FAEbGBD:
Ah, now I get your speech software! LOL, well, that's just as cool to me. I was just curious, because I watched a program on Discovery where they featured some speech recognition software, and one of the engineers said something to the effect of "Basically, we're not anywhere near having quality speech recognition." I didn't think that technology could have advanced extremely rapidly in just a few years, but I was just checking to make sure I wasn't behind the times. That's really wicked that you're using the whole mouse/keyboard interface despite your blindness, and the way you learned how to work your XP--simply astounding! That's really inspiring, and I guess it just goes to show that you really can accomplish anything you want to do if you have the devotion to it.

To answer your question, I'm an undergraduate student (a junior) at the University of Georgia, which is located in Athens, Georgia. I love it here. This is a music-oriented town, and it's pretty diverse. Just this summer I went to see Boubacar Traoré who is a musician from Mali (located in somewhere in Africa). I thought it was wonderful that such a small town could pull in such an obscure (but wonderful) act.

One last thing: your file of "Amazing Grace" was simply fantastic!!!!! I absolutely love that song, and I'm a HUGE jazz fan as well as a closet country fan--I wish those other songs were available for download too! Where did you attend college, and did you receive music training there? Your chops are really great, man! Maybe we can work on getting more of your stuff out and available.

stigf:
After doing my research, I soon came to realize that the XP-60 and the XP-80 are essentially identical with the exception that the 80 features 76 keys and the 60 has 61 keys...oh, and the 80 would run me a couple hundred bucks more. It came down to the fact that the XP-60 had more bang-for-the-buck, so I opted for it. Also, I was really influenced to stick with Roland because I've been HIGHLY satisfied with my BOSS GT-5 Guitar Effects Processor. I knew from the manual for that what I was in for with the XP-60 (or rather, XP-80 manual), so I wasn't at all surprised when 70% of reviews said that the manual was complicated and not particularly helpful (which is a lie--Roland manuals are helpful if excercise patience with them). Anyway, thanks for the answer, as I wasn't sure where the XP-50 (which has been discontinued) fit into the grand scheme of things, and I guess it's a bit different. I just wish Roland had as many support docs for the 80/60 as it does for the 50...or was the 50 so problematic that they HAD to put all those support docs up for it? LOL.

Stalker:
Yeah, man, I thought somebody commissioned you to write a soundtrack for something of theirs. I actually purchased the Orchestral I expansion board because I intend to use the XP to produce the soundtrack to a 3D Animation by one of my friends. I may need your help in the future, since you're already experienced with soundtracks ;-) By the way, where in Germany do you live? I lived in Stuttgart for two years and my parents are now in Darmstadt. I love it over there!

Thanks, again, for the replies, guys!