiast. Better stereo equipment components followed. Once CD-ROM players hit the market, I got one. I started selling LPs; A wise decision from a money perspective. Friends knew how well I treated the black vinyl, which resulted in good selling prices. There was another factor that helped me achieve a good resell value: the local shops charged 22 DEM per LP. I sold them for 15 DEM; a new music CD went across the counter for almost 30 DEM. I got them for 19–25 DEM in the capital city. I basically switched from LPs to CD at a fraction of the cost it would have cost me otherwise.
I learned one lesson though (unfortunately not in regard to books yet): I got the idea that collecting things may not be a good idea, in particular when further technology leaps were to come. As a result my CD-ROM collection never grew bigger than 200 CDs.

To cut a long story short: My music evolved with the times, so did the equipment. My PC, PPC and MP3 player I have today have replaced all stereo equipment I ever owned… and most of the time I am using head phones to listen to my favourites.

Engagement with Music

I enjoyed many and viaried types and styles of music, and also engaged in a relationship that can be established with music: playing, listening, and dancing to it.

Listening

I can truly use the phrase: "from Abba to Zappa", to say I was listening to most popular music groups and artists over the decades. It was only in recent years that I catalogued my LPs and CDs; but more so for the purposes of selling these on eBay. I sold my stereo equipment at the time when I decided to let go of lageacy technology (in 2001).

Playing

Playing music, more so learning to play occurred at various stages my life. I played in solitude. 2007 has seen me picking up the playing again. I have checked out two teachers (one piano, the other keyboard) I would like to learn from. I am currently going through various materials myself, but will need proper instructions to correct current playing and to advance in it.

Playing the Piano

I am taking lessons now…  and had my first of my piano lessons on July 1st, 2007. The latter saw my opinion corrected, acknowledging that the piano has to be practised on a piano, not on a keyboard. As a result, I went through the decision-making process of buying my first digital piano: the Kawai CN4.

Playing Music

Playing music, as a DJ, lasted for some seven years. I started as deputy DJ (if there ever was such a thing ) in my home town. Later on I was the DJ. After moving to the capital city I continued DJ-ing in various (first smaller, then bigger) discotheques (in and around town). Yes, it was a great time!

Dancing

Dancing to music is something I started in 1972. I was the youngest in the group. My friends were mostly 2–4 years older than I was at the time. The girls were well-developed, making the whole experience even more so worthwhile. I picked up the dancing skills fairly quickly. There was a shortage in boys attending the classes, and I helped out in multiple dance schools at the same time. Best of all, because my course (I subscribed and paid for) was ahead of the other courses I was helping out, I could already dance the steps, and because of that I was not required to pay course fees there.

Adolescence and girls, hey this was fun! The better I danced the more girls wanted to dance with ME. I surely loved it, but also to the dismay of my fellow males — in particular those who did not progress as well as I did, and depending on how hyped up they were, or how they felt about it, the odd fist was exchanged in frustration. The physical attacks though seldom occurred, but I could sense the feeling the guys had, when the girls skipped the guys to get to me. Of course I liked that, and it still — as did so while I was writing this — brings a bright smile to my face.

I eventually took up dancing semi-professionally, ball room, and developed a clear preference for Latin dancing, won the odd price, but hey, life was tough, money needed to be earned and without the dedication this sport requires, there was and is no climbing up the ladder. Later on I took my wife to classes; we progressed to gold level, but business and family demanded our full attention at the time. Today, medical reasons are preventing my wife from engaging with regular dancing. I have no regrets! In case you get the idea; I have had a very good life so far, to the point that I have said at my 30th birthday: "If I were to die today, I have experienced it all!"

Visitor's Comments

Sorry, there are currently no moderated / approved entries for this page.
Start the ball rolling by posting a comment on this article!