Despot Studio's piano is a 5' 10" Kawai RX-2 Classic Grand.

When it came time to replace the old Mason and Risch apartment sized upright with a grand piano, it was apparent right from the start that Alan had a very definite idea of the sound that he wanted. It wasn't a case of one brand versus another, it was a sound he was looking for.

For a couple of months, he and his family scoured new and used piano stores and followed up on want ads in the paper. Used pianos were soon eliminated from the search. "It only needs a little tuning," covered everything from a cracked soundboard to missing strings. It was an arena for people with know-how.

Visits to the various piano dealers followed a set pattern. As soon as Alan and his family entered the store, the ubiquitous salesperson swooped down on them eager to enlighten them with a sales pitch on the merits of whatever brand or brands of pianos the store sold. The spiel, however, was never fully delivered because after playing a couple of chords on the pianos in the showroom, Alan would get up and head for the door if he didn't like what he heard. That was that. End of discussion.

One brand of pianos was "too classical" sounding. Another was "too bright." Others were "too thin." Or "too boingy." Then there was the brand that "sounded like it was choked or gagged. Too muted."

He finally found the sound he was looking for when he visited the Kawai dealer. As soon as he played the RX-2 grand, he knew that was the piano. He said, "I liked the sound of it." The rich, dark, mellow, resonant sound of the RX-2 was the sound he had had in his head all along. But at five foot ten inches, there was some concern that it might not be long enough. Seven feet was better for fuller harmonic range. But nothing would dissuade him. This was the piano he wanted. And it wasn't just any RX-2, it had to be the one he played in the showroom. He wasn't taking any chances. And that's how Despot Studio acquired its piano.

Right from the time when he first got the RX-2 in January of 2003, Alan recorded his playing. At first, he used the recordings purely for transcribing parts of his improvisations so he could work them into written compositions. At this stage the quality of the recording was not important and he used one basic mic stuck under the open lid of the piano. But as his improvisations became more complex and started to have greater compositional structure, he decided that they might be worth preserving. Quality was now important. He needed a better recording system.

Getting inside the 'PianoPort' to mic the Kawai RX-2 was a bit of a challenge for six foot Brett MacMillan.

It takes more than a good piano to record a good sound. And this is where Brett MacMillan came into the picture. It was his job to mic the RX-2. By day he was a young assistant at Studio 92, a recording facility in Toronto. His employer, Norm Barker said, "He is never short an idea and always has the perseverance to work through any problem that may arise. There are other perks as well, Brett can write, arrange, play all the instruments in the room and sing!"

Because the piano at Despot Studio was enclosed in an acoustically treated box, miking within that enclosure was tricky. Capturing the resonance of the box, aka 'PianoPort', while maintaining tonal clarity was a challenge which Brett met and delivered. Altogether he used four strategically placed microphones and the result is phenomenal. The recorded sound he got is not a watered down well-mannered piano sound. Brett MacMillan made the Kawai RX-2's bass end roar and the treble end has the peal of clarion bells.

Positioning and tweaking the mics into the sweet spots in the 'PianoPort' - now that was a challenge.

The piano is more than a medium for the expression of Alan's musical ideas. It's not just an instrument. The piano is Alan's voice. From the beginning he saw the role of the piano as more than an accompaniment or filler. To him the piano was always the lead. For that reason, he wanted a big sound - not loud - big. Thanks to Brett MacMillan and the 'PianoPort,' he got it.