Jarome Matthew

Author: jarome

  • A new life is stirring within all the peoples of the earth

    A new life is, in this age, stirring within all the peoples of the earth; and yet none hath discovered its cause or perceived its motive. Consider the peoples of the West. Witness how, in their pursuit of that which is vain and trivial, they have sacrificed, and are still sacrificing, countless lives for the sake of its establishment and promotion. The peoples of Persia, on the other hand, though the repository of a perspicuous and luminous Revelation, the glory of whose loftiness and renown hath encompassed the whole earth, are dispirited and sunk in deep lethargy.

    O friends! Be not careless of the virtues with which ye have been endowed, neither be neglectful of your high destiny. Suffer not your labors to be wasted through the vain imaginations which certain hearts have devised. Ye are the stars of the heaven of understanding, the breeze that stirreth at the break of day, the soft-flowing waters upon which must depend the very life of all men, the letters inscribed upon His sacred scroll. With the utmost unity, and in a spirit of perfect fellowship, exert yourselves, that ye may be enabled to achieve that which beseemeth this Day of God. Verily I say, strife and dissension, and whatsoever the mind of man abhorreth are entirely unworthy of his station.

    – Gleanings From the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh, Pages 195-197

  • Adoption denied due to membership in Baha’i faith

    Today, on the inauguration of Baha’i Rights Day, most people are posting about the persecution of Baha’is in Iran. But persecution of Baha’is is certainly not limited to Iran.

    Over a month ago, I posted about how we were facing discrimination in adopting a Korean baby due to our being members of the Baha’i faith.

    Despite a personal visit to the Government run agency in Korea by the top administration of the Baha’i faith in Korea, which revealed significant ignorance of the faith, the agency returned our dossier (all our application papers and funds) last week and sent our local agency a letter claiming the refusal of the adoption.
    The fact that they have returned all our application papers last week and have made a final decision so quickly shows they are no longer willing to discuss this case, and it is now officially closed, as nothing can be done without those papers.

    This not only affects our adoption, and any Korean Baha’is that may want to adopt in that country, but people of many other faiths adopting from other countries as well. The fact that the limited resources of the international Baha’i community are focused on the possible execution of 7 Baha’is arrested in Iran for their beliefs makes our case insignificant at the moment.

    All I want to see is some justice in this case, especially considering that the agency could have informed us 6 months before, and not proposed a child to us if they had issues with our beleifs. The failure on their part to do this would no doubt guarantee successful results if pursued legally.

    However we live in a world where injustice prevails and is the standard. Here we are, trying to adopt a baby from 4 different countries for over 5 years now, and despite being ideal candidates and fulfilling all legal, health, psychological, financial, and social requirements one needs to adopt, nationalism of countries and the lack of value for children in our society has left us unsuccessful.
    Meanwhile, Mothers abort babies every day, have children that they don’t want, and abuse them at will with little consequences.

    If anything, our world has little respect for children, and is becoming more complacent and less tolerant of others beliefs than ever. The only recourse is to spread information of this case, and others far and wide so that people of faith are aware and can show the world that this is actually NOT acceptable, and we won’t be complacent when discriminated against.

  • Branford Marsalis on the state of musicians

    “All my students are really interested in hearing is how right they are and how good they are, the same mentality that basically forces Harvard to give out B’s to people that don’t deserve them out of the fear that they’ll go to other schools that will give them B’s and those schools will make the money.
    We live in a country that seems to be in this massive state of delusion, where the idea of what you are is more important than you actually being that.
    All they want to hear is how good they are and how talented they are, and most of them aren’t really willing to work to the degree to live up to that.

    Today, Stevie Wonder would not get a shot (in the music industry)”

    – Jazz legend Branford Marsalis, from the documentary film, ‘Before Music Dies’

    Check out the film, it’s a great, honest look at the music industry today.


    Before Music Dies documentary

    Thanks Sarah Lynn for sharing this film with me.

  • Is professionally produced music important anymore?

    I’ve had no problem getting work as a music producer, even in a recession. I’m working on 6 albums and keep getting calls for more, but then I’m cheap as far as many music producers go with my experience. Most of my clients hire me because I also compose and engineer in my own studio, so I’m a one stop shop.

    This regular work has in no way filled me with delusions about the importance of professionally produced music to the general public though. I have found myself asking more and more, what is the point of what I do for artists anymore? Is there a future in professionally produced music? Do the majority of people care?

    Before you scoff at this question, peruse these valid issues that have partially led to it, such as:

    • The decline of record labels and shift of the industry into the hands of DIY artists with limited budgets
    • The proliferation of affordable music production equipment and software allowing artists to Do It Themselves at home
    • The popularity of live, reality ‘Idol’ type music shows and Youtube
    • The proliferation of poor quality music formats like 128 kb MP3 files
    • The popularity of poor quality music playback devices like iPods with headphones
    • The question of the value of music in a world of free downloads

    One could argue that people are used to professionally produced music, and so they will still demand it, despite the shrinking budgets for artists and music lovers. There is no question that the world is shifting towards enjoying more music than ever before, and that music is increasing in popularity.

    But my most significant argument for the rapid decline in value for the music producer is, given the above, can the average person even tell the difference between music with no producer and that which is professionally produced? Will they be disappointed with acoustic versions of songs?

    Tests I’ve done have proven the answer is no. Most listeners primarily want to hear the singers voice, and the melodies sung with simple instrumentation, and everything else seems superfluous.

    I think a producer contributes significantly not just to the quality of sound of the music, but to:

    • The performance, emotion, and confidence of the performers
    • The arrangement of the song, including lyric phrasing and song structure
    • The melodies and musical instrumentation of the song
    • The accuracy of pitch and timing and sonic quality of the recorded parts
    • The range of tone across the frequency spectrum of the music
    • The mood, feeling and energy of the song

    But of course, I’m biased! And as illustrated, these are decreasing in importance to the general listener.
    In industries like film, TV, and advertising, these elements have become standard, so there is no question that they will require professionally produced music.
    For music in general though, the question remains, given it is proven most people can’t hear the difference, is there a future for the professional music producer?
    Will a shift in the importance of the arts and education in society affect the demand for musical perfection only an experienced producer can provide?

    recording in bedroom

  • My current fave song: ‘I Remember’ – Deadmau5

    I’ve added my latest favorite song to the player on the right sidebar of my blog.

    This song just send shivers down my spine, the ultimate sign of a great track for me.
    Something about the chord progression and dreamy vocals…

    For those who may not know, Canadian producer/composer Deadmau5 (‘Deadmouse’) released a song with a similar melody years ago called ‘I Forget’, possibly the inspiration for this song…

  • Update on Korea adoption case

    I wanted to express my appreciation and gratitude for all the messages and support we have received since announcing the challenges as Baha’is we’ve been facing in adopting a baby.

    Your prayers and positive energy have been effective though!

    2 Baha’is on the National Spiritual Assembly of Korea visited the agency we’re dealing with there soon after hearing about our case without an appointment.

    The person who is in charge of our case was not in the office because of her business travel overseas for the two weeks.
    Instead they met staff and asked the reason why they decided to deny our adoption based on our beliefs.
    As we expected the main reason was incorrect information they had obtained from the internet and their friends.

    The Baha’is explained them about the Faith and emphasized that it was quite different than what they are thinking of, and they politely requested that they reconsider the decision again.

    She said that she would read the materials about the Faith in Korean they brought, and take the proper measure once the person handling our case returns.

    They will be following up soon, So keep those prayers and positive energy coming!

    It’s impressive and moving how quickly and sincerely Baha’is come together to assist others when needed.

    Note: Please do not post any information about this elsewhere for the next few weeks, we don’t want to jeapordize this delicate situation until it is resolved. Thank you for understanding.

  • Facing discrimination because I’m a Baha’i

    Recently, after 4 years of trying internationally, we were ecstatic to receive a proposal to adopt a baby boy from Korea in April.
    We were shocked to hear yesterday that the government adoption agency in Korea, Social Welfare Society, has suddenly refused our adoption based on our membership to the Baha’i faith. The adoption would have completed sometime in August.

    I never thought we would have to deal with discrimination based on our beliefs, which is unacceptable for many reasons, one being that in the long list of requirements to adopt from Korea, there was no mention of any religious restrictions. In addition, if there were concerns, these could have been brought up early in the process after Korea received our initial information rather than now, near the completion, after we have received detailed information on the baby and made significant time, financial, and emotional investment.
    Add to this the fact that Baha’is are not only one of the most gentle and agreeable and nonthreatening people on the planet, but also have a deep respect and high regard for children and their education and upbringing.

    Our agency says this is the most shocking thing they’ve encountered in their many years pioneering international adoption.

    We are already in touch with the highest Baha’i administration in Korea. Rest assured, we will be taking steps to see justice is done.

  • Terminator: Salvation brilliant sound design & visuals

    I really don’t know why so many people are giving this film such bad press. I was totally blown away by it after seeing it about a week ago.

    As a sound designer, one of the elements that stood out for me was the incredible sound design by Cameron Frankley that breathed new life into the machines that I grew to love since the original film by James Cameron. The sound in this film penetrated right into your gut and created such intimidation for an evolved new side to the machines that have taken over the world, as they should now that we are in the future, right in the middle of the apocalyptic battle that we had only seen glimpses of in the past.
    As you’ll hear in the intro on the main website, when many of the larger machines commence their destruction of the humans, a threat to their existence, there is this new buzz of electrical energy surging that is perfect to convey just how much trouble your in when they appear! It is really only appreciated properly in a good theatre [I saw it in the best one in Vancouver].

    The look of this film was also gorgeous, shot on a special never before used film stock to give it this bleak apocalyptic feel. The Director apparently also gave the cast and crew a copy of the famous “Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep” That inspired Blade Runner to give them an idea of the kind of world he wanted to create. And he succeeded in every way in doing that in my opinion.
    We have to give credit to The Matrix series for doing this so well first…

    But a good film requires more than just ear and eye candy, and as a fan of the series, I felt the film did a great job of bringing the story into the future in an exciting way that really impressed me.

    So don’t listen to the hype, and see it in the theatre! It’s my fave of the year so far, even beating out Star Trek which I am usually an even bigger fan of…

  • My latest favorite track: So Human – Lady Sovereign

    Bought a ton of new music lately that i’ve been meaning to for some time now. Haven’t listened to it all yet, but from what I’ve heard, this is my current fave: So Human from Brit rapper Lady Sovereign‘s second album

    Derived from The Cure’s brilliant track ‘Close To Me’, the idea for this track shouldn’t work, but somehow it does.

    You can check it out on my ‘Fave Tunes’ player on the right of my blog —–>

    Rapper Lady Sovereign, singing! Who woulda guessed? Luv ya Lady Sovereign!
    And good on ya for ditching your lame record label.

  • New trance/pop production: I know I Should Run

    I’ve been working on a new trance track for songwriter Deborah Caldwell over the last few months called ‘I Know I Should Run’. It’s about when your madly in love with someone who is totally wrong for you to be involved with and you know it.

    Deborah wrote and recorded the song some time ago but wasn’t happy with the style and feel of the song. I redid all the music as a more trance pop dance style at her request, but so that didn’t distract from the well written song, while trying also to enhance the emotional impact of not only the music, but the vocals. Hopefully you’ll feel we achieved that. My role for the track was basically arranging, programming bed tracks, music production, audio engineering and mixing/mastering. I assisted with some minor melody changes as well in some key parts of the song for more emotional impact.

    We auditioned a lot of singers to get the right performance and feel for this song, and decided on the talented Isreali singer, Noya. She did a great job of conveying the emotion and was a total pro to work with.
    We had a specific sound in mind for the vocals and despite this being different to her typical jazzy style, she gave us exactly what we wanted.

    The song isn’t really written specifically to sell to a ‘trance music’ audience, but is more to license in Film, TV, and Ads, or to be covered by another artist.
    We’re also working on a slower acoustic version.

    You can listen here.

    Let me know what you think!