Speaking from under my "engineer's hat" my production interests have changed somewhat in the last year.  I have kindled a renewed interest in room acoustics.  In room acoustics the goal is for a music mix room to have a very "average" "down the middle" response in terms of frequency spectrum (especially bass representation), stereo (or surround)  image and reverb  decay times.

This is to ensure that work done here will transfer well to the outside world.  If one's mix room shows too much bass response at 120 Hz and a hotter left speaker than shows on the meters, then (if the mixer is paying close attention) one's mix will have too little bass response at 120 Hz and a hotter response at right speaker, since the mixer will naturally compensate.  

As a mixer and studio operator (and even as a composer) this has become  more important to me than  copying styles or methods from current hit songs or acquiring the latest synth plug-ins - (yes we have Logic Pro 6.xx and all the currently available synths/ samplers!).  Renovating to change the room response is a slow and patient process -we have designed and installed, and re-designed and re-installed various devices in attempts to reach the "nominal" state .   Here's  a snapshot of the current room response:

Our next step will be fine tuning the above curve with wall mounted treatments and working with burst measurements/decay times to tighten up and more evenly represent the spectrum.   The recent uncovering of a brick wall and creating a complimentary diffusion / absorption wall has also set a very nice response in the live room area.

We have had advice from many acoustical designers in this process but the most help has been from Oliver Barkovic of Forward Audio engineering (forwardaudio.com) who has really stayed with us and contributed earnest effort and skill in helping us make important decisions and physically implementing clever solutions in our room tuning process.

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Community Meditation

Sara MacHin is a  powerful and nurturing yoga instructor, healer and meditation facilitator.

Sara also operates Organizing And Beyond, practical, spiritually aligned solutions for the home and workplace. This is real Yoga!

Sara MacHin 416-966-0938, saramira@look.ca.                                                       

Lately I have been exploring open classes at recreation centres, universities, buddhist centres and  yoga schools.  There is a lot being offered in Toronto by generous and sometimes deeply qualified instructors.  By visiting multiple teachers one can discover wider aspects of yoga, mediation, chanting, singing, drumming and dance. These sessions offer a chance to be with others in a special way, unattainable by the usual "talking eating drinking" that seems to dominate our habits in North America.   

I used to think of "self improvement / new age" pursuits as a "me" activity. Perhaps it can be that way, or it might start like that,  but when one finds informed instruction and genuinely tries to make a connection with almost any form of traditional fundamental artistic or spiritual practice, i,e, when you start to actually do the work, it can become a "Me" activity. This "Me" includes the whole community of living beings. Doing a practice is very powerful- you'll see fundamental qualities evolve. Courage, skill, humility, compassion and a sense of service are likely to present themselves.  This is said to be the true nature of our higher nature, which is ever present, obscured by layers we can remove.  

Just think while many are busy worrying about comparatively insignificant moment to moment ambitions related to getting ahead in a career or further unbalancing the earth's resources - millions of others regularly dedicate time to simply sitting in lotus positions meditating, or chanting, bowing, tai-chi, yoga - some kind of specific practice designed to heal and help all the rest of us, in fact all beings. They are working to increase the presence of consciousness itself, and to get themselves kinder and stronger to help us out of this crazed dance we are mired in.  

When I was first instructed in meditation and began to see what these practices were about, it was touching to realize what so many had been doing all this time. Wonderful people - including Jesus, Buddha and the many teachers and practitioners who have gone before and are with us now.

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Personal Views
 
ON LOVE:
Ultimately, love is everything we care about. Culturing love in our hearts, in our acts, in our systems of progress will reduce the violence that is holding us back from happiness and responsible societies.  

ON VIOLENCE:
As individuals and as societies we commit major or tiny acts of violence - subtle and not so subtle, more or less constantly.  Awareness of these events as opportunities to culture loving kindness is a good way to start getting better.

ON WINNING:
The only true "win" is a win which does not create a loser.

ON NON-VIOLENCE:
By changing to compassionate action, perhaps the oppressor has even more to gain than the oppressed.

ON INSPIRATION:
When we are inspired, dormant forces reveal a Self that is great, beyond all we have dreamed, a greatness we share.

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VALUE OF ART?
(Why we need to pay more for our music)

U.S. leading business consulting firm Deloitte, Touche Tohmatsu have chosen to recruit liberal and fine arts majors over MBA grads, to be trained  as project  team leaders because they  found artists to have a better level of problem solving ability, resilience,  and other important attributes to function at decision making levels. Does this inform us about some of  the fruits
of fine arts?  Should we as a society be protecting art and music by putting effort, money and respect into communities that make our music and our art?

Most who choose the "art" lifestyle, of course, do not go and work for Deloitte and in fact try to not compromise their immersion in sincerely expressed activity.  Instead they pursue a life of service engaging full-time in an activity for which they will not likely receive financial compensation. Why won't they receive financial compensation? For one cause,  an attitude of "no monetary value"  trickles down  from the "customer",  the average consumer who uses art in everyday life.

How do we use music (art) in everyday life? Some examples:   enjoying the sun rays of music coming from a little radio that sits on the shelf during a day of drudgery in an unrewarding job;  relaxing  at home in introspection while reading a book or enjoying the paintings on the wall or in a magazine;  floating on seas of emotion or spiritual insight while listening to a favorite musical performer; watching a film (which will include much music) and  engaging with the characters,  learning about predicaments that may have never occurred to you....

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 Why does North American value a pair of Nikes or designer jeans at $80 to $160, yet a CD of music  at $18?   Even at that price, many of us are less likely to buy the music, instead finding a way to have it for free. We "avoid" paying for it, and when we do, we want a deal, quite unlike our attitude towards purchasing alcohol, sports, food or clothes.  It is easier for the average North American to come to pay substantial prices for restaurants, alcohol, sports and clothing than the moderate price asked for a downloaded song, a music disc or a nightclub music event.

To put this in perspective, the financial effect this has on most musicians is so crippling it's a wonder any of them last more than a few years.  For these who think musicians are rich, yes it means that Beyonce earns only five million per record instead of ten million.  But she is one out of millions of artists putting out records.  It also means that the average full time artist who dedicates sixty hours per week on their career earns only $10,000 per year, or loses $60,000 fighting an uphill battle.

So, where else can music artists turn to try to stay in music? Let's say they forget about directly convincing the public of their worth as indie recording artists and look into other avenues. In the case of composers' employers such as film producers or other content creators, for some reason there is a perception that they should spend less on musical and audio people than on most other elements of production, such as  featured actors, trades persons, photographers, catering, advertising, etc.  <

Currently film / TV composers are being offered about half what they were offered ten years ago  for a similar amount of work.  In addition, composers are now routinely forced into giving up the ownership of the music they write and record, meaning they will no linger be allowed to use it themselves, nor decide where and how it is used.  This will translate into being paid a fraction of royalties on further use of that same music, or possibly no further payment at all.    On top of this, the amount paid is not enough to earn a living doing so. This is quite unlike  how the same film/TV  producer might deal with a photographer who will be tough about selling a "one time use"  only. Meanwhile movie makers are well known for huge budgets in food, property rentals, and for paying carpenters, book keepers, lawyers and electricians well above their normal trade rate.

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There is a widespread perception that this is harmless.  Do we understand how this has already come back to haunt us as a society which is increasingly less able to provide opportunities for meaningful experience and inspiring culture?  We are producing "leaders" like George Bush, and powerful entities in the form of soulless, destructive corporations, while churning out millions of everyday people units who do not know themselves nor have much inclination for subtle sensitivity to the people and the environment around them.  Nor are these people units cultured to understanding basic survival "cause and effect" relationships or abstract thinking.

Because content carriers and commercially controlled production enterprises  think art has little value and should be "faked" for as cheap as possible, television has been reduced to a small amount of rich programming, padded with infomercials, veiled infomercials, propaganda,  reruns and "reality / lifestyle" shows (some of which have merit, but many - not.)

Is it harmless to conduct things in this way, or should we the consumers and we the producers insist on paying more for our music and our content, and allow it and its creators respect and dignity so as to provide the means to nurture and culture a thriving, rich set of artists from whom we can derive deep inspiration, high celebration and honest insight?

How to think, how to love - fundamental life skills of emotional maturity, creativity and  expression are built from such things as genuine arts experiences (viewing or doing)  in early childhood and throughout life - solo experiences practicing  or observing art - group  experiences creating or discussing art, playing together in  non-competitive games of  expression, etc..

Nevertheless, due to the difficult nature of earning a living from a > music career, most musicians and artists find  they must "give in" to putting it on the back burner well before they are thirty. Most of those who "stay with it" end up financially ravaged and,  in a substantial way, broke if not broken by middle age.  On the other hand,  even an ineffective doctor, a mediocre tax lawyer,  a barely reliable unionized  delivery route driver or a  self-employed plumber has it within reach to support a family, purchase a home, have time for hobbies and enjoy a lush retirement with investments and a portfolio manager.

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This is not a complaint about material reward or relative luxury. In fact it all seems a bit limp if you consider the reality for most  individuals in a place like Iraq, India or Africa.    It's about priorities and growing an upwards  evolving society.  In the "developed" world,  this is an  observation of a destructive ghettoizing of a vital source and commodity.  It is a non sustainable trend If we are to have any "culture" or develop our human potential , much like the current issues of ecology.

By allowing powerful corporate entities to methodically cause the music and arts creators  to function in a grossly compromised economy we have undermined that community's ability as a group and as individuals to maintain a sustainable, progressive, represented presence.  By  this we lose the expression of our "raison d'être" and our ability to feel, and we end up with people like Brian Mulroney and the Chinese government calling the shots because this is the world they  learned from and those who voted them in also haven't been cultured enough to have the  feeling to know any better. 

So cheaping out on music, making CD's worth $18 instead of $60  is taking its toll on human rights, spiritual awareness, love expression, and impeding the ability of everyday people to be in touch with important fundamental qualities and experiences normally expressed through art.
                                                              

We all have had the experience of being uplifted, sometimes hourly or daily, by some sort of  (usually free) exposure to music.  Many of us have had self esteem raising experiences and joyful experiences in childhood through participation in painting, writing, music and other arts activities.

Recent decisions by our Federal government, recent trends in the  business practices of music distributors, and recent attitudes of music users in the buying public have driven the music industry into a potentially fatal downward spiral economically. As a business model, no longer can artists be "developed" over time and given free reign to express themselves.  Mainstream media is formatted  and restricted to certain norms and little or no financial support is available to take some time or to experiment. this is the reality of the "successful"  "commercial" producers who have a (small) chance at making some money back .  The rest might as well plan on losing money on each project and fund it

A genuine, smart,  creative young person with a lot to offer would likely choose an occupation other than music or the arts, so those who would be our best purveyors of insight and feelings won't be the ones doing it.

Who will be attracted to this field?  Possibly the ones who aren't quite smart enough to notice what a losing battle it is, and who are vain enough to think they will somehow beat the odds -  hey isn't that who we see in interviews on music television, answering questions about world  politics and the meaning of life - "um i dunno i think having a producer is kewl but like why should i have to dance like Britney?"

I hope we see a way as a society to culture an increased respect for and nurturing of this much needed aspect of expression, culture and commerce, so that our next generation of art is produced by smart, inspired  people who can inspire us with vision.

> Art is important.  Music is important - let's encourage it, protect it, and pay for it!

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Links:

RE:  CHINA/TIBET  <lt;
http://www.tibet.com/

RE:  SUSTAINABLE ENVIRONMENT  
http://www.planetfriendly.net/

RE: MUSIC PIRACY/how will creators continue to be able? : 
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jonathan-handel/is-content-worthless_b_96195.html

RE: NON-CRUEL FOOD MAKING: 
http://www.themeatrix.com
http://www.ape-connections.org/nonviol.htm