Post your POSITIVE thoughts of how to make SZ alive again.

SZ has the best format ever – and for the better part it has added so much to so many.
I feel this is the best way to honor Nigel and SZ. SZ has been my home for many years.
John C.

Please don't let this wonderful home of friends die. We all have differences but we also have much more in common. I myself hate facebook. I don't like the way it works and it's not as friendly and it is much harder to post and use. To me, this is home and Nigel made it that way. I'm sure most of us wold like to get back to the lively way this site used to be but maybe with a little more care towards the other members when we have heated discussions. We are all different and dand that's the way it should be but that is our strong point, not a weakness. Let's try to relight the fire that used to be SZ.
MEL

I don't post much these days, mainly because I only get about 10 minutes a day to go online. Much of my days are spent taking care of my loving wife of nearly 60 years, which is pretty much a full-time, 24/7 job for an old codger that is in failing health as well.

I do, however, go to the zone daily to see if I can be of assistance to someone, but lately, the activity level has been at the lowest point in its history.

I will continue to support the zone in any way within my limited means,

Gary

My good friend Gary is partially why Synthzone meant so much to many of us.

Thing is, Gary and I are as different as two people can be....musical tastes and experience...vocation....POLITICS.

Thing is, we agree that we disagree, but concentrate on the ways we are alike (music experience, backgrounds as commercial writers, an interest in boats and more).

In the last few years, I look forward to our weekly phone calls. The internet is great, but hearing a voice is BETTER.

I'm proud to call Gary a friend.

I think putting some life back in the individual interactions here is well worth the effort.

Thanks so much,


R.

About the only thing that’s going to save here is a renewed interest in MUSIC.

The pace of new models has slowed to a crawl, which used to drive much of the site traffic, arguing over what’s ’best’, reading about how Donny’s latest purchase is the best thing ever (and reading a couple of months later how it isn’t!), endless discussions about how things like chord sequencers or 76 note keyboards are unnecessary (if our brand of choice didn’t offer them!) until our favorite brand adds them (in which case they’re essential now!), basically anything BUT music…

But, in the end, isn’t that why we play? As a piece of furniture, most arrangers are pretty garish, as a piece of technology most of them trail synths and workstations and especially software by decades, as a means of playing contemporary music, they are just the wrong tool for the job…

But start to talk about MUSIC, start to talk about technique, start to talk about how best to achieve classic genres like big band, jazz, rock and roll, even reggae, well, that’s a bottomless well..!

The thing is, where ELSE do most of us go to chat with fellow musicians? Is there a watering hole where we DO congregate to talk about music, and we just come here to talk about one specific type of keyboard? Somehow, I rather doubt it.

But in lieu of Yamaha and Roland and Korg and Ketron and Technics and Casio and all the manufacturers that used to make arrangers dropping several new models each year (cumulatively) for us to argue over and obsess about, and ultimately distract use from what they are really designed to do, maybe now’s the time to get back to fundamentals?

It’s not about WHAT you use, it’s about what you PLAY.

It strikes me that’s a deeper conversation that can drive a site for decades.

Want to talk politics? Take it to the Bar. Or Facebook. Or the ballot box.

Let’s talk MUSIC 🎹♥️😎

I agree, and I try, but honestly I feel like I get shunned when I post my music. I see people glad to comment on hearing aides and discontinued keyboards but they can't take the time to comment about a performance. I sometimes even wonder why I bother posting my music here.

I agree, and I try, but honestly I feel like I get shunned when I post my music. I see people glad to comment on hearing aides and discontinued keyboards but they can't take the time to comment about a performance. I sometimes even wonder why I bother posting my music here.
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This saddens me. Here is one of the nicest and most talented contributors feeling shunned. It is disheartening enough not being acknowledged for a musical contribution without feeling downright shunned. I seriously doubt anyone here would do this, but The fact remains that Paul feels this way, and, perhaps, others are losing heart for the same reason-DEAD SILENCE.

I am not one to lead a rally, but agree with Diki and others that resurgence of this fine forum is possible with a little support. I, for one, will try.

I like SZ, but an expression comes to mind about the horse which you can lead to water but you will not make her drink.

Personally I’m not very comfortable talking much about music, I guess, talking about equipment is just tempting as it is less personal and allows to distract oneself from all other bother.

Times change, hardware synths and workstations aren’t in their prime right now. And when it comes to virtual instruments, there are just so many of them, it’s hard to focus.

And the saddest thing of course is that a lot of members are gone (passed away), I guess, in some cases we didn’t even notice when it happened, we just see an absence of someone.

I have about 1400 subscribers on my YouTube channel, but within a month each my video is vied by ~300 people, “liked” by 15-20 and commented by 4, or 2 or by no one at all. This is the way it is. In fact, if we were speaking about some live event, it’d be considered as an opportunity to get listened by 300 people.

Another thought: people who make Wikipedia aren’t particularly rewarded for their efforts, at least I think so. But it helps them to understand better the subject when they describe it to the world.

I think that the average restaurant or bar audience is very similar to our membership here when it comes to feedback on our playing!

A few will come up and talk in depth about how much they enjoyed your show, a few more might just drop off a nice tip in the jar, a whole bunch of them came out for a meal or a drink, and whether you are there or not doesn’t really matter, and the very odd customer will come up and tell you that perhaps you were too loud or quiet for them, or you didn’t play enough country, or whatever!

It’s a fine line on a forum between neglect and respect… and just because a post containing a recording doesn’t generate a ton of responses, don’t worry..! It got heard, you can be assured.

The thing is, what do you WANT to hear? We’re a very diverse group, ranging from one finger beginners to full two handed pros. That, if everybody comments, generates a very wide range of opinions. Not to mention, our membership has a huge range of ages and tastes in music. Sometimes it’s difficult to separate one’s opinion of a performance from one’s tastes in music in general. I’m a bit guilty here, sometimes it’s hard to work up much enthusiasm for the decidedly light pop song selection that some of us like playing!

But we are getting older, and even as an aging 65, I get reminded from time to time that we have members that are a good 25 years my senior, so perhaps those old chestnuts are to be expected. We are also global… tastes in Europe vary wildly from the US, or Latin America. Diversity is good, but it also works against getting an enthusiastic response for a form of music few of us listen to or know much about.

Personally, I try to look for constructive criticism, and try to offer it where I think it might do good. And I generally post what few recordings I do in an effort to illustrate a particular technique that might help those looking to improve. But often I hear things that either I don’t relate to, or I have nothing constructive to offer. I’m sorry if I don’t always respond if I have little to say..!

But keep them coming… in lieu of endless arguments about features, the way forward really needs to focus more on the music we make. 🎹😎

Quite a few regular posters left and we sure don't want to get into the why. We all know.

We can only hope those "regulars" come back and can just let it go

Life is short.