Every good band I hear the drummer starts out with clicks. Then if he's good it doesn't change. Even Oscar Peterson played to the drummer. And try that with 10 notes per second and stay on time. Now I know a drummer we will call Bob. The guys who've played with him, and that's a lot of guys around here, all want to shoot him after an hour. He drifts. A lot. in and out of tempo. Starts out 3/4 and can change to 4/4 in a measure. Drives you nuts. But he has a rehersal garage, 6 grand worth of drum kit, a 100,000 buck Motor home a vette, and a big sound system. And he spends hours with his apple gear and drumming along to beatles and CCR and stuff, but the minute you turn off the tunes and he tries them, DRIFT. Now that sounds authentic, just don't dance to it. The thing with learning to play high end piano. The wife started at age 4, and ended after 4th year university music with a BA Mus, BEd Mus, and Honours BaMusicEd. She can play Bach like a machine. Perfect beat, set the metronome, shut it off and turn it on at the end and she's still on beat.

Scary.

We play together once or twice a month and I get glared at ALOT. But I'm 60 and still learning from the wee young lass.

You will never resolve the midi argument. Some terrible stuff shows up with local organists playing old standards on one radio station and I have to turn it off. A 20 year old drum machine and some midi strings and it sounds like click crap to John. Mom LOVES the sound. The violins are so real. (John rolls his eyes), the drummer is very good, (John loses his lunch). Go to any club where they are serving sizzling fajitas and clanking dishes and you music becomes a background sound. Don't kid yourself that more than 3 or 4 people out of 100 actually listen, and most of them wouldn't know elevator music from Peter Appleyard. (The latter may not be well known by 'yall').

Point is I think the horns sound bad, but play them, the guy who doesn't thinks they sound good but the guitar is off, but I like the guitar which I think sounds real. Hey if Oliver Gannon doesn't sound real who does?

John Conley
Musica est vita