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I'm in Patagonia right now at a percussion festival. I realized something when I was doing my workshop and talking to people about the vibraphone. I had a lot of confidence talking about this instrument. I actually felt proud about the instrument.

Being proud of the instrument for me comes from having a strong knowledge of the instrument. Now think about this. I've probably read about 90-95 percent of everything on this site. Do you realize how much information that is? How much I've learned? Unbelievable.

I can talk about the origin of the instrument. I have plenty of solutions for students with problems. It's amazing.

Honestly I was floored when it hit me. I felt qualified to be a representative of this instrument. That's something that i haven't always felt. I don't have a lot of confidence, generally. But because of all of us, I can do this in a new way for me. And that feels great.

And if I'm benefiting from all of this, I know many of you are. That's a great thing. We ARE making the vibraphone a more popular instrument. And we are making a difference. That's really what I believe. Whether pros want to admit it or not, they are LEARNING a lot from this site. The only way NOT to learn from this site is to ignore it. I'm sure some pro/teacher has a couple of our etudes they use with students. I'm sure some pro/teacher has done a workshop and used something from this site. I know this because I do it all the time. And I'm not that special or unique. If I'm doing it, I know others are. Good composers borrow, Great composers steal. :-)

This wouldn't happen without an enormous amount of energy. That energy is time and money (like I always say). When Dave Friedman or Burton Spend time on this site talking about the vibraphone, that's energy. When a student pays his monthly fee that's energy. To me it's equal energy because it builds the site and the knowledge.

Meanwhile, my partner is trying to update the site. This is costing him hours and hours because of the updated software and incompatibility. So there's all that energy.

Without this energy time and money, this site would be nothing. But because of it, more of us can be evangelists of the vibraphone. And that's cool. I'm doing it with a lot of confidence because of what I've learned from all of us.

I think that's great!

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