has anybody ever had a bout of carpal tunnel or numbness????

[jgest]

Shpongle has always been one of my favourite artists. The man behind it is Simon Posford, and he's got other projects too like: Celtic Cross, Younger Brother, Hallucinogen and Eclipse. There are three Shpongle albums, in case you didn't know. If you like Shpongle, I'm almost certain you'll like OTT's Blumenkraft and maybe BT's This Binary Universe, they're worth

checking out for sure

I own EVERY thing simon has been involved with I just can't get enough. Younger brother while not promoted as other projects is a great album. I hear a new hallucinogen is in the works. Hallucinogen in dub (remixed) never did it for me......Actually I just love trance it takes synthesis programming to a whole new level.

Back in the days when I listened to trance, I never really found anything that matches The Lone Deranger. Infected Mushroom, Quirk etc. had some nice pieces too, but there was too little that I liked to keep me in the genre. Now I listen to more stuff like Underworld, Boards Of Canada, Crystal Method, The Art Of Noise etc. Kraftwerk's Minimum Maximum live album has great sounds too. I just can't get enough of BT's music, there's so much depth in it in many ways.

Thats interesting, I did the exact opposite, I went from underworld, crystal method..........to trance. Only psychedelic and goa, none of the fluff euro or gay sailor crap (no pun intended). Trance has been a mentor in engineering for me. I don't realy care about the 4 on the floor kick, I actually tune it out. But the use of filter modulation and gating realy taught me things I never knew existed as far as production goes. Although as I age the 140 bpm gets tiresome...........

[Matcher]

The Matrix Reloaded OST must be the newest record in my player that has some trance in it. Juno Reactor and Don Davis kick some serious ass. Could you recommend some newer psy- trance albums? I have to check out what's going on with the genre

[jgest]

The Matrix Reloaded OST must be the newest record in my player that has some trance in it. Juno Reactor and Don Davis kick some serious ass. Could you recommend some newer psy- trance albums? I have to check out what's going on with the genre

Juno reactor is another favorite. I had kids a few years ago and have not been up to date with the current stuff. Around 2002 I was last listening to logic bomb, hux flux, parasense, Israeli stuff like astral projection, mfg, space cat........

These days (or past few years) I only really listen to myself (and an occasional james brown/bob marley for groove inspiration or a dose of soul) I find that I get the best engineering and composing ideas by listening to hours and hours of sketch tracks.

[monkey man]

I own EVERY thing simon has been involved with I just can't get enough.

Dang. I've played that track I've got to shreds, hoping in vain, it seemed, to somehow get my mits on more.
Of course, I wasn't even sure of the name, and don't have a track title.
It just says, "Shpongle".

I'll be scheming a way to pry some of that stuff from your midst, er, mits, Josh.
Listen out for an uncoordinated knock at the door.
"Knock, knock"... you'll have to excuse me; that'd be me now.

pm me with a mailing adress and i'll make you a disc of some stuff (not for public performance.....just a disclamer)

Yay! You schemed for me!
Thank you ever so much, Joshster!

I'll have to start counting the trees on Banana Alley in order to determine the address.
Expect a stump-count soon.

Thanks again, man; cram that baby with mp3's (don't bother with uncompresssed stuff, hey?).

Cheers,
Nicky

[markwayne]

I'm convinced it's the mouse that causes it.

I'd agree. About eight years ago (just three years after leaving full-time music and going into the IT field as a sysadmin) I started experiencing the same symptoms. For me it was clealy related to mouse use. I immediately switched to a track ball in my studio (which helped a little) and learned how to mouse left-handed at work. I now use a pointer device that IBM makes (works with a single finger) and have been pain and numbness free for several years. It was very scary for a while. I really thought I was going to lose the use of my right hand. Like several of the other posters here, I worked through a lot of pain in my youth putting in marathon practice sessions to develop a formidable amount of technique. I think, however, in the process, I created a pair of hands that are now more vulerable than most to stress-related injury. I dread to think what old age may bring.

I honestly think that the mouse is a bad idea as a routine I/O device. Get yourself a trackball or tablet or pencil eraser (my term for the IBM pointer included on ThinkPads and their IP-KVM boxes).

Now I suppose we could also talk about my eyes which had been unchanged for twenty-five years prior to statring to work in IT. Since starting in IT my eyes get worse each year.

Wayne

[monkey man]

Now I suppose we could also talk about my eyes which had been unchanged for twenty-five years prior to statring to work in IT. Since starting in IT my eyes get worse each year.
Wayne

It's not just the nearfield focussing (which I'm guessing you're thinking of) either, Wayno.

I'm convinced my CRT's damaging my retinas.
We're talking daily deterioration here, and an inability to focuss at any distance.
I'm way more sensitive to damage than most due to a depleted immune system, so what's obvious to me usually doesn't become apparent to "the masses" for quite some time, often decades.

Of course, it goes without saying that I get nauseous within 5 minutes of going anywhere near these things, feel the ol' electron tingle on my lips and nose (closest, thin-skinned points?), and experience some swelling of said monkey-parts.

The things we do for our beloved UnicorNation.

[jlaudon]

I woke up one day with numbness in my right index finger (and a bit in my thumb and middle finger at times) as well as major pain in my right arm, and after seeing the doc and chiropracter, and doing traction (the head getting stretched), it's a lot better (no pain, but still numbness in my index finger), but already been 4 months. They both said it was a nerve being pinched in my neck in between two discs in my spine (something like that).

I'm lefthanded, so I don't use my mouse with my right hand, but I'm thinking it's all a combination of 1) hunching over the monitor because i love DP so much 2) hunching over while doing guitar takes 3) and I think another important thing is I always use the number keys with my right hand, and I'm not sure if the positioning of my wrist is right - should it be lower or higher, or have some support under it?

Oh, and I also play with my kid always sitting on my shoulders and me being a wild bull (as if..) jumping around. Doesn't help, I'm sure...

BTW, this has been an extremely helpful thread to me, as well as giving me some new tunes to check out - Shpongle - thanks all!

[monkey man]

I know I've said this before, but I feel it's best not to panic about these things.
Hunching will do it, for sure.
Lack of rest will contribute.

Pinched nerves come and go.
Stretching will help.

Glad the thread helped in some way, jlaudon.

PS: That Shpongle is sumpin' else, man; I've only ever heard one (epic) track, and look forward to more.

[MIDI Life Crisis]

I woke up one day with numbness in my right index finger... I'm thinking it's all a combination of 1) hunching ... 2) hunching ...

Posture is critical! If you wake with numbness, it is often because you were placing weight on a nerve (as MM grunted) and ultimately the only correction for this is adjusting your sleep position. I would bet you sleep on your side or with one hand tucked under some other part of your body (head, hip, etc.) A contorted arrangement of your shoulder(s) can also be the culprit. When you hunch, do you raise your shoulders? That might be the cause.

Chiropractors can often help this, but not everyone trusts that method. Accupunture can also be VERY effective. B6 is great if there is nerve damage, as well as MSM, Glucosimine, ibuprofin (4 in the AM; 4 in the PM). That is well over the dosage on the bottle, but well UNDER the Rx dosage. If your tummy can handle it, short term useage might work. It does for me, but you should check with you Dr. to be sure you are not at risk for the increased dosage.

Stretches are really good as well (another grunt back to MM).

[monkey man]

Monkey grunts as he gestures towards Magilla in approval...

Cocking your head back whilst leaning forward for extended periods rates highly in my book, along with awkward sleeping positions (grunts towards Gorilla-boy).

Remember, Frederick Matthias Alexander (think Alexander Technique) concluded much of the blame for poor posture-related problems could be attributed to the neck position/s.
Misalignments and muscle tensions tend to travel downwards, so it makes sense to start at the topmost aggravation (there's a clue: you're not doing something according to your design), and determine where you're going wrong.

Accepting you're "going wrong" is vital to long-term success; your body knows how to keep you healed/healthy - it just needs you to play ball.

[jgest]

I woke up one day with numbness in my right index finger... I'm thinking it's all a combination of 1) hunching ... 2) hunching ...

Posture is critical! If you wake with numbness, it is often because you were placing weight on a nerve (as MM grunted) and ultimately the only correction for this is adjusting your sleep position. I would bet you sleep on your side or with one hand tucked under some other part of your body (head, hip, etc.) A contorted arrangement of your shoulder(s) can also be the culprit. When you hunch, do you raise your shoulders? That might be the cause.

Chiropractors can often help this, but not everyone trusts that method. Accupunture can also be VERY effective. B6 is great if there is nerve damage, as well as MSM, Glucosimine, ibuprofin (4 in the AM; 4 in the PM). That is well over the dosage on the bottle, but well UNDER the Rx dosage. If your tummy can handle it, short term useage might work. It does for me, but you should check with you Dr. to be sure you are not at risk for the increased dosage.

Stretches are really good as well (another grunt back to MM).

A good point about sleeping position. B6 and accupunture are also good suggestions. The research is still "up in the air" as if chondrioton/Glucosomine is actually bio assimable in a supplement form vs their real food counterparts.....(cartilage......such as the end of chicken bones etc....and bone marrow) I would not suggest high doses of ibuprofin unless perscribed by a dr, you could end up with serious liver/kidney issues down the road.

[monkey man]

Fascinating fact:

If you grind dried chicken cart/bones up and give them to your mother for her arthritis etc., you can be jailed for illegally dispensing a medical drug.
If you follow the research on these sorts of things, you notice that at a particular point in the story, the (natural) substance starts being referred to as a drug.
Bingo. At that point you know the rest of the story: Active components will be isolated, concentrated and dispensed as a new "miracle" drug, along with its now inherent associated side effects because the synergy and buffering of the "unknown" and "useless" components have been ignored.
Welcome to the modern medical game.

Geez, and folks wonder why I won't touch medical drugs.
Dang, I even endured HPV in my brain for 5 years (very painful and relentless!) without so much as popping an aspirin.
As I keep suggesting, most would be stunned if they discovered that the body's signals are just that. Signals to change one's behaviour.
They're not alarm bells. If a doctor discovers you have cancer, you've probably had it for at least 5-15 years already, with 10 or more being extremely common.
They don't tell you this, of course, 'cause there's so much fear and panic in the air, it bodes well for immediate chemo etc, which in itself, along with X-rays, biopsies etc. ensure you either die or suffer big time.

Just what the immune system needs, and just what the doctor ordered to perpetuate the myth that this or that condition is a monster that's near impossible to beat.
Yup, you wouldn't dream of being gentle and wise about it would you, what with the docs talking in terms of heavy artillery?

Thanks for letting me get that off my chest.
Sorry for the rant.

[101]

I I now use a pointer device that IBM makes (works with a single finger) and have been pain and numbness free for several years.

This sounds great , whats it called?

[markwayne]

This sounds great , whats it called?

You know I'm not sure. The one I use is just a nicer version of the keyboard included on almost all IBM Thinkpads for the last ten years. It's a small object about the size of a pencil eraser that sits in the middle of the keyboard. You don't have to move your hands from the home row to mouse. The one I use at work and at home now is from a KVM that IBM sells to manage multiple servers from a remote location over an IP network. I also have found those little glide point devices work well for me. (Again, something found on most laptops including Apple's.) There is something about gripping a device that you then have to manipulate and/or click that just causes endless problems for my hands.

Wayne

[monkey man]

He he

It's the Fab Four, the Furball Four.