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media & media related products mentioned/recommended/enjoyed by DFinery can be found/purchased in the Mediafeast!
TIA (Thanks In Advance) FOR YOUR SUPPORT!

some Refinery fuel...

some Refinery fuel...

20110429

scarcity is the budget...



yesterday afternoon i found out that Black Sheep would be performing later in the evening at a local venue named Cheerleaders. i was kind of surprised. i didn't know this spot hosted shows like this. i wanted to check it out, but i had to consider Tastytreats ft. Pete Rock at Fluid tomorrow night.


having already planned to catch Tastytreats made the decision a little less difficult. the nature of the dilemma reminded me of the definition of economics as it was explained when i took micro at Temple.

as a student at TU i decided that i would take at least 1 business oriented class each semester. econ was 1 of the 1st. it was like learning a foreign language in many ways. i did well enough w/it. 1 of the concepts that stuck w/me from micro was that econ is primarily the study of decision making based on the scarcity of resources.

this would seem to be an everyday thing for most of us, but very few people appear to actually have a solid comprehension/awareness of econ. i've had to deal w/scarcity quite a bit as an independent creative, so it's hard to ignore such things.

as it is, i'm looking forward to Tastytreats...

PEACE
...be calm...

20110425

just to be clear...


i am a hip-hop head. it has never been & never will be a passing phase for me. the culture is a very significant part of my way of expression as a creative.

IMO the commercial aspects of hip-hop are not reflective of many of the cultural aspects that make me proud to support the culture. there is really nothing that i can do about this except not actively feed into it. as w/most things in life, it's an ongoing process.

part of the process is studying history. last week i peeped Deep Crates 1 & 2. the content was not what i expected, but this was a good thing. i learned quite a bit from a number of cats that i have a great respect for. overall, Deep Crates 2 was a little more powerful to me than 1. it was really interesting to see/hear these cats express some of their frustrations as creatives.


the biggest thing i came away w/is the importance of establishing your own creative voice/presence. copping the same gear &/or vinyl as whoever is not going to put you in a position to emulate what they do. that's a mentality i can't relate to for at least 2 reasons:
  1. you're not that person
  2. it's not what you use, it's how you use it
studying the technique of the greats can be helpful, but ultimately they are considered great because their sounds &/or contributions have been unique/innovative in various ways.

being unique/different isn't something i have to work at. it seems to just be a part of how i function. that likely has a lot to do w/why Refinery fuel does not sound like hip-hop. it sounds like what it sounds like. it is heavily influenced by hip-hop, but for the most part, i would not classify it sonically as hip-hop. genre classification is not really something that i focus on as a creator anyway.

what do i focus on?

creating fuel that sounds interesting. improving my ability to create fuel that is sonically proficient. creating fuel that expresses whatever it is the universe presents me w/as inspiration in ways that will inspire others.

i'm not trying to be like this guy or that guy. i'm working to be the best guy that i am & there is always room for improvement. for me it is not enough to just experience the creative energy of others. i have energy of my own that i have to get out. creating + ways to do this is my goal. that's what i have to work at!

it's definitely not easy, but in the end what is easy that is worth having/doing?

PEACE
...be calm...

20110421

the mediafeast...

the effort to maintain the creative flow in the Refinery continues...

you will now find a banner just below the blog title for the mediafeast!

watisit?

the mediafeast is a store where you can find various media that is recommended by the Refinery. the store is powered by Amazon. this means that Amazon handles the transactions & maintains the store stock. the Refinery receives a small percentage of the sales revenue generated by any purchases from the store. the better the store does, the more time i can spend focusing on the creative output of the Refinery.

for the moment there is audio & video media. more will be added as time passes, if the interest is there. [UPDATE] paper media has been added as well.

so, check out the store & cop some media!

as always any support of the Refinery is greatly appreciated...

NOTE: some of the media in the store may be hard to find or rare. the prices on such media may be high, or no price will appear. in any case, please be aware that ALL PRICE POINTS ARE SET BY AMAZON!

PEACE
...be calm...

20110403

back in the lab...


the Refinery system is up. it still needs some work, but at least it is functional enough to perform many of the tasks it was designed to perform.

the last few weeks were spent cleaning & rearranging some of the hardware inside the system to get rid of what appeared to be overheating issues. it's beginning to look like the issues w/the recording function(s) of the audio interface will require that it be replaced. the search for a solution will continue, but being unable to record is not working for where i am creatively. that means some alternatives will be getting explored.

the challenges of making creative ideas physical & productive are not to be minimized.

the work continues...

PEACE
...be calm...