Living the Life

I'm sitting here in my studio which is located on the third floor of my beautiful home in Phoenix, MD. The house is situated on a two and a half acre wooded lot that is absolutely stunning. It is so peaceful and tranquil here. I have some great equipment. At the heart of everything is a Roland VS 2480 which is a self contained 24 track studio that is completely portable. I can record here in the studio, or pack it up and record anywhere. I have a session on Thursday at CCBC so on the road we'll go. I also have a Roland RD 700 stage piano which has many awesome sounds on it. The newest addition to the studio is a Yamaha PSR S900. This is an incredible unit. It's a lot like my Tyros which is the keyboard I use out on the road. I can record this board through my 2480 or, if I'm song writing, I can record directly onto a thumb drive. This makes it real convenient for jotting down ideas.

This evening, thanks to some inspiration from Lorie Line's new CD of original songs, I wrote two new songs. The first one I'm calling For Cuqui. It's a musical tribute to my dad, Gus Ayala also known as Cuqui. It's a latin piece in the Guajira style featuring a trumpet. He was a great trumpet player. The second song I haven't named yet, but it is a piano piece based on a new age style on the S900. I'm real pleased with the way it turned out.

What's really cool is this studio is across the loft from my bedroom. So I get up in the morning, get a cup of great coffee, and cross the loft and go to work. Now what could be better than that? Later on I get ready and go out to one of my many performances. I am so fortunate. This is a great place to work from. Life is good, especially when you can do what you love and love what you do. How great is that?