Music Before the Money

1. Ignore everybody.

2. The idea doesn’t have to be big. It just has to change the world.

3. Put the hours in.

4. If your biz plan depends on you suddenly being “discovered” by some big shot, your plan will probably fail.

5. You are responsible for your own experience.

6. Everyone is born creative; everyone is given a box of crayons in kindergarten.

7. Keep your day job.

8. Companies that squelch creativity can no longer compete with companies that champion creativity.

9. Everybody has their own private Mount Everest they were put on this earth to climb.

10. The more talented somebody is, the less they need the props.

11. Don’t try to stand out from the crowd; avoid crowds altogether.

12. If you accept the pain, it cannot hurt you.

13. Never compare your inside with somebody else’s outside.

14. Dying young is overrated.

15. The most important thing a creative person can learn professionally is where to draw the red line that separates what you are willing to do, and what you are not.

16. The world is changing.

17. Merit can be bought. Passion can’t.

18. Avoid the Watercooler Gang.

19. Sing in your own voice.

20. The choice of media is irrelevant.

21. Selling out is harder than it looks.

22. Nobody cares. Do it for yourself.

23. Worrying about “Commercial vs. Artistic” is a complete waste of time.

24. Don�t worry about finding inspiration. It comes eventually.

25. You have to find your own schtick.

26. Write from the heart.

27. The best way to get approval is not to need it.

28. Power is never given. Power is taken.

29. Whatever choice you make, the Devil gets his due eventually.

30. The hardest part of being creative is getting used to it.

31. Remain frugal.

Thanks to: http://www.gapingvoid.com

A portable piano as not an easy thing to find in the ’70’s. There was the Rhodes which weighed a ton and sounded, well, like a Rhodes. Not that a Rhodes sounds bad at all but it is not a rock piano nor does it translate well in country music. Ray Charles and many piano greats used Wurlitzers as did Supertramp.I bought my first Wurlitzer in 1975 and traded it in in 1981 for another piano.

The first thing you did was lose the legs. Well, I never lost them I put them and the music stand in storage and had may brother, a motorcycle mechanic, to make me a longer sustain pedal cable. This way, I could perch the piano on top of the Hammond M3 I was using.

The piano was invented by Ben F. Meissner, who was inventing a design to “electrify” acoustic pianos. Wurlitzer, the jukebox and organ company, took over the development and tried to come up with a electric version of the Rhodes. They went for a felt-dressed hammer hitting a metallic reed. The vibrations from the stroke on the reeds was picked up by a pickup system converting the tone into electric sound. With speakers on the front and a phone jack for headphones it became a popular piano in schools.

Tuning the Wurlitzer was right out of a movie. You used a soldering gun and, while connecting the piano to an electronic tuner, took off or put on as much solder as was needed to make the needle go to A440.

Just like the electric grand, I’d love to have another one!