 In the vast realm of music, where diverse genres intertwine with various forms of media and lifestyles like fitness, fashion and ceremony, there emerges a unique and vibrant community – a tribe. The tribe, in this context, represents a collective of individuals bound not only by their passion for music but also by a shared interest in the convergence of music with media and lifestyle. This convergence creates a rich tapestry of interconnected experiences that inspire, resonate, and bring people together. A tribe is more than just a group of people; it is a community linked by common threads, connected to one another and a central idea. In the case of a music convergence tribe, the central idea revolves around the dynamic interplay between music, media, and lifestyle. This convergence transcends traditional boundaries, allowing enthusiasts to explore the intricate relationships between sound and various facets of life. Creating a Hub for Connection To nurture this tribe, it's essential to establish a dedicated space for communication and collaboration. I am looking to have this hub here on Patreon serve as the beating heart of the community, providing a platform for individuals to exchange ideas, share experiences, and discover new dimensions of music convergence. Encouraging Exploration A music convergence tribe thrives on the exploration of diverse musical landscapes and their intersections with other forms of art and lifestyle. I am encouraging community members to share their favorite projects, unique playlists, and instances where music has seamlessly converged with media, be it in films, advertisements, or more direct lifestyle converegcences such as how music has helped you heal or celebrate. Spotlighting Creativity A music convergence tribe is a breeding ground for creativity. I want to showcase the talents of members, whether they are musicians, visual artists, or storytellers. I aim to create opportunities for collaborative projects that allow this tribe to actively contribute to the ongoing narrative of Magnetic West Music. Fostering a Supportive Environment Above all, a thriving tribe is built on a foundation of respect, openness, and support. Encourage constructive conversations, celebrate diverse perspectives, and create an environment where individuals feel free to express themselves without judgment. In doing so, the tribe becomes a safe haven for music enthusiasts to explore, learn, and grow together. Ready, Set, let's go! As the melody of music intertwines with the rhythms of media and lifestyle, the creation of a music convergence tribe becomes a celebration of shared passions and boundless creativity. By establishing a space for connection, encouraging exploration, and fostering a supportive community, we can amplify the harmonious convergence of music in our lives. Together, let us cultivate a community that not only appreciates the beauty of music convergence but actively contributes to its ever-evolving symphony.
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 The idea of anti-hustle in the context of music culture can have a profound impact on human connection and the overall experience of music. By embracing a slower, more intentional approach to life and business, individuals and organizations involved in the music industry can foster deeper connections and find greater meaning in their work. Here's how this concept can be applied:
1. Authenticity and Emotional Expression: The anti-hustle approach encourages musicians and music industry professionals to focus on creating music that reflects their true emotions and values. This emphasis on authenticity can lead to more meaningful and relatable music that resonates with listeners on a deeper level. By slowing down and taking the time to connect with their own emotions and experiences, artists can create music that evokes genuine human connection. 2. Collaborative Relationships: In the fast-paced nature of the music industry, collaborations are often rushed or driven solely by commercial considerations. Embracing the anti-hustle mentality allows artists and industry professionals to build deeper, more meaningful relationships based on mutual respect, shared values, and creative exploration. Taking the time to connect on a personal level can lead to collaborative projects that are driven by artistic vision and a shared sense of purpose. 3. Live Music Experiences: Slowing down and finding meaning in our lives allows for a greater appreciation of live music experiences. Both artists and fans can benefit from creating and attending concerts, festivals, and other events that prioritize connection and community. By cultivating an environment that encourages human interaction and emotional engagement, live music experiences become more than just entertainment—they become transformative and memorable moments of shared connection. 4. Mindful Consumption: In a culture focused on hustle and constant consumption, taking time to slow down and appreciate music can have a profound impact. Encouraging listeners to engage with music mindfully—actively listening, reflecting, and connecting with the emotions conveyed—enhances the overall music experience. This shift can lead to deeper connections between artists and their audience, fostering a sense of shared understanding and appreciation. 5. Supporting Independent Artists: The anti-hustle mindset encourages individuals and businesses within the music industry to take the time to discover and support independent artists. By slowing down and actively seeking out lesser-known talents, they can help nurture a diverse and vibrant music culture. This support can range from promoting independent artists through various platforms, organizing intimate gigs, or providing resources and mentorship. Ultimately, the idea of anti-hustle cultivates a music culture that values human connection, authenticity, and meaningful experiences. By embracing a slower, more intentional approach to music creation, promotion, and consumption, individuals and businesses in the industry can enable music to become a powerful force in our culture, capable of fostering deep connections and enriching our lives.  For the past year, the inconceivably destructive return of war to Europe has brought horror and shock to the people of Ukraine. My heart is with the Ukrainian people, those who are bravely resisting the Russian invasion, those who are being forced to flee the fighting in the face of terrible conditions and those who are, or who cry for, the far too many victims. The loss is unfathomable. This past week I have been texting with someone in Kharkiv, Ukraine. After a grueling year in a frontline city, after losing her home and her family, with some destiny at play and of course a bit of technological assistance we happened upon each other’s contact info and communicating with someone who has been experiencing a loss of such a distinct magnitude made me question loss. I noticed a shift in me, like the aperture of my camera lens rotated. I was at the beach the other day thinking about this and I could hear the in the deep tones of the tides, and within me, a submarine subconscious voice, clarity, focus. the love is the home the voice of nature, music brings it all back to the love, I’ve been researching, focusing on helping Ukrainian refugees find a home to build their lives back up. Furthermore, exploring and appreciating the diverse landscape of Ukrainian music I have found it to be joyful and fierce, energy packed and remarkable. the love is the home, trusting in the currents, the music of nature swimming in the love, and connecting with others. I’ve created a playlist here for you to explore the sounds of this vibrant culture and to support Ukrainian artists and the Ukrainian people. 🇺🇦 Ukrainian Love 💙💛 PLAYLIST - Support Ukrainian Artists 40 songs exploring the wide array of Ukrainian music styles. Also check out:
Music Defends Ukraine https://shpytal.com/musicians-defend-ukraine/ And This portal brings together calls for donations from the (I)NGO community in Ukraine and neighboring countries, with the aim of connecting with the actions from the philanthropic sector. https://ngoforukraine.eu/ Benefits of Listening to Music While StudyingAre you one of the many students at campuses nationwide walking around with earbuds in or headphones on, knowing that music affects your mood and can help you cope with the multiple layers of university stress? Have you taken the extra step to craft a playlist as study-aid? Music can help you feel relaxed, and it may also help improve your focus. Additionally, listening to instrumental music may help stimulate the brain for improved concentration and reduced boredom . Perhaps you have to read for hours because there’s an assignment deadline approaching. This buildup of stress can lead to anxiety making the process of reading counterproductive. Reading is an exercise that requires full attention and it is best to minimize distraction. One might think that music could be a distraction and with some types of music that might be the case but putting the right instrumental mood music on in the background can help you destress by raising the level of endorphins in your blood and make it easier to comprehend and retain the information. Calming sounds can serve as white noise and drown out other distracting noises such as restless roommates, neighbors or one’s own wandering mind.  in the study zone Studying can become monotonous and some brain candy can help break you out of the spell and stimulate both sides of the brain simultaneously. Most stimulating input is often taken in by either our right, creative brain hemisphere, or by the left left side which is more analytical. The corpus callosum is what connects the two hemispheres and when listening to music a distinctive activation occurs that stimulates both sides of the brain at once. This enhanced brain function allows for greater storage of information and releases beneficial endorphins like serotonin that promote well-being and relaxation. Increased relaxation and lower levels of stress can lift spirits, help you feel optimistic when staring at the large text book on your desk or for those times when you aren’t feeling so confident that you’ll be able to fill pages with meaningful words for the research paper. Having the right music on may be the extra motivational energy burst you need to stay in the study zone because the brain often associates music with positive experiences and when you’re in a good frame of mind it is typically easier to focus on a task.  study buddy Big exam coming up? Some people claim that music can be too distracting. Some music that has a lot of lyrics or is obnoxious or even too sleep inducing could pull focus but you know what else is distracting… Stress and the daunting task of sifting through lengthy volumes of intellectually challenging material! The right selection of music can help reduce stress, keep your mind from wandering and even make you feel more confident. Several studies discovered that music has a powerful triple-action on your heart rate, brain activity and release of biochemical stress-reducing effects (Cervellin & Lippi, 2011). suggesting that music enhances cognitive function, stimulating the brain to be more alert and increase knowledge retention. Consider a custom playlist as a musical companion during your studies. Especially instrumental songs with no lyrics (For & Embrey, 1972) Some people believe only classical music can work to your advantage while studying which is mostly due to Dr Gordon Shaw’s “Mozart Effect”. Poised on the findings that the IQ of a student group had improved just by listening to Mozart’s “Sonata for Two Pianos in D Major” constantly. But studies also show that electronic music for students improves concentration. Playing music while you study can make it more interesting , especially for those subjects that you find less than enjoyable which will give you more endurance to keep you focused on completing your assignments.  For Spotify users, here is the Study Hall playlist I created, a collection of engaging indie electronica instrumentals, with beats to keep you alert and repetitive melodies to relieve stress and aid concentration. STUDY HALL playlist on Spotify  Birds of a Feather - a poem inspired by the sound of crowsbirds of a feather in the kitchen together,
we all share this meal, we've made a life, a pie, many hands in the mix another crow homeward at the end of the day, the sunset hour when the veils of light and shadow blend like cake batter your echoing cry and my wing beats together in the blender whipped up a thick recipe a sound pouring over us these crows in the kitchen, a sunset parade my daydream traveler come home to me you live in my heart birds of a feather in the kitchen together what will we create next? your birthday cake? it could be any day to celebrate your flight, your music, your echoing call across the canyon country, from coast to coast all the crows coming home at the end of the day we share stories, we hear ourselves in each other's words we the family, makin' cakes birds of a feather in the kitchen together  Part memoir, part look into the healing power of songwriting... author and performing songwriter Mary Gauthier's book Saved by a Song : The Art and Healing Power of Songwriting potently delivers a heartwarming display on how songwriting can soothe the wounds of the creator and listener. I particularly like following Mary's journey from discovering songwriting as a means to communicate about her own traumas to the honorable service of songwriting with veterans to help them give a voice to their own story. Through recalling her troubled past as an adopted child and her struggles with substance abuse, without oversweetening but far from minimizing, Mary describes her creation of songs and lyrics as a therapeutic force in her life . “Witnessing other people’s lives through stories is a kind of medicine, and the magic is getting the story emotionally honest.” - Mary Gauthier This has been a uniquely meaningful book for me to read. It does not exactly lay out the nuts and bolts of how to write a song. In other words, this book is not for songwriting techniques, chord progressions, melodic notation, verse/chorus formats and such…which is fine, there's plenty of other books for that and Saved By A Song's honest approach is what makes this personal story of songwriting so valuable. In the book, she is basing her songwriting on the emotional landscape of expression, the motivation there is more inspiring then reliant on rigid templates, it’s the source to say what needs to be said through song. Mary reminds us that her collegue Ralph Murphy said “It’s not your job to sing the listeners your diary. Your job is to sing to the listeners theirs.” The book is for songwriters and artists of all kinds, therapists and even mental health professionals. Mary's book helps one understand that one can be saved by a song but also that the world can be changed by a song. Saved By a Song is a heartwarming story, an easily comprehensible philosophy on why songwriting is important, and a solid source of inspiration. “artists are like firemen; when the rest of the world is running away from the explosion, they run to it and report back... The ask is this: no matter how many songs you’ve written - each time, the struggle is to get back to that singular place where it is just you and the fire alone in the room.” - Mary Gauthier  We are a world of sound, vibrationally communicating with each other and our surrounding environment. The power of words is held in their definition as well as in their delivery. The way we produce our words and the tone that they are delivered with directly affects our communication with one another. My fascination with this began with the foundational aspects of music; melody, meter, the sound of emotion, and essentially, tonal vibrations. With this sense as a guide for communication and listening, one can develop an awareness of how spoken words carry more meaning than just their definition. Exploring the field of how vibrations communicate emotions, one can develop a sense of how words affect a conversation and how they act in resonance or dissonance within a single person or in a relationship. This experience is like being a piece of an orchestral movement, with your unique instrument, harmonizing with the thematic melody. Resonance / Dissonance How do our emotions affect how we deliver our words? How do the vibrations of our voice affect our listener’s nerves? We listen to voices and words simultaneously, and consciously as well as somatically and subconsciously. Dissonance happens when the tone of voice clashes with your emotion, two notes that don’t blend well, don’t sound good together. We can notice dissonance, sometimes from passive aggression, between the different ways that someone else communicates, and we are left with a sometimes confusing, conflicted, and perhaps traumatized feeling. While on the other hand, we notice resonance in a tone of voice and are often left with a peaceful, uplifting feeling. Good Vibes / Conversation as Song Our tone of voice can be in alignment with somatic experiences like fears and turn-ons. Certain tones of voice can vibrationally resonate with you, like how vibrations resonate in the body of a guitar. In these situations you might find yourself thinking that a certain feeling “resonates with me”. When you are on the same page as the person you are talking with, you are attuned and the tones of your voices can resonate with each other and you can be in harmony like two separate tones that harmonize together in a song. This is an important skill to develop your tone of voice to play your distinct role in the orchestral movement. This can be a conversation, a business meeting, customer service and other situations where you want to instill a certain feeling which you can tailor to the unique recipient in the performer / audience relationship. Each conversation brings its own topic to light through tone of voice, the underlying sentiment or frustrations that are being communicated with dynamic vibrational delivery. The sounds/vibrations of emotion in conjunction with the way in which words are formed themselves determine vibrational receiving of the message. When we talk to a baby or a cute puppy we automatically manipulate our voices to be higher pitched, to sound sweet and gentler. Not only do we choose words to say to one another but we express how we feel through our tone of voice. Often unaware of the way we might sound to the person we are talking to until it’s too late, because we may think that we are effectively masking our inner feelings, and furthermore, we may have even been masking them from ourselves. The tone of voice can be a distraction from content. What if we made a conscious effort to deliver our words with a tone of voice that enhanced the conversation instead of sweeping it up in a wave of emotion? Is this conscious verbal economy sustainable? What if we ask ourselves what we want to be communicating through the tone of our voices alongside the actual words? Physiological Response Licensed Therapist Stephanie Mae Neilson describes tone as communication in and of itself; Tone of voice is its own conversation, the felt conversation, the known conversation that doesn’t make it into the words. This conversation is always happening within, alongside, in tandem with, the words and meanings level of the dialogue. This is the conversation of the animal self, the body, of the nonverbal, preverbal realm. The animal body has vibrational exchange with the animal body of someone else. This content and energy of the exchange can be accepted no matter whether “good” or “bad” , as long as there is no dissonance between content, energy. Words can be chosen intentionally in order to direct vibration through the correct instrument, like sending air through a pipe organ. Embedded Tone Words shape sound. Choosing words intentionally to shape tone is a quality of an instrument. It gives the speaker a choice in how sound is channeled, alleviating some of the pressure from the body to project, accent or blow through sound to create vibrations. Some words carry their own tone, an added complexity to intentional vocalizations. Words can sound condescending, patronizing, sarcastic, manipulative and confusing. The tone of the words can create cognitive dissonance if they are used in a way that is misaligned with the meaning of the word or used as part of an act. Explosive words, harsh words and expletives blast their way through a conversation and can be damaging while soft and sweet toned words imply a certain tenderness. Certain words are built for delivering a message regardless of how you say them because they have an embedded tone. Love Language / Tone as a Tool We can use tone as a tool. We have choices in speech and listening. Are you, or is the other, communicating from a place of safety and security in the physical body? The sound of security in a voice and strength in a voice can help someone who is struggling with fear or paranoia. Forced shifts in one’s tone of voice can lead to confidence and ability to be seen or get needs met. What would high versus low pitch or fast versus slow ask for from the listener? Beneficial Tonalities . How can vibrations aid in a challenging conversation? We can be mindful of how we use our voice to shift the energy of one another or match the energy of one another. How do you respond to speaking with someone who is highly anxious and speaks with a higher pitched tone versus someone who is grounded and happy versus someone who is depressed speaking with a droning low tone? The awareness of the way we produce our words and with what tone they are delivered with has the potential to benefit our well being, our relationships and our businesses. Join the Conversation What experience have you had that has been influenced significantly by tone of voice? 
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