As the lights went dark, the audience quietened. There was almost tangible anticipation in the air. A man in an expensive suit walked onto the stage to be greeted by cheers from the audience as he sat down behind a grand piano. A violinist in an equally expensive dress walked onto stage next, and picked up her violin before standing behind the sheet music. The audience again hushed.
The violinist played some notes, and it soon became apparent that the pianist had joined in, rising from nothingness to a comparable volume. The piece of music was clearly recognisable as 4. The way they played the piece made it seem like this was how it was meant to be played all along, their performance injecting subtle nuances into the already classic work. After a short while, they stopped and the pianist asked "Any good?"
"Yep," confirmed Richard D. James, casually walking onto the stage. He was dressed in jeans and a t-shirt, complete with his trademarked grin that surpassed even Kurt Cobain's infamous unplugged grin. It was obvious that the song would have to be paused for another twenty or thirty seconds, so the audience's cheers could at least die down enough for it to be audible. Richard took his place behind the snare drum, hi-hat that was taped closed and railings. When the song finally continued, it was in its full glory, complete with the percussion that gave the piece of music its famous character.
It was an amazing experience to see someone as totally engrossed in what they were doing as Richard D. James was, hitting the drum and hi-hat while scraping the sticks along the railings. You could almost smell the sweat at the end of the first song alone.
I will never again claim that music produced with synthesizers has no effort put into it.
For what it's worth, this was my first attempt at a nodeshell rescue. | 
