Synthesizer on Stamps

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My first love was music, and in the 90's, I wanted to be musician more than being a physician. My dad desperately wanted me to proceed to medicine after graduating in Medical Technology in  Cebu Doctors University in 1989.
 
In the mid 80's, I already was the keyboardist, with regular weekend gigs at Danny Tan's Shaky's Mango, of the New Cebu Music pioneer with the only New Wave group in Cebu- "40" the Band, mostly playing American Top hits in Y101, then later keyboardist/arranger of ETU (Stay Close to Me, How Lucky You Are, Fading out of Distance), session musician/keyboardist of Local Gound concerts, RJ Jacinto, 12 Inch, The Monks and Topsy Turvy with Mylah, Barney, Rogerto, Emy and Mauro) so I initially resented his decision for me to take up medicine. He then testily told me, "Not all musicians can be doctors, but any doctor can be a musician if you got the talent for it"; and so I proceeded to medicine and eventually became a gastroenterologist 12 years later. I have no regrets my Dad "forced" me into this career because it is very fulfilling. Serving humanity is a great source of joy! 

We became quite popular in the circle of Cebu's 80's music scene  to the point that we were recognizable in our small, close knit city. A few would approach us and ask for pictures and autographs everywhere to the point it became intrusive of one's privacy. I disliked the idea of being famous. I have an animosity to praises and lionization. I value privacy over popularity. Better to move around unimpeded by unrecognition. If the world rewards you with accolades, you lose reward points from Above. 

Before our weekly gigs we would practice at the original location of A. Salonga Music Center beside the Ouano Compound (i remember I had a crush there) near the San Carlos School for Boys. We were also stereotyped as happy go lucky, "financially abled" kids who were substance users and womanizers. To be honest, I've never ever done drugs in my life and we never took advantage of women, they "took advantage" of us! Seriously now, I was serious in my studies but I only saw MT as a stepping stone to being an MD so I didn't study that hard in college.
 
When I graduated medicine in 1993, my dad gave me a Korg X3- the first synthesizer I ever had (although I already had quite a few keyboards before e.g Kiezler, Casio PSR, they were not synths). I made several compositions using this wonderful synth and saving them to its built in floppy disk. Unfortunately, these disk were damaged or lost and of the remaining disk, not one remained functional today. These floppy disk were not really built to last.
 
Years later, while in China, I saw this stamp (above)- the first stamp ever I saw with a synth on it, and surprisingly it was an X3 (or looks like an X3, maybe an M1 or O1W perhaps, what do you think)?
The Korg X3 is a synthesizer produced by Korg in 1993.
 
The X3 features 200 Programs, 200 Combinations, 32-voice polyphony, a 32,000 note, 16-track sequencer with 100 patterns and 10 songs and a double-sided, double-density 3.5 inch floppy disk drive for song and other data storage types. Korg also released the X2 (76-key) with 8 Mbyte ROM (6Mbyte X3 + 2Mbyte new Piano) in 1994 along with a rackmount version dubbed the X3R, which also had a floppy disk drive.
 
Many of its samples come from the T3 Series and 01/W Series Synthesizers. The X3 features 339 samples compressed into 6 megs of ROM and Korg beefed this synth up in areas where previous Korg synths had been weak (For example, Organs and Strings).
 
The X3 lacked several key piano samples that had become popular in the M1 and 01/W series, replacing them with different samples altogether, and (arguably) not as good sounding as before. They eventually brought back some of these classisc Korg sounds (like the M1 Piano) in the X5D and future Korg synths.
 
Picture above: me and the group "40" the Band (the original/first generation) in 1987.
 
Jonathan Tiu (2nd keyboardist then, now Aseana Pilot based in Seoul), commercial model (Penshoppe). 
 
Alvin Salonga Chiong prayer leader, drummer and owner of A. Salonga Music Center, commercial model (Gaisano and Penshoppe) now band leader SRO. 
 
Troy Degamo (lead singer), now still singing and a recording artist based in Canada with his group The Cobra Kings
 
Arnold Ang (band leader, lead guitarist) now techie/businessman lead guitarist of "Kuwarenta"- a blues band
 
Lyndon Banzon (bass guitarist), now businessman and bass guitarist with "Kuwarenta". Still together with Arnold after all these years
 
Madeleine Fernandez (lead singer, singing in Guam).
 
Vicente B. Avanzado Jr. - (lead keyboardist) now an Internist- Gastroenterologist)



"Humble yourselves, therefore, under God's mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time" 1 Peter 5:6

"Let someone else praise you and not your own mouth; an outsider, and not your own lips" Proverbs 27:2

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