I think the real issue here is that music generally has, for most
people, ceased to be something special.  Music is all around us now,
in incredible diversity, instantly and freely available, and as
a result it is taken for granted by some, particularly those young
enough never to have known anything different.  The 'thrill factor'
in the music, and perhaps in the technology as well, is sadly not what
it was.

The instruments which are our passion have the amazing ability to
allow us to experience music exactly as our forefathers did, and to be
able to offer this experience to others.  However, we cannot recreate,
for ourselves or anyone else, what must have been the thrill of hearing
this music in isolation, as part of an otherwise music-free day, or
even week, at a time before radio, television, computers and most
of our modern technology.  Ironically, of course, many mechanical
instruments were designed specifically to provide background music and
have contributed to the general trend, so perhaps we can't complain too
much.

As a music industry professional I try to ration my own listening very
carefully and try to keep it special, something which my non-musician
friends sometimes find hard to understand.  Such behaviour is not
without its dangers, however.  At a country show in the UK 7 years ago,
I was so thrilled to hear a beautiful organ playing as part of an old
ride that, as I hurried towards it across a field, my foot went into
a pothole, I severed my Achilles' tendon and spent the next five months
with one leg in plaster!

Rowland Lee
Lincolnshire, UK