We have evidence of bone flutes dating back 40,000 years. I assume there was not much competition in those days, but who knows?

Perhaps paleolithic “flute playing Willie” was also complaining about how little food he was given for his musical talents…lol

I imagine Willie got tired of his lot in life and headed on down the Silk Road, where he encountered new and strange instruments with strings and cone-shaped objects that made frightening loud sounds.

Willie also quickly figured out he had to at least pretend to adhere to the religions of the day.

Historically, religions have promoted the use of music, and for a while, Willie found work in Hinduism. Some of us here on the forum are paid by the church to this day to play.


We don’t have much to go on from this early period of music. There are a lot of passages about music written in the Rigveda but no music has survived
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Willie was not the only musician on the journey to the future. Ling Lun was ordered by Huangdi, the Yellow Emperor, to invent the bamboo flute to imitate the songs of the Fenghuang birds.

Further on down the road, there was an increase in trade, and Willie hitched a ride on an elephant, and down the Silk Road, he went!

Willie had a bunch of kids, and by the time he died, they had taken off for parts unknown, spreading the word of the new wave of music.

Well, here we are in 2023, wondering what the future of musical sound will be and if they are going to feed us. The poets have a rather dim view of the future.

By Mr. Bobby D

"Well, he hands you a nickel, and he hands you a dime
And he asks you with a grin, if you're havin' a good time"

"The lamppost stands with folded arms, its iron claws attached
To curbs 'neath holes where babies wail, though it shadows metal badge
All and all can only fall with a crashing but meaningless blow
No sound ever comes from the Gates of Eden."

Because most of us are driven to play music, music will be around for as long as this pale blue dot we live on exist.

We may get paid, we may be forced to pay to play, we may have to hide underground, we may be forced to record on x-ray film but we will continue to play music. Our voice may be tiny and weak but we try our best to be listened to.

Engineers at JPL's mission control initiated a signal telling the NASA's Deep Space Network to send the song into space. For the first time ever, NASA beamed a song - The Beatles' "Across the Universe" - directly into deep space at 7 p.m. EST on Feb. 4.

Billy

Last edited by Planobilly; 06/02/23 11:10 AM.

“Amazing! I’ll be working with Jaco Pastorius, Charlie Parker, Art Tatum, and Buddy Rich, and you’re telling me it’s not that great of a gig?
“Well…” Saint Peter, hesitated, “God’s got this girlfriend who thinks she can sing…”