In Favor of Cheap Instruments. Again.

Long time readers of the Bloody Nib are aware that we at the Manor are all in favor of doing certain things on the cheap. Why spend $300 on a Honda lawn mower (along with the price of gas used to power the thing) when a manual push mower and a healthy fifteen year old kid will do the same job, and probably better than the smog spouter? Anyone who tries to make his patch of grass look like a putting green has a problem. A lawn is meant to be used and torn up by kids, dogs, horse shoes or lawn darts.

But each person has their own concerns on this type of thing. Each man sees his plot of land in his own way and some are more concerned about appearance than usage. Usually these people are called celebrities or politicians: both classes of people who seem to think that they deserve your attention and disposable income.

But one thing that your faithful correspondent is adamant about is the value of cheap musical instruments for both youth and adults. Consider the fact that most of us who mess about with cheap musical instruments such as the harmonica, ukulele, penny whistle, department store guitar or bodhran, never really master the instrument. So why invest more than a one hundred bucks for a Lyon guitar from Target (beware of the First Act guitar from Wal-Mart since it is so badly made as to be almost unplayable) or a dulcimer or a bodhran or a uke, or more than twenty bucks for a harmonica or penny whistle?

This came to mind the other day while talking to a co-worker at the dark Satanic mill. Said co-worker stated that his son, a lad of seventeen years, had told him that he wanted a drum set for Christmas. The kid had never owned any type of drum before; no snare, no marching drum, no kettle drum. The boy had "fooled around" with a neighbor kid's drum set and liked it. My co-worker, being a soft touch, went to the local music store and ended up spending over $600 for a drum set for the boy for Christmas. Yours truly would have suggested buying the lad a bodhran, a set of bongos or a conga drum and told him to work on one drum and become proficient at it before thinking of a drum set. Buying the kid a bodhran, a couple of Chieftains CDs and a couple of Mel Bay music books would have cost a lot less and been a lot more valuable than a drum set. If the boy wants to drum he'll drum on a coffee can and a Quaker Oats box. The cheap drums give the kid a chance to find out if drumming is what he thinks it is. As it is, he'll be starting out with a set that would have made Gene Krupa's mouth water. A bongo collecting dust in March is a lot easier to look at than a $600 drum set.

Sometimes cheap is good.

Finally, if you're thinking of drinking egg nog this season, please reconsider. A hot toddy is a much better deal.