Not impressed

A conspicuous absence of posts supporting or in agreement with Psag's
excellent post.

I have often mentioned the parallels that exist between a musician's
experience and an audiophile's; some good, some bad. This is a popular
working musician's joke that one can apply to this topic:

Q "How do you make a musician unhappy?"

A "Give him a gig"

Hey Wolf, if you missed that one, I would have to question just how much working you've been doing; no offense intended. I suspect your idea of "working musician" is different than mine. Truth is that for working musicians (those who make their living playing music exclusively and nothing else; and have done so for many years) not every gig is a "fun fest". There are a lot of great projects, some not so great, and some that are a drag. The joke (and it is a common one) is emblematic of what is, unfortunately, a common and negative attitude on the part of many working musicians that unless they are part of a project that they deem creatively worthy at the highest level, even an opportunity to simply exercise their craft is cause for negativity. On the other hand, many who are always scuffling to find a gig, any gig, are tickled pink when one comes along. Here's one of my favorites:

http://s276.photobucket.com/user/tinasponsler/media/farside_banjo2.jpg.html

Sounds good; but, it doesn't always work that way. Of course, every player
should always do their best; that is not being questioned and most of the
players I refer to do just that. Attitude, however, is a different matter and is
not necessarily something that is expressed to anyone except to other
players. Bottom line: if a particular player is predisposed to a certain
attitude about music that strays from his/her idea of what good music is,
how much bullshit he can get away with is determined by how good he is
as a player; and, to a lesser degree, how good he is at bullshitting. Talent
and bad attitude are not mutually exclusive. Some players are so good,
and so busy (yes, there are still a few of those out there) that they can
indulge in an attitude that is not as rosy-eyed as what you portray with little
effect on their careers. Musicians are people too and what we are talking
about (trying to, anyway) is found in any walk of life. The "real
world" that I am talking about is the world of two, three, sometimes
more services A DAY; every day. Many of these players are not looking for
a "shot at playing"; they are well past that point in their careers. Some get
burned out, some get mired in negativity, but luckily, most still play their
best; or, at least, on a very high level. Either I made up the story about the
joke or, as with most jokes, there is an element of truth in it. Which do you
think it is?

While this particular scene is mostly gone, the message applies to all
scenes, and no one has said it better:

[URL]http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=snetMOvbqRQ[/URL]

We have no basic disagreement. What perhaps I haven't made clear is that the "unhappiness" referred to in the joke is usually not expressed in an overt way; it's much more subtle than that and mostly kept to themselves.