Blog | davidsmith208

The Lion and the Hare

The story you’re reading in Masnavi (often translated “The Lion and the Hare”) is one of the most famous teaching stories of Jalāl al-Dīn Rumi. It appears in Book I and continues for many verses because Rumi keeps pausing the story to give spiritual commentary. Below is a concise summary of the section you mentioned (roughly the parts around lines ~390–495) including the themes you listed. 1. The situation: the lion and the animals A powerful lion terrorizes all the animals o

davidsmith208

Mar 132 min read

Post tennis stretch

The 30-second calf and hip reset many tennis players use is basically a two-part stretch that releases the calf–Achilles chain and the hip flexors. Those two areas get tight from constant sprinting, stopping, and lunging on court. 🎾 It only takes about 30 seconds each side. 1️⃣ The calf reset (Achilles / calf stretch) Use a wall, fence, or bench. This is essentially the classic Gastrocnemius stretch. How to do it Place both hands on a wall or fence. Step one leg back. Keep t

davidsmith208

Mar 122 min read

Legs up the wall

A very simple recovery trick many tennis players use is “legs-up-the-wall” for a few minutes after play. It’s surprisingly effective and takes almost no effort. 🧘‍♂️ The position is essentially the yoga pose Viparita Karani. How to do it Lie on your back near a wall or bench. Raise your legs straight up so they rest vertically against the wall. Relax your arms at your sides. Stay there 3–5 minutes breathing slowly. Wall │ │ legs │ ↑ ↑ │ ↑ ↑ └───body lying on floor Why

davidsmith208

Mar 121 min read

Yamaha Reface CP

The tiny keyboard many musicians say feels closest to a real instrument (despite being very small) is the Yamaha Reface series. The reason is its high-quality mini keybed — Yamaha designed it to feel much more like a real keyboard than typical “toy-like” mini controllers. The famous small keyboard with the best key feel Yamaha Reface CP Why players love it: 37 mini keys (almost 3 octaves) unusually solid key travel excellent velocity response very sturdy key mechanism battery

davidsmith208

Mar 122 min read

Arturia keystep 37

Yes — the “unusual” keyboard size I mentioned is 32–37 keys. Many experienced synth players prefer this size because it’s still portable but much easier to play real music than a 25-key keyboard. Let me show you the two that people talk about the most. 1️⃣ The unusual “32-key” type A classic example is the 32-key portable controller. M‑Audio Keystation Mini 32 MK3 Why some players like 32 keys: you get almost three octaves enough space for left-hand bass + right-hand melody s

davidsmith208

Mar 122 min read

Small Midi keyboard

You are asking two very good strategic questions about building a small music system: 1️⃣ Can another keyboard brand give me more software? 2️⃣ Do I need Bluetooth if my MacBook only has two USB-C ports? Let’s look at both. 1. Yes — different keyboards often include different software bundles This is actually one reason some musicians buy multiple brands. Example controllers Arturia (your current ecosystem) If you bought Arturia MiniLab 3 MIDI Controller you usually get: Anal

davidsmith208

Mar 122 min read

String Quartet dream

That’s a fascinating musical image your mind produced. What you described — four voices moving independently in steady rhythm — fits very naturally with the idea of a string quartet texture or a sequencer-like contrapuntal pattern. 🎼 Why your mind may have chosen four voices Four independent lines is one of the most stable textures in Western music. A classic string quartet has exactly four voices: First violin – often the highest melodic line Second violin – inner counterpo

davidsmith208

Mar 112 min read

Synthesizer class

That dream has a very interesting structure because it looks less like a random dream and more like a problem-solving or integration dream. These often happen when the brain is organizing ideas you’ve been thinking about recently. 🧠🎶 You’ve recently been exploring things like: synthesizer patches rhythm structures (like 7/8 in Tom Sawyer) music production tools and MIDI gear the possibility of AI generating musical notation So your brain likely used sleep to simulate a conv

davidsmith208

Mar 112 min read

Banana - Tennis - Plaintain

What you ate in the photo looks like a ripe yellow plantain (plátano maduro) that has been air-fried. That is actually a very good carbohydrate source, especially for someone doing tennis and pickleball like you. 🍌 Let’s compare it to a normal banana. Nutrition comparison (per ~100 g) Banana Plantain Calories ~89 ~116–122 Carbohydrates ~23 g ~31 g Fiber ~2–3 g ~2 g Potassium ~358 mg ~465 mg Plantains have about 30–35% more carbohydrates than bananas, mostly from starch. They

davidsmith208

Mar 112 min read

Fat stacked oscillators

The famous synth sound in Tom Sawyer by Rush comes from an analog synth patch played by Geddy Lee. It was created on an Oberheim OB-X (later sometimes OB-Xa live). The sound is often called a sync-lead or OB brass lead. The “Tom Sawyer” Synth Patch Here are the basic ingredients of the patch. Oscillators Two oscillators slightly detuned. Oscillator 1: Sawtooth Oscillator 2: Sawtooth (slightly detuned) Detuning creates the thick analog sound. Filter A key part of the tone. Low

davidsmith208

Mar 102 min read

Quantize and clean it

Automatic scores with Ai Even in Garage Band AI is already beginning to do this, but it is not yet perfectly reliable for complex parts like the synth solo in Tom Sawyer by Rush. However, the technology is advancing quickly. Let’s look at where things stand. 1. What AI can already do (2026) AI systems can already perform automatic music transcription — turning audio into notes or MIDI. Some tools that musicians use now include: AnthemScore – converts recordings into sheet mus

davidsmith208

Mar 102 min read

7/8 time Rush

Yes — Rush loved unusual time signatures, and that’s a big reason their music feels intellectually exciting to play. Both Tom Sawyer and Subdivisions use rhythmic tricks that most rock bands avoid. Rhythm in “Tom Sawyer” Most of the song is in 4/4 time, but Rush adds subtle rhythmic tension. Main groove The basic pulse is: 4/4 rock time Count it like: 1 – 2 – 3 – 4 But the synthesizer and guitar accents often land between the beats, creating a syncopated feel. Example of the

davidsmith208

Mar 102 min read

Samvega

Yes, those are important Sanskrit terms, and the aphorism you mention from the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali (I.21) is very compact but philosophically rich. The sutra reads roughly: tīvra-saṁvegānām āsannaḥ “For those whose zeal or urgency is intense, samadhi is near.” Let’s look at the two words you mentioned. 1. saṁvega (संवेग) saṁvega is a powerful word in Sanskrit spiritual literature. Basic components sam = together, completely, intensely vega = speed, force, impulse, surge

davidsmith208

Mar 102 min read

You can meditate in the evening

At a time that is before you can make an excuse. Like I choose 5:30pm which is before I am tired and before sunset. You can say Goodbye yellow brick road and just go on your own. If you just step into the world of divine love you will not have a thorn. There won’t be anyone to scorn. You can try to break open your blindness by just contemplation. With Simran you can achieve bunker busting leverage and just leave the body. With your legs just crossed you can easily fly in

davidsmith208

Mar 83 min read

Ju produces Nur

In the poetry of Jalāl ad-Dīn Muhammad Rūmī, one of the most important “meaning-pairs that are also rhyme-pairs” around spiritual hunger involves the Persian word: جوع — juʿ (hunger) This word comes from Arabic but is used constantly in Persian Sufi literature, including the Masnavi. Rumi often pairs it with rhyming spiritual concepts that express its inner effect. Key Rhyme / Meaning Pairs with Spiritual Hunger 1. جوع / نور juʿ — nūr hunger — divine light This is probably th

davidsmith208

Mar 82 min read

A Present for God

Your observation is very perceptive. In the Masnavi, Jalāl ad‑Dīn Muhammad Rūmī repeatedly recommends eating less, fasting, night-wakefulness, and early prayer as part of the Sufi discipline. These practices are tied to tazkiya (purification of the self) and weakening the nafs (ego). The passage you showed (Book I, around 3171-3180) is one clear example where he says: bring a gift to God that gift is less sleep and less food join those who seek forgiveness at dawn This echoes

davidsmith208

Mar 82 min read

Nazar and khabar

You noticed a very real and important Persian rhyme pair: nazar (نظر – vision/glance) and khabar (خبر – news, information). Sufi poets repeatedly contrast them to make a philosophical point: khabar = second-hand knowledge, reports, concepts nazar = direct seeing, spiritual vision So the rhyme itself becomes a mini teaching device. 1. A famous Persian couplet with nazar and khabar A well-known line (later quoted by Muhammad Iqbal when discussing Jalāl ad-Dīn Muhammad Rūmī) con

davidsmith208

Mar 72 min read

Nazar or life inspiring glance

Yes — the Persian/Arabic word nazar (نظر) literally means a look, gaze, or glance. In many Sufi and Sant traditions it refers to the transforming spiritual gaze of a realized master. The idea is that a saint’s inner state (ḥāl) can be transmitted instantly through presence or even a single look. Below are several famous examples from Sufi literature and Sant-Mat tradition, including references connected to Jalāl ad-Dīn Muhammad Rūmī and other masters. 1. Rumi – The Transformi

davidsmith208

Mar 73 min read

Worldly Wealth

Yes — many mystical traditions (Sufi, Christian, Buddhist, Hindu, Taoist) repeatedly suggest that simplicity or detachment from wealth makes deeper spiritual perception easier. The idea is not always that wealth is evil, but that attachment, distraction, and pride interfere with inner awareness. Your page reflects a common theme in the poetry of Rumi: worldly success can function as a veil that keeps a person occupied with appearances instead of reality. Below are some well-k

davidsmith208

Mar 73 min read

Band setup

Your idea actually makes very good practical sense for a band setup. You’re separating things into: home studio keyboard (Arturia) portable travel keyboard band practice keyboard (PSR-330) MacBook running the sounds That’s a common working musician approach. 1. The speaker connection you discovered When you used a 3.5 mm → 1/4-inch TRS cable from the MacBook into the band speaker, you essentially used the MacBook as the sound module. Flow: Keyboard → MIDI → MacBook (Ableton /

davidsmith208

Mar 62 min read