Post by monkumonku on Jan 8, 2016 11:16:56 GMT -5
This post was prompted by Axis' response to me in the Currently Playing thread when I pointed out Pat Metheny standing behind Joni Mitchell in a video he had posted. His response:
After the credits on the DVD of every Big Bang Theory show there are writings by CHUCK LORRE. This one blew me away.
CHUCK LORRE PRODUCTIONS, #202
Tonight's story about Sheldon's ego being crushed following his encounter with a young prodigy has its roots in my own life. Around 1974 I was playing guitar for a living in Miami Beach. I was twenty-two years old and thought I was really something. In the parlance of musicians, I felt I had some "serious chops." Nights I played clubs, hotels, and private parties. For a few months I worked in a lounge band on a cruise ship. I even landed a day gig playing acoustic solo stuff at a coffee house in South Beach. That was where a professor from the University of Miami saw me play, dug what I was doing, and invited me to audit his jazz guitar class at the university. I happily accepted, thinking I might be able to teach the kids a thing or two. I still remember the first class, me sitting in the back proudly holding my beat-up '64 Fender Strat, while the college students all cradled expensive Gibsons. Of course, this only made me feel more smug. I was a working musician. These were rich kids in a rich school with instruments that daddy bought 'em. But then something happened that would change my life forever. A painfully shy, sixteen year old boy walked into the room. He could barely speak nor make eye contact with anyone, seemed dwarfed by his big jazz guitar, and was ludicrously introduced as a visiting professor to the university. His name was Pat Metheny. I'll never forget how I felt when he began to play. It was an imploding feeling, like the kind you get when your ego is being demolished like an old Vegas casino. Thankfully, the feeling was accompanied by a soft, reassuring voice in my head that whispered, "Find work in television, nobody's a prodigy there." Thirteen years later I listened to that voice (I may have been deluded, but I was no quitter). Oh, and Pat, if you happen to read this... thank you.
Then Garym posted a video of Michelle Kwan in the Eva Cassidy thread.
It made me think how those who are really skilled and talented in their fields, musicians like Pat Metheny or athletes like Michelle Kwan, make their performances seem so effortless, while we are dazzled by and are appreciative of them.
And that is how a great audio system is - you listen and it just seems so authoritative and effortless, yet it dazzles.
Back in the 80's, I saw track great Carl Lewis working out at the track where I went to run laps. I was awed by how quick he was, especially because he made it look so easy. His running was fluid and graceful - effortless; I figured that would be a great model to emulate but for me it was anything but effortless. Carl Lewis' abilities were the result of years of dedication, practice, training, etc., to get him to that form. So much went into it.
Going back to my analogy to a great audio system, the "effortless" sound is anything but. It took a lot of talented designers, engineers, prototypes, etc., to put together the equipment then work on the part of whoever purchased the gear and set it up to make it all come together to produce the final results. Then there's the fiddling, switching in and out of gear, etc., that we are all familiar with. But those results are sooo worth it because of how the music sounds when you get there - pure, natural, just a joy to listen to so that you never want to get up from your chair.
May we all aspire to and achieve that in 2016!
After the credits on the DVD of every Big Bang Theory show there are writings by CHUCK LORRE. This one blew me away.
CHUCK LORRE PRODUCTIONS, #202
Tonight's story about Sheldon's ego being crushed following his encounter with a young prodigy has its roots in my own life. Around 1974 I was playing guitar for a living in Miami Beach. I was twenty-two years old and thought I was really something. In the parlance of musicians, I felt I had some "serious chops." Nights I played clubs, hotels, and private parties. For a few months I worked in a lounge band on a cruise ship. I even landed a day gig playing acoustic solo stuff at a coffee house in South Beach. That was where a professor from the University of Miami saw me play, dug what I was doing, and invited me to audit his jazz guitar class at the university. I happily accepted, thinking I might be able to teach the kids a thing or two. I still remember the first class, me sitting in the back proudly holding my beat-up '64 Fender Strat, while the college students all cradled expensive Gibsons. Of course, this only made me feel more smug. I was a working musician. These were rich kids in a rich school with instruments that daddy bought 'em. But then something happened that would change my life forever. A painfully shy, sixteen year old boy walked into the room. He could barely speak nor make eye contact with anyone, seemed dwarfed by his big jazz guitar, and was ludicrously introduced as a visiting professor to the university. His name was Pat Metheny. I'll never forget how I felt when he began to play. It was an imploding feeling, like the kind you get when your ego is being demolished like an old Vegas casino. Thankfully, the feeling was accompanied by a soft, reassuring voice in my head that whispered, "Find work in television, nobody's a prodigy there." Thirteen years later I listened to that voice (I may have been deluded, but I was no quitter). Oh, and Pat, if you happen to read this... thank you.
Then Garym posted a video of Michelle Kwan in the Eva Cassidy thread.
It made me think how those who are really skilled and talented in their fields, musicians like Pat Metheny or athletes like Michelle Kwan, make their performances seem so effortless, while we are dazzled by and are appreciative of them.
And that is how a great audio system is - you listen and it just seems so authoritative and effortless, yet it dazzles.
Back in the 80's, I saw track great Carl Lewis working out at the track where I went to run laps. I was awed by how quick he was, especially because he made it look so easy. His running was fluid and graceful - effortless; I figured that would be a great model to emulate but for me it was anything but effortless. Carl Lewis' abilities were the result of years of dedication, practice, training, etc., to get him to that form. So much went into it.
Going back to my analogy to a great audio system, the "effortless" sound is anything but. It took a lot of talented designers, engineers, prototypes, etc., to put together the equipment then work on the part of whoever purchased the gear and set it up to make it all come together to produce the final results. Then there's the fiddling, switching in and out of gear, etc., that we are all familiar with. But those results are sooo worth it because of how the music sounds when you get there - pure, natural, just a joy to listen to so that you never want to get up from your chair.
May we all aspire to and achieve that in 2016!
