“Straight Lines” by Harriet Schock
The shortest distance between two points is a straight line. Isn’t that what we learned in school? And it applies to communication, too. Isn’t that what songwriting is? I find that when people communicate in a straight line, it has greater emotional impact on the listener. Would a bullet that ricocheted [...]
“Is Singing Hard The Road To Vocal Ruin?” by Jeannie Deva
Can you use it and not lose it? As you may know from experience, singing hard is a style that often seems accompanied by its own punishment – strain, hoarseness, laryngitis, throat discomfort, loss of upper range, or a frequent need to “clear your throat.” In severe cases, the result can be nodes or polyps, [...]
“What Is An Artist?” by Tom Fair
There are sectors of society in which the artist is a vague and faraway, even fabled figure. It’s all dependent upon the viewpoint.
In the stewpot of my old Bronx neighborhood one looked upon art as something stored in mothballs in museums.
No one ever made anything in real life in our neighborhood: the fathers worked [...]
“Defaulting To The Nearest Cliché” by Harriet Schock
Computer language gives rise to lots of analogies. For instance, I think metaphors are like icons which can be dragged across the screen containing loads of information under them. And I think when we give in to using clichés, it’s like we’re using a default setting in our creative psyches.
Leaving the play, Julius Caesar, I [...]
“Conversation Fencing For Artists” by Mark Mercury
As artists we are continually besieged with all manner of questions–from the probing to the pesky to the pointless, and we are expected to wax eloquent on our style, our methods, our purpose, our influences, and our meaning. You may or may not believe that you should respond to these inquiries, but responding well can [...]
