Well you should record stuff no matter the recording device. It all is relevant. There is no such thing as a perfect device for recording nor a perfect space. Gee they recorded Elvis in a room that was a storefront. Bach, Beethoven, Mozart could only record by writing it down. None of that is perfect either. Record on your computer, at least your family will have it.

I hope it’s obvious that I consider myself extremely lucky and well provided for.

Often I have to choose between recording and performing. I would like nothing better than to web cast my performances (like at the local coffee shop or even a church recital), but I find that my hands are pretty full as the initiator of the event and also the performer. I do record my work from time to time and have a bunch of recordings. I do share them with people. It’s just that they are a bit embarrassing in quality and I have noticed that sometimes listeners can’t get past the quality of the recording to the music so I hesitate to put them up. I do have an old myspace site where there are recordings still up… http://www.myspace.com/jupiterjenkins but I haven’t done much in the last few years there. I have a friend who has taught me a lot about recording. He showed up at my last church concert and taped it. I will share if he ever gets around to giving me a copy.

I listened to your recordings on MY SPACE. I believe your first song is the best of the four. I believe that the others just need work and I sort of think it is arrangement only. You are a good singer, especially if you stay in your range. Now you ask why I would comment on that. Well, I have paid some dues and think that I understand the listener as well the artist (but maybe not). The artist probably has problems understanding the listener and seeks comments on their music to validate their music interpretation. But they really have a tough time hearing or understanding that. (As a side note,I became a music producer for a local group here in Grand Rapids a long time ago. We recorded in a recording studio out in the middle of no where. I also, lost one of my fortunes in a business deal related to the studio owner.) Any way, the music business is much different today and is really not important. What was important is that I had to learn how to listen and how to effectively communicate that to the artist. I also,when I was in finishing up my bachelor’s degree took several courses in music including music theory, history, and musical theatre.
So,what am I saying. Really, not much. You have talent and can effectively communicate. You work and live your music and make some money doing it. THAT is far more than 99.999999999999999% of the rest of the planet. You are far richer than any one that I know.

Also,
good luck with Kevin D.; I suspect he will call later and inquire.

Hey, thanks for listening to the stuff over on myspace. I’m sure you have a great pair of ears actually and am delighted to find that you did some producing of recordings. Your comments sounds right on. I am mostly interested in live music these days. But I do like the whole art of recording. Kevin D emailed me back and said they have tons of adjucnt but asked me to fill out apps and police background check and send CV which I will do. Thanks again for this contact.

Actually, I have been thinking about the other songs. You know I think Michael McDonald sound would be great for two of your songs on MY SPACE.

I am reminded of the group Zeus. The bass player was profoundly deaf and yet was an accomplished musician. I can’t remember anyone so focused on their music. He came from the poorest of poor areas in Grand Rapids and yet that was not any problem for him. Probably made him stronger. I asked him how it heard the music. It was his feet. Amazing stuff. These are not coincidences. The triumph of perseverance and determination.
I was so impressed with Evelyn Glennie’s Scottish accent, that I looked her up on Google. Wow!

He heard us, but was he listening.

I own her CD “Touch the Sound” which also has some great music as well as her personal background and philosophy. She is pretty wonderful. (I don’t understand your last comment: “He heard us, but was he listening.” Does it mean “He (the bass player from Zeus) heard us, but (boy) was he listening”? Or something else?

No, I made a grammatical error in typing the original and thought that I would try to correct, but couldn’t. So, it was just a comment about people not really listening when they can hear perfectly. I have a lot of students like that and it very difficult to get them to listen. Those individuals who are physically impaired, who struggle to achieve, and like Evelyn Glennie are able to overcome those physical constraints are people to admire.

I have listened to some (6 or 7 pieces) of the music on your site. I am impressed with your work. More comments later, when I can.
You know the church would be wise to record the music and services and offer them online for their parishioners who are ill and unable to attend. This has an added feature of people hearing their efforts and perhaps motivating them to want to rehearse more. This is exactly what happened in our church. They actually made (at the time cassette tapes) and sent them to individuals who requested them. However, choir rehearsal attendance skyrocketed. As a side note, it is not difficult to record in large room areas, but it is not a perfect controlled environment. It does need someone who can make adjustments to volume levels and so forth, but that is all. I would record digitally right to a computer format and mix later, but even that would be fairly simple. There is not much remix after auditorium recordings. Of course the added benefit is that they are recordings of your performances.

I forgot to mention. Good luck this week.

I believe that sometimes people get ahead of themselves with possibilities. I find reading your thoughts are comforting to me because they remind me of our past times. They also, bring out things which are none of my business stuff. I write this because rediscovering you has been healing for me in a way that is hard to explain. My grief has been overwhelming at times and I have sought ways to alter my pain. Your words are medicine for me at this moment.

Glad to hear that, Ray. It’s both flattering and humbling that my rantings can provide something like that. This is public forum and I don’t really share anything online that I mind for other people to know about so in a sense it’s your business if you want to read it. Comments are always welcome. Especially so from someone like yourself that I have so many fond memories of. Meter men, remember? Wow. Semper fi, dude.

I haven’t seen the movie for years myself, but I seem to remember there being a recurring them of trying to match images to reality. That all they had of ‘home’ was a polaroid, which they would compare with various houses until they found the right one.

Correct. A corollary to the writer’s initial inability to write about America but only take pictures. Maybe he was more trying to capture reality in pictures and as they searched for Alice’s home they were in an even more elusive situation: matching a child’s memory/polaroid to corresponding reality.

Cloudy with chance of meatballs stuck with me a lot longer than the Burton… as did UP which I have watched twice – something I rarely do. Have you seen that?

I missed UP in the theaters. I do want to see it.

Sometimes, we are our own worst critics. Reasonable discourse in an attempt to be enlightened does represent traditional liberal (not the political) philosophy. However, this should be supported by factual evidence which provides substance to the discourse of ideas. The communication process has many elements of evaluation by the receiver which may be a misinterpretation of the intent. Validation requires, at times, rituals to refocus the communication idea, after all we are mere mortals. Your efforts are well appreciated by those who you do not know. And THAT is your legacy to your children and to all who know you. This is what Christ, I think, wanted for those who followed him. This week represents more than you know.