Posts

Posted on

The Wax Museum Podcast

Welcome! If you’re visiting my blog for the first time, I have to warn you- it’s all over the place.

But considering the way my mind works (and if you know anything about Bridge Livwat), you’ll know that the creative process can be very messy and disorganized. Coming to grips with that is part of what we, as creatives, do.

John (also known as Bridge Livwat) and I have been friends for a while. If I recall, we met through another (now defunct) podcast called The Gospel Friends, and through that, ended up making our own podcast called ADD Masterminds. John’s love of podcasting led him to start a few more, including one called The Wax Museum

We’ve had many discussions about creativity, music, and inspiration, so it’s only natural that we’d discuss it. And wanting to be serious about it, John decided that The Wax Museum was the best place to discuss it.

If you haven’t listened to it, you can listen to the podcast here at The Wax Museum.

Posted on

Ownership of Things That Aren’t Things

“The things you own, end up owning you.”

But what if those “things” aren’t actual things?

I was reading an interesting gopher phlog (warning: you need a gopher-enabled browser to see it) called “Everything Is Amazing but Nothing is Ours.”

Essentially, it describes how in the early days of computing, users still thought of files as “things” that you could share, move, and delete. Over time, everything has migrated to a “service” where everything is just cell data stored in a database, delivered on demand.

I’ve seen this happen in numerous areas, like Android apps. Most of the big services moved from a “pay one price for the app” to a subscription model. Sometimes that works out better for consumers, sometimes it doesn’t. It always works out better for the companies, otherwise they wouldn’t do it. All major software companies are doing this, even with operating systems. You don’t “buy” a copy of Office, you have a subscription. You don’t “own” a copy of Windows or OSX, you pay for a license to use it- which can be revoked by them, at any time, for any reason.

I recently had a discussion with an older coworker (who’s an audiophile) about making recordings of broadcast music onto tapes or CDs. At first, I just said “with Spotify, you can listen to anything you want, wherever you want, whenever you want.” But the more I thought about it, I understand why he does this: it’s because he has a tangible copy in his hands. It’s not dependent on whether he has internet, or the correct DRM-equipped player. He just pops a tape into a deck, and he’s got music. He rips every DVD or CD that goes through his hands. He has a huge catalog of media, all re-recorded by himself, DRM-free.

Shane’s phlog accurately explains how the modern “service” model is better in many ways: it’s easier, faster, more powerful, flexible, and cheaper. But the flip side of that is that you lose “ownership” of your information. When everything becomes a service, then you no longer own anything. Continue reading “Ownership of Things That Aren’t Things”

Posted on

Purpose And Anti-Purpose

For the last 10+ years or so, I’ve blogged about things off and on here. My brain ranges between topics freely, like a bird flitting to and fro in a cage. Never settled, always looking for another perch. Not realizing that I’m still not really free to go where I want.

But by spending time thinking about purpose, I’ve seen the duplicity of my brain, and how it sabotages my purpose.

If I say “My purpose is ___” and then that only constitutes 25% of what I do, at best, is it really central to my purpose? No, of course not. So why does my brain refuse to focus on my purpose?

Simply put, it’s my flesh. My worldly nature is in control. And I have allowed it to run amok. If I were of singular focus, I would hardly ever get distracted and waste time with things that didn’t matter. Too much of my energy is spent on ancillary activities, while my central purpose goes neglected.

Just identifying the problem doesn’t solve it, though. And this is the part where most people fail.

So how do you fix something when your problem is the inability to fix things?? Continue reading “Purpose And Anti-Purpose”

Posted on

Pedalboard Musings

How Minimal is Minimal?

I’ve been seriously debating on whether I want to dump money into an actual professional guitar pedalboard. I mean… I could make one and hack together a case for it. It would take me a couple of hours and $20 worth of plywood. But you know, I’m kind of wanting something a little more polished, something sturdier, something that I won’t have to compromise on. Something big enough that I can run both my electric and acoustic guitars through.

If I go with a professional board, I could mount the compressor, PSU, and a few other things underneath. I wouldn’t use velcro, I can use zip ties. It would require making more patch cables, and so on… probably (with an added couple of pedals) around $600. That’s a LOT of money. More than halfway to Helix/GT1000/Headrush teritory.

Granted, I think it would be extremely convenient, and would able to do pretty much anything I want. Flexibility and portability are always my main two concerns. Assuming I can stuff a couple of pedals underneath, I should be able to make that do what I want.

But again, I have to decide whether I should drop another couple hundred dollars into a setup to do more than it already does. Technically, a board doesn’t *do* anything other than make the pedals and stuff easy to carry and use. Is that sort of functionality worth hundreds of dollars to me, as a pseudo-minimalist?

Or would I be better served with just getting a single multi-fx unit, like a Line 6 Helix LT, or a Boss GT-1000, or a Headrush Pedalboard? They’re $800! But… they’re all in one piece. Built-in direct boxes, flexible routing, and no board or patch cables required.

Theoretically, if I sold all my pedals, I could mostly offset the gargantuan cost of one of these units. But I would only do that if it could do everything that my current board does, and also what I want it to do!

So which is more minimal: Having one piece of expensive gear that does everything you need, or adding complication and cost to what you already have to do what you want? Continue reading “Pedalboard Musings”

Posted on

My Constant Inner Companion

I have a constant inner companion, inside my head. I’m not talking about the Holy Spirit (although He is a fantastic companion!), I’m talking about my not-so-friendly friend, Mr. Tinnitus.

Tinnitus is defined as non-auditory internally perceived sound. In other words, you can hear things (whooshing, ringing, chirping) that aren’t actually there. It is closely associated with hearing loss, and almost always accompanies hearing damage.

I recently watched a great video by Chords Of Orion (a.k.a. Bill Vencil) about how his hearing loss and tinnitus had progressed over the last few years. And of course, his experience mirrors my own. I have a constant 24/7 high-frequency buzzing/ringing in my ears that never goes away. It’s very faint most of the time, as I’ve trained myself to partially tune it out. But it permanently affects my ability to hear sounds in a certain frequency range. I’m constantly asking my wife to repeat herself if there’s any kind of noise around. I can only hear her clearly if it’s quiet. (Doesn’t help that she’s soft spoken.)

How has this affected me musically? Well, I’d like to say it hasn’t, but I’m pretty sure it has somehow. The problem is, I can’t really tell. But I know something’s up because I can hear some things clearly through noise, and others I can’t.

Is there anything I can do to treat it? Not really, unfortunately. Hearing is a finite resource, and once you lose some of it, it doesn’t come back. But there are a few things you can do to cope with the constant ringing: Continue reading “My Constant Inner Companion”

Posted on

Pocket-Sized Synths

As I’ve previously written about going all analog, one of the
things I looked into was analog music gear. Specifically, I wanted to find some analog synths and things that I could use to make music without breaking the bank. Most notably, the Korg Volca series popped up.

If you haven’t heard of the Korg Volca format, it’s a small form-factor that Korg uses to make synths, sequencers, samplers, and a few other eletronic music devices. They’re very affordably priced and have a lot of cool features, and they sound great.

But I got to thinking: if I bought four of them at $150 a pop, I’d still need to buy some cables and make a stand for them, and also some sort of mixer. And the more modules you get, the more space they take up.

As part of my philosophy of minimalism, I started thinking “How could I get the same functionality in less space, with less money?”

And then I remembered Caustic. Continue reading “Pocket-Sized Synths”

Posted on

Minimalism In Music Gear

For the last week or so, I’ve been going through Five Watt World’s Youtube channel. And I have to say, Keith Williams is definitely on to something. Everything he’s said resonated with me.

In one video, he explains that “Minimalism” could just as easily be called “Just-Enoughism”. And that tends to reflect the attitude of true minimalists: don’t just get rid of everything (including things you need). But be intentional about it, carefully choose the things you want to keep and use, and let go of the rest.

For instance: I have two saxophones. Each one has two mouthpieces. But that gives me a lot of sounds I can work with: soft, full blast, and everything in between. Plus if I’m a performing musician, it pays to have a backup instrument.

Guitars are the same way. I have three: an acoustic, and 2 electrics. One electric guitar I kept because 1. it’s my first guitar, and 2. I had it rebuilt, and it actually plays really well now. My second guitar was a steal of a buy, and I bought it because (at the time) my main guitar needed a refret, plus it has a tremolo and single-coil pickups.

I only have one guitar amp, that I’ve had for 20+ years. It just works. It’s not the smallest, but it sounds great, is versatile, and hey… I already own it. It’s solid-state, so I can play it at whisper levels, or make your ears bleed, and it sounds just the same.

My guitar pedalboard setup is still evolving (This isn’t even my final form!!) but after watching some of Keith’s videos, it reminded me to stick to what I actually need. I don’t need gobs of wacky synth pedals, or tons of overdrives. Don’t even need an actual delay pedal, but I might pick one up if I find a deal on it.

In another video Keith Williams mentions artificial limitations on gear to stimulate creativity. So I’ve decided to constrain myself to only using what will fit on my homemade 17×12″ board. It fits inside of a hard case, and should hold everything I need. Continue reading “Minimalism In Music Gear”

Posted on

Finding Your Worship Voice

I’m talking about finding your musical voice, as an artist. And for me as a church musician, finding my voice to worship with the group I play with.

A lot of churches are emulating the most popular church groups right now, and it’s becoming more and more a case of not just playing their music, but sounding just like them as well.

To be honest, this is lazy of us. Of course we can just purchase a backing track and play along with it. But what about the musicians? We’re stuck learning someone else’s parts, and mimicing someone else’s sound.

The Church has embraced Worship Karaoke: even with the words on the screen.

Continue reading “Finding Your Worship Voice”
Posted on

Analog Brain

So, let’s assume that I’ve been toying around with the idea that I want to go all analog. And when I say “all analog” I mean everything. Which of course, made for a fun mental exercise.

If I were to go all analog, what are actual replacements for all the digital things in my life?

Photographs? Recipes? News articles? Contacts? Receipts? Letters? Journals? Writing snippets? Playing music? Recording music? Reading books?

If I were to go completely analog, it would require a bit of work, true. But there are still plenty of analog solutions out there:

  • Lomography sells vintage-style 110 film cameras, and film to go with them
  • Rolodex still sells card catalogs (as do other companies)
  • Index cards and holders are plentiful
  • Letters, paper, and envelopes (and pens) are all still available
  • They make small desktop-style filing cabinets for receipts and things
  • They of course still sell journal notebooks and such
  • For long-form writing, there’s still typewriters around
  • Analog music? Records are making a comeback
  • Need to get a cassette deck too, I think. Tapes are still available
  • Not sure if walkmans are still around, but they should be
  • Calendar/planners still exist
  • Board games and card games too, of course!
  • And for twitchy-games, pinball machines!

I think the biggest challenge to going all analog would be how to convert what you already have into analog format. Could probably print some of it (photographs, index cards, etc.) to get started. The problem is it’s easy to get analog into digital, but very time-consuming to convert digital to analog, by nature of the format. Can’t instantly convert music onto cassettes. Can’t import your calendar into a planner.

Continue reading “Analog Brain”
Posted on

Don’t Complain: Minimize

I feel somehow stirred. I just read The Machine Stops by E. M. Forster. A short story written in 1909.

It is scary how much he knew about human nature and the possibilities of technology. Here we are, 110 years later, and so much of it has become true. Everyone lives in beehive-like cells. Their every need is supplied by “The Machine” which they worship. Until the machine breaks down.

I see it as something that precedes and underlays The Matrix, and Brave New World. And 1984 and The Giver. And Harrison Bergeron. And V for Vendetta and Fight Club. And, well, every dystopian story written in the last 100 years.

There is an inherent brokenness that permeates humanity. It is only becoming apparent in the last century or so, but the signs were there long ago… as The Machine Stops so clearly demonstrates.

I find it extremely ironic that the way we complain about technology and dystopia is through the internet. The internet, probably more than anything else, has contributed to the homologation and dumbing down of humanity. I was told a few days ago that I was foolish because it was “bad to judge anything on experience, and that I should defer to experts.”

I just laughed. Of course, he was talking about liberals in the FOSS community, but it’s symptomatic of everything in society. This is exactly what The Machine Stops illustrates: people who despise actual experience, and defer to experts (who in turn learn from other “experts”). Ultimately, there is a disconnection from human interaction except for the very unregulated act of intercourse…. which is of course no longer for procreation, only for entertainment.

Modern culture is an erosion of the very core of what humanity is. Is it pushing away everything that makes us human, and embracing everything that does not.

And as for “The Machine,” it is alive and well in the world today. We serve it constantly. I don’t think it’s become autonomous yet, but it wouldn’t take much for it to happen (thank you, Ghost In the Shell). And of course it doesn’t control every physical aspect of our lives yet (though in some places it does). But mental control is just as strong- if they control us mentally, then it doesn’t matter if they control us phsyically. We will do the machine’s bidding.

Mental Bandwidth

So for me, my push back against The Machine and the idea of mind control- which I assure you is alive and well in entities like Facebook, Google, Microsoft, and Apple- is to break from the digital input into my brain. I suppose I could do away with the internet all together, but in the underground, it is still useful in some ways.

When I think of digital input, I think the idea of mental bandwidth is a real thing. That’s part of why the internet, back in its inception, was so popular: it was text only. It required no more brainpower than writing a letter, or reading a book. There was limited bandwidth, so it was unusual for people to waste it with frivolous things like graphic header images and moving pictures. None of that was required for the transference of ideas. It was pure, not necessarily in intent, but in form. If you couldn’t explain your idea and communicate with the standard ASCII character set, then nobody paid you any attention. There were much fewer regulations. Much less surveillance. No advertising.

We weren’t constantly force-fed a steady diet of high-bandwidth information (of which only about 2% is useful). And that’s not to say there weren’t trolls, but they were quickly dismissed. Nobody took you seriously if you couldn’t articulate ideas.

Now, none of that is required. Nobody needs to have ideas; only cute snapshots or memes, or copy-and-paste snippets of nothingness. And in a high-bandwidth world, everyone’s senses are so overwhelmed with useless information, they never get to think about what’s actually important.

But you know… we shouldn’t complain. Can’t buck against the goads.

I’ve written about Digital Minimalism before. Numerous times.

Complaining won’t change anything. But limiting my mental bandwidth can, very definitely, improve my own life and mental capacity for things that matter.