Posted by Rick Denney on June 17, 2002 at 11:36:12:
In Reply to: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: The best Tuba posted by devils advocate on June 17, 2002 at 08:30:20:
Sorry to interrupt your baiting session.
The best instrument cannot improve a bad musician. But the worst instrument can hold the best musician back. The best bicycle ever made cannot make me Lance Armstrong, but I go much slower on a 45-pound beach cruiser with fat tires than a 20-pound road-racing bike. The best camera ever made cannot teach composition and art to an incompetent photographer, but it is hard to make certain kinds of images with a lens that can't focus sharply, or with a camera that leaks light when it shouldn't.
Of course, what is "best"? Ansel Adams set the standard for landscape photographer with lenses we'd throw away as junk today. Many could put me to shame on their beach cruisers. And a great player could make beautiful music on a Jing Bao, though he may hate the work he has to do and the results he gets. My definition of "great" is a tuba that lets me find my voice without having to open a vein or beat my head against a wall in supplication.
Rick "resisting for once the temptation to go on" Denney