A (Fourth) Home (Music Studio) In My Musical Odyssey Over 40 Years! - IMRAN™ Despite lacking formal music education or innate talent, and possessing a singing voice notorious for its rapid crowd-dispersing ability, I once believed that an arsenal of synthesizers and gear could compensate for these shortcomings. This hypothesis, however, has remained unproven over four decades. My journey with MIDI began when I was recognized as Pakistan’s pioneer in electronic music by Jang News’ weekend magazine, with a cover story & interview, literally 40 years ago. That was at my first home-based music studio in Lahore. The Atari 520ST with a Casio HT3000 were my primary tools. Over the years, many musical creations were also lost when computers died, or the operating systems and music sequencers became obsolete. I still have some floppy disks from then, which I have to dig up—if I could make the time. My second home-based music studio was at my Columbia University off-campus apartment in Manhattan, New York. That was based on the Atari 1040ST & Mega ST4 with Dr. T’s KCS & Opcode’s OMS software, as well as a Yamaha YB200, and a Yamaha guitar. I still have those tools in NY after 35 years! Lack of time, too many interests, and procrastination have been my lifelong challenges. At some junctures in life, I have achieved some goals by having bursts of activity. One such flurry led to the impromptu recording of a music session at my third home-based music studio at my Long Island, New York residence. That culminated in the debut of my first album two decades ago. nTrance, that album, is available on Apple Music and Spotify (links in comments). Apple PowerBook laptops, Korg Karma, Casio VZ1M, Yamaha RB-01, Akai MPK synthesizers, Roland R5 drum machine, Behringer mixer, Opcode & iConnect interfaces, Mackie studio monitors, with Logic Studio (one of two gifts I cherish receiving from the late legend Steve Jobs) were the primary tools, which I still fire up sometimes. Yes, I still have all of those, including even the boxes for some of those! Since then, time has eluded me, preventing a repeat of such long bursts of creative endeavors. Over the years, I’ve composed numerous tracks, primarily as accompaniments to my 360x360 VR and nature & travel videos. The challenge now lies in transcending procrastination to pull them all together, do a real mixing project, and unveil the much-anticipated (at least by me!) second album. I am blessed to have my fourth home-based music studio at my blessed home on Tampa Bay, Florida—but even more lack of time, and no change in the lack of talent! Two MacBook Pros, a Microsoft Surface, Yamaha MODX8+ & MOXF8 synthesizers, ROLI Seaboard Rise 2 MPE, Akai MPK, plus Casio digital keyboards, Bose, Rode & Tascam audio, Yamaha MG20XU mixer & H8 studio monitors make up this one. Looking ahead, I joke about utilizing my latest musical gadgets to produce a third album within the next quarter-century. Jesting aside, life’s unpredictability reminds me that tomorrow is never guaranteed. I just have to do a better job overcoming procrastination, and I must make time despite my other responsibilities. Amidst the rise of AI-generated content, my aspiration is to share my authentic, human-crafted music, as flawed as it may be, preserving its significance in an era increasingly dominated by artificial intelligence creations. I appreciate your time spent reading this, and I’m grateful for your support in listening to and sharing my music with others. �© 2024 IMRAN™A (Fourth) Home (Music Studio) In My Musical Odyssey Over 40 Years! - IMRAN™ Despite lacking formal music education or innate talent, and possessing a singing voice notorious for its rapid crowd-dispersing ability, I once believed that an arsenal of synthesizers and gear could compensate for these shortcomings. This hypothesis, however, has remained unproven over four decades. My journey with MIDI began when I was recognized as Pakistan’s pioneer in electronic music by Jang News’ weekend magazine, with a cover story & interview, literally 40 years ago. That was at my first home-based music studio in Lahore. The Atari 520ST with a Casio HT3000 were my primary tools. Over the years, many musical creations were also lost when computers died, or the operating systems and music sequencers became obsolete. I still have some floppy disks from then, which I have to dig up—if I could make the time. My second home-based music studio was at my Columbia University off-campus apartment in Manhattan, New York. That was based on the Atari 1040ST & Mega ST4 with Dr. T’s KCS & Opcode’s OMS software, as well as a Yamaha YB200, and a Yamaha guitar. I still have those tools in NY after 35 years! Lack of time, too many interests, and procrastination have been my lifelong challenges. At some junctures in life, I have achieved some goals by having bursts of activity. One such flurry led to the impromptu recording of a music session at my third home-based music studio at my Long Island, New York residence. That culminated in the debut of my first album two decades ago. nTrance, that album, is available on Apple Music and Spotify (links in comments). Apple PowerBook laptops, Korg Karma, Casio VZ1M, Yamaha RB-01, Akai MPK synthesizers, Roland R5 drum machine, Behringer mixer, Opcode & iConnect interfaces, Mackie studio monitors, with Logic Studio (one of two gifts I cherish receiving from the late legend Steve Jobs) were the primary tools, which I still fire up sometimes. Yes, I still have all of those, including even the boxes for some of those! Since then, time has eluded me, preventing a repeat of such long bursts of creative endeavors. Over the years, I’ve composed numerous tracks, primarily as accompaniments to my 360x360 VR and nature & travel videos. The challenge now lies in transcending procrastination to pull them all together, do a real mixing project, and unveil the much-anticipated (at least by me!) second album. I am blessed to have my fourth home-based music studio at my blessed home on Tampa Bay, Florida—but even more lack of time, and no change in the lack of talent! Two MacBook Pros, a Microsoft Surface, Yamaha MODX8+ & MOXF8 synthesizers, ROLI Seaboard Rise 2 MPE, Akai MPK, plus Casio digital keyboards, Bose, Rode & Tascam audio, Yamaha MG20XU mixer & H8 studio monitors make up this one. Looking ahead, I joke about utilizing my latest musical gadgets to produce a third album within the next quarter-century. Jesting aside, life’s unpredictability reminds me that tomorrow is never guaranteed. I just have to do a better job overcoming procrastination, and I must make time despite my other responsibilities. Amidst the rise of AI-generated content, my aspiration is to share my authentic, human-crafted music, as flawed as it may be, preserving its significance in an era increasingly dominated by artificial intelligence creations. I appreciate your time spent reading this, and I’m grateful for your support in listening to and sharing my music with others. �© 2024 IMRAN™

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