Tori is my absolute favorite musician. For Robert.
https://www.kcrw.com/music/shows/morning-becomes-eclectic/tori-amos-1
If I Could Give the World a Hug...
It seems like almost everyone I know (myself included) is going through some major and challenging life changes right now: breakups, foreclosures, job losses, moving, legal battles, money trouble, restlessness, scandals, loss of loved ones, losing homes in fires... the list goes on and on. I am just beginning to clear my mind of a little of my own funk. I have found that two things help me get through a rough time more than anything else: A. Doing things that I love and B. Sharing those things with the people I love.
Luckily for me, there are many things that satisfy "A." (Truth be told, there are probably too many things that do, but that's a post for another day.) One thing that has been there for me 27 of my 31 years on this planet, however, is music. I've mostly played the piano, though I love to sing and have experimented with the violin and the flute (no, not in a "this one time at band camp" sort of way...)
I have always been reluctant to share my music. It is my sanctuary when things go wrong in my life. I had always feared that if I played and people didn't like it, it would somehow lose its healing power. That and the fact that I was teased about it pretty ruthlessly in school, which pretty much makes anyone reluctant to revisit anything...
This past year has been pretty eye-opening to me, however. I have learned to be a lot more open to new people, new ideas and to trying new things. So, in an attempt to share the love, I offer two of my very favorite Satie songs to play on the piano when I am feeling blue:
I recorded myself playing these using my digital piano (Yamaha S90ES- best digital piano ever), some fancy gadgets that hook up to my computer, and Cubase recording software. I'm hoping to continue recording more music, perhaps a bit with some vocals if I can figure out how to use my microphone properly and either work around its presence in front of my keyboard or work on my ability to record the vocals and instruments separately (not an easy task when you are used to doing both simultaneously). And maybe, just maybe, I will include some of my own compositions in time.
Anyway, that's my little virtual hug. Go do something you love and share a little with someone else. Passion and compassion are great healers.
Super Spectacular Uber Summer Blockbuster Fantastic
I am a sucker for action flicks. While I love artful, thought-provoking films (my most recent favorite that I think falls into this category is "The Fall" by Tarsem- a really touching and beautifully shot film), I also love pigging out on popcorn and watching slick effects, exciting chases... basically being "entertained" for two hours in a dark, cool room. This summer, I was taking a class on making sound/music for film and multimedia. I have since dropped it. It was a time-sucker class in which the "teaching" was "here is a keyboard, here is the computer, here is the program you need, now play around with it and make stuff." This is fine, but I have all of this equipment at home and access to online tutorials for all of it, so this class was kind of a waste of time and money. Also, it's been a while since I was a student. It's hard for me to make any video project that is "just enough" to get a grade. I kind of like work that looks completed and professional and that takes a lot of time to do. It's not something I can just "do" on a weekly basis with a full-time job.
Still, I did finish one project. Behold! The blockbuster to beat out all blockbusters! Even this one feels a little unfinished to me, but it's a spoof, so it doesn't bother me as much. Our assignment was to download some video and put some music to it. Here's a great ad for Apple. I got stuck on their trailers page. I started noticing visual "similarities" to all of these trailers. I downloaded as many different ones as time could allow and edited them with Quicktime Pro (this was part of the assignment, I would never choose to do this). I then played sounds and put music to it with Garage Band (which I loved). It took me a couple of hours to do, once I knew what I wanted to do. Enjoy!