For me ... it's no loss. He's a non-factor.

The more I read some of these threads, the more it beats the morning comics, hands down. Education and entertainment at its finest... love this forum.

To me if you can play, I enjoy it. I don't even notice the sound of the PA. If you sing nice and PLAY THE RIGHT CHORDS I'm fine with that. Even if it isn't "Lush Life."

What I can't stand is walking in and listening to someone trying to cut "I Get A Kick Out of You" with 4 or 5 chords. Impossible right? I also detest listening to someone either play instrumentally or accompanyibg himself with the wrong chords.

I walked into a nice place in town a couple of months ago and the guys been making a living play proffessionally for years and playing wrong chords on simple tunes. He even had to change the melody to fit the chords. That's sick. That's like laying brick for 30 years but you can't build a wall over 3 foot high because it will be crooked.

Music wise I find the public lacking in taste. Especially if they had a few drinks. Ha! Ha!. I know they pay the bills but it still sucks that they like such junk. I don't care if it's with a $30 keyboard amp or with a $10,000 PA system. If you can't play, you stink.

...... so, how 'BOUT that Sammy Sosa, huh?

Sammy Who?? - we got Carlos Delgado so there.

Bryan

Esh, I owe you an apology......... I thought I was talking to an adult, but this is more like playground antics. You've got serious ego issues man. Don't hurry back.

Dear friends,
what's going on between Uncle Dave and Jim saddens me a lot; I know that it's not the first time that this happens and I know also that what went on in this particular thread is only the ending point of a constant bickering that dates back in time.
To cut it short, I think that the real problem is that BOTH Dave and Jim have a big, over-enflated ego.
Let's start with Jim: there is no doubt that he has a very high opinion of himself; I have often read with interests his threads, where he shows off a brilliant prose, but too often aggressive or maybe even sarcastic. It's evident that Jim considers himself a very talented musician; I don't know if this is true, but in my life I have learned that, no matter how talented you are, there is always someone else who can do the same things better or at least in a different way and however - to put it bluntly- dear Jim, if you are half as good as you pretend to be, you should be a fixture in Vegas by now!
Then, of course, there is Uncle Dave: I know him from more than two years and have to say that I feel very sad everytime I consider how his personal life is going. I know that this is none of my business and I know also that he most likely will shrug and say that his life is much better now than it has ever been before, but I have more than a few doubts about that. What saddens me more than everything else is the fact that a man who is 48 does not realize that his personal troubles are - in my humble opinion- a direct consequence of his behavior. Dear Dave, if you did behave in your family the way you behave on this Forum, to me it's no wonder that your personal life is such a mess; forgive me for saying this, but do you think that it's easy to get along with someone who is constantly 100% sure that he is right and all the others are wrong or at least behind him in the path that leads to the Truth? It's not just this stupid thing about the speakers: is that you have constantly the pretension to give us every kind of advice about everything, without ever adding the magic formula "in my humble opinion". No, dear Dave, it's never your (humble or not) opinion: the way you phrase it, it's simply the spoken truth.
Well, I think that it was exactly this kind of behavior that has provoked reactions like the one we have just witnessed from Jim (but I could mention other Forum members as well, who had similar clashes with Dave in the past).
I have felt more than once the desire to write what I am writing right now and I have finally decided to voice my feelings because I just came back from Brazil, where I spent a fantastic week together with people who made me feel ashamed for my inadequacy as a musician and as a human being as well. I will give you just an example: Julio Adriano, the best guitarist I have played with, is not a professional musician: he has another job, but he spends every Sunday playing (for free) for children who have physical problems.
Coming back and having to witness all this is a bit too much; maybe this Forum is not the right place for me.

Hello all,

I rarely voice my opinion regarding all those "fights" and disagreements lately in this forum but I couldn't agree more with Andrea.

Claude

IMHO is one of those redundant statements. Of course I express MY opinions .... who else can I speak for? Dreamers post is very well thought out and carefully worded with great tact and poise. I admit, that is not my writing (or speaking) style. My Dad and my older sister are both like that, while my Mom and I seen to fire from the hip. We are passionate, artistic people with great love and respect for life and all those in it, but we DO (sometimes) come off as unfeeling. This is simply not so. I feel a great deal of compassion and willingness to learn. I also feel that in this crazy world of entertainment, that many, many people are being misguided by the rantings of idiots and marketers trying to "sell us" something. Maybe an idea, maybe a product, but it's a snow job, just the same.

I won't pretend that I am not a little rough around the edges, but I take great pride in my commitment to family, friends and work. My troubles at home are certainly due in part to the surroundings that we all face, and we are all shaped by our situations, but please don't tell me that because I am strong willed and confident in my abilities ( a MUST HAVE quality for any entertainer) that my family suffers proportionatly. Bad things happen to good people all the time, and kids will ALWAYS test their limits when they can.

We are rasing teens in a wacky, mixed up world, and it ain't easy, my friends. It ain't even close. I love my family more than life itself, and I share the same passion for my art that many of you do. I shall continue to express myself in the best way that I know how, and only hope that the fragile nature of the written word can somehow traslate my true feelings.

This medium is far from perfect, and the safety net of anonimity can really play tricks on your mind. Be honest with yourself - speak your mind, and be ready to accept contrary opinion. I am.

Different views are healthy. Keep 'em coming.

Esh ..... here's an olive branch. I'll pick it up with your own glove. Let's move on, shall we?

I'm with Andrea in this one.

Everybody should do what they want, explaning how and why they do it and that's all.
We can all learn from each other... I'm only playing live since one and a half years ago and I'm sure I would have things to share with everybody about different issues, the same way people like Uncle Dave (with a lot of experience) could share with me.

About the thread: "onboard speakers", my previous keyboard was a (I was "poor" at that time...) Roland VA-3. I know the onboard speakers wasn't as good as another keyboards, but anyway I would never play ONLY with those speakers. I'm very used to studio monitoring, and so I need a clear and transparent PA system, even at a very low level. I used the onboard speakers alone only one time, in a small church playing only organ (the singer didn't need amplification).

I got a non-onboard speakers thinking of this and who's gonna tell me I did it wrong?...
If I find this post about onboard speakers, I'll try to learn something from other people experience and maybe express my opinion, but I'd never tell anyone he's completely wrong and I'm the right one.

Let's just share our experience, our little secrets, our tricks, our way of playing, the equipment we use and let's all "upgrade" ourselves. WE'RE ALL IN THE SAME BOAT!! So why not only help each other?!

(Sorry everybody about the bad english but I'm a little stuck at it...)

Luis Santos