When this trend toward making music using advanced technology made it possible for everyone to be a composer or a live musician or a Karaoke singer overnight, I initially became very concerned. Now I welcome the trend. You see, the more 'robo-music" there is out there, the more real musicians (who studied their craft for years and have enough sense to play songs with actual melodies to them) will suddenly become very attractive to have around.

And a bonus, which I'm experiencing already. People are fascinated watching a keyboard player do his stuff......LIVE! They don't see that much anymore.

This is a world of guitar "strummers" and Garage Band players now, and we should be quick to say......"bring them on." The more "strummers" and technology geeks there are on the scene, the more folks are going to be mesmerized when they get to see a live keyboardist for a change.

At the very least, it's a breath of fresh air for many listeners in today's lop-sided world of music. Guitarists are a dime a dozen, outnumbered only by fast food restaurants, and technology is everywhere . Keyboardists are becoming extinct. But that might be good. The fewer there are, I like to think the more they will be in demand, even if only as a circus act (whatever pays the bills!).

That's the romantic side of me. On the other hand, unfortunately, I'm a realist. Diki wrote a while ago about today's young people wanting and accepting "mediocre" music and music-making machines as it gives them the feeling that they too can become "stars" overnight by just pressing buttons and making noise (paraphrased)......as compared to.....spending years learning to play as the great 70's rock bands did. Each group had a personality and craftsmen expressed themselves through instruments and not through an Ipad. There were 48 flavors of music then. Today there's only vanilla!

It will be interesting to see which way this whole thing goes. Will machines play music or will humans?