The Global Z Recording Project
We give peace a chance through music.
This episode of From A To Global Z is a timely reflection on a dozen scholarly studies that speak to how music making can be utilized to make peace and unify people of difference. ‘Mic Talk Time’ reviews the Audio-Technica ATM230, a hypercardioid dynamic mic designed for drums and instruments with low frequencies.
Funding has been provided to The Global Z Recording Project from Maryland Humanities and the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) as part of the 2020 Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act of 2020. We are extremely grateful for their contribution which will be applied toward general operational expenses.
Episode 13 of From A To Global Z features the Native American Sharing Circle – a communication concept that has been practiced by North American Indigenous people for many years. It promotes honesty, social learning, civility, a willingness to hear a different point of view, builds a sense of community, and is an exercise in respect. While originally designed for face-to-face settings, we apply it toward our online collaboration, community-building learning environment. For ‘Mic Talk Time,’ we give a listen to a pair of Cascade M39 small condenser mics set up using a popular XY stereo technique.
With the assistance of the University of New Mexico’s Organization, Information, and Learning Sciences program, we successfully conducted and completed an Indigenous student-musician focus group that collected data relevant to the design, experience, and content we have developed in support of our up-coming Phase II North American Indigenous Music Project, which is scheduled to launch fall 2020.
Many thanks to the student participants, their parents, the Native American Community Academy and Mr. Chuck Charleston, UNM OILS (Dr. Damien Sanchez), UNM doctoral student Ms. Monica Dorame, our awesome sponsor Sweetwater, and all of our supporting volunteers that made the focus group a huge success!
Please watch our website for information about our Phase II Project.
Audiomovers is made up of a team of elite audio software developers and engineers.
https://audiomovers.com
They have developed LISTENTO – a plug-in that allows users to stream, listen, and record high quality, low latency audio from your DAW over web browsers. It is particularly useful to Global Z, as we are designed to conduct all of our audio production projects in realtime, around the world, via Internet-based technologies. We are extremely excited to have Audiomovers behind Global Z as we move closer to our Phase II North American Indigenous Music Project launch.
Episode 12 of From A To Global Z discusses another timely subject, how to stay socially connected through webcams. Actually, it is more of a reflection as to when you might not want to communicate with webcams. Communicating with webcams is not as universally accepted as you might think. We explore some of the scholarly research behind this topic and give you some important information to think about regarding how, when or if you should use webcams to stay connected. Mic Talk Time features the discontinued Audio-Technica AT2020 USB, a popular mic that has been replaced by its cousin, the AT2020+.
https://youtu.be/NpzZNTy-K4k
Members of the multi-NAMMY award winning blues rock band Blue Mount Tribe is graciously stepping in to assist us as beta testers. The four members of this rockin band will take a look at our Phase II North American Indigenous Music Project’s online content, learning and collaboration experience and give us their thoughts on what is working and where there might be opportunities for improvement.
Please check out their recent song, ‘Children On the Rez,‘ which was written to bring attention to the tragic suicide rate of Native American youth who live on Reservations.
Greetings and good wishes, friends. First and foremost, I hope you and your loved ones are staying well! I have been on this planet for a few decades, and have never seen anything like the psychological upheaval we as human beings are faced with as a result of COVID-19.
I do find it interesting. The virus knows no boundaries. It doesn’t matter what religion you practice, what your political leanings are, your gender affiliation, or what your cultural heritage is. The virus is not prejudice. It is a reminder that we are all inter-connected and dependent on being mindful, respectful, and kind to each other.
It is kind of nuts, but Global Z is uniquely qualified to conduct business as usual. To a degree. We are designed to do practically everything virtually, so the need to work from home has limited impact on our ability to progress with our mission. However, as discussed in a recent episode of From A To Global Z, we are dependent on the contributions of others.
There are three main things we need to wrap up this Spring. First, we are working with the fine folks at the University of New Mexico’ Organization, Information and Learning Sciences to conduct a couple of focus groups for us. We were hoping to conduct two focus groups with the assistance of Indigenous student musicians. With many schools across the country under precautionary orders to close, this is having an impact on our ability to progress with the focus groups. Certainly this is no fault of the wonderful team at UNM OILS, and we truly appreciate their contributions.
Next, the George Mason University School of Law’s Arts and Entertainment Clinic has had a team of student attorneys working diligently to provide us with music industry-related contracts for use in our Phase II project. I have spoken with their program Director, and they are on schedule to deliver the agreements by end of the semester.
Lastly, I have been busy applying for foundation grants to fund Phase II. We have yet to meet our budget, and I am unsure how COVID will impact the ability of foundations to conduct business as usual, but I will continue to crank out the applications to try and get us funded, up and running by Fall 2020.
In the meantime, in the words of Bill and Ted, be excellent to each other. I wish you the best of health, peace and happiness.
I can’t help myself. Whenever I find myself in times that strain the character of human kind, I default to one profound statement – “Be excellent to each other.” Under stress, it can be a challenge. Now, for those of you who aren’t familiar with this phrase, it was one of the take-away lessons teed up by the comedy classic, “Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure.” I know the movie is a bit hokey. It’s a totally goofy comedy, but man, they nailed it. Please honor our first responders, healthcare providers, and others who put themselves on the front-line as we cope with COVID-19. Stay home as much as possible. Let’s do our best to be respectful and kind. In a nutshell, please be excellent to each other.
There are times – such as these- when it might be extremely beneficial to be able to effectively host music lessons virtually. Having this capability expands opportunities to stay connected with current students, and extends your reach for your ability to work with other student musicians on a global scale. This episode explains the design processes involved and defines the technical stuff you need to have in place to do just that. For ‘Mic Talk Time,’ the CAD 2600GXL USB mic is taken for a spin.