Let's face it. The one ingredient that is a must for making good music is talent. By definition, talent is something that one either has or doesn't have. No amount of practice is going aquire it for you and no amount of encourgment by family and friends is going t bestow it upon you. And another thing; it takes a certain amount of talent to recognize talent (in other people) when you hear it. Not having talent carries with it the burden of not only not realizing that you suck, but how badly you suck.

If you feel a need to encourage people like this, then encourage them to do one of two things, depending on whether they're amateur or pro.

Amateur - encourage them not to embarrass themselves in front of their friends.

Pro - encourage them to find another way of making a living; they're giving talented, well trained professional musicians a bad name. Do a reverse, turn amateur.

I have to wonder if we aren't doing a disservice to this untalented lot by encouraging them to strive for goals they can never achieve and feeding their delusions that they'r better than they are.

I already know that I'll come under fire for this, BUT, if you compliment someone on a performance that is truly putrid, I have to question whether YOU know the difference between good and bad music. I'm not talking about subjectivity here, I'm talking about performances that most of the known world would collecively agree was bad, bad, bad.

We should all know what's coming as soon as we hear "I did this in one take", or "there might be a few mistakes", etc., etc. That's a clue to me that they already know it sucks. If that's the case, take the time to put something out there that you think is good and leave off the excuses.

Lastly, as someone pointed out, if you post music to a board full of musicians (real or imagined), expect it to be critiqued, sometimes by someone who knows what they're talking about and doesn't feel the need to hand out "warm fuzzies" just for the hell of it. That being the case, I would have to say by way of advice, "If you can't stand the heat.......".


Of course, I could be wrong about all of the above.

chas

IF you're wrong about all of the above, then we'll both be wrong together. I almost never post about any performances. And if I do, it's usually because it's quite good, or it's good enough that my posting might help make a future performance even better, or maybe to comment on the sound of the keyboard only and not a word about the performance.

What a crock of crap......nuff said.
Havn't we been thru the just be nice routine many times here .....no matter what its always the Im better then you/My Kb is better then yours trip sheeeeesh does it ever stop?

[This message has been edited by Dnj (edited 09-21-2007).]

Well, another well thought out, reasoned reply. No suprise there.

Chas,

I think you're correct on about 90% of what you say. But here at the SZ, maybe a little caution needs to be sprinkled in.

Many "one take" recordings are put out there, just for fun. I've put a few out there myself and they are one-takes, but mainly because I don't want people to think I'm dubbing stuff into the recording. If I'm going to make a real recording, I want stereo, mult-takes, edits, extra musicians.
Some of us only have limited recording resources and/or ability (me!). One take, with mistakes is the result. My one-take may have been 20 run-thru's, but hitting the RECORD button causes all kinds of gremlins to appear.
I agree that we should know better than to post something we think might get flamed, but in response to such a post I would be "guarded" as opposed to brutally honest.

The SZ is a special place and STRANGE things happen here on a daily basis. Why, because we like it that way.

What I have noticed on SZ....the real players never respond negatively to anyone's songs...Maybe they don't have an EGO problem..that needs to be up lifted by downgraded another persons song..

I'm a lurker and an infrequent poster here at SZ. Sometimes I just bust at some of the comments and the egos. Chas I'm one of those who don't have a lot of talent. I took many years of lessons but I knew in my early 20s I should earn a living doing another kind of work, not music. As far as I'm concerned I'd have to go on welfare if I had to depend on music to earn my keep. I don't post demos, but I don't think you do either. Please post something so that everyone can hear your talent. I'm sure you must have lots of it based on your comments.

Or better yet, when you're playing in one of the big cities on tour or even in small club let us know maybe we can come to hear your talent.

By the way your definition of talent is not a definition, you may believe it to be fact but since your in the mood to bust people's hump.........
Webster's defines talent as 1.a special natural ability or aptitude 2.a capacity for achievement or success.

As to Rory aka FAEbGBD. I know you've to the talent I've heard your work and absolutely love the bossa version you posted sometime ago of Don Gibson's "Oh, Lonesone Me."



[This message has been edited by Pacesetter (edited 09-21-2007).]

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Originally posted by Dnj:
What a crock of crap......nuff said.
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Well, another well thought out, reasoned reply. No suprise there.


See what I mean, this IS the SZ mentality. I love it. and a BIG LOL!

[This message has been edited by cassp (edited 09-21-2007).]

Really? I thought I summed it up pretty good!

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