My Story of Discovering the Synth and UX

When I was a child, my mother used to play our own black first edition Heinzman upright piano from Toronto. It had a nice tone, it had ivory keys (it still does) and it was a rare piano. She still has it in her den. When I heard it, I was entertained! She didn't just play hymns at church, and beautiful classical pieces, but boogies and jazz and old songs from the 50s. She was good! She had her grade 10 piano with honours and was and still is great at performing. He small fingers made her really adept at playing fast, so the Bumble Boogie sounded amazing, and as kids, my friends and I got up and danced around the room! She was a classically trained musician, and she was trained by Phyllis Holtby who had a nice house in River Heights.

Phyllis was a renowned virtuoso musician who dedicated her life to music and the London Symphony Orchestra accompanied her. Her sister lived with her, they were both spinsters dedicated to music, and her sister was a voice trainer. Then when I got asked if I wanted to either learn the piano or singing, I WANTED the singing, but I knew the piano would be hard to learn so I chose piano. Good choice! And secretly I sang a lot when no one was around. People like that I can sing in tune, but that was always my priority. I felt that you could embellish it however you want, but being in tune was critical. And I was right! But anyway, although my singing is right on the money, I learned piano diligently.

Phyllis was a perfectionist. I was 4 years old, I liked making my own tunes on the piano when mom wasn't there, I was naturally creative! But Phyllis was more of a teacher for those who were refining their music. I don't think she did well with little children! I know, because she told me to practice, and I literally at age 4 didn't know what she meant. What do I do? I went home, I was confused and then came for another lesson and she got upset with me and even yelled at me once! So I went home crying, and said I didn't like her and I don't know how to practice!

Moreover, she invited my mom to lessons and they had long conversations about composers and I was bored. Anyway, my mom taught me how to practice, and Phyllis thought I was good enough for her posh "studio club". You see, Phyllis was a renowned concert pianist with a reputation. When you got into her studio club, it was basically a snob club. I did well! We did a duet called "cat and mouse" and it was cute!

She had an amazing group of talent show up at her studio club. I was honored to be there. We sat in her beautiful living room where she had an authentic clavichord, probably worth a lot of money, and her beautiful cat Rufus used to slink by. It was Persian. The cat didn't like people, it was a snob as well. I was always drawn to a little music box on a table of statues and awards she collected, it was a harpsichord ornament, and when you wound it up, it played Mozart pieces.

Well, I got sick of Phyllis by age 6 and I said to my mom, I can't stand her anymore, she was too mean! She expected me to perfect "Mary had a little lamb" as if I was getting ready for a concert! I mean, playing this one piece over and over was driving me crazy! There is being a perfectionist, and there there is just too much perfectionism a tiny child can put up with!

My mom took me to a funky cool piano teacher after that. She was young, a hippy, self-taught. You know, certain things Phyllis taught me stuck forever. I cannot deny she did teach me how to perform, and I was only 5! She taught me the formula for success. However, even though I will cherish Phyllis's teaching forever, I confess, Bev Coy was much better for me. First, she was an artist, so you came into her modern beautiful home in River Heights (again) with her shell paintings, so earthy, and all the furniture low on the floor and lots of pottery as well. she had long black hair, she dressed like a hippy, and she would literally "draw" in my study notebook such as how to hold my fingers when I played. And she saw something in me. She saw a performer as well! She didn't fuss. I was put immediately into festivals, and there was one I won! I would play in a way where I wanted to be noticed. I was a piano drama queen! People were genuinely drawn in. But I confess, it was all fake. I just played the piece as I thought would get people excited, and I would fake some emotion, and they really bought it!

My mom was proud. This happened at the Art Gallery, and after the festival, she bought me a gift, since they didn't give you anything for winning. I chose the 1 foot tall "Egyptian Cat" with a bronze nose ring. I had it for years until my friend knocked it over and broke it. I tried to fix it but to no avail. I had a friend who's dad professionally fixed china and other kinds of things and he looked and said he can't fix it. The plaster is impossible.

Eventually, I threw it out. Though, I miss that statue.

I was watching kids shows, and there was one skit called "Robbie the Robot" in which was a Robot introduced by dancing around to this music that had a sound I really liked, but I didn't know what it was! All I knew was, I really adored it! I wanted that instrument one day, whatever it was. I danced to it too.

Years later, I had finished piano lessons, because I was a teen and I knew I wasn't as dedicated so I stopped. I played music in the high school orchestra, I played the viola, and I loved its rich sound. I couldn't put up with the violin I took in elementary school it was too squeaky and technical, but the viola had a natural resonant sound that was just right. That was about all I did with music though other than listen to popular music and go out dancing. But I was at the University of Manitoba taking Fine Art, at age 19, and we had a project called "breakfast of the future" where we had everything automated. I decided, even though I was picked to be in the art as an actress, playing a person of the future, I had also made a 30 minute "future radio" station recording looped, which I played global news in the background and it was a nice touch. I was putting together all kinds of clips from different languages and some static noise, but I was with my boyfriend and in one of the dorms, and I found out what that instrument was: a synthesizer! There was a girl who had one and I spotted it. I asked the girl if I could record some of this, so I came in one day and recorded in a very cold sounding string sound, a Nocturne by Chopin, played very slowly. I took that recording and overlayed it in the background of the radio station and it sounded very "futuristic". I really enjoyed playing with that synth, and I swore one day I would get one, and revolutionize "dance music".

I felt like the dance music in the '80s wasn't dancey enough for me. I needed a stronger bass and drum, it needed to be mixed up a little and more fun. I had those visions. I didn't know what it was called, but I had a desire to do "remixes". I wanted to take those songs that I thought needed a lift. However, when I was in college in 1990 doing graphic design, I met a DJ from Vancouver who said "aha, you want to do techno!" So I said, make me a mixtape! So he did.

When I heard it, I said, wow, that's almost exactly what I meant, but I meant to mix the 80's music. I was making music on my 8-bit computer card at home. I needed better equipment.

Anyway, by 1996 I had bought a synth. It wasn't quite right, it wasn't something that I could "create sounds" so this bugged me. But I did like techno, especially industrial techno. I liked the aggression, it was like the heavy metal of electronic music! I wasn't so much a "fan" as I was a creator. I bought the right kinds of synths and got moving. When I went the first rave, it was dumb, there were no lights and it was just a hall, and actually it took a while before the DJ arrived so we were all just standing there. Then one girl screamed, "you call this a rave!" That's when the DJ started to realize he better get cracking. The music started and we were all dancing in a "circle" like in high school. I broke free! I left the circle and started dancing all over the place! I waved my arms in the air, I jumped up and down I made up bizarre dances that probably looked like modern dance, and I just let go! People started to copy my movements, twirling, swirling my hands, doing some mime movements, raising my arms too high and confident, and I did some kind of jigging, like the French people. I already environed this could be done in abandoned warehouses, where people could be free! And I immediately made friends with the DJs telling them I'm doing techno music. I don't know how I had such an ability to know the future without knowing it, but my prediction was correct. I was guessing at the point, I am a futurist. I really am, in everything I do I'm in the future at least 20 years ahead.

When it came to designing, I was fully creating Interaction Design and hired by companies to do that, even though I wanted to do TV commercials. I used my electronic instruments for many things such as, to help me record voiceovers for kiosks, I did that at the Manitoba Museum with curator Lee Syms on his archeological project about Fort Ellice. I also did some 3D renderings of the fort because it is no longer in existence, so I took measurements and looked at some drawings he had in his storage, and rendered Fort Ellice as a walkthru, identically. He also had me put in recordings of Metis music which was similar to the jig music that was played by the French Voyageurs. So, I was a very "multimedia" type designer. I studied a lot of interaction design concepts in order to get CDROMS and kiosks and different interactive pieces right. This experience has proved to be valuable in my career. I asked a lot of people what they thought, and took notes. I really tried to please people using the interface.

When I got my synths, I had also started a career in design, which expanded from interaction design into the web. This happened around 1997. Companies saw my aptitude for web and I was hired exclusively to design and code websites. For years I did that, so obsessed with user-centered focus and with interaction design. I did a lot of tests, asking people what they thought it needed. So, during that time, my synth hobby exploded. I was playing my own electronic compositions at techno and gothic clubs and raves, I was friends with DJs, I made people dance! At one point I started getting fans, and it made me a little afraid. I didn't really do it for fans! I actually did it for myself! I was used to being an alone concert pianist type who got up, performed, and disappeared like a snob but talked mostly to only people who put on shows and other musicians. My performances were good, I put good emotion into it, and I was enjoying it so I meant it! It wasn't like when I was young and just wanted to impress. This was my heart and soul. I didn't sing though, because I was too shy for that.

My music career ended, I killed it on purpose because I was too afraid to be popular. I didn't expect it and my ego went shooting up and it honestly was the best I ever felt, but I was scared of it. So I stopped. There is something called imposter syndrome.

But I tinkered at home with music for years after that. I toyed with performing and did it on occasion. I always called it my hobby. But my dream was to put together a show that was interactive and combined all my designing and musical skills. Today, I am much more dedicated to designing and programming than ever, and my love for it blossomed. I realized I really liked the interactive design, and I was meant for UX. It was everything I really did because I always collaborated and wasn't much excited about designing behind a wall. It's the same with jamming with a band, you connect with each other.

Recently I did make my dream come true, marrying my interactive abilities with music. I played out at a few shows where I got more people involved, one guy created an LED screen, from scratch (he's a computer programmer and electronic technician) which he operated and synced to the music. I got two other guys to hook up all our gear together, and we had so many lights, and all these "Millenials" came to the party, put on by Skullspace. and there were 3 other shows we did. It goes to show, I still have a performer in me!

The photo above is of S.C.I (Syrius, CyberGirl, and Infyuthsion) collab. You can's see Syrius here though, sorry!

I would like to tack this on at the end and say, you aren't learning much about my UX from this "side story", but you will learn one thing: I really feel that doing UX with a group is the same feeling as playing music in an orchestra. It's a synchronized feeling and you achieve something much bigger and better. It's all about collaboration, and it's very three dimensional and deep. You have to be a person who liked to dig deep and to really learn and research a lot. It did take a lot of research and learning and being self-taught like Bev Coy who got her degree all on her own on a shoestring. She was a smart woman, and I look up to Phyllis for her dedication to her career and her beautiful sophisticated performances, and to Bev for her intelligence and creativity and especially both women for being leaders. They were my role models. As well as my mom who played the organ at church every week! The person I aspire to be, who I am is a person who can do very complex work. I'm not afraid to lead, I am not afraid to get my hands dirty, and I really connect with people even though, strangely I have Autism. Very light Autism. But somehow, it's my art and music that has bonded me with people, and my joy.

So whatever project I am doing, I still have a childlike fascination and love for all things interactive and well designed. Whether it be music, or web pages, or a museum kiosk, I'm a dynamic person who is confident and puts her heart and soul into work! Cheers!