Embellishment (or Beauty)

 I love it. That was my thought on planning to build a new media company. Roses in the Alley as well. 

Afford it, care enough, to bring beauty in a world flirting with ugliness on a daily basis.

I think St. Paul said it: "Dwell on what is true, what is right, what is beautiful." You can't focus on the beauty and at the same time actively design ugliness if there is anything in your soul worthy of salvation. (my opinion.)

Bob

On Sat, Jul 4, 2015 at 5:25 AM, Seth Godin <sethsblogreply@gmail.com> wrote:

 

Embellishments

What are they for?
Absolutely nothing.
Well, that's not true. The fact that they aren't directly related to what you're trying to deliver is precisely why they exist. The 'nothingness' of their value is why they are valuable. An embellishment, a garnish, a filligree... it exists because it means you took a little extra time, you cared enough to add some beauty or rhythm to the thing you brought me.
As soon as we can afford it, as soon as we care, we pay extra for beauty.

- September 24, 2014 -

Pretending We all want to turn away from anything that reveals the failure, pain, sickness and death beneath the brightly painted surface of our ordered lives. Civilization is, at least in part, about pretending that things are better than they are. We all want to be in a happy place, where everyone is nice and good and can fend for themselves. We shun our own weakness and the weakness of others. We refuse to listen to the cry of the needy. How easy it is to fall into the illusion of a beautiful world when we have lost trust in our capacity to make of our broken world a place that can become more beautiful. Jean Vanier Source: Becoming Human Add your thoughts at inward/outward

Grasshopper or giant

Giant or grasshopper? Hero or silent in the background? Step up or back? Confident or passive?

These are the beginning questions as of late last night and this morning.

A new day has begun, and the Lord has me in the bootcamp of the physically wounded, the psychologically and emotionally worn, and the spiritually challenged. Now is the time to slowly and effectively re-train. Do you sometimes find yourself in the Lord's bootcamp? It's a good place for now.

A therapy of the body, mind and soul. If you have ever gone through physical therapy, you know that it is hard work, and painful, with fits of progress and then none. These others therapies are also like this.

So if you are in this bootcamp, let me know. Maybe we can help each other's training come along a bit.

We continue :-)

Bob's Tightrope to Christmas!

Ok, well many of my friends have been after me for awhile now to release the next collection of songs. Lately there have been more asking for a Christmas album than anything else, so here goes! I will walk the tightrope and work dilgently to bring you a Christmas collection! And if you join my support wall, you will be the first ones to get the links to download the songs! You will also receive the first notice when a physical CD is released, along with a discount for it.

Do I walk the tightrope, or do I not? You decide :-) click below to donate:

Walk the Rope!

or go here to see the Wall's progress so far!:

http://www.supporterwall.com/w/44PgpSeJV6

CCM (Contemporary Christian Music): Where are we? Where is it going? Is it authentic and creative or not?

http://awakengeneration.wordpress.com/2011/11/16/michael-gungor-on-the-problem-with-the-christian-music-industry/

How to survive and thrive in the music business in 2013

How to survive and thrive in the music business in 2013

Many of you have seen the movie about this Joulliard trained musician who then suffered from schizophrenia and became a homeless person. In 2009 he played for the American Music Therapy Association Convention last year (2009) in San Diego, California. I found this video on Youtube that I thought was fascinating. You can see someone who comes alive through the power or music. It presents such a strong connection to the world of reality.

Music as Therapy for the Soul

Music and Emotion Through Time

In my research about how music communicates, I found this great TED talk by Michael Tilson Thomas. It's about 20 minutes, but I think that you will enjoy some of his insights:


Music and emotion through time

Now the question is then, "How does the emotional content within Catholic Music or Contemporary Christian music really communicate with the power of music?" " Is it as effective as it an be or once was?"
Why or why not?

Ave Verum - new arrangement

Finally, I've been moving forward on my new project. This is my latest "world music" piece, developed from Ave Verum by Charles Camille Saint-Saens. Romantic meets the lastest instrumentation and effects!
http://bobmetivier.bandcamp.com/track/ave-verum

A Martyr, A Monk, and Song

Today is the Feast of St. Cecilia. But there is another person in history, the monk who invented the staff and solfege that we should also pay heed to:

http://www.catholicchapterhouse.com/blog/2011/11/22/a-martyr-a-monk-and-some-music/

Without his great effort, or someone later on like him, modern Western music may well have never existed!

Contemporary Christian and Catholic Music

I haven't posted in awhile, but this was just a great article on Contemporary Christian music and Contemporary Catholic music that I could not pass up sending it along! :

http://www.patheos.com/blogs/blackwhiteandgray/2011/11/ccm-contemporary-catholic-music/#comment-253

Spotify

I recently joined Spotify as a free user in the U. S. They are just now rolling out in the States. Apparently, in the next six months, the REAL model (not free) will be pushed even harder. Still not a bad deal. I will have to think about whether this should be a fee based or advertiser based plan. Remember when cable cost, but there were no adertisements. Things do change, don't they? And the music business is the midst of extreme change right now.

I get to witness this from both directions because I'm also an artist on Spotify and rather proud of my 1/10th of a cent spins! :-)
Spotify in US

New Yet Old Drums! Cajon Solo by David Kuckermann

David Kluckermann of  framedrums.net shows his style on this great cajon by Schlagwerk. Imagine this guy doing a drum circle with a group of beginning student players! What an uplifting yet challenging even that would be!

 The cajon is also gaining tremendous traction in percussion for acoustic performance with flamenco, classical and acoustic ensembles.

 

Music Therapies for Cancer

This is still such a new and only dimly explored area of therapy: music therapy for seriously ill patients. I believe that we will find that music plays a significant role also in development and restoration of faculties. What a great potential frontier for both preventative and restorative therapies!

Joining the Choir Invisible

Joining the Choir Invisible

A friend of mine, Matt Gardocki, who is very involved with ministries to Contemporary Catholic Youth and Young Adults sent this to me yesterday. This is  a very powerful explanation of how the Catholic faith expresses itself in the individual and within the Church, ever-present and ever-alive as a community! This is a wonderful article and well worth the read for all  Contemporary Catholics.

Happy New Year - 2011 - The Difference in Cultures

Happy New year 2011 to all! New Year's Eve is a time when most in our culture reflect back on the past year and all of its challenges and outcomes. This is usually with a hope that the new year will bring better and greater opportunities and blessings than the outgoing one.

Often this celebration is accompanied by drinking, dancing, and lots of distraction.

The Contemporary Catholic Church has room for all of this, but its focus is quite different. Each year, on January 1st, the Catholic Church rededicates itself to the care of Mary, the Mother of God and starts the new year with a Mass in honor of her Son.

I've always found the choice of the Psalm (Psalm 67) which is set to a Contemporary Catholic music chant setting below, to be very interesting. In this psalm, we ask that God will bless us in His Mercy. So the focus is God and His Mercy upon us in this new year, a stark contrast to the secular idea of what I'm gaining or missing each year.

Psalm 67 - May God bless us in his mercy

4th Sunday of Advent

In Contemporary Catholic Circles we try very hard to keep Advent where it should be, a wonderful preparation for the coming of Christ. Catholic music for Advent was much more extensive in the past than it seems to be today. The Chabanel psalms, while Contemporary Catholic songs, draw from the rich past of both Hebrew and Catholic tradition.

So, in that spirit, as it is the the 4th Week of Advent still, I have left in my recording of the psalm for this  week, but I've followed it up here with the Psalms for the Christmas Midnight Mass. I hope that you might listen to each one in its time ! :-)

4th Sunday of Advent Cycle A - Psalm 24

Christmas - Psalm 96

4th Sunday of Advent

 Let the Lord Enter; He is King of Glory!

Advent is a wonderful time to celebrate the wonderful chant found in both traditional and contemporary Catholic music!
Please give me your feedback of this Catholic music video! and have  a Blessed Advent!

4th Sunday of Advent Cycle A - Psalm 24

Sing to the Lord a New Song!

"Sing to the Lord a new song, for he has done marvelous deeds." The responsorial psalm for the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary is sung by Robert Metivier, with photos by Terry Modica, for Good News Ministries (http://gnm.org) in connection with podcasts of the Good News Reflections.

Immaculate Conception - Psalm 98

Have a blessed Advent!

Here is my version of the Chabanel Psalm for the 2nd Sunday of Advent. Advent is a very special time for Catholic music, distinct from Christmas, but in preparation for it.

2nd Sunday of Advent Cycle A - Psalm 72