Why stop at ten years? Was it really such a Golden Age in 1988?  The push/pull
betweeen instrument makers, composers and performers  has been going on for
centuries - the change of the flute from the renaissance cylindrical form to the
Hotteterre conical form, to give a wider useable range and better tuning, the
transition from fretted viols to fretless violins, the progressive addition of keys
to wind instruments, longer keyboards, the invention of the clarinet and the
saxophone, the development of the fortepiano, the strengthening of the case for
same, followed later still by overstringing, addition of valves to brass instruments
- it's a vast list.

Some inventions failed to pass the test of time - too complex, unwieldy, etc, or
simply the test of fashion. Fractional-tone keyboards were invented in ancient
china, many many centuries ago, but never caught on. No doubt there were posers in
all these fields, but history has easily forgotten them, as they (by definition) did
not produce anything.

There is clearly a general consensus that most Western orchestral instruments have
now reached the optimum poise betweeen difficulty, utility and expressiveness -
except perhaps in the field of percussion isnstruments, where invention has never
ceased. That is after several centuries of development. So we all have a way to go
yet.

Some developments were pioneered by already highly skilled artists - Boehm worked
very hard to perfect the flute, despite endangering his long-acquired (20 years)
virtuoso skills on the simple instrument with which he started.Then he wrote music
which stretched the new instrument to its limits (or so he thought...). He was a
skilled goldsmith, and, among other things, also invented an improved method for
smelting steel. He also suggested to Broadwood the idea of overstringing the piano.
No poser, he! Having invented the modern flute, other composers came along and wrote
even more difficult passages for it - they wanted  higher notes, lower notes, louder
notes, softer notes, more notes...several notes at the same time....

plus ca change....Richard Dobson

>
>
> >As for the moral imperative, I suspect that this is overruled by a greater one,
> >that however powerful and fast an audio system, a musician will, sooner or
> >later, demand more of it that it can deliver!
>
> dzat = s!nsz art!stz lakc.
> 1o year oLd zystemz = abov mozt art.!stz reku!rmentz.

> !n fakt art.!stz.pozer.akadem!kx || kommerc!aL =

> ultra kommerc!al lak.age.