Enhancements

Sprinkle a touch of sugar on a tasteless tomato and you've artificially enhanced its palatability. Leave that same tomato on the vine to ripen, and you've naturally enhanced its taste. One's a tweak, the other a fix. When we look at tweaks and enhancements, I think it's instructive to separate the sweetening of something vs. the repair of a basic flaw. Take the article I wrote a couple of years ago called The Strangest Tweak Ever. There are many versions of this same enhancement: smaller bells, stones, discs, harmonizers, and focusers. All seem to improve sound quality, but - and this is just my humble opinion - all are artificial sweeteners rather than natural fixer uppers. And that's not to say there's anything wrong with sweeteners. Try eating frozen cream without it. I like to mentally separate out that which artificially enhances vs. proper fixes for my peace of mind. If the unnatural enhancement sweetens the music, there's a reasonable chance I can figure out what property has soured it in the first place. Once identified, there's a good chance a fix is right around the corner. I'd rather eat my frozen cream sweetened with natural fruit rather than extracted sugar.