Wow! I could never do that. I could be kind and stop playing, but never pick up where I left off. But then, I play with backing tracks that I create myself. Perhaps with a real band I could resume, but it would definitely take me in a different direction (perhaps better, perhaps worse).

Back on topic.

More realistic sound got me thinking.

All sounds are real.

I play saxophone, it's my main instrument, and has been for decades. I was first in the all-state band every year I was in school, and for a tenor player, that is quite a feat - it goes to the alto player by default.

I have two great tenor saxes and one alto with the voice of an angel.

But I probably play the WX5/VL70m MIDI sax on stage as much as I do the acoustic ones.

Why?

Sometimes the synth sax sound is simply more appropriate for the song.

Just as a pianist might switch for the Rhodes when he/she wants that sound, I switch to one of the synth sax sounds.

Do you mean acoustic instead of realistic?

Once a sound is recorded, it is no longer acoustic anyway.

The criticisms of MIDI are very similar to those aimed at electric guitars way back when.

And the saxophone itself was dissed when it first came out. German bands among others refused to use it, and considered it an inferior clarinet-ish sounding instrument.

There is a time for acoustic, a time for acoustic electric, and a time for electronic. The trick is picking the right tool for the right job at the appropriate time.

And since virtually every recording that has made it to one of the Billboard charts in the past 30 years has MIDI deeply embedded into its DNA (Per Alan Parsons and Craig Anderton), there is obviously nothing wrong with MIDI.

The A-List pros know.

Insights and incites by Notes

Bob "Notes" Norton smile Norton Music
https://www.nortonmusic.com

100% MIDI Super-Styles recorded by live, pro, studio musicians for a live groove
& Fake Disks for MIDI and/or RealTracks