Beyond Two-Four

I receive my Saluda cymbals this week.The set is a complete replacement of all of my current cymbals: three crashes, a ride, two spashes, two sets of hihats and a China. They’re everything I expected. I’ve been a solid A-Zildjian player for 20 years (with the exception of a Paiste ride) and Saludas definitely rank up there with the best.

Don’t get me wrong. Saludas sound particular, and they probably will sound different from what players used to. This goes for all cymbal manufacturers, though, even among cymbal types like A Zildjians versus Zs, etc. What’s cool about Saludas is that they are custom made to the buyer’s specifications. If you want a Saluda to sound like an A Zildjian, Saluda will work with you over the phone, in person or by email to try to achieve a particular sound you are looking for. I’m not sure of the logic of trying to match Saludas to other cymbal brands, because I was hoping for something different and unique. And I got it. 

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Music subscription services, to me, are a substantial solution to a myriad of problems: illegal file sharing, musicians not receiving royalties, digital copying realities and so on.

The concept of renting or leasing music also has benefits from the consumer side of things. First, I tend to devour music I’m interested in; then, after a period of time, the CD tends to sit on my shelf for years. Eventually, with the exception of my few all-time favorite bands over the years, the CDs go up on Half.com. So aside from my favorites, I tend to consume music temporarily anyway.

So a year ago, my wife and I got our first MP3 players and signed up for Yahoo Music Unlimited. We were attracted to the idea and found a generally good selection of music.

So why did I recently dump Yahoo Music’s unlimited subscription service? (more…)