20 Years Ago Today... remember?

Great Sadness.

20 years ago I was a graduate student studying music composition at BGSU in NW Ohio. During the months of April and May, I got very caught up in the events that were then transpiring in Beijing, in particular, Tiananmen Square. How exciting and engaging it was to watch the brightest and bravest of a nation, the majority of whom were young college and graduate students like myself, staging such an incredible, peaceful demonstration for change in their country's government.

Remember, George HW was still president, and that was after 8 years of Reagan. Here in the US, it appeared to me at the time anyhow, that people of my age were only passionate about MBAs – Self- fulfillment, attaining things. And in full disclosure self- fulfillment and attaining things (but not MBAs) were things I sought and still sort of seek, but not something I was/am passionate about.

Every day I tuned-in to watch the demonstrations. It was gripping. A million people! The best and brightest of a generation - and they were going to do it! They were going to bring down the repressive Chinese government. I was excited. I was proud of them. How it impacted my mood – "look at these folks" I thought,  "Look at this movement – growing and evolving on the spot - no central leadership – an organic energy growing and spreading."

T-shirt produced by U-Chicago Chinese Student Union

June 4 through June 8 – what a crushing few days. Literally of course, as the Chinese government chose to wipe out the best and brightest of a generation. “Tank man” – such an inspiring figure – most likely executed with the other what - 3000 killed?

Needless to say I was devastated. That seems like a selfish statement when I look at it typed out on the page - it is.

But I was.

I can go on - I can ask, as many do; what was the ultimate impact those million demonstrators had in their country? Was it worth it? In China it has been written out of their history. The current generation of similar age really knows nothing about it, unless they sneak out on the internets outside of their own country. – sigh.

Back of the same shirt. Thanks to my bro Dave for the shirtAnyhow.

I was at the time writing a piece in support of the demonstrators in China. It was being written for my then girl friend (and now wife) to perform as a solo bassoon piece. Of course as an electronic music geek, I was looking to make it an ‘electronic’ bassoon piece. I was working with IVL pitch rider at the time, and the piece ultimately was developed for the bassoon with IVL pitch rider and digital sampler (quite the piece of gear at the time) with custom sound design and samples. It eventually became a lament. Here is a live recording of the piece perfromed at a festival in 1990. It seems horribly dated when I listen to it now - doesn’t really hold up.

But at the time it was a true expression of my feelings- my grief.

Grief I find I still have today.

Update on Tuesday, June 3, 2014 at 09:56AM by Cheevo

Has it really been 25 years? I still feel the grief and to some extent a sense of frustration. This of course pre-dates the Orange Revolution, Arab Spring etc. A decentralized organic movment for change. Such conviction and a willingness to stand-up for change. But what are the lasting effects - if any? It seems the old system is a gelatenous blob that oozes back in and assimilates and erases the effort.

But there is hope in all of this. A sense that these actions do move the needle.

Entrepreneurship - Guy Kawasaki

I came across this presentation by Guy Kawasaki (by way of Gerd Leonhard's Mediafuturist blog) on entrepreneurship. There are a lot of great info-nuggets here and it is well worth the time to view. The title of his talk is the "Art of the Start" in support of his book by the same name (which I have not read, but have added to my ever growing list).

I have been and am currently involved with a couple of different start-ups and many of his points really ring true for the issues even  "low-dough" or "sweat equity" start-ups face.  Entrepreneurship is a growing buzzword in academia and in the arts; the points made in this presentation apply to entrepreneurial endeavors of all kinds, whether it is a new company, a cross curriculum program or a new arts outreach program. Some of these type of programs are not necessarily after the money in people's pockets, but may be after people's attention, which in their case is the "currency" they are after.

Let me know what you think. 

Blogs - Links etc.

I've put up a page of links to blogs and sites that I look to for info in music, media. technology etc. Definetely a work in progress. Am I missing out on a blog or site? Let me know.

Kicking off 08

Happy New Year.

In the new year I hope to really get this thing going so stay tuned!

 I have a lot going on.

The record label, AMP Recordings that I co-own and run with my dear pal Mark Bunce is up and running now. We face quite a few challenges. First, most of the music what we put out is not written by the performers. You know what this means - Mechanicals! Most of what I do lately seems to be chasing down copyright holders and setting up mechanical releases. This can be as easy as doing some Internet searches and clearing mechanicals on Harry Fox.com with a credit card, or as time consuming as tracking down copyright holders at their home address and setting up deals for mechanical rights. A big challenge is setting up mechanicals for Digital Down Loads. I will post a separate article regarding this in the near future.

Click to read more ...