.......... and wandering through the town on a Saturday evening in August found the local pipe band playing in the town square. It seemed like most of the population of Wick was there, families and kids and people of all ages. They all listened intently, and somehow in that place, with the music echoing off the stone buildings and cobblestone square, it seemed rich and interesting and "in the right place". It was very moving.
You are right about what you describe. The Clearances, two World Wars, and the collapse in crofting in the 60's followed by a drift by the young to the southern cities, all took a real toll upon traditional Highland music. It became repackaged in the 70's as ossified Tartanalia, and was a staple of Scottish television, mainly catering for English tastes in light entertainment.
All that has changed. The music scene here, as you keenly observed, is really jumping now. Young expatriate Highlanders are moving back here in droves. As a incomer, I see this as a very good thing. The Internet and social networking is playing a major role in all of this. Thank goodness for Millennials.
10 or 14 years ago what was your knowledge level compared to the normal discussions on diyAudio? Has your knowledge improved while the forum has remained at the same level? If so, could that be influencing how you feel about new threads?
I think I joined in 2008 and despite being a fully qualified electronics engineer I didn't know a lot about power amplifiers. Since then after building numerous amplifier, improving them then designing my own things have moved on dramatically. I am now finding myself able to help others. Quite a lot of threads are concerning blown up/ faulty amplifiers. People just say it is faulty and show a picture of the amp as if that will show up a blown output transistor. Clearly we need to know more and need voltage measurements and scope signals to see what is going on. And some time spent testing components for shorts/open circuits would be useful. So it can get a bit frustrating trying to help.
There is always the option that:
If you feel that forum threads are not exciting enough, new enough, or too low in "quality" information, then...
The purpose of this forum is not simply to entertain its members with shiny objects, eh? We are all in this hobby together. What WE collectively put in is what we collectively will receive in return.YOU CAN DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT. You are a user in this very forum! Why not create the new, high quality posts you are seeking yourself? Ask yourself - when was the last time YOU contributed to the forefront of audio here in this forum?
People just say it is faulty and show a picture of the amp as if that will show up a blown output transistor. Clearly we need to know more and need voltage measurements and scope signals to see what is going on. And some time spent testing components for shorts/open circuits would be useful. So it can get a bit frustrating trying to help.
If one of the mods could ban that Nelson bloke to stop him supplying those simple to construct, decent sounding little amps to the general public, that would stop a lot of the forum traffic with the basic questions and insufficient info.
On the other hand we can (and many do) help to empower those new to the hobby with the skills to make stuff. The ACA thread is a classic where most 'faults' are down to shockingly poor soldering, but if the ACA is your first project then the soldering is likely to be poor as I would class soldering as a craft to which your ability is pretty proportional to the amount you do. When I've spent a week sticking 0603 SMDs to a pcb I can solder like a boss. If I pick up an iron now I will just make a mess!
Here’s a good example:Kenwood KAC 9104 repair help please?
The chap, an obviously keen but foolish newbie, posted a thread asking how to repair an amplifier that wasn’t faulty!!😱😀
The chap, an obviously keen but foolish newbie, posted a thread asking how to repair an amplifier that wasn’t faulty!!😱😀
Here’s a good example:Kenwood KAC 9104 repair help please?
The chap, an obviously keen but foolish newbie, posted a thread asking how to repair an amplifier that wasn’t faulty!!😱😀
I dunno. You asked, you got answers, you saved yourself a lot of time. Embarrassment aside that is exactly the sort of thing this forum should be able to help with.
Speaking of bagpipes, I used to work with this fellow.
Wow, a true Afro-Celt! So it was Rufus Harley who played with Laurie Anderson on Big Science - unbelievable. He must have been really good and truly original to have made that leap. I wonder if Bowie and Eno knew him? I can imagine he was quite special to have worked with.
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Some have dug holes for themselvesThat thread does not constitute going down hill. It just ground level.

I do actually think the grounding box thread is a low point, but mostly because it is filled with truly terrible attempts at humour by the participants. Just like political threads made members think less of otherwise skilled technical people, I feel sorry for the people who think their bad puns are funny.
Oh come on Leadbelly, bad engineering humor should always be appreciated as the pentacle of art.
It is easy to NOT find what you are looking for. The suggestion that Google does a better job above means that searching the forum with forum tools is poor. I personally, have found that searching a title outside the forum and then finding a way into the forum discussion is the easiest way to get the most information. I find it frustrating at times.
I sometimes cant find the thread I started after a long search so end up starting another one.
Then get a rollocking off a moderator for starting new one.
> cant find the thread I started
If you are sure YOU started it.....
Top right, "Welcome, nigelwright7557." Click your name.
Next to About Me, click "Statistics".
Click "Find all threads started by nigelwright7557"
Your thread-starts are listed in date order. You seem to average 25-50 start-posts a year. If the post was in the last year, only two pages to look through.
If you are sure YOU started it.....
Top right, "Welcome, nigelwright7557." Click your name.
Next to About Me, click "Statistics".
Click "Find all threads started by nigelwright7557"
Your thread-starts are listed in date order. You seem to average 25-50 start-posts a year. If the post was in the last year, only two pages to look through.
I do actually think the grounding box thread is a low point, but mostly because it is filled with truly terrible attempts at humour by the participants. Just like political threads made members think less of otherwise skilled technical people, I feel sorry for the people who think their bad puns are funny.

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It's not your fault! 🙂 There is no ongoing organizing of threads here. 🙁I sometimes cant find the thread I started after a long search so end up starting another one.
Then get a rollocking off a moderator for starting new one.
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