Ultimate Audio Upgrade

ok, we can already see where this is heading. I have limited experience with cello music, though it's one of my favorite instruments. I like Jordi Savall "Les Voix Humaines", and of course Yo Yo Ma.

I also picked up an instrument this year - I bought a guitar in February to see if I would learn it. I had played guitar and clarinet in grade school, but poorly. I'm 53 now.

To my surprise I couldn't put it down, and have progressed far better than I even anticipated. The problem is once I became more proficient, my little guitar and amp were no longer satisfactory. I had to upgrade. Then I realized I needed an acoustic, and then I needed a Strat, then a Les Paul, and a 335, and another amp . . . I now have 4 amps and 7 guitars.

Maybe this was predictable.

Though I still love my audio system the two times where I listened to something and was a little disappointed when comming home was listening to the Verity/VTL system above and hearing this cello under the bow of a decent cellist. Now I need to become a decent cellist. Well, that and buy that Verity/VTL system and add a decent analog source.

For music, check out the Barkohkba Sextet's "the Circle
Maker", it is Masada's klezmer/jazz done in a gorgeous chamber style.

thanks to taking up the piano, i gained a deep appreciation for professional pianists that transcends any explainations i could offer in words. even simple embellishments (trills, grace notes, dynamic shadings, attack) bring life to what would otherwise be just depressing keys in some orderly fashion. now that i don't play as much i don't "get into" recordings as much as i used to, since "an ashkenazy" makes it look so easy to play. and similar things occur with guitar music- the ability to attack the strings cleanly while playing fast, complicated music, or slow passages (perhaps even more) is overwhelming after my clumsy attempts.
after having disparaged my abilities so thoroughly, the ability to create a musical phrase that belongs to me alone, as well as the intimate pleasure of listening closely to the sounds real instruments produce, make it all worthwile. and sometimes, after a few days of practice in a row, i seem to be able to come MUCH closer to playing what comes into my head spontaneously, and like riding a bike, you rapidly pick up where you left off. then, after expending some real effort in the practice room, i can put on a cd and enjoy the performance 1000% more than i could listening with a general passivity, like saying "well OF COURSE these guys can play Mozart, as much as they practice, etc." NO, it's more than just being good enough to play mozart- it's being good enough to RE-create a masterwork as if it had just been written yesterday.

woob woob woob!!