Ken;
I'll second that!
RD
Ken Deifik <kenneth.d@xxxxxxxxxxxx> 29/06/2007 5:32:12 >>>
I saw a post yesterday by someone who says gear is not
insignificant in
the
scheme of things. (Sorry friend, I already deleted your post and I do
not
recall who you are.)
Well, I'm one of those boneheads who buttons alot of my posts with
"It's
not about gear." And yet I've been raving about my Suzuki Fire Breath
harps because they have improved my sound and technique.
What gives?
Well, I think the reason I insist on repeating the dreaded It's Not
About
Gear reminder is because too many new players get caught up in the
gear
before they can play much at all. It's like a skier who has gone down
the
Donald Duck slope a couple of times and now goes out and buys $4G
worth
of
--- well, gear.
Worse, it also reminds me of people who want to write screenplays, so
they
go out and buy seven books on the subject, read two of them, go out
and
buy
a screenplay formatting program, take a course, buy some more
books, go
to
a ton of movies ("research") and never quite get around to actually
writing
a screenplay. Getting caught in the gear scene too early is a great
way to
put off getting good forever.
(Off topic: If you want to write screenplays, write for at least a
year,
and finish several screenplays, before you look at a single book on
the
subject. That's when those books become helpful.)
I had an amusing trick that got me work on a number of occasions.
That
is,
until fairly recently I used funky, busted up cigar boxes to carry my
harps
in, and when I'd show up to do something for a guy I hadn't worked for
before, I'd make sure he'd see that. It always elicited a comment, as
in
"So and so, (his usual harmonica player) has this elaborate harmonica
box
that cost a month's pay and really looks cool." I'd say, "Yeah, I
like
those." It's true, too, I do. But then I'd play and I'd naturally
play my
best, and if that gave the producer the impression that I was a better
choice for harmonica player than the other guy, the producer'd look at
that
box and get the message that it isn't about the box it's about how you
play
what's inside.
Heart-warming as that homily is, it still says It's About The Gear, of
course. I just used ugly, funky ol' gear, the cigar box, to increase
the
contrast between myself and the guy who was competing for my grocery
payment. (I now use a small, gorgeous little metal box that held four
expensive steak knives bought by my wife. It holds 12 harps and looks
chic. I'm not a savage, after all, though you couldn't tell it by
looking
at me.)
And I don't doubt that the exact right mic and PA or amp improves your
presentation, if you've got something to present. Hell, I play a
great
1970 Martin D-18 and STILL lust after a thousand better acoustic steel
string guitars. And I'm pissed as hell that I can't get a Suzuki
Firebreath in B for a project that needs it, even though I have
other B
harps. Believe me, people who say stuff like "Hemingway didn't need a
word
processor" do not get invited over to my backyard.
And I have to presume that most of youse guys and goils who have
questions
about amplifiers and pedals are excellent musicians for whom the right
answers will kick it up a notch.
But I STILL think it's important that crabby dudes such as myself keep
the
notion of It's Not About Gear in the mix for those newer players who
read
these posts and get the idea that gear is what's going to make them a
good
musician.
So I'll stick to my guns and split the difference at the same time,
whatever that means. Advice to newer harps players: learn how to get
beautiful single notes, learn how to play great melodies, learn how to
swing. Then the best gear will do you some serious good.
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