The Rat Race

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Time is the measurement of all motion according to a standard. The truth though is that time measures the movement of the Earth around the Sun and this measurement divided into ever smaller increments becomes seconds, minutes, hours, days, weeks, and years. Age too makes its impact on our lives as time affects the condition of our bodies in addition to our use and maintenance or lack thereof. But nothing can prevent our age from catching up with us no matter how well we treat our bodies, over time age, bad habits, poor eating, genetic predisposition, and hygiene, will break down the body and stop it from functioning.

The ticktock of time is accentuated in The Rat Race as it impresses the listener with the silent pressure that clocks and schedules provide to working people. Every second is a moment either invested wisely or wasted, never to return, time lost and never regained. Beginning in an appropriate minimalistic style, The Rate Race quickly adds elements that float around the main minimalistic riff. Without a clear tempo, the listener has to rely on the pulse provided by several song elements such as the downbeat on the multitracked guitars and strumming.

Whether we’re overworked, stressed with the kids, or frustrated with other people and our conflicts with them, life is full of friction and can become unbearable by forcing us to adopt the mindset that we’re in a kind of prison of craziness apparently out of our control. The Rat Race tries to represent this chaos of drama by showing this combination of elements in a cloud of sound that goes in different directions and different speeds. Some elements are slow and relaxed, spaced far apart and reappearing at varying intervals of time unpredictably. While other elements are constant, quick moving, and altering their activity in rapid sequences of change.

Change too is a factor that calls our attention to time. Basically, time is the change of objects and people through space, which produces time, and as such The Rat Race demonstrates this with all of its sonic components colliding with one another in chance events occurring in an unplanned manner, you know, just like life. How often does it occur where one of our plans are thwarted or come to fruition in a version we had not foreseen? Change is inevitable and events emerge spontaneously as the motion of time waits for no one.

Another interesting feature of time and change is the development of opportunities. As things remain in motion they sometimes align into a fortuitous series of events that benefit us or those around us. Even unfortunate events oddly enough can sometimes push us into circumstances that are not totally harmful. Even in adversity there is much to be gained, a lesson to be learned, and even if a bad thing happens some good can come of it. Sometimes we can anticipate such moments as when we “feel lucky” or somehow interpret a day as possessing a particularly useful quality where things are working for us and not against us, perhaps, a day filled with good omens or signs leading to a positive result on the order of a “sure thing.”

Every day, these factors of time - the motion and change of objects and people into certain alignments forming opportunities - reveal themselves in unique ways, but only to the observant and sensitive individual. The real world Rat Race is filled with so many obstacles and ways to distract ourselves from achieving fulfillment or happiness that it’s not always possible to change our mode of perception to see what opportunities are developing and being presented before us. If we let the stress of everyday life beat us down until our heads are hung low, we may miss the potential of new possibilities in other directions than we normally travel.

The Rat Race was composed with these concepts and images in mind and as music stresses how we use our time and that our use of time is governed by our freedom of choice. To defeat the real world Rat Race it is up to us to choose a new way of living by pursuing what it is that life has to offer and changing something about ourselves, because after all, the world we see is simply a reflection of ourselves. But if we change ourselves, we can literally change the world we see and live in. Seek a new idea, a new way of thinking, or a new way of being and test what it’s like to live like that. What new things and people have been attracted to or repelled from the “new” you? Interestingly, by changing little parts of ourselves we can remake our image of the world and become born again into a new experience of life and break free of The Rat Race.

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Related Music:

The Rat Race

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Marc

https://stereothesis.bandcamp.com/

Snake People

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GET “SONIC WEAPONS: The Official Stereo Thesis Music Sampler” FOR FREE. To get your FREE full-length album…click here. ____________________________________________________________

The snake has deep symbolic meaning in all societies around the globe both for good and evil. Some of its significance ranges from sexual connotations, notions of evil intent, all the way to a deity or god form that is capable of imparting wisdom to mankind.

In this song and music composition, “Snake,” I wanted to bring out the elements of the snake that I felt I could related to and express with convincing dramatism. To do this I needed music to establish that vibe. So what I did was use a micro-tonal tuning on the guitar, which worked perfectly by creating a variety of exotic textures as I experimented searching for the right combination.

The music was designed to make you feel like you entered a ritual chamber where something (or someone) was going to be sacrificed. The darkness of the space was lit with the dim light of candles and filled with the smoke and odor of incense. The rattle at the introduction and throughout the song present the Snake as a mythical man-animal hybrid luring a new victim into his sex ritual ceremony.

Snake people come in two forms, men and women, who assume the characteristics and behavior of the animals as we understand them. When they speak they use slippery words that sound good to the ears of others, but hide their true intentions. When they act to do good, they do so with the expectation that such labors on their part will derive some reward, repayment, or enslave those who they’ve assisted. All in all, their thoughts are drawing boards for the spinning of social webs that are designed to ensnare others in traps of their own making.

Having fallen into one of a Snake person’s set-ups, the target strangely feels grateful for receiving such an invitation because Snake People are extremely talented at charming their victims. There’s even a sense of obligation for going or showing up to the ritual chamber that occurs in the mind of the person to be used and sacrificed, since Snake People are expert at eliciting other people’s confidence and cooperation.

In the song “Snake,” the main character is a mythical man-creature who greets and invites his female catch into the sacred space and proceeds rapidly to begin the act for which he had intended for his victim. Once the Snake-Man reveals his true intent and nature as a person, the reaction of the victim changes and becomes a massive let-down. Her hopes were raised by his smooth words, cool demeanor, expensive taste, and nice possessions only to be shattered by the reality of the situation and the act in which she is engaged.

The Snake-Man, in contrast, experiences elation at seeing his victim’s reaction when he finally exposes the truth about himself. As she is going through all the emotions associated with her feelings of deception, the way it changes her physical appearance actually brings the Snake pleasure.

The spell that overcame the victim was initially generated when the Snake enveloped her in a web of psychic energy which he placed over her as they first met. The effects of this web lasted all the way until she arrived at location of the ritual chamber. Now as the sex ritual begins and demands further involvement, the spell became a deep trance which increased with every form of compliance she allowed herself to commit.

In the second verse of “Snake,” the victim at one point starts to look for an exit, but the Snake-Man anticipates this and thwarts her effort by diverting her attention to the next action she must perform before she’ll be released again into the wilderness of human society.

Pain, distress, and worry - emotional or physical - in his victims is a source of joy for him because to him what he does and how it affects others is nothing more than fun and just the way life is - eat or be eaten. The rule of the jungle is a male or female Snake’s philosophy of life.

“This is why I love you,

This is what I love about you,

This is when I love you

This is how I love you.”

Wrapping up the piece is the chorus, which is actually the Snake persons mantra. When they’ve succeeded in manipulating, humiliating, using, and destroying their victims, they actually mix complements with the humiliation to make the experience even more hypnotic for the victim by spinning it with confusion. Their goal is to break the will of their victim and remake them into loyal pets, but for those who will not comply and are not easily broken, Woe! To them who will not bend into the fold.

To hear the track “Snake” from the album
Dynamo Symphonia by Stereo Thesis...click here.

Marc

http://stereothesis.com/

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Relaxation as Part of the Creative Process

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The creative process is a series of flows going and coming from different directions. Some flows come from sources of inspiration, go into the artists mind and flow out from the artist and into the audience. Other flows encircle two fellow artists, while others come from fans to the artist in the form of support, admiration, or income.

But as far as the act of creation is concerned the flows that go through the artist sometimes become problematic and cause difficulties. The artist takes elements they perceive in the environment and fuses those elements together in unique ways with emotional aspects of their psychology derived from their philosophy of life. They combine these factors with the work of their hands using earthly materials to create aesthetic products.

The flows and the process of creation form a system and like other systems they can get damaged or break down. The reasons vary greatly from one artist to another as to why damage or corruption causes the system to slow or fail altogether. Failing altogether isn’t as common as slowing or burning out, which is typically caused by the system running or flowing in one direction for too long.

The body and mind are an interface that works well in harmony to control the flows from the environment and the mind as they move through the body. Interestingly, the environment and the mind are constantly emitting impulses or providing stimuli to the body via the nervous system, which consists of the electrical circuits that run throughout the body. The mind is constantly providing orders to various body parts to get them to do its bidding while the environment is a gigantic theater of sensory input without end.

This makes the body a conduit for the flows going in to the mind from the environment and back out to the environment and from the environment coming in to the mind and back out from the mind to the environment. The mind can also provide its own stimuli in the form of inspiration, memories, dreams, and ideas—realms of creativity—which also flow through the body, out to the environment, and back in again.

All of this flowing and non-stop sensory input keeps the body in a state of enervation, which causes damage, slowing, overloading, and burn out. Enervation is simply when the body feels drained of energy or experiences exhaustion from too much stimulation (overloaded circuits).

Physical Relaxation

For artists, relaxation is the only method of reversing the effects of enervation and is therefore a vital practice to achieve creative longevity. The use of drugs (illegal or prescription) or hypnotism is no substitute for relaxation. In fact, they are in themselves additional forms of stimulation and sensory input that would further agitate the body in a state of enervation. Avoid them if possible when relaxation is required.

Exchanging one form of stimulation for another doesn’t constitute relaxation. Like the alcoholic who exchanges one drug with another by replacing alcohol with nicotine or caffeine, they are merely switching one addiction for another. Such compromises bring about new problems and the individual remains an addict for the whole of their lives without really living drug free.

True relaxation means refraining from artificial forms of stimulation and sensory input to experience one’s self and one’s environment in a natural state. When the alcoholic switches to nicotine or caffeine, they are actually mitigating the effects of withdrawal by forming new addictions.

For the drug addict, going through withdrawals is actually gateway to living drug free. Withdrawals are actually the body’s method of removing drug toxins from its systems so that they can be expelled as waste products. This along with other therapeutic techniques is what finally allows a person to eventually arrive at a drug free existence.

Similarly, the artist can recuperate from the artificial forms of stimulation and sensory input derived from the creative process by going through a kind of withdrawal. Because each form of artistic labor will have its own particular challenges to achieve a state of relaxation, each type of creative work will have its own form of withdrawal and will require the invention of strategies to remove the unique stresses that are specific to that art form.  

For the chef, try a period of eating only pure flavors to help you relax your palate. Eat only raw fruits, slightly cooked vegetables, and meats or starches with little or no seasonings at all. Periodic short or prolonged fasts might have the most benefit in the long term to keep your palate sharp and your digestive system strong.

For musicians, go with a period of quiet. Because we exclusively use our ears to find, test, and combine new sounds, it’s our ears that suffer the most stress during the creative process. The height of tall buildings and mountains will help you rise above the sounds of cities and human life, while the distance and expanse of wide open spaces in the desert, grasslands, and bodies of water will bring you peace through extreme noise reduction.

In contrast, relaxation for the athlete and dancer might consist of either active or passive processes such as resting or stretching depending on the movements they are normally performing.

For the illustrator and painter relaxation might actually pertain to several practices to resolve several issues. Stretching might work to help relax the effects of restricted and repetitive movement, while meditation (sitting with eyes closed or in a pitch black room) will work to de-stimulate the eyes.

Notice how relaxation actually constitutes sensory deprivation of one or more of the senses. The reason is because what we’re trying to resolve is enervation (chronic nervous stimulation), which can only be alleviated with its opposite: sensory de-stimulation or deprivation. Other approaches for achieving sensory de-stimulation will include noise cancelling headphones, a sound-proof chamber, meditation, dim lighting, a walk in the forest, travel to a secluded out-of-the-way location, and extended time in an empty house or hotel room.

The purpose of all these approaches is to greatly reduce the amount of stress and stimulation our brains and bodies undergo during the creative process because the focused effort of the act of creation almost always comes at the expense of our body and its needs. But much more important than the purpose is the effect we are trying to achieve which is resetting or refreshing our senses, so as to return to our work with “new eyes.”

Mental Relaxation

Resolving enervation is one component to achieving complete relaxation, while altering mental function will be the other. Sensory deprivation will help alleviate the accumulated stress collected in the nerves of the body, but what about the accumulated stresses in the mind. Just as the creative energy of the body can slow or burn out by flowing in one direction for too long, so can the function of the mind in the creative process.

The focused intensity of the act of creation usually comes at the expense of our minds, especially when our attention acts in a single capacity for too long. Ironically, sensory deprivation will not assist the mind in its ability to refresh itself, because the senses are not its only channels of stimulation. Dreams, creativity, and imagination are unique aspects to the function of the mind and require a different approach when trying to achieve mental relaxation. However, the same principle still applies when dealing with the issue of relaxation.

Just as the flows of the body can be slowed or burn out by excessive or prolonged sensory input, similarly the activity of the mind can be slowed or burn out by functioning too long in a single capacity. If we say that focused intensity and “free thought” are opposite forms of mental activity, then they can be used to counteract one another. In other words, structured or guided forms of thinking can be relaxed into more fluid or “free” forms of thought and vice versa.

Within each artistic discipline these forms of mental activity express themselves as extremes such as the difference between the novelist and the poet in writing, the realistic painter and the abstract painter in painting, the ballet dancer and the modern dance performer in dance, as well as tonal and atonal or microtonal music in composing.

Sometimes stretching oneself as an artist can be a form of relaxation if you explore the opposite artistic extreme than what you’re commonly used to. So if you tend to write in more structured forms relax by trying your hand at a bit of poetry and vice versa. This stretching can also be a great benefit because it allows you to find new material to bring into your normal creative mental function.

Improvisation and accidental art approaches are also interesting areas to explore because they combine what we know or have learned with expression without the need to necessarily create something with structure. In other words, approaching our craft with the skills we’ve acquired but without the goal of creating structure relax the creative process by getting us to act more spontaneously. The openness of mind required with this approach slackens the desire for creative outcomes to turn artistic effort into a relaxing activity.

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Related Music:

Life of a Butterfly 

Not So Sweet

 

Auto-Hypnosis

 

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Marc

http://stereothesis.com/

 

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Artistic Decisions and the Flow of Energy

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GET “SONIC WEAPONS: The Official Stereo Thesis Music Sampler” FOR FREE.

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Indecision

Indecision stops the flow of creative energy and prevents an artist’s vision from taking shape. It bloats us with low-order ideas and points us in numerous unproductive directions.

Fear causes indecision and paralyzes us from moving forward. It prevents us from committing to specific ideas and making efforts in certain directions.

The creative clog in our minds caused by indecision and fear eventually overflows and becomes a dispersal of creative thought that wastes good ideas and motivations in solid artistic directions.

Challenging artistic creations that have a daring edge to them can sometimes shock us and cause us to hesitate from bringing them to completion. Fear of transmitting this shocking effect to others and the way we imagine their resultant opinions about our new ideas and best work is another form of artistic indecision we can refer to as social indecision – the fear of hurting or offending others with ideas, manners, or through the violation of a societal norm.

Decision

Decision opens our mental valves to allow the flow of creativity to fill our works of art. To maintain a steady flow of creative energy you’ll have to constantly be making decisions that will help you progress through each project.

Little decisions can be made almost instantaneously, while big decisions will have to be carefully formed over a period of time. For the sake of actually achieving your artistic vision, postponing the project may be a valid option to prevent a big decision from being made hastily since this can bring everything to ruin.

In music, decisions must be made regarding the shape of a melodic line, the number of instruments to be used, and the arrangement of the parts. In cooking, the decisions will focus on the type of ingredients, their proportions, and the visual presentation. In illustration, the colors, type of paper, and subject will have to be decided upon before and during the entire process until the project is complete.

Openness of Mind

A cloud of unknowing can be filled with innumerable factors related to the realization of our artistic vision, such as doubt and fear, which can prevent a decision from getting made. This is why a Zen-like attitude about creative work must be cultivated in every one of us, so as to keep our artistic energy in a constant state of flow.

Living itself can have an artistic quality to it if the person doing it approaches life with a signature style and of what is natural to them as an individual.

With an openness of mind that doesn’t attempt to regulate the flow of artistic energy, it becomes easier to assess all the factors which must be considered for addition to or removal from any one of our works.

A mindset that doesn’t take into account the critical opinions of others finds that it is much smoother to sift through the elements of a piece so that they coalesce naturally into the artistic structure we were seeking.

The more the decision-making process takes on the characteristic of a smooth flowing stream of artistic expression unregulated by social conventions, the doubt and fear will dissipate and the power of choice will operate naturally and with ease.

The speed of artistic creation will accelerate and bring you quickly to the completion of every project. The fulfillment of your creative vision will simply flow and always be readily available.

So when the final pieces of a creative puzzle fall into place, and what was once a cloud of uncertainty circling you solidifies into a tangible product, the flow of living energy from you will slow and once again return to a restful state. From this point of rest you will be free to refresh yourself in other activities or begin again to follow the course of new art work.

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Related Music:

Creative Flows

Who’s Eating You?

Homecoming
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Related Articles:

The Music Gallery: Can Music Ever Be Valued As Fine Art?

The Computer Music Man: Top 10 Arrangement Tips for Home Recording Artists

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Marc

http://stereothesis.com/

Remember to join our mailing list.



To support Stereo Thesis with a financial donation securely through PayPal, click here.