HSS Episode 056-Musicians and Depression

ANNOUNCEMENTS

• Live Mix of Mark George's song "Ghost Dance" as well as Marcel Walden's Mix break down of "Out of the Blue"
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    EAR TO THE GROUND   Whether for work, school or doctor's appointments, almost everyone has used Zoom. But for musicians who want to play together online during the pandemic, the popular conference call platform doesn't cut it. Musicians and scientists on opposite coasts have been trying to find solutions. Fortunately,  Audio Movers and Jack Trip software.   The Internet is widely used for audio communications. Numerous collaboration applications exist that make it trivial to carry on a conversation with almost anyone, worldwide. Likely, you already use these applications regularly. What is thought of as traditional phone lines have even largely migrated towards running over the Internet. So, why is performing music any different? The answer lies in the problem of trying to keep a common rhythm going between remote musicians. Maintaining a shared beat or sense of pulse is difficult if it takes too long for one musician's sound to reach another's ears. There can be drastic consequences. The "Happy Birthday" effect is familiar from family video conferences. The length of time for sound to get between individuals makes it impossible for the group to sing together. Singers find themselves in a situation of "I'm waiting for you and you're waiting for me" and that's the problem.   Video calls are engineered for turn taking in conversation. Music is different because it involves simultaneous coordinated activity rather than alternation. Tightly synchronized performance only works over the Internet with extremely low-latency audio applications like JackTrip.   A group’s ability to maintain a steady pulse is heavily impacted by what is known as latency. This is a term which refers to how long it takes for one performer's sound to reach the another's ears. It is typically measured in milliseconds (msec), or 1/1000 of a second. Research has found that the ability to perform syncronized rhythms together requires a latency below 25-30 msec one way. There isn’t a hard and fast number for this because everyone is different and musical situations differ. Particularly important in this regard is the speed or tempo of a piece (measured in beats-per-minute). Slower tempo can tolerate relatively longer Internet latencies.   To help put this into perspective, sounds traveling through air 25 feet (roughly 8 meters) take about 25 msec. We're comfortable playing or singing together at distances within this range. As a group spreads out, say across a football field, the ability to keep a coordinated rhythm becomes increasingly difficult. This is why minimizing latency is so important.   Here's a seemingly simple question: Can musicians in quarantine play music together over an Internet connection? We've migrated birthday parties, happy hours and church services to video calls these days, so couldn't we do the same with band practice? Across ubiquitous video conferencing tools like Zoom, FaceTime and Skype, it takes time for audio data to travel from person to person. That small delay, called latency, is mostly tolerable in conversation — save for a few overlapping stutters — but when it comes to playing music online with any kind of rhythmic integrity, latency quickly becomes a total dealbreaker.   This video follows pianist and composer Dan Tepfer down the rabbit hole. Tepfer often occupies the intersection of music and innovative technology (just check out his Tiny Desk concert), and by proxy has served his fellow musicians as a tech support line of sorts. A public inquiry on Twitter led him to jazz trombonist Michael Dessen, also a researcher at the University of California Irvine, who has centered his work around networked performances for over a decade.   The solution: an open-source software called JackTrip, developed by Stanford University researchers Chris Chafe and Juan-Pablo Cáceres over a decade ago, that can transfer high quality audio data across the Internet at low enough latencies, within a geographic radius, to mimic someone playing music roughly 30 feet away; that's the threshold at which most musicians can still play together in sync. It takes a bit of hardware and a strong Internet connection, but the setup has enabled near instantaneous latencies for musicians who want to improvise together online.   Tepfer has spent some of the last few months building a community of musicians using JackTrip at home, so they can practice together, work on new music, and even perform live-streamed concerts to fans as a revenue source while music venues remain closed in the pandemic. And while it's not nearly the same as playing in the same physical space, it's a close second in the era of social distancing.   3 FREE PLUGINS

• ADHD Leveling Tool - AdHd Leveling Tool is a Tube Leveling Amplifier inspired by the legends and carefully crafted to meet your compression needs. The ideal compressor for vocals. Perfect for giving character and taming the peaks on any track in the mix.

 

• Shattered Glass Audio "Ace Amp" - Ace is a true to life emulation of a legendary 1950s, American, all tube, 5W, tweed amp. For added versatility they have added to the model two of the most common amplifier mods: adjustment of the amount of feedback and addition of grid stopper resistors. To complete the picture they even included impulse response based speaker emulation. Simple controls and a conservative CPU usage make ACE easy to use in live settings as well as for re-amping.

 

• Graillon Live Voice Changer  - Is a Vocal plugin that brings a world of possibilities right into your DAW, with carefully designed features. The Pitch-Tracking Modulation, unique to Graillon, changes the type of speakers, generates throat sounds, creates choruses, make octaver sounds, enriches a voice to make it more masculine. The Pitch Shifter cleanly transposes a voice up and down, and has been optimized for voice. The Pitch Correction module brings an immediate robotic sound, while the Bitcrusher addition softly add sparkles to the mix.

  Main Thought Being highly creative is a double edged sword. Gifted musicians are prone to periods of depression and high levels of melancholy. In fact, from my experience and observations, I would suggest that many if not most musicians go through a low period of life that they just barely survive at times. Now, while it’s easy to say that during these times “I write my best songs, born out of these griefs.” (Yes, that’s an actual quote I have used)   The good news is that with insight comes power. Becoming aware of depression is the first step towards being able to change it. The second step is to get to the source of the problem. This however can be harder for creatives because we are emotionally driven by everything around us and look into things deeper, ponder longer, and brood over every detail of seemingly meaningless aspects of life to others.   So, how does one combat the perils and pitfalls of this roller coaster of emotions that plagues us all to often? Well first. let's discuss what can be some causes of depression. There are many reasons for depression, from physical issues like

• brain chemistry and hormone imbalances
• other underlying health disorders and diseases
• nutritional deficiencies

to mental and emotional issues like

• overly critical thinking
• dysfunctional coping behavior habits
• and real or perceived traumatic life events

  There are many levels of depression. The low feelings can be “acute”- a temporary condition tied to some life event- or “chronic”, which is an invasive, lasting condition that is sometimes triggered by a life event or an underlying physiological problem such as a simple thyroid imbalance. The condition can run from a little moping to clinical depression- a life threatening mental and emotional state. DO NOT IGNORE CLINICAL DEPRESSION. It can become a soul abscess, robbing you of the joy of your music… and of your life. If you think you could have it, get professional help, and don’t wait one more day to do it. Among the multiple causes of depression, there are triggers that can begin a downward spiral in the brain.   Trigger 1: A high in your musical career Trigger 2: Too Much Sensory Input/ Too Little Self Care Trigger 3: Bitterness and Resentment   “If you play music with passion and love and honesty, then it will nourish your soul, heal your wounds and make your life worth living. Music is it’s own reward.” ~Sting   To Sting’s thought, I would add that music is not enough… we must find a spiritual connection to the master creator who gives us music and “in whom we live and move and have our being”. In my life, God has turned my lows turn into depth of understanding… to trusting that the lows are temporary – and that if they last too long, help can be found.   Lastly, I would like to publicly extend my hand to you. If you are in need of an ear or even a shoulder to lean on. I am here. I have been there and know what it feels like to be so down that you don't ever think you'll get back up. I am willing to help if you're willing to talk. You can always email me at homestudiosimplified dot com.