Down the Rabbit Hole
A few months ago, I refurbished a Dynaco Stereo 120 audio amplifier for my studio, replacing a Stereo 80 amp that had been in service for years. There wasn’t anything wrong with the 80, but I wanted the increased power and the sound improvements that the 120 upgrades had provided in the studio.
I am listening to a classic solid-state amp from the 70’s. Just a couple of weeks ago, it arrived from an eBay auction in rough and partially-working condition.
In a former life, I worked in professional audio sales and service for a local music store. This was about a million years ago, and the store, Musicmakers Austin, is long gone. I was just recently out of college and the modest pay didn’t matter too much because I was living every musician’s dream: working as a musician — or at least in close proximity to working musicians.
I’ve been a student of piano all of my life, and have always preferred hearing to reading when learning a new piece. My piano teachers cautioned me against this approach, since reading music would open a much larger window onto the classical world.
I’ve always had an interest in George Gershwin. A friend who knows this got me The Gershwins (copyright 1973) by Robert Kimball and Alfred Simon for Christmas, and I’ve been enjoying it. I read it when researching my thesis 40 years ago, and had forgotten how interesting it is. He must have found it in a used book store, because I’m sure it’s been out of print for some time. What a treat!