Well, there's that debilitating stroke I suffered in 2009. Besides the loss of functionality in my left arm and leg, my short term memory went away for about 10 years.

I found new ways to play the bass one-handed and resumed performing within a year. Learned to drive again and was back at my music industry day job 5 months later — having to use a database to keep track of everything for many years allowed me to do that (you may have spoken to me about a complicated contract for hours the day before but I wouldn't have remembered any of that; every detail would be in my notes, however). Working from home proved to be quite beneficial to myself and my employer till I retired.

My short term memory is back to normal for someone my age but I'm unable to memorize new music. If I knew a piece before, I can still sing it cold and now conduct with my right arm (good exercise!). Sight-reading was one skill that never deserted me. I'll never walk longer than short distances nor play my stringed instruments except bass live again. I do play guitar/banjo/mandolin one-handed for records but there's a lot of re-tuning between chords so that I can edit my playing into a performance.

BIAB has been a big help. I never do a song out of the box but I've become adept at importing the tracks into a DAW and editing them into the performance I had in mind. I write, consult on music matters and on AI projects for (insert NDA here). The PROs have all learned that I am in the wind and those short term gigs supplant my retirement quite nicely.

The iPad hadn't existed yet in 2009 but it turned out to be quite handy when it became available Jan 2010, then GarageBand Instruments 22 months later. Could I get by without the Apple universe tying my devices together? Sure but I am grateful that I don't have to. I travel, often by myself, but it costs more for me than most. I perform on stage again but cannot memorize new music so I stick to roles that I learned between 1969–2009. I do a ton of voice over.

The struggle? 1. Stay on top of new tech and use it to my advantage. 2. Try to work more quickly—everything I do on a computer is one-handed, including typing this, and that takes time. Lots and lots of time.

I am way past being ready for grandchildren.

BIAB 2024 Audiophile Mac
24Core/60CoreGPU M2 MacStudioUltra/8TB/192GB Sequoia, M1 MBAir, 2012 MBP
Digital Performer11, LogicPro, Finale27/Dorico/Encore/SmartScorePro64/Notion6 /Overture5