when i was young i carried a bari sax, tenor sax, and bass clarinet on my person in heavy cases through airports, on subways, up stairs,etc. I paid my dues for that. 2 hernias..
a couple of operations and decades later I carry only an alto sax and an Eb sopranino (2/3 the size of a soprano). whenever i think i can get by with just the sopranino i leave the alto home. Funny, i sound a lot better
than i did back in the day, not because of equipment but
because the years have made me a better player.
better equipment is a marginal utility, and everyone has
to make their own cost/benefit analysis where better
equipment means better sound... because better sound
means Caruso or Satchmo sound better on a CD thru a killer stereo than they do on a spool on an old victrola. But Caruso/Armstrong arguably sound better on an old victrola than most of today's stars on a CD thru a killer stereo.
That is why most of don't purchase a $10, 000 stereo
system, or even a $5,000 one even if we can afford it,
unless we are filthy rich, because we consider it marginal utility. it's just not doing THAT much more for us than a decent $1500 system. When those of us that set a limit
on how much weight we are willing to lug around for
the additional sonar benefit (presuming there is one, which is another argument--some don't think so) we are
assessing the marginal utility, and acting accordingly.
Improving our musical and performance skills makes
us sound better on lesser equipment than having stagnant
skills on better equipment. this is a nice way of saying
that a great musician will sound better on a $500 psr
with any decent sound system loud enough for the gig,
than a mediocre musician will sound on a G70 or T2 with
the best sound system money can buy. Sure the great musician will sound even better on the upgrade..but it's
a marginal utility that has to be judged by him alone..
after all if you hear Caruso or Louis now on an old victrola they will still send chills up your spine. would you pay
$100 and travel 100 miles to hear their record thru a Bose? sure it will sound better..but......you get the idea.
Lee Trevino used to hustle good country club golfers who could afford the best equipment--he'd play them with
a coke bottle attached to a broomstick, and still beat them. I'm not in his comparative league.
I'm no Lee Trevino of the keyboard. i can't give a concert
on a $300 casio and a little keyboard amp and make it work. But i can kick some ass with my E60 and a decent keyboard amp. I'm not about to shlep around a G70
and a big sound system, just to sound marginally better while I'm kicking it..but i'm not knocking those who do.
au contraire, I admire those who do..just not those who
look down on others who don't..
those oldtimers who are complaining about whiners (gee-
sure sounds like that's a whine too, no?) you remind me
of the Billy Chrystal /Christopher Guest characters
on SNL back in the day.."hey, when we were young it was better..if you cut your finger, there was no antiseptic, it would get infected and they would have to amputate it..
and we liked it that way.."yeah, right...and we had no can
opener so we stuck in a knife and twisted it..and it might
pop out and take out your eye..but we liked it that way...
hey, remember before suitcases had wheels? did you like
it better that way? were the guys who put wheels on them
"whiners?"
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Miami Mo
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Miami Mo
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