spinning drum blog

Every morning after I wake up I play records. I prioritize it as the first things I do. I mean it sets the day right, rhythmates the chi energy and tightens the mental weave between left brain and right. The dexterous repetitions of the finger and fader movements across the 02 and 1200, apparently is good for the corpus callosum, solidifying the cerebral wire between logic and gestalt

I’ve decided to throw in a morning yoga session to limber up the muscles, awakening the nerves to a relaxed equilibrium, and settle my body into the confines of its daily dance. Last week I thought meditating for 10 minutes after waking-up was a good idea, but then realized for me that early in the morning stillness is too close to sleep. So I have returned to juggling after breakfast.

But this morning is different. This morning is a blaze with sun, and the clear sky beckons me out of the studio for a run. That’s something else I try to do with regularity, which means 3 or 4 times a week. But I have yet to sink into a proper routine with it. Sometimes I go in the morning, rarer these days since the cold of winter set it, and sometimes I go just before dark, when it’s literally a race before nightfall.

I run primarily because it makes me feel good, most of the time. My lifestyle requires a certain amount of base fitness, that I am keen to maintain, especially as I age. And as for my practice, there is definitely a relationship between my physical fitness and mental agility that carries over to my proficiency to play.

I remember in the beginning when to scratch along to a 6 minute song was tiring. The first two or three times, my forearms fatigued quickly, and my fingers edged on cramping. Sometimes after just a 40 minute session my wrists would feel sore, and my back even hurt. Since then I’ve paid a lot of attention to my body in both movement and stillness. I’ve paid attention to how I stand, how far my feet are apart, how tense my shoulders are, the angle of my wrist, the tilt of my head – every movement counts; I mean when you compose a melody from moving a record back and forth you know that more than anyone.

Added to the mix is my small fascination with kinesiology and my constant pursuit of optimum positioning that somehow really makes me appreciate the grace inherent to life. Anyway, I no longer get too many unwanted physical byproducts from practicing. I’m able to respond to my bodies early complaints with small adjustments, fortunate enough to know to the small bodily tweaks necessary. But movement can be as much for the mind as the body, and ultimately the fine tuning of them into harmony can nourish the soul

So this morning it’s yerba, porridge, a dash of cbc and a run.

Lately I’ve that while I can’t think when playing I can command, and what I can command my fingers to do is based on what I can hear. In my head the pulsing of rhythm needs the maintenance of an open channel from my brain to finger tips to facilitate the flow of what I hear in my mind to what manifests in the monitors. I’ ve noticed at times it’s as if I barely touch the record and when I do, at my best, it is without hesitation – tender yet firm. I’ve noticed that difficult records have become fun records, yet I’ve also noticed one cannot revisit a sound enough or fail to find some new way to execute an old trick. I’ve noticed that every sound is workable; you just have to know how to work every sound.

As I practice, within the driving repetition, my mind is more and more able to let go of thoughts and simply be one with instrument. In truth, and I realized this from the very beginning, is that playing music as an instrumentalist is beyond the analytical mind. The brain can not possibly process and respond within time scale one needs in order to fluently play. In fact, and it has been noted by those who study performance both in athletes and musicians, some call the later small muscle athletes, is that when you start to think that is when you start to stumble.

Within my cultivation of certain mental practices. I’ve noticed behind the decks my analytical brain works sporadically for most cases within reception, reflection and pursuit of perfection. I try and leave it out of my process of communiqué with the tables. I’ve noticed, as I wished, scratching has become a second tongue, and just like talking, the more you speak a language the less you have to think about how you put the words together. You simply say what you want to say, in this case, with a needle and a record.
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There are three things that occupy my brain a side from the human essentials like food, sex and the nature of god. Those additional three, are what can I do with my turntable, how can the world improve (i write the script) and how should I reconfigure my sound desk for optimum creative flow. The latter is a particular mental hobby, which has me review my gear and seek ways to better improve its configuration.

I’m a big believer in having your tools completely laid out and easy to reach in order to facilitate frequent use. If you have to reorganize your closet or make a big production of setting up your work space, your creativity and productivity is hindered by inconvenience and a pinch of the old out of sight out of mind mentality. While I know quite a few who have all there tools tucked in a corner or stuffed in shoe boxes under the bed, and who are, nonetheless, highly productive artists, I can only imagine what they’d accomplish with dedicated studio space.

To embrace the muse within you need to setup shop and make her comfortable. Lay it out good and keep it clean. Putting in the effort for organization and optimization, keeping aware of your natural flow, no matter the medium, will always benefit you as an artist.

My studio, office and dining space is also my bedroom. Though you wouldn’t know it to peer into my 12×12 box. It is literally dominated by gear: two 8×2 ft plywood sheets turned into desktops, huge monitors, a 16 channel Mackie board, 3 turntables, 2 mixers, 2 computers and all related tech paraphernalia. Oh I almost forgot to include my bookshelf of records,cds, and small book collection This cozy space is the hub of my world, not only where I mix and compose beats, but do design, manage my websites and write this blog.

I like my room, no doubt, and believe it or not I am a minimalist at heart, which you can detect in the clutter free aesthetic of my sound desk, which holds nothing but the essentials. Nick nacks are whack, but I like to have my tools laid out, and even though my space is overwhelmingly gear laden, I also like my studio to be comfortable. Though you would hardly notice the folded futon propped up against the wall as a floor couch/bed and the large round coffee table that doubles as an eating area and altar, you would definitely pick up a warm vibe and a sense of cleanliness and order to the room, well at least at the best of times.

Happily, since the return of my pc, a huge missing piece fell back into place and my studio over the past few days has been completely revamped according to present needs. What was once a broken T occupying third of the room is now a double sided L that takes over half. The layout is closer to my original Studio b place on Gabriola Island, but this time as a creator I have an even better handle on how to align my gear to accomplish what I need.

Already the new layout has birthed two online mixes, and is greasing my work ethic to finish up my spinning drum updates. My giant to do list, which takes the form of a timelined 8 foot long wall chart, is half filled with projects and goals, and I am slowly crossing them off with satisfaction, that is so deeply rooted, I question the past months almost paralyzing inertia. I’ve chalked it up to mars in retrograde along with giant work load intimidation.

So what gets the productivity ball moving? Well like most people I respond to the pressures of the deadline. Mine is February 1st, when I have to start searching for a new studio space once again, as the lease here is up and the landlord is moving back in. C’est la vie. I’ve done the rental dance many times. What grounds me this time is the feeling of home that I have accomplished with my work space. My studio no matter where it stands is my home, and I think though that the present layout will follow me to wherever I go. It’s one of the best I’ve come up with yet. In sh’allah, I find the best home for it.