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The music’s the thing but....

Yes, the music is the thing.  But before we became engrossed in this crazy hobby, it was the ONLY thing.  Now, I can’t listen to music on my system without the SOUND entering into the equation.  Unless it’s a patently historic recording, or mono, my enjoyment of the music is tempered by what the sound is like.  That was never the case before.  I can’t seem to enjoy the music if the sound isn’t right.  What a pity that is.
The music should come first, but unfortunately, it doesn’t.
 If I’m listening on a car radio or something, the problem doesn’t exist.
 Zoom, right to the music!
Such is the nature of our obsession.
128x128rvpiano
glupson
7,842 posts
 
"Audiophiles often have"...…"Gardener's Syndrome...."
Better Gardener's than Gardner's
geoffkait's avatar
geoffkait
23,365 posts
 
More like Chance Gardner, I’d opine. 
bdp24's avatar
bdp24
9,707 posts
 
SO agree @schubert. There are a lot of parallels between the "original instrument"/"historically informed" movement in the field of Baroque music performance and Bluegrass music. Both are very well written---great chord structures, melodies, harmonies, counterpoint, etc., are played on purely acoustic old instruments (one well-known Bluegrass bassist I know has an 18th Century 3/4 scale upright. It’s worth a small fortune, and is his only possession of any significant consequence. Bluegrass guitarists favor pre-WWII Martins, which command a LOT of money in the collectors market), both are known to be low-paying gigs (compared with that of modern Symphony Orchestra and Rock Band players), and both are performed by those I consider my favorite musicians. Another welcomed similarity is that both musics are often recorded in better-than-usual sound quality.
schubert
7,386 posts
 
Well I could see some aspects and good musicians but to say anyone ever wrote something like say ,"Monterverdi’s Vespers " in Bluegrass just ain’t so .
bdp24's avatar
bdp24
9,707 posts
 

Brother schubert, I said there were parallels, not equivalents! I was speaking of your "I find the best done material is when it's done for love first and foremost" statement. In Classical, period-informed musicians and singers specializing in Baroque repertoire are not financially compensated as highly as are modern Symphony Orchestra players and Opera singers. But Baroque specialists are idealists, with a deep love and reverence for the music of that period's composers.

In Pop (non-Classical), while commercial Country singers are pushed by the music industry and often handsomely rewarded, Bluegrass songwriters, musicians, and singers earn relatively meager incomes. When Ricky Skaggs decided to make the move from Country (where he was doing very well) to Bluegrass, his record company did everything in their power to dissuade him. Bluegrass was considered uncommercial, and he was written off by the industry. He did it anyway, following his heart rather than reasoned career advice.

Another parallel is that the Bluegrass community---both performer and audience---shares with the Baroque era composers the Christian faith. Many Bluegrass artists include Gospel songs in their repertoire, some of them recording complete Gospel albums. Consequently Bluegrass festivals are very much family-orientated. I can't take my kid to them, as he's into Rap ;-) .

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