The result of the growing digital age; stores that sold vinyl become obsolete, technics announces they will cease production of the 1200's, you can scratch digital records on an ipad, we text more than talk... People have gotten so sttached to their technology that some will not even allow themselves an hour of time free of their phones while they get a massage! What's going on???
Let me say I LOVE a lot of the conveniences the technological age has allowed - carrying record crates was heavy lifting - but I can't help but feel nostalgic about what we are loosing in order to gain. There was such a beauty to the artwork on record sleeves and a thrill in the hunt for them, especially when you found that rare 12" single, and I loved the popping sound a needle made on a record. Part of the art of being a DJ was finding the music... When I became a DJ in 2000 the digital age of spinners had already been ushed in. I was a bartender at the time and there were female DJ's that would come to spin at the club I worked in carrying only a few cases of CD's under their arm. Seeing this CD-DJ revolution happening and hearing these ladies not really representing the females well made me decide that I needed to get on and do it right. It was about respect for me - respecting the art form as it was meant to be and gaining respect from my colleages for holding it down right. Being able to do a little bit of beat juggling, match a beat and mix well, understand the music and rock the party right while still looking hot and feminine. There was no greater compliment than when a patron realized that the person on the tables all night was a hot chick spinning vinyl! It was, and still is, awesome. But, lifting crates became old and serato became "it." Serato enabled vinyl DJ's the ability to functionally spin as they always had - with a needle on a record - except you no longer needed to change the record. Welcome the new way a DJ travels to the club: with a small bag containing a couple master records, needles, headphones and their laptop. It's genius really - we were able to carry infinite abouts of records without the weight and we did however, the cost is the death of record stores. That's the evolution....
I expected, though it made me sad, that records would become obsolete but technics ceasing production of their 1200 turntables! That surprized me. No other company had made a better turntable for a DJ than technics and we still need turntables even with serato so why?? I am still searching for that answer.
My belif is that change is the only constant in this life and we should go with the flow... but as the winds blow us into our future I can't help but reminisce about the touch, feel and sound of a record. I am proud to have had a chance to have been a DJ the original way and, though the death records makes me sad, I embrace our evolution.
Friday, November 26, 2010
Monday, November 8, 2010
THIS BODY ROCKS!
We are so divine aren't we?? Every single cell, neuro transmitter, organ, joint, muscle... all functioning non-stop to keep us going. And how we regenerate! Every seven years all the cells in our bodies completely regenerate! All so amazing...
I wanted to post just a few massage facts for those who may not know much about why they should consider a massage:
Now, on a music tip:
There is this band I have heard a few times around Miami - Elastic Bond. DOPE! I love their vibe - totally latin, electro chill melodies and rythmns.
Listening to a good band, a good DJ, a good song... that's feel good stuff too. I believe music is therapeutic for sure. I am always grateful when I hear some good tunes... music releases, relates, revives our spirit.
So, that being said I have a stay healthy and relaxed tip for today.
Put on something ambient or, if nature is playing listen to her beautiful music. Then, find a comfortable spot to lay in and rest on your back with a bolster under your knees and neck. I reccomend getting a couple tennis balls and shoving them in a sock and resting it under the base of your skull as a still point inducer - those sub cervical muscles work very hard all day to keep your head up and this is a great way to release them. Then, a lavender eye pillow and a few drops of a lemongrass and eucalyptus essential oil blend in in the air.
Just lay down and relax for five to ten minutes letting the stresses of the day melt away and allowing your mind to unwind. Give yourself a gift, be present in the present moment...
Namaste (the light in me honors and respects the light in you)
I wanted to post just a few massage facts for those who may not know much about why they should consider a massage:
- Massage Therapy will keep you healthy. It has been proven to boost the white blood cell count in your body (the wbc's are the ones who come to your defense when a virus or any other foreign substance tries to enter).
- It moves blood, much like a great cardio workout pumps blood to your heart. Except, during a massage your heart gets to rest while reaping the benefits.
- A massage can help reduce your stress levels!!! Think about it people. There is a nasty little hormone called cortisol in your body that likes to gather around your gut, it is your stress hormone. We release so much more than we need because we are the only species who lay in bed and stress - therefore causing the same physiological response as if we were running from a tiger - ultimately overloading our systems. Massage can help!
- Let's not forget that a massage can help your body recover from an injury, a workout, a surgery...
- It can help you feel better about your body.
- It can help you relax - rest and digest.
Now, on a music tip:
There is this band I have heard a few times around Miami - Elastic Bond. DOPE! I love their vibe - totally latin, electro chill melodies and rythmns.
Listening to a good band, a good DJ, a good song... that's feel good stuff too. I believe music is therapeutic for sure. I am always grateful when I hear some good tunes... music releases, relates, revives our spirit.
So, that being said I have a stay healthy and relaxed tip for today.
Put on something ambient or, if nature is playing listen to her beautiful music. Then, find a comfortable spot to lay in and rest on your back with a bolster under your knees and neck. I reccomend getting a couple tennis balls and shoving them in a sock and resting it under the base of your skull as a still point inducer - those sub cervical muscles work very hard all day to keep your head up and this is a great way to release them. Then, a lavender eye pillow and a few drops of a lemongrass and eucalyptus essential oil blend in in the air.
Just lay down and relax for five to ten minutes letting the stresses of the day melt away and allowing your mind to unwind. Give yourself a gift, be present in the present moment...
Namaste (the light in me honors and respects the light in you)
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
A HEART-FELT BEAT
Music makes my heart feel happy, sad, excited, angry... a whole spectrum of emotion; that's why I love it. There are no language barriers - just a beat that makes you feel...
Everyone has a number of songs that they've heard along the way that evoke something within them. I have many that I love, particularly a hit from the 80's that was sung by Sylvia Striplin, "You can't turn me away." It came off of her only released album, Give me your love, and everytime I hear it I think of my hometown, New York City, back in the day when people went out to parties to dance and the music was soulful. I am not sure why it reminds me so much of New York but I think it was being played a lot in the clubs I frequented when I first started coming on the scene. When I later became a DJ it was one of those songs I tended to play early in the night and reminice to in the booth. That's what music does, evoke emotion.
Interestingly enough music is often created within the range of 50-200 bpms (beats per minute), the same tempo as the extreme range of our heartbeats. And generally, the tempo of a song will equate to the heartbeat that is associated with the emotional or physical state that the music is suggesting. For example, a faster beat equals a higher energy level and a slower beat is more laid back and relaxing - usually.
The human heart is fascinating - it's a muscle that can never take a day off work. The day our heart stops beating is the day we meet our maker. It needs to pump the fresh oxygenated blood we breathe into our lungs and expell the carbon dioxide we breathe out. It beats faster when we exercise, feel stress, fall in love... and slower when we sleep, feel relaxed, get a massage... We have all been created so divinely!
As a DJ I use music as a medium to take a crowd on a journey with me... I understand it's power. As a massage therapist I respect the neurology of why music is so powerful. We hear a the lyrics and beats associated with a song and they send signals to our brains that light up areas of corresponding emotional memories we relate to what we are hearing. This is why, when you get a massage, there is usually some ambient new age bell chiming in the background; it's relaxing and fairly safe to assume that the only emotion it will stir is of peace. We have to be careful as massage therapists to ensure the whole experience is healing - we only want to dig up the totally relaxed feelings inside you so that your mind can mellow out to our continuous therapeutic touch. That being said, since my background includes being a DJ, I like to steer away from the traditional spa music from time to time and just play some good, chillout music.
When I touch a body during a massage it is the kneaded touch that enables your heart to take a rest while I help move as much blood around your body an aerobic exercise would move. This movement brings nutrition and oxygen to your muscles and joints of and help you feel blissful. When I touch the turntables as a DJ it is a needed touch that makes you move your body and pump your own blood. As you feel the beats you dance the night away. Either avenue of therapy you choose for yourself I love what I do because both things are designed to make you feel good and that it turn makes me feel good because, after all, we are all connected.
Everyone has a number of songs that they've heard along the way that evoke something within them. I have many that I love, particularly a hit from the 80's that was sung by Sylvia Striplin, "You can't turn me away." It came off of her only released album, Give me your love, and everytime I hear it I think of my hometown, New York City, back in the day when people went out to parties to dance and the music was soulful. I am not sure why it reminds me so much of New York but I think it was being played a lot in the clubs I frequented when I first started coming on the scene. When I later became a DJ it was one of those songs I tended to play early in the night and reminice to in the booth. That's what music does, evoke emotion.
Interestingly enough music is often created within the range of 50-200 bpms (beats per minute), the same tempo as the extreme range of our heartbeats. And generally, the tempo of a song will equate to the heartbeat that is associated with the emotional or physical state that the music is suggesting. For example, a faster beat equals a higher energy level and a slower beat is more laid back and relaxing - usually.
The human heart is fascinating - it's a muscle that can never take a day off work. The day our heart stops beating is the day we meet our maker. It needs to pump the fresh oxygenated blood we breathe into our lungs and expell the carbon dioxide we breathe out. It beats faster when we exercise, feel stress, fall in love... and slower when we sleep, feel relaxed, get a massage... We have all been created so divinely!
As a DJ I use music as a medium to take a crowd on a journey with me... I understand it's power. As a massage therapist I respect the neurology of why music is so powerful. We hear a the lyrics and beats associated with a song and they send signals to our brains that light up areas of corresponding emotional memories we relate to what we are hearing. This is why, when you get a massage, there is usually some ambient new age bell chiming in the background; it's relaxing and fairly safe to assume that the only emotion it will stir is of peace. We have to be careful as massage therapists to ensure the whole experience is healing - we only want to dig up the totally relaxed feelings inside you so that your mind can mellow out to our continuous therapeutic touch. That being said, since my background includes being a DJ, I like to steer away from the traditional spa music from time to time and just play some good, chillout music.
When I touch a body during a massage it is the kneaded touch that enables your heart to take a rest while I help move as much blood around your body an aerobic exercise would move. This movement brings nutrition and oxygen to your muscles and joints of and help you feel blissful. When I touch the turntables as a DJ it is a needed touch that makes you move your body and pump your own blood. As you feel the beats you dance the night away. Either avenue of therapy you choose for yourself I love what I do because both things are designed to make you feel good and that it turn makes me feel good because, after all, we are all connected.
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