Mental Sauna Audio Blog

That's right!  My first ever blog in audio format!  Here, I answer some questions I have received on my Mental Sauna CD's.

https://soundcloud.com/#scotthaskin/audio-blog-1-mental-sauna

Thanks for listening!

Scott

The Art of Listening

Preface:

I realize this is a generalization but one I find sadly common these days.

Where we were:

You ask a question.  Someone listens and answers appropriately or does the necessary research to get you a proper answer, laying out time frames along the way of then the will be in touch with updates or a deadline for  final answer.  The person getting the information would follow up on those deadlines or have a good reason for any delays and, eventually, would give you an answer related to your question or refer you to another resource.

Where we seem to be:

It seems like nowadays, halfway through a sentence, the listener is already working on a reply or comment, causing them to miss information that could be pertinent to their response.  They have to get their point across and you have to agree with them or you must be a complete idiot.

♫  “What are words for?  When no one listens anymore…” – Missing Persons  ♫

What happened???

Yeah, what happened?  Why are we so hell bent on being right instead of being open to learning something or seeing the same thing from a different angle?  Why can’t we accept we aren’t always right and don’t always know everything there is to know?

Several recent situations prompted this posting with the most recent happening just today.  I am a big fan of this company and I have multiple accounts with them.  Last year, for a couple weeks, I had been getting emails from them to update the information on one of the accounts.  I thought it was odd and dismissed it as SPAM.  Eventually, I called and asked if all the information was showing on that account and the representative told me it was fine and the emails suddenly stopped.  This was around November.  A few days ago, I began getting the emails about the same account again and I forwarded them to the abuse email address.  The company confirmed they did indeed send it and said it was an annual thing (I guess May is the new November) and is done on all accounts.  I asked a clear question, “Why do I only receive this notice on this account and not my other account?”  Their brilliant response was, “This is an annual review.”  I’ve been with them for five years and this did not answer my question.

A little active listening could have swayed my opinion and may have even led me to appreciate this service and see it as something for my protection.  Instead, I see it as an annoyance.  I went into the account and verified all the information, which hasn’t changed in a year and saved it.  Pointless.  I still have no idea why my other account has been granted immunity from this “yearly” review. 

Often times, I find that when people ask for your opinion, they don’t really want your opinion.  They are looking for validation that what they plan to do is the right thing and that is all they want to hear.  This is easiest to see face to face.  They tell you a situation and ask for your thoughts but, when you answer, they eyes start looking away and they get distracted if you aren’t telling them they are right.

 

The one that really pushed me over the edge was this:  Someone I know was going on vacation and asked me to take care of a few things for them while they were gone.  I knew if I did them, I would save several other people from having to uproot their lives to help.  It was really no big deal for me to pitch in so I agreed.  This person wanted to take me to lunch to thank me but I wasn’t interested in that and politely declined.  Several times.  Finally, I had to be a bit more assertive and told them I felt it didn’t warrant them spending money on me for helping and they countered with, “What if I ran and picked lunch up?”  Um… WHAT?  I said there is no need to spend money on me and they offer an alternative to the delivery method.  Again, I declined but it didn’t end there.  I had to decline an additional two times.

Don’t get me wrong, I appreciated the initial offer.  I am huge on gratitude and, had the shoe been on the other foot, I would have done the same.  However, if I really want to do something to make someone happy, I should be listening to their feedback, perhaps offer a reasonable alternative or wait for a chance to repay the favor in the future.

Had that been the end of it, that would have been bad enough, but it didn’t end there.  When they returned from vacation, they gave me a gift card to the restaurant.  Once again, not at all listening to what I had requested.  At this point, I completely regretted helping them in the first place.  This gift card wasn’t about doing something for me at all.  It was about doing something to make them feel better.  If they truly cared about my wishes, they would have found out what would make me happy and done that.  Or at least listened any of the times I had declined the offer.

Since that day nearly a month ago, they have asked me almost every day if I have used the card.  This includes the night before I went out of town and the morning I returned, when there would have been absolutely no time to go and they were aware of that.

Why am I babbling on about this?  Simple.  This is where we are at and only one strong example of what I have seen a great deal of, especially over the last few years.

These days it seems that listening is an all but forgotten lost art.  I think there is a lot we could learn from others, if we just listen and pay attention.  Well, don't just listen, hear them.

Thanks for reading! 

The Standing Ovation

For the last few years, I have been a huge fan of the city of Las Vegas.  I’m not much of a gambler but I greatly enjoy the atmosphere, the shows and the ability to go to a restaurant at three in the morning.  There is an energy there that isn’t quite like what I have experienced anywhere else I have been.

                The first show I saw was Cirque Du Soleil’s Mystere at Treasure Island.  I think this would have been back in 2003 or 2004.  The show was spectacular and, at the end, there was a huge standing ovation that went on until the performers walked off the stage.  It was well deserved.

                Now, in 2013, I have seen quite a few shows including four more performances of Mystere, several more Cirque Du Soleil shows and others as well.  One thing I have noticed, as the years have gone by, is the reaction of the audience.   The thunderous applause is still often present and a huge inspiration to the cast and crew to know they have done something pleasing.  What has diminished is the standing ovation.  Why?

                The shows haven’t changed.  Even seeing some of them 4 or 5 times, they are still just as spectacular.  The cast and crew are still working just as hard as they did ten years ago.  So, what’s different?  Have we surpassed the point where the entertainment is amazing enough to please the audience?  We still clap and cheer, so it must be enjoyable.  Or is it out of habit?  Or is it because it is expected that we clap?

                What about the standing ovation?  Why does not happen as often.  Sometimes I see the people in the front rows stand up but not the people behind them.  What stops them from following suit?
                I really don’t have an answer on this one but am curious to get your thoughts.  Feel free to share them below or write me privately.
 

As always, thanks for reading!

Scott

Are Contests Helpful?

Greetings everyone!

I have a lot of friends that ask me to vote for them in various contests for modeling, song writing, photography and other professions.  Hopefully, those of you who know me see me as someone that enjoys giving support whenever I can.  In general, I really focus quite a bit on that.

I do have challenges when it comes to contests, though.  First is time.  My time is very limited these days.  Contests are often not a one-time event.  Many require you to vote daily or offer options for several times in one day and it is rare I can make the time to focus on that, as much as I would love to.

Second, some of them require you to sign up to other websites and provide personal information for marketing purposes.  This doesn’t always make sense since the voter usually isn’t in the profession, just supporting a friend or someone they admire.

This brings me to my third, and most important, point.  I find it rare that any of these contests are actually based on the best piece of work.  They are far more often a popularity contest and, even then, don’t show the true outcome of who has the highest support of their friends.  This causes people to not only be discouraged as artists but also thinking their friends don’t care enough to help.  How is this helpful?  Maybe one person has a day where they have nothing to do and they can sit and vote for their friend for hours and others don’t.  Does that mean another person doesn’t have loving, supportive friends?  Of course not.

Let’s say you win.  Ok, great!  But are you truly winning on artistic merit?  As an artist, can you be proud of winning the prize, however big it is?  I don’t think I could.  I would want to win unless I had the piece that people honestly enjoyed the most, not because I spent the most time online voting and bringing my network of friends together.

There can be benefits to winning.  Exposure, being the biggest.  Some contests, especially in song writing, have a panel of judges and you can pay additional funds into the entry fee to have written feedback sent to you.  The downside being you cannot get clarification.  You get what you get.

If you feel like it could be a benefit, you should enter.  Before you pay the entry fee, I would encourage you to think about what you want to get out of it and how it can help/hurt you.  Be real and honest when you make your decision.  If you just want to win a prize, maybe it doesn’t matter so much how you get to the top.  If you are truly an artist and want to win on artistic merit, realize what you are up against in the reality of how the voting is being run.  Find a strategy that you can hold on to and be free of discouragement.  That is more important than the prize, at least to me.

So why did I choose this topic out of all the things swimming around my brain?  Because I have seen too many friends get down on themselves for something that typically has no relevance to their actual talent.  Get honest feedback on your work.  Not from people that will just pump you up and tell you that you are great but from people that are going to be truly honest and will help you grow as an artist.

Thanks for reading!

Finding Creativity

Creativity has never been much of a problem to me.  I know a lot of artists who need to get away from their work and gain fresh perspective or energize their battery and that is fine.  We all work in our own ways.  Personally, I find that most nights, I create until my eyes are ready to close and start again moments after I wake and even in the shower.  I go until the last moment before I have to leave for a meeting or event and start again when I return to the studio.  Of course, I have to cook, clean, write contracts, return calls, texts, emails, and everything that comes with life.  Still, while I am doing many of those things, I am still creating.  I take time away but find that I end up working most of the time I go on “vacation.”  I simply love what I do.

But where does the creativity come from?  What sparks all these ideas?  What is so amazing it drives me to constantly want to develop?  The answer is simple:  Everything.

There is so much beauty and there are so many amazing things, people and feelings that I could live 5 lifetimes and still not create a piece for everything that inspires me.  As of this writing, I have composed over 850 songs and film cues.  Even with all that under my belt, I feel I haven’t even scratched the surface.

Some forms of inspiration:

Nature and things we see:

Being out in the world is an amazing source of inspiration.  Seeing the way a cloud casts a shadow on a hill or the way leaves on a tree are blowing in the breeze can spark all kinds of ideas.  But how about the flow of the breeze?  The smell in the air?  I once composed a piece based on the ripples of the water on a small lake on a windy day.   Beyond nature, how about the things we have built?  Amazing sky scrapers or the way traffic sits in gridlock on a highway are other examples.

People:

People are an endless source of inspiration.  This does not always mean people that do nice things or give of themselves, though those would qualify, but also the mean or insensitive things people do.  The way someone’s eyes light up when you surprise them with something or the way they seem to glide as they walk across a room can be inspiring.  Someone who walks through a doorway and doesn’t hold the door open for the person behind them can also evoke ideas.  How about the things they say and the way those things are said?  What about the way they shake your hand, hug you or gently put their hand on your cheek?

Feelings:

This is a topic I could write pages about.  Feelings are, to me, the most important part of music.  Regardless what your inspiration is, it had to be expressed in a way that the listener can understand the feeling the composer is conveying.  That being said, the topic is almost unimportant.  A song I wrote years ago, which was one of the first of mine that became known more publically, was composed about having the ability to fly.  Even now, when I listen back, I remember the visuals I had in my head of soaring over mountains, rivers and valleys.  I received a great deal of feedback on the song that ranged from being underwater to relaxing on the beach reading a book.  I found this fascinating and realized that it was not important the listener understood my vision but that they all related the music to relaxation.  The feeling transferred to the listener and they saw what their mind created.  This was an important lesson for me and very different from composing music for film where my job is to enhance the emotion on the screen.  Convey the feeling to the listener and don’t tell them what to feel.  Titles play a major role in this as the title can give away the visual but that can also be a fine thing to do.  Personally, I like it either way.

With so many sources for inspiration, it is easy for me to find something to write about.  Typically, I am simply drawn to something enough to take the time to express it musically.  These are just a few ideas that are the most common for me but even the way the lines flow on a cracked sidewalk or the way dust falls from a shelf when cleaning can bring an idea.  Sometimes, though, I tend to get wrapped up in the music and get away from the point and that is a topic I may cover in a future blog.

 

Thank you for reading and I hope you found something helpful in these words.  Have fun with this and create away!

Scott

Talk About Competition

I have been seeing a lot of interesting ads and posts about the current Presidential race.  It could just be the eyes of this humble observer but it seems to me that every 4 years the real contest is called, “Who Can Win Your Vote, By Cutting Down Their Opponent The Most?”  Now, I don’t fully blame the candidates because they hire people to write their speeches, to tell them what the best strategy is and how to attack.  While they do have final say so (or their financial backers do), how would you choose not to listen to the experts you have hired?

All this has led me to remember something I think is a much more respectable approach.  This is a real life experience by a very respectable sales rep I will call Billy (because Billy is the name I use for everything when I can’t think of someone’s name or have not obtained their permission to use it).

Years back, I worked for a store that sold musical instruments, PA gear, keyboards, drums, etc.  I was just about to add an audio compressor to my home studio and I had one picked out from Company A.  Before I had saved up enough to make my purchase, Billy, a sales rep from Company B, arrived to give us training on their compressor.  I was pretty set on what I wanted but I wanted to see what I could learn (also these were mandatory to attend, even if you weren’t directly a sales person, which I wasn’t).

Billy gave a simple yet detailed overview of his product and, at the end, asked for questions.  I asked why I should buy his product over the one from Company A, which seemed to have more features.

This is brilliant!

Billy said he liked the audio compressor from Company A very much.  He praised their features and price point and said it was a great deal.  He proceeded to compare the similarities and differences and then finished with why he liked his product better.  Not only was his product knowledge through the roof but he was very respectful and even encouraging about his competitor’s product.  He never put them down.  He never said they were made with low grade parts or cheap overseas labor.  He never said anything bad at all.  He simply stated what he liked better about what he had to offer.

In essence, he did exactly what the politicians are trying to do but he did it in a completely positive and respectful way.  I really admired that and have always to try to uphold the same ideals when I am asked about music or other composers or products I don’t use or don’t care for.  Sometimes, you just have to call a spade a spade but it can be done with decency and professionalism.  What would it be like for  a politician to do this?  I would love to hear them say, “I like what candidate X had to say about his plan and I think there are a lot of solid ideas there.  What I like about my plan is…”

Thanks for reading!

Scott

The Beginning of a New Adventure

Hello!

I was going to start a simple test post but why do only that?  Why not at least say something?

With my website at www.ScottHaskin.com going down with the GoDaddy crash this morning, I realized just how much I depend on the technology I have access to.  My backup for showcasing music is Soundclick.com but, they are also on GoDaddy servers and, thus, not available.  With the intention of being quite serious, I posted on Facebook that if anyone wanted to hear a demo, let me know and I would email it to them.

What?

My initial reaction was not to have someone come to the studio or send me your address and I will mail you a demo CD, it was to stay needy with the technology and email it.  Of course, I realize I have many friends and co-workers all over the world so email probably is the best option.  Still...  it seemed odd to me I stopped thinking of ways to provide content once I immediately thought of email.

I truly am happy to live in this world of amazing technology but I think it can be a double-edged sword.  Guess I am still a bit old school.  I like it that way.  Yes, I realize the irony of saying this through an internet blog!

Over the coming weeks, months, years...  I will post thoughts, talk about exciting projects whatever comes to mind.  I have had some good suggestions about content including interviews so it will be interesting to see this all develop.

I look forward to sharing with you all!
Scott