Google +1 is now integrated across Net Instruments.

When you find an exceptional instrument listed on Net Instruments, consider giving it +1.

And when you make posts on Net Instruments, be sure to +1 your listings to share them more widely.

It’s not often that we get musical superstars in New Zealand, so it was always going to be a privilege to work with Jose Carreras.

Mr Carreras was straightforward at rehearsal and kept the orchestra guessing as to what his performance voice and style would be. So come the concert, it was both unsurprising and astounding to hear him reveal his full musicianship – the creamy colour of his voice, the glorious power on tap and the exquisite poise and structure of his phrasing.

Sitting in the concertmaster’s chair, I had the great fortune to experience Jose Carreras from the best seat in the… well, vineyard.

This was remarkable artistry which will always stay with me.

I seem to be one of few who has not grown up with the Julie Andrews Sound of Music movie etched into me. This seems fortunate as almost everyone is preoccupied with comparisons with that Sound of Music benchmark.

Unburdened by that, I was able to enjoy this Sound of Music on its own merits. The sets were convincing – indeed life-like for my kids, the children were as good as I have heard in children’s roles and most importantly Jessica Graham as Maria sang beautifully and carried the role superbly.

What was unexpected for me were the timeless themes that are exposed in this work: displaced people, fleeing from persecution, broken childhood and life without the privilege of music. I was in tears on several occasions and was a little relieved to learn later that a certain international Music Director attending the same performance had been similarly moved.

It is these deeper themes that are most powerful and will see Sound of Music endure into the ages.

Long-time members will have noticed the changes around here recently. Net Instruments is undergoing a major renewal to create an even more dynamic community. The site is faster, better looking, has better categorisation of listings and individual listings are rated higher on Google. Traffic has doubled already, meaning better results for your listings!

And there are lots more new features coming soon.

You’ll be able to add keywords to each instrument to improve the Google ranking of your listing. The community will be able to add comments to each listing and feedback on each advertizer. We are working on a Facebook group to keep everyone up to date with the latest instruments and news. Did I say, your listings are already getting a higher Google ranking!

For dealers and makers, you can now become a Net Instruments Associate for a small monthly subscription. The Net Instruments Associate Program is arguably the most highly targetted musical instrument advertising you can get. As an Associate you also improve the Google ranking for your profile and your own web site. And we’re adding more features soon like fuller profiles and branding tiles for our Associates.

But the biggest change here will be increasing community participation.

To kick off, I want to introduce myself. I am a musician, living in the awesome city of Wellington, New Zealand. I started this site back in 1997 to help musicians connect and I see from the logs that we’ve served over 30 million pages – not bad!

Now, we want more input from you!

Start by subscribing to this blog. Click the Subscribe button to the right to subscribe in your feed reader.

What do you want to see on Net Instruments? Post your comments below.

Until next time…
-Matt