New Years Update: Nearing the end of the 2nd year, and a contest idea

Time to discuss some things I've been needing to discuss. First off we'd like to say happy new year to those whom are reading this on New Years day, or happy day for those reading and it's not! There appears to be an end to the computer problem in sight! After a few two weeks of headaches and frustrations over having a failed hard drive, I have someone working on it for me. Hopefully within the next few days, I'll be able to finish the final discussion post from my previous series so I can post the finale and move on to the next series. Because of this delay I am starting up a new safety protocol for blog articles via backing up on a DropBox and on SkyDrive.

There is a new look in store for the site as well. Here is the new official logo for ASMTB which was given to us by Clayton Daniels. Link to his deviantArt by clicking here. Go look at his manga stuff, it's really impressive. I love his style and his shading technique for his art. There may be a collaboration with him in the future. ;) There will be a new background up once I finish reinstalling everything back to my computer.

ASMTB's 2014 logo

Speaking of collaborating, we are giving an open invitation to anyone who would like to collaborate with ASMTB staff. We have done it before with Hit Me With Music's Anu Pattabiraman and Uni Bram. We are willing to work around whatever you are wanting to do. For example, Anu and Uni wanted to do a theory lesson, so they posted a sample of their book and a link to their KickStart. If you would like to apply for a collaboration then send us an email through our blog email or  a message to any of our social medias (all links in the header bar).

I have been working on bringing back some old classics for everyone to enjoy along with setting up a new series. The first I am bringing back is the music theory lessons! As the name of the site implies, there needs to be a music theory series in a site founded on music theory. Starting at the end of the month, I am going to begin the music theory lessons again. Things will not be the same as before however because I am going to experiment with types of delivering theory lessons in preparation of some projects in hiding. Secondly, I have decided to bring back the practicing tips series along side Faith. This will not be back anytime soon, but before the end of this season of ASMTB (March 2014) I will have them started back. Lastly, I have decided to try a series on only reviews. Once a month, I am planning on writing reviews on things that either I come across and want to give a shot or you recommend and review them. At this time, I am planning on reviewing CelloBello.com by the end of the month. Soon to be followed by "Hit Me With Music" as a copy was graciously donated to me by Anu Pattabiraman (Just so you know Anu, the reason is because I've decided to save it for a very special post but it'll be here soon! Plus I want to make sure I review it as best I can. ;) ), a review of "The Music of the Temporalist" by Andre Pogoriloffsky along with the Free Metronome and ProMetronome apps by EMUlabs.com. Beyond this however, I am out of ideas. This leads me into an idea that I am going to implement.

For those who have topics, items you want reviewed, or any ideas that you would like to share with us we would like to hear them! We at ASMTB pride ourselves on the quality of material that we post and share with you and in order the ensure this quality, we are asking for feedback. We really appreciate feedback and sharing of this site and our other sites (this page, FB, Twitter, SoundCloud and our affiliated groups' website/socials at Team Young Spark). To help promote this request for feedback and getting to understand our faithful readers, we are going to begin a contest series. The will not be an exact day that it will appear but there will be one a month. The prize will range from contest to contest however for the first one, it will be a $10 iTunes gift cards.  I am open to suggestions for more prizes but there will not be a guarantee I will do it. Official rules for this contest will be later in this month but the question will be to review us. Write a review of this site from whatever angle you want. The only requirement is there should be a minimum of 100 words, but should you feel contempt to write more then go ahead. As I previously stated, we pride ourselves on our quality of work and our easy to understand context with our lesson-based writings. This is also why I took forever to replace our last writers, and why I chose Faith to join the team. You have one month to do start so get to writing!

Along with feedback, it would really be appreciative to us and for the people who are wanting to start advertising that you subscribe to us through Feedburner. It is as simple as clicking on the information box on the top right that asks for an email and entering it. We do not spam your inbox nor do we have news letters. Feedburner is here to keep you up to date with our posts and as a tool for us to use for research purposes. So if you like what you've read (minus this... unless you like this then awesome!) then please enter your email.

Advertising have been a rather popular question related to the site. At this time, we are beginning to start a BETA run for advertising (I'm a musician, not a technician or a magician so I have to learn how to code in the ads so I know the stats and etc.). Once I finish this BETA testing and it appears to work, I will open it up to whomever wants to pay for it. I was hoping on not going to the point of charging however life has come to the point of needing to find a job and since I want to make this succeed, the easiest way is to start ads. I will make sure that there will not be a charge for the information we teach or share. Also, there will be a limit to ads so it will not look like a page of ads from a newspaper. I will limit them to a handful of ads at a time, more than likely three or four ads on a page. Donations, however are always open if you feel moved enough to donate. If anyone is moved enough to donated towards this project (say $20+), then we can set up a thank you wall or work out a way to show our appreciation for your contribution.

Anyways, hopefully there was something that interested you in this update. There will be another one to celebrate the success of two years and the welcoming of our third year! Don't forget to share with social media and follow us via email/feedburner and on the social medias if you have one!

Thoughts, Opinions, Rethinking and Proposals #3: The Arts and Public Education

Hello everyone. After a crazy set of set backs in my personal life (one being the loss of this original article from a hard drive failure), I am attempting to retype the post from how I initially planned on presenting it. Should it come off a little more complicated or not flow as easily as the articles on here normally write for the site, I apologize in advance. Moving back to topic, there has been a lot of debate over the past few years over removing the arts from our public education. Sources such as Americans for the Arts and Center for Artistic Activism have been making stands for defending the arts for some time now but they are known for working with the public system. In my opinion and the opinion of many others, one of the greatest assets to saving the arts is making sure they thrive in public education. We as artists need to make sure that these programs are kept alive and thriving for the future of the arts. The benefits are not only beneficial for the artistic part of the mind, but also for the arithmetic portion. The benefits are also known to benefit students with special needs or a physical disability.

Learning to play an instrument at any level of education is also like learning a new language; having to not only understand it, but translate it with perfect diction and precise pronunciations can be a tall order. The thought process behind seeing the "dots" compared to the closest line of the staff is thought in our minds as if you are understanding "the" starts with the letter "t" and it is the 20th letter of the English alphabet. Understanding how a note with multiple flags eventually line up to equal a full measure is processed just like adding 1/16, 2/8 and 3/16 to equals 1/2. This is not even going into the process behind developing an artistic style, or following a periodic style such as making baroque music sound detached or  It all relies on expanding the mind in several dimensions. This has led into research into the possibility of using music as a form of medical treatment for people who were either born with a physical or mental disability or have acquired one. There are pages upon pages of information into the field of music therapy that I wish I could explain to everyone (maybe one day!) but if this interests you then head to the American Music Therapy Association website and look into it. It ranges from helping students with an Autism Spectrum Disorder to develop emotional stability to assiting in building motor control. It is also able to help release emotions that may be left inside from complicated situations revolving around themselves that they may not be able to express otherwise.

It plays a key role in students who want to belong somewhere. It has been reported that artist of any kind are more likely to gain crucial vocal and communication skills from their art. The Atlantic reported about the benefits to using music as a stimulate for students with ASD who lack in communication skills. The article goes into details of technique called "regulation" or changing the tempo or even the feel of the music to make sure the student grows outside cues and repetition. This is merely scratching the surface of this field and it's implications but there is a pattern I'm attempting to create.

Drawing this article back towards a well rounded education, we should look towards research into SAT students. Research posted by Americans for the Arts in 2010 shows arts students scored 91.6 points higher on their SAT compared to non-arts related students between 1999 and 2009. The same group has publicized more information showing that studying an art for four or more years can increase scores by 100 points.

Before I leave this conversation to the comments section of this post, the Facebook page or the Twitter page let me leave you with these 11 facts about the arts as posted by Do Something .Org that I found interesting in my research. Next week will be the last of this series followed by a summary. There will be a surprised with this one, so stay tuned! Also for New Years Day, I will release a special post for those whom want to know the plans of the blog. I have a few announcements I am ready to publicize that I think will bring a new chapter to ASMTB.