"As He Himself Puts it" Post

The American Music Therapy Association states that, "Music Therapy is an established health profession in which music is used within a therapeutic relationship to address physical, emotional, cognitive, and social needs of individuals." They continue on and explain how exactly a music therapist accomplishes their work, "After assessing the strengths and needs of each client, the qualified music therapist provides the indicated treatment." These types of doctors believe that by guiding their clients to create, dance to, or simply listen to different kinds of music, an outlet is created or rather, "Avenues of communication" for patients to express their feelings, feelings that may be difficult to express in words. I believe it's safe to say everyone has had that artist or song that got them through a hard phase of their life, or even just a hard day. It's for that reason I believe music therapy is such a promising new form of medicine. It's something we can all relate to no matter where we're from or what we're going through.

Ernie Ball Super Slinky Cobalts, a Reviting Review

When one becomes a musician of a string bearing instrument they often pick the least expensive strings at there local string dealer to start them off. Eventually those strings go bad and one will return to the store and pick up the same set. This continues on for sometime, and one slips into a string comfort zone. "I know these strings, they're only a few dollars, I've always used these, yep that'll do, good enough," they will think. I know that string comfort zone, I have walked upon it's beaten path, and now I'm glad to say I have strayed away! They future is here my friends, and it's a beautiful thing. Relax for a moment while I change your life. I read an article where a comparison was made between your classic Ernie Ball Super Slinky Electric guitar strings and Super Slinky Ernie Ball Cobalt guitar strings, a.k.a the future to revolutionizing your shredding. The difference between the two sets of strings is simple yet spectacular. The secret ingredient, cobalt, reacts swimmingly with the pickups on the guitar creating increased out put and clarity. In the article the author compares the two strings using a PRS McCarty and a Marshall JVM410C. The author also tested them using hum bucking pickups and then split coil to simulate a single coil sound to hear the results of the strings using different pickups. Right away the Cobalt's are praised by the author as he explains what he observes, "Starting with a very clean tone, the difference was noticeable, both in touch sensitivity and volume." They continue on to say how, with the single coil pickups in particular, the sound had noticeably more depth and higher output. The difference was the same with hum bucking pickups. In the article it also explains how when the gain was increased on the amplifier the touch sensitivity of the strings was less so but the clarity was still better then when the regular super slinkys were used. I did this same experiment, and my results were the same. With increased gain on my amp the Super Slinkys without the cobalt tend to lose their clarity. This becomes a problem especially when playing with a band and adding drums to the mix. My riffs and chords just stood out with the cobalt's. The one thing that turns people away from the cobalt's, the people in the string comfort zone, is the price. The regular slinkys are only $3.99 while the cobalt's are $9.99. Often many musicians don't think they are worth the try for nearly ten dollars. Often I hear, working at a music store, that some people think they have a low end guitar therefore they really only need the lower end strings. To that I would like to bring up that high end strings can make a lower end guitar sound like a dream.  All in all if your a fan of playing rock and roll or metal music there's no excuse to not try the Ernie Ball Cobalt's. Shell out the few extra dollars, shred on, and don't sacrifice clarity.

Gibson v.s Fender

Gibson and Fender, two legendary brands in the musical world, and both without doubt bring something huge to the table. Which one is better? Any musician you talk to will probably have different reasoning to whom in their opinion is best. I myself have played guitar for ten years and own a Fender Stratocaster. I've never had enough mullah to afford a Gibson so that in a sense could make me slightly biased, but I have had the opportunity to play one from time to time and have done my research on just what makes a Gibson a Gibson, and what makes certain players prefer them over brands such as Fender. A lot of people like to say that it depends on what kind of a player you are, your style of playing, the kind of music you enjoy, ect. The reason this is bought up has to do with the pickups on the guitar. Traditionally Fenders come with single coil pickups, this gives them a trebly, bright tone. Gibsons typically come with humbucking pickups, these pickups result in a more mellow tone. So people who preferred bright tones in there music would choose Fender and people who preferred mellow tones would choose Gibson. Now a days this doesn't matter as much and the reason for that is that many Fenders are made with humbuckers now. I like the mellow tone so I bought a Fender with humbuckers and didn't have to break the bank to get a Gibson. This is why I think Fender is better than Gibson there are more options. There are more options for the common man, the middle class citizen who doesn't have a grand or two to drop on a Gibson. There are many affordable options through Fender, such as the Squire and Squire Bullets, that come in different styles and different pickup options. On certain Fenders there may be two single coil pickups and a humbucker in which you can switch in between them. Wow, aren't options wonderful? Yes they are. Another thing to ponder when debating Fender or Gibson is the type of wood used for the body of the guitar. Gibsons traditionally are made with mahogany or maple while Fender's most popular choice is ash or alder. Mahogany results in a more smooth open sound while maple will be more crisp and precise. Ash tends to be more twangy and bright sounding. This is something to consider but shouldn't be the largest deciding factor because while these are the most popular woods chosen by brand they are not the only woods ever used.

Sources:
ultimate-guitar.com/Gibson-vs-Fender
gear-vault.com/Gibson-vs-Fender

Response to "A Lifetime of Student Debt? Not likely." Article

In the lengthy Article, "A Lifetime of Student Debt? Not likely." Robin Wilson provides numerous examples of how this idea of student debt is not as bad as we think it is. For the first half of the article I couldn't concentrate because I was thinking about how Robin Wilson's name reminded me of Robin Williams.  Then I was thinking about Aladin and how great he was as a genie, then I thought of all the things I would do if I had a genie, like pay for my college tuition,  and then finally I was thinking about student debt. This article was refreshing because I to, like Mr. Wilson, believe the world has instilled this large fear in students that if they go to get the education they want, they will be paying for it the rest of their life. While this may be so and a student may be paying month after month for many years it doesn't change the fact that going to college is a great investment. You buy a house and pay monthly and that likewise is a great investment. As with anything there will always be the good stories and the bad. Often we hear a bad story about how someone had massive student debt and it will distract us from the good stories of how a student was able to get the education they desired and have manageable payments. A quote that had me quietly applause in my head was said by Patrick M. Callan and he said, "The only thing worse than borrowing, is not borrowing and not going to college at all."  Well spoken Mr. Callan I couldn't agree more. That would be equivalent to saying, "Oh I'm going to live in this box because to get a house I would have to borrow and then I could be in debt." A box is no investment to a better life, a house is. No college equals no investment to a better life, it's an investment in a less than bright future because you were afraid of possible debt. We shouldn't live in this fear because another great point that Wilson brings up is that many of the student loans have very low interest rates. In that case it's borrowing at a low cost and investing in a better future for yourself.