Bill - my point exactly. Certainly playing lefthand bass is a useful tool, but if it is what you do more often than not, why are you buying all that excess? My Crumar pedals sit under the keyboard at home all the time and I also have had midi pedals. What I'm seeing are too many players who have the latest technology in front of them (like me), but they don't need it all, want it all or can use it all. Most of us are still seeking simplicity in all of this excess. As I said on another thread, we are all just legends in our own minds anyway. The SZ is our diversion.

Diki - I've come to accept your biting criticism as just a matter of style rather than intent (so to say). But you need to realize your criticism is often the type that takes the air out of anything else that's been said. With that in mind, don't stop posting, just keep in mind your opinions and criticism can come off as abrasive. Peace, bro.

NewB - It's obvious from your comment to me that you were still upset at Diki's remarks. That's cool - there was unrest all over the SZ yesterday; bad air, or something. Anyway, I believe you put that song out there for people like me to hear Midnight Rider because it had been mentioned in that previous post. So you didn't spend any time on it and you got a little burned because maybe you should have spent a LITTLE time on it. Hey, any time you post audio/midi on the SZ you better be belted down and prepared for any type comment. Personally, I thought the rhythm and your left hand (I think) did an OK job for that song - would you sell a million copies, I think not. Wrong chords; sometimes I cringe when I hear someone performing and playing wrong chords, but I didn't have that reaction, maybe because it was a one-take thing and it just didn't matter that much.

One of things I sort of stayed away from for a long time was people posting their recordings; mainly because I internally felt some were not that good and I could do a lot better. BUT, I never posted anything because my only experience with recording was with a 24-track set-up at my brother-in-law's. Once I got up the nerve to record on my own with a simple 4-track digital, my fellings changed. Now I look forward to others posting music and replying to mine. For me it's a much better use of my SZ time than reading about how self-important we try to make ourselves or how this or that keyboard sucks more than than another. Man, for a few hundred (maybe thousand) bucks, these things are phenomenal.

Let me close by saying I appreciated and enjoyed your song. I know, you know and anyone else who hears it knows it's not a professional demo - that was not the point. you put it out there for whatever reason and some people took a couple pot shots - for whatever reason. There was some misunderstanding of motives. That's going to happen here. Wake up, enjoy the sunshine and thank God you've got another day on this great planet.