July 23, 2018
The Value of Going Camping.
I am not really an avid outdoors person, but I do value Nature in its many forms: the human contoured backyard gardens that my wife and I have created for our own daily enjoyment, the common spaces further afield such as Provincial Parks where we can all have access to places and geography that are not in our own backyards, and the great spaces set aside by Federal governments for the enjoyment and good of us all on grander scales preserved by visionaries who also appreciated what Nature can bring to the health and enjoyment of all of us.
Although we have daily access to the space we have in our own backyard, and it is a space of calm and beauty for our spirits and minds, there is something worthwhile in the process of planning and managing a camping excursion. Each summer we have planned and enjoyed several excursions to our Provincial Parks in Ontario. Our first forays were to pretty civilized campgrounds with a lot of amenities. It was a good start for us as we learned what we needed to manage a few days away from the comforts of home. We became a little bolder last year and went to a site that was a little more off the beaten path of mainstream campers. We even tried a trek into the wilderness, to see what it might be like to venture even farther into Nature. This year, we returned to a Park with more amenities ;)
July 23, 2018
The Value of Going Camping.
I am not really an avid outdoors person, but I do value Nature in its many forms: the human contoured backyard gardens that my wife and I have created for our own daily enjoyment, the common spaces further afield such as Provincial Parks where we can all have access to places and geography that are not in our own backyards, and the great spaces set aside by Federal governments for the enjoyment and good of us all on grander scales preserved by visionaries who also appreciated what Nature can bring to the health and enjoyment of all of us.
Although we have daily access to the space we have in our own backyard, and it is a space of calm and beauty for our spirits and minds, there is something worthwhile in the process of planning and managing a camping excursion. Each summer we have planned and enjoyed several excursions to our Provincial Parks in Ontario. Our first forays were to pretty civilized campgrounds with a lot of amenities. It was a good start for us as we learned what we needed to manage a few days away from the comforts of home. We became a little bolder last year and went to a site that was a little more off the beaten path of mainstream campers. We even tried a trek into the wilderness, to see what it might be like to venture even farther into Nature. This year, we returned to a Park with more amenities ;)
July 23, 2018
The Value of Going Camping.
I am not really an avid outdoors person, but I do value Nature in its many forms: the human contoured backyard gardens that my wife and I have created for our own daily enjoyment, the common spaces further afield such as Provincial Parks where we can all have access to places and geography that are not in our own backyards, and the great spaces set aside by Federal governments for the enjoyment and good of us all on grander scales preserved by visionaries who also appreciated what Nature can bring to the health and enjoyment of all of us.
Although we have daily access to the space we have in our own backyard, and it is a space of calm and beauty for our spirits and minds, there is something worthwhile in the process of planning and managing a camping excursion. Each summer we have planned and enjoyed several excursions to our Provincial Parks in Ontario. Our first forays were to pretty civilized campgrounds with a lot of amenities. It was a good start for us as we learned what we needed to manage a few days away from the comforts of home. We became a little bolder last year and went to a site that was a little more off the beaten path of mainstream campers. We even tried a trek into the wilderness, to see what it might be like to venture even farther into Nature. This year, we returned to a Park with more amenities ;)
"New Thinking
For A New Year" Audio Messages
I have had the opportunity to sing along with some fine backing tracks composed and recorded by excellent, unsigned, musicians. These artists have skills performing on a variety of instruments, and posses small home recording environments using a variety of software for developing mixes using digital instruments (VSTi's - Virtual Studio Technology - instruments providing home musicians with access to libraries of realistic digital instrument samples). Using a blend of real and virtual instruments offers the creative musician a wide range of sounds at their disposal for the creative process.
For me, as one who only dreams of the sounds of music, working with talented musicians who offer both analog and digital expertise means that I can dream of all kinds of music and work with others towards recording a shared vision of the music we are hearing. That is a very empowering process. And the internet makes collaborating with others, from all over the world, possible. That is an exciting new development, too. I may miss assembling the band members and navigating rehearsal schedules - being in one place, physically, has a dynamic that cannot be replicated easily through the internet. However, exchanging countless e-mails concerning a composition, sending draft ideas and re-visions, back and forth, and interacting with the new ideas, does come close to the same process.
At the end of the day, for me, it is all about working with others who share skills and visions, and make musical dreams come true.
This collection, Volume 2 of my Jazz Collection, is simply the growing accumulation of tunes in 2018. How many will be in the final gathering of music remains unknown. Stay tuned :)
My thanks to Ray Brookes, Per-Olov Lemhagen, Darren Gibbons and Michael Lynn for their vision of jazz sounds and their willingness to work on music together :)
* the album photo is of the sound isolating foam that clamps onto my mic stand and seems to work fairly well at keeping the computer fan and other unwanted sounds out of the recordings - a gift from my kids whose generosity and support I have been blessed to enjoy ;)
The Jazz Collection
Vol 2
