I decided to share a snippet from one of my premium courses "Heart of Sound" with you guys. In this presentation, I dove into something a little different: the deeper meaning of music and why it matters beyond just techniques and career aspirations. We so often get caught up in the technical side of music production, but if we lose sight of why we create, the journey can feel meaningless. So here is this slightly tongue-in-cheek but thought-provoking take on the origins, purpose, and mystical force behind music itself. From the healing power of sound to the connection between rhythm and emotion, we’ll explore how music has evolved into something we think we understand - but, in reality, has existed long before us and will continue long after. This presentation isn’t about gear or mix-downs or whatever music production mumbo jumbo I usually talk about. Instead it’s about remembering the magic, intention, and purpose behind every note we play. Because at the end of the day, whether you're aiming for a career in music or just creating for the love of it, staying connected to why we make music is the real key to fulfillment. Sit back and enjoy this playful journey through the nature of music, the forces that shape it, and the role we all play as creators in this timeless craft. How do YOU experience music?

It's not about tools and I don't want to spread the GAS disease, but sometimes a good deal comes around that might not repeat. The best deals are freebies, so feel free to post about some nice free tools too.

We hear it everywhere these days: “Just love yourself.” It’s become a mantra, a feel-good slogan that promises to fix everything from self-doubt to depression. But what if I told you that this relentless pursuit of self-love is actually holding you back? The problem with the way we’re taught to “love ourselves” is that it often turns into another reason to reject the parts of us we find difficult to accept. We think, “If I could just love myself more, I wouldn’t feel so anxious, so insecure, so… broken.” And so we plaster on positivity, force smiles, and try to smooth over the rough edges, thinking we’re doing the work. But what we’re really doing is avoiding our shadows - those messy, raw, uncomfortable parts that don’t fit neatly into the narrative of self-love. True growth doesn’t come from pretending to love every part of ourselves. It comes from turning toward the darkness, those unlovable bits we’re so eager to hide away. It’s about staring our fears, insecurities, and past mistakes in the face and saying, “I see you. I’m not going to run away.” Real self-love includes the hard stuff. It’s messy and painful. It means acknowledging the parts of yourself that you’d rather not look at - the jealousy, the anger, the moments you’ve let yourself and others down. It’s accepting that you’re a complex, imperfect being, and that those imperfections don’t make you less worthy. They make you human. When you stop trying so hard to love yourself and start accepting yourself - including all the parts you’d rather reject - that’s when real love has a chance to grow. It’s not about turning darkness into light; it’s about holding them both at once, with no need to change what is. So, if you’ve been struggling to “love yourself,” try a different approach. Sit with your shadows. Invite them in. Listen to what they have to say. They aren’t here to destroy you. They’re here to teach you, to show you where you’re still holding back, where you’re still trying to be something you’re not.

Recently, I started using Notion to keep track of all the ideas, tutorials, videos, learning material that I come across the web. I categorize them (workflow, mixing, sampling etc) so that when I run out of ideas I have a sort of bible I can go back to. Wondering if you use anything similar or what’s your approach?

Since I'm about to do it for my album project, I thought I'd ask the (few?) folks who use field recordings how they go through them to find the gold bits to use in their tracks. Software? Workflow? Mindset? I don't have too much of an approach. I tend to use Izotope RX to go through files. I do iterative listening of my files to keep narrowing down files to go through--less skipping around with each listen. I look at the waveforms and spectrograms to see if there are prominent features or patterns. I record a lot of spoken-word, which I usually transcribe in Descript. This is handy if there is a tiny amount of talking in long recordings (I've done multi-hour recordings of bike tours, for example).