Welcome to BFlat Systems, Internet home of Steve Keller, musician and computer guy.
Bb is a nice note. Many musical instruments (some of which I play, such as tenor and soprano saxophones, and clarinet) are pitched in the key of Bb. Also, it’s quite a common key signature for music; many compositions, both popular and classical, are written in this key.
I named my DBA company BFlat Systems, and reserved the domain bflat-systems.com, primarily because we had this cat… We called him BFlat, he was a wonderful cat, but unfortunately he died at a young age. So, when I needed a DBA name to do some consulting work under, I chose BFlat Systems.
But there is more: the phrase “B-Flat” has taken on an additional meaning, at least in the music world. ”B-Flat” has become an attribute of objects and actions (or, for those grammatically inclined, an adjective and an adverb). It means “common” or “ordinary” – not in any bad sense, but in kind of a blue-collar way.
So, one can say that a particular thing is “Bb“, and mean that it is a “regular” or “standard” thing. Not a bad thing, but not quite a superlative thing either. It gets the job done. A Toyota Camry is a Bb car. A Dell is a Bb PC. A condo, however nice it may be, is a Bb domicile. This is a Bb web site (at least, I hope it is!).
The best way to summarize Bb (the word, the concept and the cat) is to quote my old friend Carl Ladley (he plays trumpet – a Bb instrument…), who once said, at the conclusion of a very spirited rendition of a difficult piece of music:
“Perfect! Not flawless… but perfect!”
So, in the spirit of Bb, enjoy your stay at BFlat Systems. You can always reach me at my email
And BFlat, where ever you are, I hope your soul is happy.