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Read this and please comment At Life As A Human

A while back, Ian told me he was working on his song Tall Ships which he had often spoken about over the years. Last week when he told me it was finished, I told him I really wanted to hear it and that I would be more than happy to post it here at Synaptic Studios. I asked him to include a narrative about the song when he sent it to me.  I really enjoyed Tall Ships .. but what I didn’t expect  was this wonderfully written piece that offers a glimpse into the heart of a very good man. The song link is at end of the article. Thank you Ian for sharing this with us!

Tall Ships – A true story of a song and of one soul’s journey home.
By Ian Shipclark

This song came out of a convergence of two events; a tall ships festival in Victoria’s inner harbour, and a mid-life crisis in Ian’s inner soul.

I was heading into the office very early on a Friday morning and decided to detour down to the harbour to get a look at the big sailing ships, minus the crowds and lineups.

My life was, on the surface, ‘on track’. I parked my Jaguar XJ in the lot and stepped my Gucci loafers out onto the tarmac. I was wearing a thousand dollar suit, and my IT consulting business was bringing me a fat six figure income every year. I was a ‘success’, and I was absolutely miserable.

It was just past dawn, still working on the morning’s first grande latte, and already my Blackberry was nagging me with the day’s commitments. I wanted to pitch it into the harbour except that I had paid five hundred dollars for it. Instead I threw it onto the seat of the Jag, automatically grabbed my date minder out of habit, and walked over to the ships.

They sat serene and majestic in the soft morning light, safely secured with hefty docking lines the evening before by their human caretakers. The smell of wood, canvas and rope filled the salty harbour air and evoked tales of adventure on the high seas.

Standing in front of a full rigged ship, I looked up at her masts reaching to the heavens. The broad yardarms with neatly furled sails, the white wind-engines that give her life, and the precise maze of rigging holding everything together. The crow’s-nests beckoned me up with the promise of an unobstructed view, not just to the distant horizon where sea and sky meet, but to the true path that my life was supposed to be on. A view to that place on the horizon where body, mind and spirit meet; in harmony and in balance. The two very things that my life was completely devoid of at that time. Staring up at the tall ships, something stirred deep in my soul, and in that moment my entire life changed.

I sat down on a harbour bench, opened up my date minder, and wrote this song in less than an hour. Though the lyrics speak of a life in crisis, it is in the end a song of redemption, and of hope. Of a man finding his bearings, and of a soul coming home to itself, rediscovering the true path it had wandered away from so many years before.

The Jaguar is long gone, as are the Gucci’s, as is the Blackberry. I still work, but now I wear Hawaiian shirts to work. Haven’t worn a suit since, and no longer own one. The executive haircut morphed over time into a pony tail that now stretches down the middle of my back. ( Editors note .. I am bringing my camera next time I see Ian so we can show you what he means!) My left ear sports pirate gold along with a diamond stud. I bought the boat I had dreamed about in my youth; and I now live on her. And I’ve never been happier.

That day on the docks, staring up at the tall ships, was the beginning of a multitude of changes in my life, too numerous to list here, and most deeply personal. Some were outward positive lifestyle changes, towards a simpler and far healthier existence. But the most profound changes, the really important ones, began deep on the inside, and slowly over time with the help of yoga and meditation have manifested themselves in a radically changed human being.

Do not fear embracing what others may label as your ‘mid-life crisis’. It may be just what the doctor ordered. It may turn out to be for you, as it was for me, the best thing that ever happened. Just listen to your heart. Get quiet, and really listen. You will know what is authentic truth, and what is just ‘noise’ – mostly from your head. As the saying goes, don’t believe everything you think. You just might re-discover yourself, who you really are without the masks and without the compulsive need to play the roles. And in the process find that the real you, the person you are completely comfortable with and at ease in being, was actually never very far away at all; it just seemed like it at the time.

My hope is that Tall Ships speaks to you in some small way that is meaningful in your life. If nothing else, may it be just a wistful little sea shanty that you can tap your foot to.

It is multi-tracked as I am playing all instruments except percussion, therefore deep-hearted thanks is due to my buddy Jeff for his endless patience and amazing skill in engineering and mixing it in his Sidney studio. And to my buddy Gil – a true renaissance man – for putting it up on his site, free for anyone who cares to listen to it. From the very beginning I always heard Valdy’s voice in my head singing this tune as kind of a ‘song of the Salish Sea’. Maybe he’ll give it a listen. Not important either way as it’s not mine any more; it has already served its purpose to me in blessing my life; it belongs to the cosmos now.

Namaste,

Ian Shipclark

Listen To – Tall Ships – By Ian Shipclark

Ross is a gifted singer/songwriter who last year released a few new songs. One of them is called Mankind’s Attitude the other, How Long. They are dedicated to the troops in Afghanistan and indeed all of those who serve our country to keep it safe whether here or on foreign soil. His website has the following dedication to them:

“To all of the men and women who have volunteered to put themselves in the “LINE OF FIRE” for all of us, and to all of your families, I wanted to say most sincerely “THANK YOU” from myself and my family. We are grateful.”

Ross was telling me how excited he is about the exposure his music has been receiving and was happy to hear it was being downloaded by the men and women who he had hoped would be moved and inspired by his music. Now, he has decided to make these songs available to all of us for free and encourages us to share them with our friends and family.

So without further ado, check out these 2 excellent songs from Ross Holloway!

Listen To: Mankind’s Attitude

Listen To: How Long

Ross has also provided us with links to an excellent download package. This package includes:

1. The 2 songs plus the 2 TV versions which do not have the lead vocals so you can sing along to them. The download file includes all the songs in WAV & MP3 formats as well as a convenient zip file to e-mail your friends and family.
2. The music charts for the songs in .PDF format.
3. All of the covers for the Commercial CD in .JPG format. If you or others would like to make a cover for your CD cases, Ross suggests the “Left Inside Cover” and the “Back Cover” because they have all of the information on them.
4. One document titled: “Information & Copyright Permission Document (MA & HL – Dec, 2010).doc” which states you have his permission to share the download with anyone you would like to share it with. It also explains the TV Versions.

Click on either of the following links to download the package. If your browser does not open a save screen, just right mouse button click on the link and choose Save Link As or Save Target As to save it to your computer.

Main Download

Mirror Download (if you are in the UK this one might be faster for you)

I hope that you enjoy Ross’s songs as much as I have and that you will share this with your friends. Remember to use the share options at the end of this post and spread the word on Facebook, Twitter and Stumbleupon!

Now .. here is a bit more information on Ross!

About Ross Holloway:

Ross Holloway has been in the music industry for over 35 years as a Singer/Songwriter, Musician, Recording Engineer, and Producer. As a Concert Performer, Ross has had the honour and pleasure of opening for PETER FRAMPTON, J.GEILS, EDGAR WINTER, ROXY MUSIC, ROBERTA FLACK, SUPERTRAMP, JOHN MAYALL, and THE BEE GEES to name just a few, and has been on and off the concert circuit for many years.

Ross has performed across Canada from the “FORUM” in Montreal and the “NATIONAL ARTS CENTER” in Ottawa, to the “SOUTHERN JUBILEE AUDITORIUM” in Calgary, “NORTHERN JUBILEE AUDITORIUM” in Edmonton, and the “QUEEN ELIZABETH THEATRE” in Vancouver. He has also performed in many other venues across Canada.

If you would like to contact Ross, you can visit his site at ONTRAC MUSIC LTD.

You can also send him a message via his contact form. 

A while back I wrote an article suggesting that it’s never too late to embrace our passions. In it, I mentioned how when I used to teach guitar, some of the students’ parents would tell me how they had always wanted to play the guitar but felt they were too old to start now. Fortunately, some of them changed their minds and came to me for advice. Over the years, many of my friends have asked me for similar guidance.

So, if you have always wanted to play guitar, here are some tips to get you going in the right direction.

Read the rest of the article at Life As A Human

Most of us have grown up listening to music characterized by the familiar time signatures of 4/4 or 3/4. 4/4 is the most common time signature in rock, blues, country, funk, and pop while 3/4 is often used for country & western ballads, not to mention waltzes, minuets & scherzi!

Both of these time signatures are considered ‘simple time signatures’. But what about ‘complex time signatures’?

When I was very young, I listened to a lot of pop, rock and folk. Almost all of it was written in 4/4 time. When I turned 14, I was introduced to the progressive rock bands King Crimson, Yes, Genesis and Gentle Giant. One of the first things I noticed was that I could not easily tap my foot to some of the tunes. When I tried to count them out, I realized that many of these songs were written in complex time signatures and some even used mixed meters, moving from 9/8 to 4/4 to 13/8 etc.

As my internal clock became familiarized with these new meters, I eventually became very comfortable with them and as I began to write songs, I found that I often gravitated towards 7/8.

To me, 7/8 is a wonderful time signature in that it is not necessarily locked to a solid down beat. As I tend to focus more on melodic phrasing than meter, I found that 7/8 was a wonderful pallet on which to compose and improvise because it allows me to play extend melodic phrases.

The following piece called Cogitation is a raw sketch for a song I have yet to finish. I hope you will enjoy it. I offer it as an example of the musical possibilities offered by 7/8 (Don’t mind the cheesy drums and very average mix..remember it’s a raw sketch!)

Cogitation (click to play)

One other thing I will mention about 7/8 is that its possibilities are greatly expanded by where you place the accents. Cogitation is counted with the accents emphasized as follows:

1  2  3  4  5  6 7

However, I also have written pieces with the following accents. (Try taping them out emphasizing the bolded number)

1  2  3  4 5  6  7

and

1  2  3 4  5  6 7

If you want a wonderful example of 7/8, have a listen to the long synth solo in the song The Cinema Show by Genesis from the album Selling England By The Pound. Here is a live version of that solo from YouTube though personally, I prefer the studio version.

Have fun with 7/8!!

P.S.

Here is a good article from Wikipedia on Time Signatures ..

© Gil Namur, 2009

The following 5-minute bass solo is from a live performance with Bela Fleck and the Flecktones. The first 1½ minutes are a wonderful example of his technical abilities. Amazing Grace starts at about 1:38 of this clip and is incredibly rich, original and so very melodic!

Enjoy, and, the next time you think you have explored everything you and your instrument are capable of, come back and watch this again.

Visit Victor Wooten’s Website:

Visit Bela Fleck and the Flecktones:
(If you are not familiar with Bela Fleck and The Flecktones, I highly recommend you check them out!)

This video is amazing and a great place to start!

© Gil Namur, 2009

This short piece is simply exquisite. If there were such a thing as a dictionary that used music to define words, I would use this piece to explain the word, pretty!

Visit Pat Metheny’s web site:

More on Pat Metheny from Wikipedia:

© Gil Namur, 2009

I wrote this song in 1996 as a personal tribute to a guitar player who over the years has had an influence on me. That guitar player of course is Carlos Santana.

I hope he gets to hear it one day! The song is track 2 on my CD, Old Dog New Tricks which I released in 2007.

Thank you Carlos for all you’ve done to inspire so many of us, both musically and personally.

This is for you

Song for Carlos

Visit the Carlos Santana website:

Photo Credits

Carlos Santana at Cow Palace, San Francisco © David Gans

Sourced from Wikipedia article on Carlos Santana

© Gil Namur, 2009

At the 2002 NAMM show in Anaheim, I was walking the halls of the second floor looking for companies that might have a need for our fiber-optic based touch pads.

As I was walking past one of the smaller booths, an energetic and cheerful man wearing a huge red and white top hat approached me. His simple booth had a round logo carrying the slogan, ‘Little Kids Rock’. As this was a product show, I imagined that they must have been selling some kind of software or books aimed at the younger market. I stopped and asked him what his company did. Smiling broadly, he invited me into his humble booth, introduced himself and began to tell me all about his organization and its vision to provide the students of underserved schools with free musical instruments and instruction. Afterwards, David asked if I would pose for a photograph with himself and Jon E. Gee who plays bass with John Mellencamp. Of course, I said yes!

“In 1996, an elementary school teacher, David Wish, grew frustrated with the lack of funding for music education at his school. Realizing that he would have to take it upon himself to make sure his kids got a chance to explore music, David began offering an after-school guitar class to interested students. The classes became wildly popular, and as more kids sought to enroll, he decided to take the program national.

In 2002, with initial support from musical luminaries BB King and John Lee Hooker, Little Kids Rock was born. What began as an informal project led by a single school teacher and a handful of volunteers has since evolved into a nationally recognized not-for-profit organization that has served thousands of students…”

In an e-mail recently, David told me that they would reach 50,000 low-income kids this year!

I have only met David Wish once. Since then, I have spoken to him once on the phone and we have exchanged 8 or 9 e-mails. While I do not know him very well, what I do know is that this is a man filled with purpose, light and love. He is responsive, and always demonstrates a humble heart. Not once have I heard him say “I did this”. Rather, it’s always about ‘Little Kids Rock’ and recognizing the efforts and contributions of others.

Little Kids Rock is the realization of a vision with an outward focus to help and bring joy into the lives of those who so desperately need it.

“Little Kids Rock believes that learning to play a musical instrument can be a transformative experience in students’ lives, with the power to inspire the creativity and confidence that are critical to success in school and beyond.”

I agree with them! I salute their accomplishments and I salute David Wish for his perseverance and his dedication to a most noble endeavor.

David, what you and Little Kids Rock have accomplished is truly inspirational. I cannot even begin to imagine the many challenges and hardships that you and your team have faced in the pursuit of your vision. From my heart, to you and your amazing team – thank you for what you have done. Best wishes to you all as you move forward with Little Kids Rock!

Photo Credits

All Photos © Little Kids Rock

© Gil Namur, 2009