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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 31, 1983)
Wednesday, August 31, 1983/The Battalion/Page 7B U-home music more electronic than ever e the drive United Press International he sound of’ music across . 1 ^uipm irica, especially that made lc Mandn| P eo pl e . > s rnore likely : electronic than acoustic in Mining year, according to a S e hottcf, ey of leading instrument ln d "hiclq ;rs. Electronic guitars, often in exotic shapes, were men- ’d test)cas( id most often as the top sel- idsandcim i> r 19^*^ an( l phtgged-in range, 15 t runner for No. 1 instru- cljtol 1984. Portable electronic cards, electronic pianos synthesizers also are selling vhat was repeatedly de ed as an “amazing” rate, ns are making a comeback ectronic, of course. t nd where you find electro- pstruments, you’ll probably amplifiers for the level of d that suits the ears of a ration bred on rock music. Juitars are very, very big,” ited Rick Munroe of Coyle id correctly mg the lie expda ted to cost) lo ingtodoij let the M« ; and leti ■ said. SCI ol Music in Columbus, Ohio. “Kids are leaning more and more to ward electronic guitars and the amplification to go with them. They’re very today.” T hat observation was echoed by a salesman at Manny’s music store in New York: “Guitar is the most popular back-to-school in strument for kids this year.” Richard Belmond of Termin al Music in mid-town Manhattan agreed: “You can’t beat the elec tronic guitar and accompanying devices which change its sounds — chorus effects, delays, distor tion. They’re the biggest seller, especially in exotic shapes and adorned with art like a white lightning bolt. They start at $ 179 and can run up to $800 or $900.” Belmond said Terminal’s best selling electronic keyboard is the Cassio, a battery or plug-in instrument that produces piano and organ sounds and 10 special effects such as the wail of bag pipes, at $155, and the Cassio MT70 on which songs can be written and then played back, al $315. Other dealers reported Portable electronic keyboards, electronic pianos and synthesiz ers also are selling at what was repeatedly described as an “amazing” rate. . the Yamaha keyboard as the best seller. “Portability is the big factor in the keyboards, which are table- top instruments,” noted David Butler of Columbia Music in San Francisco. “You can take them to parties, to picnics/The whole family can have fun with them. You can take them to a studio if you want to compose or to some site that inspires you. You can play back your own music and even get a printout from some instruments.” Electronic keyboards can have appeal for would-be musi cians as young as 4 or 5, accord ing to Harry Folsom of Vene- man Music, Rockville, Md. Small electronic keyboards now start at $100, down from $300 a year ago, and increase as they grow in size to $300 and up to 10 times that much for the most complicated ones. They are especially popular with teen agers. Synthesizers produce all sorts of instrumental sounds plus some that never emanated from any instrument. Because they can be used in very sophisticated ways, they are played mainly by professional musicians and by musical groups of older teens and adults. They run from $250 Most of those inter viewed agreed that, in the non-electronic field, trumpets are enjoying a new popu larity. to $32,000. A good eight-voice synthesizer will cost about $1,350. Dealers reported that one of the most popular sellers last Christmas for about $ 100 was an electronic drum — a square with four patches that produce the sounds of different drums. Most of those interviewed agreed that, in the non electronic field, trumpets are enjoying a new popularity. Gary Jensen of Marching World, De nver, noted, “When kids are into jazz, they’re often into trumpet.” A good trumpet sells for about $850. “It’s almost the most popular instrument with us,” Jensen said. “The trombone is next, then the saxophone ($1,500 to $2,200). A lot of this is related to use in the schools.” Don Kingston, a top salesman for American Music World in Chicago, said the popularity of flutist James Galway helped cre ate a flute boom in the past three years. Vic Hugo at St. Louis’ Music Centers Inc. reported that more school teachers are buying flutes “because they’re easy to play and are a C-instrument, same as the piano.” They average about $375 un less they are solid silver, a luxury that will cost $600 to $1,000. Galway and other concert flut ists have gold ones as well. Piano instruction is rare in schools, especially with music ' budget cutbacks, but most deal- 1 ers reported sales up this year over 1982. Don Kingston, a top salesman in Chicago’s American Music-' World, said, “More and more parents, particularly younger parents, are getting pianos for their kids because they want kids to learn and learn it right. “Most people would prefer an old-fashioned acoustic piano but electronic pianos are good for apartments because they don’t have percussive hammers that make a sound that goes right through a building, and it doesn’t have to be tuned.” United Press International ASHING TON — Why did iv hasextii liVatergate conspirators bug ol but ills l)emocratic Party headquar- even though individually- agreed the plan made no iveedcoi jiti uly fortki le comenl itain tlief ow land Id ontinueioi and ildn'twai In; that woul roblein, e do what we don’t want to do ecause of the ‘Abilene paradox’ Vhy do some couples get led even though they have friends privately they want [tiy single? J Vhv do businesses some- Inrwo Is embark on projects when ieldand | tdual managers and techni- know they are doomed to e? |:rry B. Harvey, a professor management science at fige Washington University, officials at prevenii Lb n festing «i ere a n' 1 trying tot ■cks are !i ntal on-siif iCS con* 1 county.]! tides for" 1- will bed r to a set has a theory about all this. He calls it “the Abilene paradox.” “The Abilene paradox is a pervasive form of organization al mental illness,” Harvey wrote in a recent article for Chem- Tech, the journal of the Amer ican Chemical Society. He defined it as organiza tions taking actions that “contra dict the desires of their indi vidual members, thus defeating the very purposes the organiza tions are designed to achieve.” The name of the paradox is derived from a 53-mile drive the Harvey family took in a Buick with no air conditioner or shocks to a dusty cafe in the Good Luck Motel in Abilene, Texas, one 104-degree day. Harvey’s father-in-law had suggested the trip and Harvey went along because he thought everyone else had wanted to go. It emerged in the family fight afterward that no one really did. Harvey said he came up with the theory when serving on a building committee for a build ing no one wanted to build and found existing psychological theory lacking when he sought an explanation. Harvey says the Abilene pa radox has several causes, but what they boil down to is fanta sies or fear that speaking out will cause rejection, such as firing, or other disaster. There are several ways to stop the trip, Harvey said. One is to “acknowledge your personal re sponsibility for solving the problem.” “Each organization member has as much responsibility as anv other for turning around the Buick,” he said. Another step is to calculate the risk involved in the confron tation. 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