BAY AREA VOCAL IMPROVISATION & COMMUNITY MUSIC
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What Shall We Do Without Us?

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May 2017

​I read on the internet to gather some of this info. I love my iphone, I enjoy facebook, and I work on my computer a lot of the time. Now some of my music is scanned into my computer and youtube is a good ol’ friend. Yah, all this technology is super helpful with
my process as a musician fo sho!
 
But I don’t have to tell you that we are crazy knee deep into technology in a way that sometimes keeps us from connections with others. The level of entertainment, curiosity fulfillment, and time wasting available online is beyond measurable. The gift of this for me is that I massively value sitting in front of a friend eating a meal or sharing a cup of tea. I am happy when I am in a dance class and I get to laugh and connect with others. When I am in nature being with the silence and natural sounds, I feel my cup is full. And I am elated when I get to be in a circle singing with others!
 
No mater what has happened that day, that week, I get a massive recharge. My endorphins start to dance and the happy thang comes over me. Because I am getting to look in your eyes, feel the spirit of your song, or dance and laugh with you.
 
So, checking out your connections on facebook is fun, but have you thought about the neural connections you are reinforcing in your brain when you are making music?
 
“It’s really hard to come up with an experience similar to that” as an education intervention, said Gottfried Schlaug, the director of the Music and Neuroimaging Laboratory at Harvard Medical School. Not only does it require attention and coordination of multiple senses, but it often triggers emotions, involves cooperation with other people, and provides immediate feedback to the student on progress, he said. Music, on its own, has also been shown to trigger the reward area of the brain, he noted. [1]
 
So, my dears…it appears that coming together to do activities with other humans is becoming one of the basic needs for nervous system regulation and perhaps the survival of our relationships.
 
Stay with us, we are here…
 
Art by Kenneth Patchen

[1] Published in Print: Education Week
November 25, 2013
Studies Highlight Brain Benefits From Music Training
Vol. 33, Issue 13, Page 6

 

noise pollution

5/14/2016

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Its 6:14 a.m., mind chatter, and now I am up. I am listening to my brainwave synchronization music, chanting to Lakshmi, doing my back exercises while I watch video that interest me. Vocal warm-up and singing practice. Then I am up on the phone working, making appointments, on the computer and oops, got caught in a facebook thread, because I got distracted, or I was feeling lonely, uh…bye!
 
My phone emits various sounds while on, my fridge and heater make noise, and my car is pretty loud too. In the car, the music or local radio and I am visually processing road signs, advertisements, reacting to stupid driving moves, and someone’s bass at a decibel loud enough to kill plants.
 
I am at the gym and I gotta have my music, oh, gotta get that call, that’s a possible gig, Evening is full of events involving either music or speaking, or listening, or talking or singing, or making music with instruments, or watching something and…
 
     S                         T                            O                         P                !
 
Attention is what I pay, and now its getting to be expensive.
              
How much can our brains process in one day, especially when it involves sound? Can you hear yourself think? In the world of music there is a function called audiation, which is the ability to hear something when it is no longer there. You’ve turned on the music, now you’ve turned it off. What happens? For me, it’s a little nuts. I hear music in my head c o n s t a n t l y. It’s not unusual for me to hear two songs or two parts of one song at the same time. Audiating, one hears what is missing in a way that allows space for one to re-create it. I would also add, to create something new.
 
I have facilitated drum circles and one of the reasons I gravitate towards facilitation, aside from its creativity, is that at a typical drum circle, I feel bombarded by sound, and my nervous system needs a rest. The rest is where the breath can take place, where nuance can enter.
 
So it is in music making. Songs that have planned rests elicit an anticipation, a kind of leaning forward into it. We have such a wonderful opportunity in improvisation since there is no plan. Allowing silence and pause can translate into spaciousness in our minds and nervous systems, and create space for other’s contributions.
 
Go to the woods or the ocean and sit quietly.
 
Take media breaks throughout your day to prevent overwhelm.
 
Stare at the wall for a while.
 
Its all good.
 

 
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