Big Announcement Coming Soon . . .

Hey everybody,

Watch this space in the next couple of days because I'm making a HUGE announcement soon. At least, I think it's huge. It's a big deal for me. I've kept it under wraps since August.

So yeah, get ready, and such.

Bryce Canyon and Zion National Park

A few weekends ago, my sister invited me to spend the weekend in Brian Head with her husband and in-laws. Our weekend itinerary included Bryce Canyon and Zion National Park, which are both in fairly close driving distance. I had been to Arches National Park earlier this year and absolutely loved it. It was an incredible journey for me, almost a pilgrimage (if that's a safe word to use). On this trip, I was, again, pretty amazed by what I saw.

In Bryce Canyon we hiked down from Bryce point into the base of the canyon and all around and through the hoodoos (yes, that's their proper name) through the forests and back up to Sunrise point. It was a long hike but very much worth it. My sister and her husband were great company walking through all these amazing places. The major dilemma the entire time was "I can't take my eyes off this gorgeous landscape . . . but I'm on a rocky trail next to a sheer drop." This was typical most of the way up and down. Bryce was much more mild to hike here in October then say Arches in July, but I'm really glad we brought a lot of water because I got thirsty pretty fast.

I was reminded very much about Oliver Messiaen when he visited Bryce Canyon. He was so taken by the landscape that he used some local birdsong he dictated and wrote a piece called "Des canyons aux étoiles… (From the Canyons to the stars...)" Messiaen's music was driven by color a great deal. Seeing Bryce Canyon for the first time, I can understand why he, specifically, was moved enough to visit and dictate. The orange and red hoodoos against the green forest against the blue sky. It's much better in person than in these photos. I need to listen to that piece. I haven't found Messiaen's music to be very accessible, but after visiting, I had a great desire to buy a recording.

(Here's a hint for anyway who wants to hike in Bryce Canyon. Bring two cars (with two drivers) park one car at Sunrise point and another car at Bryce point and hike from one spot to the other. Then when you're done, just drive back to the other car and go home. I think there are shuttle services, but it's way more convenient if you do it yourself.)

The next day, after Bryce, we went down to Zion National Park. We got off I-15 and travelled along the Virgin River till we got to the mouth of the canyon. Now, Arches is amazing, Bryce is incredible, but Zion . . . there's something truly breathtaking about Zion. Most of the trip in I was speechless. I've never been so taken by a gorgeous landscape before. They do everything by shuttle now, which is kinda of a shame, but it's a good service so I don't mind that much. We drove past the different "temples" and "courts" up the canyon that got their names from their geological formations.

Our goal for this trip was to hike Angel's Landing. I've heard about this hike before, but only that it exists and that it's a good one. My sister and her husband told me that the first part is probably the hardest. The whole thing was pretty hard I think, except for "refrigerator canyon." We joke that the reason it's called "refrigerator canyon" is because it's been littered with refrigerators formally owned by greenie/treehugger/granola-munching/leaf-licking hippies.

When we got to "the saddle," I thought, "well that wasn't too bad, I could do that any day!" In fact, when we got to the saddle and saw how high were were I made the comment, "you know, it's moments like these when you say to yourself, 'dang, I'm so awesome.'" Then they showed me how far we had to go still. My heart sank with terror. It wasn't how far we had to go, or how high we had to climb. No, it was the sheer drops on either side of the trail. I turned to my sister and said, "so I have I mentioned that I'm kinda/sorta/a little/maybe/VERY AFRAID OF HEIGHTS!" I guess not. They provide a chain for you to hold on to (for dear life) at certain points. Even if I didn't need the chain, I held on like my life was on the line. I wouldn't say I overcame my fear, but definitely looked it strait in the eye and told it it's ugly.

Believe it or not, I made it to the very top and was greatly rewarded. I've never seen a view like that in my life. Yes, many people do a good job of taking pictures, but they don't do it any justice. Angel's Landing is a name very well suited. To me, hiking Angel's Landing and seeing that view was a very sacred experience for me. It wasn't the most sacred experience, but definitely one to be remembered. The whole place felt like a "temple" of nature. It some moments, I didn't want to speak for fear of disturbing the reverence of the place. Absolutely majestic. I highly recommend it.

Why I'm Glad Sound Recording Technology is a Music Degree

I'm a music major, with an emphasis in sound recording technology. A lot of people find this very confusing. Why would sound recording be in the music program? Doesn't that belong in Engineering, or Physics, or some other technical school? I've also noticed some engineers ignorantly say, "why do I have to take music theory and history classes if I'm going to be a sound engineer? Learning about Leonin and Perotin doesn't make me a better engineer. Learning how to resolve a german augmented sixth chord doesn't help me know when I need to apply reverb."

I'm in an even more complicated situation because I'm in the classical voice studio for my instrument. Most of my colleges have chosen contemporary studios such a voice, guitar, drums or synthesizer. I feel fortunate because this gives me a perspective that most other musicians never have.

I've come up with a list on how being a musicians has helped me as a sound engineer and vice verse:

- Once, someone was recording a cello track in a pop song. The cellist was improvising, but the student "producer" wasn't happy with some of the notes he was playing. I was able to identify that he was playing the dominant when what we wanted to hear was the tonic. Identifying the key and matching that with my knowledge of the cello's range, I was able to suggest this change to the student. The results were much better.

- I record audition tapes for students trying to get into festivals or Master's programs. Having been a classical singer I'm able to better identify with what classical singers want in their recordings. Most of these goals in recordings are shared by instrumentalists as well. I recently got a compliment from one of the voice faculty about the recordings I've made for his students. "We like the recordings you make downstairs best." He's been recommending me to all his students.

- I learned in music theory how dissonant and jarring unresolved tri-tones can be in tonal music. This helped me learn why half-octave equalizers never became popular, because half of an octave is a tri-tone. Half-octave equalizers don't work as well to our ears as full-octave or third-octave equalizers do. That's the reason why.

- Most of us can tell when someone is singing or playing out of tune (or so out of tune that we consider it "off-key"). But how many of us can tell when someone is 25, 10, or 5 cents off? Or what we can do to fix it? Learning and performing music has sharpened my ears into a greater perception of tuning. I wouldn't be able to say "that's 14 cents too sharp," but I can hear it much more now than ever before.

- Sound recording has taught me to listen much more than I've ever done before. In sound recording we've learned and practiced two different ways of hearing: "Critical listening," and "Analytical listening." "Critical listening," is more about listening for the quality of the tone, while "Analytical listening" has more to do with the meaning of the tone.

This isn't close to a comprehensive list of everything, but these are some pretty big things that I can remember right now. My main feeling is that sound recording should be treated more like an art than as a science. I don't mean to downplay science, it's very important in my field, but science without art is dead. I considering this to be one of the best degrees available, and I'm glad I chose it.