Free Your Mind...And The Rest Will Follow

In my own personal growth and development journey, I eventually hit a plateau. I had read numerous books on success, changed the negative tapes in my head to positive ones, and felt that I really had a good grasp on how to go after my dream. But I was often distracted by the everyday details of life. I would have great ideas, but then get too distracted to execute a plan to make those ideas come into focus. It was about three years ago when I read a blog post from Russell Simmons where he talked about why he practices meditation. He discussed the benefits of Transcendental Meditation (TM) and how he is working with the David Lynch Foundation to bring meditation to homeless men. It was then that I decided to start learning more about meditation and began adding the practice of meditation to my everyday life. Suffice to say, I am a true believer in its benefits! It has made a huge difference in my life and my overall feeling of well-being. I have more energy, my creativity flows more freely, and I feel incredibly empowered every day. The greatest benefit has been that I no longer have to take medication for depression. I had previously dealt with bouts of mild depression and had been treating it with antidepressants. I have been free from those meds for nearly three years now, and I've never felt better!! I recommend meditation to everyone I know, as it really has been the miracle I needed in my life. I especially recommend mediation to the music artists with whom I work. It takes discipline to make time every day for it, but the results are well worth the effort!!

In my research on different types of meditation and ways to improve my results even further, I came across a man named Alan Tutt. Alan has dedicated his life to helping others reach their full potential through sharing meditation techniques and personal growth and success strategies. I get daily emails from him, and they always help me focus on various aspects of my own self growth and success development. When I first started reading some of his blogs, he spoke of a practice called brainwave entrainment. Without getting too scientific, brainwave entrainment is simply the use of certain musical tones that increase your ability to go into deeper meditative states. Here is a short video from Steve Halpern that illustrates how brainwave entrainment works:

Alan Tutt has developed a system of recordings called the EmBRACES Belief Entrainment System that uses brainwave entrainment along with neuro-linguistic programming (NLP). Taken directly from his website, he says, “A major difference between my new EmBRACES system and others is the use of a technique from NLP (Neuro-Linguistic Programming), called “Pacing and Leading”. The principle behind pacing and leading is that when a series of obviously truthful statements is heard, a feeling of trust and confidence wells up within us.  Once that feeling is there, our minds will automatically associate that same level of trust and confidence with any further statements — meaning that these ideas are instantly more believable!” Alan has a great deal of credibility with me, so I’m excited to try his EmBRACES system. He does offer a money-back guarantee, so I feel very confident that I’ll get my money’s worth and this system will enhance my meditation a great deal.

As En Vogue said, “Free your mind, and the rest will follow.” We have so much power within our own mind that goes untapped, underutilized. Meditation is a great way to harness some of that power. I recommend it for everyone who strives to do more with their life than settle for mediocre. When you add meditation to your daily routine, you will be amazed at how it will change your life. Whatever type of meditation you choose to practice, I wish the best of luck to you on your journey. Namaste.

The 'Master' in the 'Masterpiece': Why Professional Mastering Matters

The world of Pro Tools and other recording software has changed the game of music. Independent artists can now create a professional sound with their music without the use of a professional studio. They can mix their own tracks and accomplish the majority of the recording process in the privacy of their own home lab. Even with all the technology available though, recording music will only ever be a hobby unless an artist takes their craft seriously enough to have their music professionally mastered.

Mixing and mastering, while often thought of as the same thing, are two separate critical elements of the recording process. Mixing is putting the track together. It consists of setting the levels of the different sounds, the placement of select instruments and effects, and creating the overall “picture” of the track. Mastering, however, is what makes the music commercially viable and “radio ready”. If mixing is putting the puzzle together, then mastering is the coating of shellac that one would want to put on a puzzle that they were planning on framing and putting on display. Mastering gives the final product that “sheen” that it needs to be taken seriously in the professional world of the music industry. Here are some reasons why it’s worth it for an independent artist to have their music professionally mastered:

•  While an artist can easily mix their own work, it is only through the fresh ears of a music mastering professional that the song or album can be truly polished. When an artist tries to master their own music, they aren’t able to be objective, as they are too close to the project. Having one’s music mastered by someone new who has never heard the music before ensures that the track is ready to be consumed by the music-listening public.

• When a song or album is professionally mastered, it will sound great whether it’s being played on a car stereo, on a laptop, on an iPod, or on an at-home stereo system with sub-woofers. When an album is mastered, each of the tracks will have consistent volume levels. Neither of these things can be accomplished with simple mixing. An artist should make sure that their music sounds great on whatever format it’s being played.

• If an artist plans on pressing CDs for release, they must have a mastered album. Mastering allows the music to be prepared for duplication and ultimately, commercial sale. Whether an artist is giving away their music or selling their CDs for $5 a pop at a show, the final product will sound amateur without proper mastering.

Professional mastering does have a cost attached, but the trend in mastering studios is to give an artist a free sample of their work to show a “before” and “after” of the artist’s song. This allows the artist to make sure the person mastering their work is a good fit for the style and genre that the artist wants to represent. A truly gifted sound engineer has the trained ear and artistic skill to master different types of genres in different ways. It is important for an artist to find a mastering professional that fits their vision for their music, and therefore foster that relationship throughout the artist’s career.

There are some great websites that go into far more detail about mixing and mastering. For more information on these two essential aspects of the recording process, check out the following links:

http://www.sageaudio.com/blog/mastering/what-is-the-difference-between-mixing-and-mastering.php

- A mastering studio blog that describes the differences in detail, along with an example of the “sample our work” offer that many mastering studios provide.

http://voices.yahoo.com/what-every-independent-artist-know-the-72266.html?cat=15

- A good article about the mastering process and why it matters.

- One of many great videos from this YouTube channel (Pvtchrislee07) showing the difference in audio quality of a mixed vs. mastered track.