Monthly Archives: September 2022

From Nietzsche to John Lennon: Death and Resurrection of Western Religiosity – Patheos

Posted: September 9, 2022 at 5:57 pm

Perhaps one of the most significant single quotations of the 19th century was by the prodigious and often misconstrued German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche, who said among other things God is dead. That little sentence has caused immeasurable trouble ever since it was published in 1882 in Nietzsches The Gay Philosophy and was reiterated in the seminal Thus Spake Tharathustra. The poor little sentence has been reduced time and time again to a mere statement if atheism. That reading could hardly be more wrong.

In actual fact, when he said that God was dead, Nietzsche was not saying anything that would call for a Gods Not Dead style apologetic rebuttal. Sure, he was an atheist. Sure, underlying the famous statement is the assumption that God never existed in the first place. However, God is dead would be a pretty silly way to say, There is no God. The death of God is not a religious commentary but a societal phenomenon. God is dead, Nietzsche wrote, and we have killed him. This means that the post-enlightenment European culture had purged itself of its former obsession with God and possibly driven from its collective consciousness the ability to believe in God.

Make no mistake, a man as critical of religion and the church as Nietzsche took no issue with the death of God. Since God was not real to begin with, the death of God as a popular idea was no tragedy. What it was, however, was an intimidating vacuum in western culture. The philosophical and social question of the century became, What will replace Christianity as the guiding force behind western cultures? This question made everyone, Nietzsche included, uneasy.

The classic misunderstanding of Nietzsche is not unlike poor old John Lennon who set off riots, record burnings, and radio band in the US when he said that his band The Beatles was bigger than Jesus. As Lennon later clarified, he never meant that the Beatles were better than Jesus, more important than Jesus, or anything like that. He said that they were more popular among Western youth than Christianity was, and that was a fair observation at the time. Kids were more apt to catch Beatlemania than Jesus mania in the 1960s.

Despite being no fan of Christianity himself, Lennon was not exactly comfortable being bigger than Jesus. He seemed to be taken aback, maybe even a little scandalized underneath his jaded exterior, that a pop band was outselling the largest world religion among the new generation even if he didnt support the religion. In this way, Lennon became a lot like Nietzsche a controversial commentator on current trends, critical of the church but dismayed at the gap left by its declining influence and the things that might arise to fill it.

In a sense, Lennons observation was an answer to the question posed by the death of God. In the absence of a God-fearing culture, it was entertainment that seemed to rise up to become the predominant influence on the beliefs, feelings, and choices of the masses. The gatherings for worship were eclipsed by the wild-spirited gatherings for concerts. Spirituality, philosophy, and even salvation were outsourced to songwriters.

In response, church after church has tried to convert itself into a rock concert in a desperate scramble to entertain crowds and maybe trick them into reviving God in the process. Of course, it worked a few times. Contemporary churches have grown quite large, and some genuine conversions have occurred as a result of their efforts. In many more cases, too, though, those who were already Christian left their traditions and hopped aboard the entertainment express, finding more fulfillment in these more entertaining liturgies.

God died (in the consciousness of modern culture). The Beatles were bigger than Jesus. American Christians tried to turn Jesus into The Beatles. After more than a century of talk, rumors of Gods death have been greatly exaggerated, and religion doesnt seem to be going anywhere. Now we are all scrambling to adjust to this strange new world weve created.

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God, the Gipper, and Gorbachev | WORLD – WORLD News Group

Posted: at 5:56 pm

When President Ronald Reagan touched down at Vnukovo International Airport in Moscow on May 28, 1988, he had more than missiles on his mind. Reagan had ostensibly arrived for his third summit with the general secretary of the Soviet Union, Mikhail Gorbachev. Publicly, the purpose of the visit was arms limitations. Privately, the Gipper (as Reagan was known) had an ulterior motive in meeting with Gorby, as some in the West called him. Reagan wanted to talk to the leader of the second-largest atheist nation in the world about God.

Not surprisingly, when Reagan was later escorted to the Grand Kremlin Palace, where he was greeted by the smiling Soviet leader, he was asked to make some remarks in St. Georges Hall. It was a Sunday, and the American president ended his comments with Thank you and God bless you. It was the first time the word God had been used in that hall in nearly 70 years. It marked a deliberate (and crafty) strategy on the part of the president to bring eternal things into the political discussion.

Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev died Aug. 30, 2022, at the age of 91. Born as Soviet dictator Josef Stalin was just ramping up his mass murder of Ukrainians and kulaks who resisted his collectivization efforts, Gorbachev not only would live to see the end of the Soviet Union, but he would become a principal architect in its demise. And, contrary to some contemporary accounts, he didnt like it.

At the time, Western journalists fawned over his supposed reforms in Russia, perestroika (restructuring) and glasnost (openness), but in fact Gorbachev was responsible for neither. Both had been undertaken before he ascended to power in 1985. Indeed, perhaps shockingly, Ilya Zaslavsky, later elected to the Russian parliament after the fall of communism, called Reagan the father of perestroika.

At age 54, Gorbachev was young for a Soviet leader. In fact, his three predecessors appeared ancient by comparison. And they all died within a three-year period, leading Reagan to tell his wife Nancy, I want to talk to the Soviet leaders but they keep dying on me. Gorby had a round face, a harmless look with his glasses, and a distinctive birthmark that some would quip took on the map shape of whatever country the Soviets were invading at the time. Western media adored him, treating him like a rock star. To them, he was not a real communist.

Gorbachev himself begged to differ. Though he spoke in appropriate code that concealed his real motivations, he spoke plainly behind closed doors. He told his first Politburo meeting he was deeply devoted to the idea of collective work, adding, what we need is more socialism. While it is true that Gorbachev advanced both perestroika and glasnost, he saw both as well within Soviet dogma. Also, he had no other choice. The Soviet economy was crashing after decades of extreme military spendingspending that was undetected or misunderstood by even the CIA. By 1985, it was eating the Soviet economy alive. As British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher observed, Gorbachev didnt understand that the system is the problem.

Reagan and Gorbachev share jokes on a break during the Geneva Summit in 1985.Jean-Louis Atlan/Sygma via Getty Images

Even as the CIA focused on the Soviets remaining strengths, Reagan understood that the country teetered on the brink. Privately, in his diary, he wrote, They are in bad shape and if we can cut off their credit theyll have to yell Uncle.

Reagan was nearly alone in these assessments. Still, by 1982, he had put in place an economic program that would cut the legs out from under the USSRs economy and ultimately hasten the communist systems collapse.

Reagan recognized that, as the old joke went, Russia exported only four things: gold, oil, vodka, and spies. He thought hed let the CIA handle the spies, and he wasnt about to stop vodka shipments. But gold and oil he could do something about.

He made a deal with Saudi Arabias oil minister to lower prices and increase production. Within a year, oil was flowing more freely and Soviet prices fell. Reagan also pursued a money-tightening program that sent the value of Soviet gold exports into a nosedive. Meanwhile, on the cultural front, he followed the advice of the many who urged him to blast rock n roll music over Voice of America and Radio Free Europes systems into the heart of captive European nations. When I later interviewed people from Hungary, Romania, East Germany, and other countries behind the Iron Curtainpeople who were kids when the Berlin Wall fellevery one of them spoke of the importance of rock music at the time. They called it the music of freedom.

SHORTLY AFTER REAGANS COMMENTS at St. Georges Hall in 1988, he and Gorbachev headed off for a one-on-one meeting. It was their third since Gorbachev had become general secretary. Almost immediately, the Gipper referenced God again. What if you ruled [that] religious freedom was part of your peoples rights? he asked. No one would have dared ask such a question of Stalin or his successor, Nikita Khrushchev. But Reagan sensed Gorby might be open. Such a declaration, Reagan insisted, would make him a hero, and much of the feeling against your country would disappear like water in the hot sun.

Gorbachev bobbed and weaved. He had actually been baptized as a child, he said, but now did not believe in God Then, uncomfortably, he tried to turn the question back to civil rights in America. But Reagan was never one to be sidetracked. He told Gorbachev a true story: Reagan had once asked his son Ron, a professing agnostic, What if I served you a gourmet dinner? Would you believe there was a cook? Gorbachev, the head of godless communism, said Rons answer would have to have been yes.

The following day at Spaso House, Reagan repeated the story and injected an even more spiritual tone. I have to believe, said the Gipper, that the history of this troubled century will indeed be redeemed in the eyes of God and man, and that freedom will truly come to all. Then he again ended with God bless you.

When he met up with Gorbachev again, Reagan gave him a videotape of a Gary Cooper movie, Friendly Persuasion, about a Quaker caught in the American Civil War and the necessity of listening to God. One might have thought Reagan was on a mission to convert Gorbachev personally, a sort of Billy Graham crusade to the heart of the evil empire. After that nights dinner, Reagan ended with God bless you yet again, uttering the name of the Lord in the presence of a Soviet leader more times in a few days than in perhaps the past half-century.

Gorbachev and Reagan meet in 1986 inside the Hofdi House during the Reykjavk Summit.Maidun Collection/Alamy

BEFORE HIS MISSION TO MOSCOW, though, Reagan had to do everything he could to make sure Gorbachev had ears to hear. By 1985, when Gorbachev agreed to meet in Geneva, he was already holding a losing hand. The arms race had tilted decidedly against him, beginning with the delivery in 1981 of Americas revolutionary Trident submarines. These vessels were so stealthy that even Americas own anti-submarine methods couldnt find them. They were so successful, and so advanced, that the U.S. Navy did something it almost never did: It delayed delivery of more advanced missiles with longer range because they just werent needed.

After that, Reagans bomber programs came online. Then, he and Thatcher ordered several hundred Pershing II and cruise missiles deployed in Europe to counter the ill-conceived plan of one of Gorbachevs predecessors to sprinkle mobile, impossible-to-find SS-20 missiles all over western Russia. (Gorbachev told his advisers that was a poor decision, but for the time being he was stuck with it.) Then came 1983, and Reagan hit the Soviets with the old one-two.

First, at a convention of evangelicals, the Gipper called the Soviet Union the evil empire. That inflamed Reagans opponents like few other comments he ever made. Even Nancy urged him not to say it. But Reagan believed the Soviets were an empireand that they were evil. And the reference to the film Star Wars should not be dismissed, as culturally it was one of the most important movies of the 20th century. Everyone knew exactly what Reagans evil empire line referred to.

Second, Reagan announced his plans for a Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI), a system to shoot down enemy missiles in flight. Now the media thought they had him. The stupid old ex-actor walked right into that, his opponents thought. They derided the new program, dubbing it Star Warsin the process walking right into one of the biggest backfires in media history.

Instantly, what Reagans critics meant as an insult turned a difficult-to-grasp technical program into an easy-to-understand concept. More importantly, virtually everyone knew that in Star Wars the movie, the Evil Emperor was an old, decrepit, wrinkled creepwho sorta resembled Gorbachevs three predecessors. And Luke? Well, despite the difference in age, Luke and Reagan shared the optimistic belief that even the Death Star could be overcome. So, when Gorbachev came on the scene, where did that leave him? With his pale skin and that red birthmark on his head well, he reminded some folks a little of Darth Vader when the helmet came off.

It was ironic and telling that Gorbachev became obsessed with SDI before a single element of the program had ever even been fabricated or tested. He brought it up at every meeting with Reagan. In their second, critical meeting at Reykjavk in 1986, Gorbachev took the offensive. He quickly surprised the American president by offering not just to limit missiles, but to eliminate half of each nations nuclear forces.

Reagan was nothing if not quick on his feet, and quickly one-upped him. Why stop at half? Reagan said. Why dont we eliminate them all?

A stunned Gorbachev had sought a public relations coup, not a real settlement, and was so shaken by the counteroffer that he asked for a brief recess. When he came back, SDI was suddenly back on the table.

Now frustrated, Reagan wouldnt budge on Star Wars. He turned to his Secretary of State, George Schultz, and asked, Am I wrong?

Schultz, who could be quite critical of Reagan, said, No, Mr. President. You are right.

Reagan picked up his folders and left. An exasperated Gorbachev shuffled after him. I dont know what else I could have done, he muttered.

Reagan, both angry and disappointed, snapped, You could have said yes.

Twenty years later, Gorbachev returned to Iceland to visit the Hofdi House.Tom Stoddart/Getty Images

Over the next two years Gorbachev moved steadily toward Reagan, signing a treaty removing and destroying all short-range nuclear missiles in Europea first in history. Both men hoped for more in Moscow, but by then, Reagan was in his final year as president and had to attend to more eternal business.

When Reagan went to Moscow in 1988, the highlight of his trip was to be his speech to communist students at Moscow State University. These days, one can hardly imagine a Republican president getting a decent reception at any American university, so for an American president to speak to future Communist leaders was a challenge for the ages. But Reagan dove in, speaking literally beneath a giant bust of Lenin. He talked about freedom but also faith, painting a picture of families of every conceivable nationality worshipping together. Liberty, he concluded, was a gift from God.

The young communists went wild. They cheered him, and Reagan, looking at the bust of Lenin, said he thought he saw it cry.

By then it was clear that all the elements of Reagans statecraft and spiritual offensive had come together. Even the rock n roll. I interviewed a woman from the captive region of Moldova in 2010 and was surprised at her story: I was atheist but not communist. For some reason they let in the rock n roll musical Jesus Christ Superstar. I came to Jesus and was baptized because of Jesus Christ Superstar.

In his dialogues with Gorbachev, Reagan invoked the name of the Almighty at every possible opportunityand so did Gorbachev (Let us pray to God or God help us). At one point, he told Michael Deaver, his deputy chief of staff, He believes.

Deaver didnt quite know what to say. Are you saying the general secretary of the Soviet Union believes in God? he asked. Reagan said he didnt know for sure but, I honestly think he believes in a higher power. Then, as if to confirm it, Russian church leaders were allowed to appear on television for the first time ever.

Reagan never knew whether his conversations with Gorbachev bore fruit. His son Michael got to know Gorbachev and, himself a Christian, pressed Gorbachev for an answer many years later. Something had changed. Where he had earlier told Michael Reagan that he was not a die-hard atheist, now Gorbachev told a story about his Christian grandmother. In March 2008, the London Telegraph headlined a story, Mikhail Gorbachev admits he is a Christian. Historian Paul Kengor, whose God and Ronald Reagan tracked the Gippers spiritual life, told me he had received an email from a student who knew Gorbachev well in later years and insisted he had not converted. Michael Reagan, writing for beliefnet.com, came to a different conclusion: My own suspicionsand my fatherswere confirmed. Mikhail Gorbachev is indeed a man of faith.

As with the state of every soul, we wont find the final answer on this earth.

Larry Schweikart is co-author of A Patriots History of the United States and author of Reagan: The American President

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Where is heaven? Ancient believers have answers for modern question – Times Record News

Posted: at 5:56 pm

Terry Mattingly| Wichita Falls Times Record News

When cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin returned to earth in 1961, after the first manned spaceflight, Soviet leaders claimed he said: "I went up to space, but I didn't encounter God."

Venturing into similar territory, superstar atheist Sam Harris rocked cyberspace during a recent Triggernometry YouTube appearance in which he discussed Donald Trump, faith elements in "wokeness" and the flocks of Americans who insist on believing in heaven.

Political Twitter screamed when he said there was "a left-wing conspiracy to deny the presidency to Donald Trump. Absolutely, but I think it was warranted."

But comedians Konstantin Kisin and Francis Foster pushed back, asking if Harris was justifying moral relativism. Perhaps today's truth wars, the Triggernometry team suggested, were linked to a famous G.K. Chesterton quip: "When men choose not to believe in God, they do not thereafter believe in nothing, they then become capable of believing in anything."

During the ensuing discussion, Harris offered another viral soundbite: "Where is heaven, exactly, given that we have multiple telescopes up there beaming back tens of billions of years' worth of information?" Yet millions of Americans still embrace the supernatural claims of an ancient faith, including that Jesus will return to "raise the living and the dead."

"You'd be surprised by the number of percent of sober, non-Bible-thumping people who would say 'yes' to that question," he said. "They might be Christian, they might be, listen, 'I love the Bible. It gives me a great moral framework. It gives my kids a great moral framework. This is the tradition I'm identified with. This is all super important to me' but that's kind of as far as it goes. Right? Like, I'm not going to make magical claims about flying saviors who are literally going to come down from heaven."

While the Twitter masses raged, the French-Canadian iconographer and writer Jonathan Pageau recorded a video essay on his "The Symbolic World" channel about why materialists and religious believers keep debating the meaning of terms such as "heaven" and "earth."

This is a core biblical topic, since the first verse of Genesis states: "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth." Thus, the Harris heavensoundbite led Pageau to tweet: "Woah, this is one of the most embarrassing things that I have heard in awhile."

After all, even the most fervent materialist can learn to "step back into an ancient cosmology" and grasp that "these categories heaven and earth are universal, they are in every culture," said Pageau, who is best known for his online dialogues with author Jordan Peterson,professor emeritus of psychology at the University of Toronto.

Concepts of the "visible" and "invisible" are central to religious discussions of "light," "wind," "breath," "spirit," "purpose," "beauty," "art" and "speech," as well as images of believers making spiritual quests via ladders, trees or mountains.Humans experience the world with their senses and these perceptions lead to spiritual questions, insights and truths, said Pageau.

Consider, for example, Dante's use of planets, in "The Divine Comedy," as a symbolic pathway to encountering God."You can think: 'Oh, my goodness. What a silly way of thinking.' Right? To take Sam's position, did the satellites up there did they get in the way of Dante? Did he knock himself on the satellites while he was going up the spheres?"

The Bible describes angels with wings and God is often depicted in physical terms having feet, arms and hands, as well as a heart and mind. But no one is claiming that "God is a big physical being in the sky that has these attributes," said Pageau.

"I will admit that in a world of satellites and a world of spaceships, quasars and whatever, this can be difficult. Jesus is not hanging up there in the atmosphere. He's not having to watch out for the satellites that are coming by you know maybe chatting with people at the space station," the iconographer explained.

"God is, obviously, not a king sitting on a throne in the atmosphere throwing lightning bolts. But understanding what a king is might be one of the best ways to understand how the authority of God works. Understanding what heaven is is the best way to understand the manner in which the invisible moves the visible."

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Five business lessons from Lord Ganesha – Times of India

Posted: at 5:56 pm

It has been a magical time for the last ten days, so much so that even the relentless rains couldnt dampen the mood of the followers. For over a week, you have seen your office team bouncing in the festivities, missing a day or two in between and regularly leaving the office early. Now, this will finally get concluded tomorrow with a perfect not to be missed finale to the carnival.

Tomorrow is the day the streets will be filled with a sea of followers dancing like no one is watching and forgetting their worries, to the tune of the deafening drums. It may not be announced officially, but the fact is, no one will be in the office tomorrow. And obviously, you cannot be the spoilsport scheduling anything important in the next 24 hours. As everyone from your team leaves one by one, its just you in the empty office. Guess it is time to call it a day till your eye meets one of the miniature divine stone Idol kept on one of the God-fearing teammates desk spaces. The atheist in you questions the big deal with this rockstar God that he is so popular among his peers and converts the otherwise time-bound Mumbai city into a carnival mode for 11 days every year. Trying to make sense and derive learning for the mortal entrepreneurs from Ganesha:

Think big: Ganeshas big head symbolises thinking big and innovation. Similarly, if you as an entrepreneur in your business are solving a big problem, but there is no category under which it falls then you are building something big; hang on! The bigger the problem your business is solving, the more prominent will be the value of the business. For an entrepreneur his big ambition is the fuel to achieve significant success.

Always listen: Ganeshas big ears symbolise the power of listening. It is essential to listen to absorb ideas and facts. With tough times around for entrepreneurs and maybe more such times, negotiating a deal for your business becomes critical. But, negotiation isnt just about saying NO all the time but saying YES at the right time; for that, you have to listen. And maybe it is better not to have the last word in a deal; let the other side say what you wanted to say; just be sure what is said is what you always wanted in the deal.

Be silent: Ganeshas small mouth means to talk less and do more. Be silent unless you dont have anything significant to say. Being off the radar works; ignoring the unwanted noise around you can become the key to your success in the long run. Most startups give more importance to marketing their product than making them more robust. Maybe thats why we see marketing spending on user acquisition by start-ups overpowering user acquisition through product excellence.

Stay focused: Ganeshas small eyes mean never to lose focus. Focus is the most underrated word in business. Ignoring the unwanted noise around you is the key to your focus. You should focus on being right rather than being quick always. Quick decisions may help you grow fast, but slow decisions help you think through the options to avoid failure. Ultimately, without focusing on your future, you end up with your past. And then, when your focus is clear your fear of failing is irrelevant.

Be yourself: Ganeshas belly contains infinite universes. Similarly, you are the by-product of your thoughts, and ultimately life is a search to become the best version of you and the dream you want to create. We all have the light we need within us; we just need to follow it. The only way to being limitless is by pushing your limits every time, and when you are limitless, even the sky isnt enough. You need to be the light that leads, not burns.As the atheist entrepreneur comes back to reality from his thoughts, he sees a smiling face in front of him of his security guard who is waiting for him to leave so the office can be shut. Keeping the stone idol back to where it belongs, he walks out of the exit. Realising that ultimately it is all about doing your karma and ignoring the drama around it, just then he hears a divine voice in confirmation behind him Ganpati Bappa Morya!

Views expressed above are the author's own.

END OF ARTICLE

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Free Trance Samples: Thousands Of Percussions, Loops, and FX Sounds For Your Uplifting Productions – Magnetic Magazine

Posted: at 5:55 pm

Paul Van Dyk, the living legend of trance music

When you're producing 138bpm trance, the sample selection and sound palette are much different than when you're producing other genres. You need tight and powerful kick drums, fast-paced drum loops, and FX hits that are larger than life.

Love Producing House Music? Snag these 4k+ Free Samples

That is precisely what you are about to get in this ultimate collection of free trance samples. We've used every sample on this list in one of our professionally-produced records and can swear by their effectiveness. So this collection will have something for you whether you're making progressive trance, Psytrance, uplifting trance, or any other trance music subgenres.

So let's dive in...

Let's explore the world of trance which was born in the 1990s and has been a popular genre in clubs. Tap into the same synth sounds that are used in hip-hop are also being used in Calvin Harris's number 1 hit, I'm Not Alone, and other top hits that defined an entire generation of trance music.

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A range of free vocal samples from Zefora's Ethereal Voices library. This free female vocal sample pack contains a selection of musical loops hand-picked from the full sample library.

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This first free pack of MyLoops' free trance loops Samples contains a large number of high quality. WAV format psytrance synths, basslines, FX, drum loops and one-shots. They are all designed to seamlessly fit into your next psy trance tune. If you're looking to give your psy trance productions more power, energy, and drive, this is the perfect tool.

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There are 24 great free Trance samples: 6 loud kicks and 18 complex explosions for your EDM productions. This collection is perfect for trance, Psytrance, and goa trance productions! Even if you're not a trance producer, I'm sure you can use these sounds creatively! It's probably the most miniature free trance sample pack available, but it packs a punch!

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This free trance sample pack includes snag bass loops, drum loops, and high-quality construction kits. These samples are a bit faster than traditional trance music, but the energy and punch they will allow you to add to your productions is second to none. Download free trance samples now and start using them in your production ASAP!

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Ancore Sounds' samples and sounds are exciting and relevant solutions for electronic music production. Download free demo versions of their products, presets, construction kits, midi, or sample packs to test their quality. Feel free to use them in any genre you produce; they are a powerful tool for music producers of all levels and genres.

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Ancore Sounds offers exciting and relevant solutions for electronic music production. Download free demo versions of our products, presets, construction kits, midi, or sample packs to try them out. They are fantastic for finding inspiration in a blank template or to help fill out a rough idea and turn it into a professionally-produced track.

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A range of free Trance samples from Transcendental State. This free Trance sample pack includes a selection of loops from the entire sample library. You can download these samples for free and use them freely in your productions. Royalty-free means DJs and producers can use them without risking a lawsuit!

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The Growing Tide Of Trance Blues – An Emerging Genre – Music Essentials

Posted: at 5:55 pm

Who wants to be hypnotized? What if you heard theres a new blues tune so brilliant it will put you into a trance?

Youve heard about trance music and blues music. But have you ever heard a mix of the two genres? Its a growing subgenre of the blues and trance music, and has a unique style all its own.

Trance blues is a relatively new phenomenon thats making waves because of a few big names that have been experimenting with musical styles for quite a while.

In this article, were going to discuss what makes it unique and some big names to watch out for in the emerging subgenre.

What is Trance Blues?

In learning the basics of blues, we know there are blues shuffles that have what you might call a trance-like rhythm, followed by a call and response. The rhythmic repetition is called a groove and may remind listeners of a trance-like effect.

But the actual blues trance genre refers to the combination of electronic music with traditional blues, including drum machines, loops, samples, and so on. Some trance blues music records even have altered classical blues songs remade with modern musical touches.

For example, take drumming. Traditional blues was once associated with Dixieland drum kits. Trance blues uses far more drumming and in some cases more rhythmic and experimental drum loops.

Influential Trance Blues Songs

Some of the most influential trance blues songs came out in the early 2000s, such as Tangle Eye by a band of the same name. Tangle Eye is a modern reimagining of a 1948 song Rosie by C. B. Cook and a prison work gang from Mississippi.

Otis Taylor was also credited as a trace blues pioneer, combining distinctive blues tunes with Appalachian country music and even psychedelic rock. Taylor started exploring trance blues in 2001 and later did entire albums like White African. As this piece from NPR reports.

Otis Taylor once explained, trance-blues makes use of electronic repetition, in a way that kind of hypnotizes people. They lose a sense of time when Im playing live sometimes.

While most blues music has three-chord blues progression, trance blues loves repetitive chords used skillfully.

Trance Blues Hits Today

What really makes trance blues different from the trance genre (which we wrote about here in 2020) is a distinctive love of blues music, not to mention an admiration for blues culture, and the Delta Blues birthplace.

Otis Taylor may be one of the most commonly associated artists with trance blues, but the genre is taking off and going in many different directions. There is even a Trance Blues Festival touring in 2022.

While Otis Taylor is definitely the star attraction, you can also look for other visiting artists like Alvin Youngblood Hart, Cassie Taylor, Brian Juan, Beth Rosbach and Guy Davis.

The popularity of trance blues is a niche for now but its growing consistently, thanks to all the great songs coming out of the Mississippi Delta and beyond.

Mississippi Delta Blues

Speaking of the Mississippi Delta, its hard to deny that its the birthplace of the Blues, at least when it comes to American Blues. The evolution of Blues, from 19th century work chants and field hollers to a remarkable mix of multiple musical genres and instruments, is all a fascinating read.

You can read about the history of Mississippi Delta Blues music on VisitMississippi.com.

Trance blues is a growing tide, especially as many new artists reflect upon the social issues that made blues music so powerful a century ago. Today, artists continue to talk about social injustice through lyrics and music one of the most powerful ways to make an impact.

Give trance blues a listen and hear something amazingly familiar thats also completely new.

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Aarppo to Urumboottu – indulgexpress

Posted: at 5:55 pm

First things first. Start the day off with the aarppo irro chant. Let there be some josh in the air! And then, here goes the to-do list...

Flower playIts impossible to imagine an Onam without pookkalam or the vibrant flower carpets laid to welcome our dear Maveli. Most of us have appreciated the beautiful patterns, but how many have taken the effort to experiment with one?

Pookkalam-laying starts with Atham, when a single-layer Athappoo is laid. As each day passes, more layers are added, and the pookkalam keeps getting bigger. Do try a whacky Thiruvonam pookkalam today.

Pookalam used to be an intense festive affair at most households, recalls historian M G Sasibhooshan. Children would excitedly go out in search of flowers in the early hours. Arali, chembarathi, thumba, and mukkutti were a must. The flowers used have medicinal properties, and the pookkalam was a reminder that flowers are an integral part of human life.

Central figureOn Thriuvonam, the presence of Thrikkakara Appan or Onathappan is important. Nowadays, cone-shaped earthen idols are available in the market. But there were times when these idols were made at home.

Appan here could be viewed as Lord Vamana or King Mahabali, based on ones belief and choice. I remember my mother making these structures. We used to get mud from paddy fields. It is dried under the sun, and kneaded using a little water, says Changampuzha Samskarika Kendra president P Prakash.

To get the red tone, brick powder is added. Once the dough is ready, we mould it into pyramid-like idol. One can use ready-made clay, too.

As per tradition, Thrikkakara Appan is kept outside homes on Thiruvonam. In some places, a day after Thiruvonam, a ritual is practiced to bid farewell to Maveli.

Geometrical patterns are made using rice flour, and the Thrikkakara Appan is placed at the centre, says Kathakali singer Deepa Palanad. From the pookkalam to the gate, thumba flowers would be spread.

Prakash adds that, in some places, the idol is placed at the gate. Ahead of Thiruvonam, pieces of the whole thumba plant including its stem, leaves, and buds are kept ready. This is spread all the way to the gate as part of bidding farewell to Maveli, he explains.

This Onam, try getting some mud on your hands.

Dance awayWearing Onakkodi received from the elderly of the house, groups of girls or women dance around the nilavilakku (lamp). The dance form is accompanied by songs on Lord Shiva and Parvati, called Thriuvathira paattu. Not all can master the graceful moves, agreed, but do try watching a performance and appreciate its intricacies.

Macho moves Men, too, have their share of dance fun during Onam. Onakkali is popular in Thrissur district. A team of mundu-clad men sometimes up to 70 members dances in circles. The peppy songs are mostly adapted from the Ramayana, says Vinoj Nadana, a farmer who manages the Nadana dance troupe in Thrissur. The steps would differ with the mood and rhythm of the songs.

Time to gang up, guys!

Action thrillerOnathallu is a well-known traditional game. Also called kayyamkali, the game involves bare-handed fighting, and is pretty popular in the central Kerala and towards the north.There are rules, and the game is closely monitored by a referee, called chathikaar.

One should only slap and that, too, only on arms. You cant hit or kick, or strike other parts of the body. This is a fun game that is meant to showcase ones strength, and not to injure the opponent, explains Sasibhooshan.

Sounds too rough and tough? Try an Onam-special towel or pillow fight.

Belt it outThroughout the Onam season, recital of Onapattu is a common, pleasing activity. Earlier, groups would visit houses and sing. Onathappa kudavayara naale aanu thiruvonam, thiruvona kari enthanu chena tandum, cherupayarum... is a popular pick, says Prakash. Another one, of course, is poove poli poove.

From toddlers to grandparents, anyone can croon them in tune with the Onam spirit. Learn at least one song today.

Thumbi tranceThis is another fun game, which is popular in and around Thiruvananthapuram.

In the evening, a child would be made to sit on the floor and his/her face would be covered with a mundu, says Sasibhooshan.

People would surround the child and sing the song that goes thumbi enthe thullathe, poo poranjittano...? There would be loud aarpooo irro cheers, and slowly the child would appear to be in trance, also known as urachil. They would shake the head and sway. I dont think such games are played these days.

Ready for some traditional trance?

Have a ball!Onapanthu was once a celebrated game during the season. The ball is made with coconut husk wrapped in leather. Its smaller than football, and used to be made by cobblers, says Sasibhooshan, adding that it is made with coconut palm leaves, too, for kids.

Youngsters would get it done before Thiruvonam. At first, using hands the ball is passed to the opposite side, later legs and head can be used, and the opposite team has to defend the ball from crossing a line. It used to be serious sport. The winners would usually get a bunch of bananas, which is shared with the rival team.

Common, go grab that ball!

Declare warVadamvali or tug-of-war is a must in Onam celebrations. A senior colleague is recuperating from a nasty catch in his back, courtesy grand celebrations at our office. And he seems quite proud about it! Well, thats the Onam spirit.

Besides display of strength, the game is important showcasing unity is strength, says writer and media professional C Rahim. Earlier, this was one of the games that breached social socio-religious barriers. People, irrespective of caste and creed, came together. Its a simple, but effective, way to foster team spirit.

Dont have a rope? Tie up two bedspreads and get started!

Feast forthe antsThis ones nice and sweet. Onam is an egalitarian festival, and it is paramount to ensure everyone around one is sated and happy. That includes insects and ants, too. In fact, urumboottu or feast for ants is held on a serious note, especially in Onattukara region of Alappuzha . Sweet delights are kept outside houses for ants. It could be balls of rice powder mixed with sugar, or chunks of jaggery, says writer C Rahim. In some houses, especially traditional ones, a sweet rice flour paste is smeared on the walls or doors for lizards and cockroaches. The idea is that no living thing should be neglected during Onam. Thats some sweet food for thought, right?

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The healing dance of SAs choreographic shaman – Mail and Guardian

Posted: at 5:55 pm

To see Vincent Sekwati Koko Mantsoe dance is to witness spirits in choreographic motion. Transfixing, his dance is a submission to ritual and technique and a balance between the two. While dance as theatrical performance is naturally a fleeting experience, a Mantsoe showcase leaves a transformative mark.

The legendary, award-winning dancer, choreographer and teacher is being honoured as the 2022 legacy artist for the 24th Jomba! Contemporary Dance Experience in Durban. The dance festival, hosted by the centre for creative arts at the University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN), is returning to live programming after two years.

Themed the (im)possibility of home, the festival aims to explore a sense of belonging and how this persists and changes through time through dance offerings that negotiate heritage, culture and identity. Mantsoes story and 30-year dance career is intrinsic to this.

Dance for the France-based Mantsoe is rooted in the spirit world. Born in Soweto in 1971, and later moving to Vosloorus with his family, he comes from a rich lineage of ubungoma. He remembers the everyday ritual of waking up at 4am to beat the drum and greet the ancestors before the family went about their daily lives.

Participating in traditional rituals of song, dance and drumming that his grandmother, his mother and two of his aunts performed as izangoma inspired Mantsoes ethos for dance making. With permission from his family, he later transposed the ceremonial elements of connecting with ancestral spirits for the receipt of knowledge, joy, healing and direction as well as going into states of trance onto stage. Consulting his ancestors is something he does with each creation.

Speaking to Turkish broadcaster TRT World on the delicate approach and grounding process of merging the spiritual with his western training, Mantsoe says, Dance has taught me self-healing because when I dance, I feel completely healed by the process of what Im going through.

You have to be totally open, free and not congest yourself to one identity, which is just the body moving around a space. The body can divide itself into different dimensions. It can expand, yet I can stay grounded and know exactly where I have to go and when to stop. I dance, first and foremost, for my ancestors, he says.

Living through apartheids oppressive disruption of the 1980s, a teenage Mantsoe and his friend, respected dancer-choreographer, Gregory Maqoma, formed the dance group The Joy Dancers. Influenced by African American culture and infusing it with their traditional dance styles, they experimented and danced to escape and stay out of trouble. After seeing an audition notice in the Sowetan newspaper, both Mantsoe and Maqoma joined the Moving Into Dance (MID) company as part of the Schweppes scholarship programme.

Mantsoe joined the company in 1991 and enrolled in the MID community dance teachers training course in 1992 under the mentorship of Sylvia Glasser and the teaching faculty. He was part of the first groups to perform Glassers historic San trance dancing work, Tranceformations, which gave birth to her Afrofusion dance.

Mantsoe created his iconic international award-winning solo Gula for his MID training course end-of-year graduation. Gula, inspired by the pigeons in his grandmothers Soweto back yard, and the subsequent group work Gula Matari, inspired by the 1970 Quincy Jones record of the same name, is now an Afrofusion classic. It won Mantsoe first prize and an international career at the inaugural Dance Encounters of Contemporary African Dance in Luanda, Angola in 1996.

Creating Gula was the beginning of a new chapter, Mantsoe reflects. The idea was to try and transform myself into a bird. What would happen if I did? We were still living through apartheid. Would I find peace, would I find freedom? I found it in how I express myself.

Gula Matari as an ensemble piece was symbolic of collective community which is what it felt like in the townships in those days. If we were going to protest, we were going to protest together. With it I wanted to try and bring Gula Matari the music into my body in conjunction with the bird. The complexity and simplicity of the music is transporting. I wanted to bring myself into a different world. To fly far away, says Mantsoe.

Gula and its imagery is in multiple ways symbolic to Mantsoes story representing personal and creative freedoms, as well as being the metaphor for the trajectory of his life. He was invited with MID to perform his work throughout Africa, Europe, Australia, Canada and Asia.

In his travels, he found essences of home and gained a deep affinity with the cultural ways of the aboriginal people of Australia and the Japanese, whose influences form part of his signature. Standout productions from his rich body of work include the 1995 Afro-Asian Hanano Blessing of the Earth as the first FNB Dance Umbrella Young Choreographers commissioned work and Men-Jaro as the 1996 Standard Bank young artist award winner for dance, among many others.

After performing and receiving awards in France, he moved there and created his French company Association Noa in 2005. He returns home regularly to see his family and perform and continues to collaborate and teach everywhere else his work takes him. Mantsoes geographical divergences, cultural and spiritual connections shape his ideas of home and belonging that resonate with audiences globally. They also give context to the politics of his dance and its activism.

Contemporary dance is neglected so much in South Africa. We are not taken seriously about how much change we bring into society. With my dance and through my cultural, spiritual and traditional modes, I try to tackle who we are as human beings globally, individually and as communities, he says.

The choice to leave South Africa was made through varying emotions. However, my aunt saw it in her visions that I was not going to stay here because I was not meant to be held in chains. Im a global citizen. I maintain two relationships between two homes, bridging the gap between the European mentality that embraces my work and the South African energy that speaks to who I am.

Mantsoe will be presenting his newest work, Koma at Jomba! With it he highlights the notion of sacrifice, especially looking at what young people go through when embarking on rites of passage. He zooms in on the psychological, spiritual and physical sides of initiation.

Jomba! will screen his short dance filmCut (part 1)made during lockdown and his two-year process (2021 and 2022) of working with Durbans Flatfoot Dance Company, as well as the long journey to makingCut (part 2), which will premiere at the festival.

Mantsoe will also present a masterclass. Central to his legacy is the idea of dance as a language of respect.

What is key for me is to have respect for every aspect of movement I bring into my work. Dance for me is about living the maximum possibility of the past and the present. When Im on stage, Im no longer Vincent Sekwati Koko Mantsoe, I represent something larger. I am the past, carrying my ancestors into the present and into the new generation. Understanding and respecting this knowledge is very important. Without tlhompho le botho ba hao (respect and your humanity), youre just a body, Mantsoe says.

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Fall preview of jazz festivals in the area and beyond – wbgo.org

Posted: at 5:55 pm

For some reason, the fall has become the favored time of year for jazz festivals both in this region and nationwide. As one colleague at WBGO said, September has replaced June, which used to be the most crowded month for jazz festivals. In some cases, events were shifted from earlier in the year because of the onset of the pandemic, with many of them deciding to stick with the fall season in the ensuing years. Regardless, heres a rundown of the jazz festivals happening during the fall across the country. (Listed in chronological order.)

Back in the Swing Jazz Festival (Old Lyme, CT)September 9-10Lineup: Joey Alexander Trio; Kenny Garrett & Sounds From the Ancestors; Katie Thiroux Trio featuring Melissa Aldana; Jonathan Barbers Vision Ahead Quintet; Sean Nelsons New London Big Band; others

Central Jersey Jazz Festival (Flemington, New Brunswick, Somerville and Metuchen, NJ)September 9-11 Lineup: Marion Cowings featuring AC Lincoln; Cyrus Chestnut; Bobby Sanabria & Ascension; Lezlie Harrison; Lucy Yeghiazaryan; others

Montclair Jazz Festival (Montclair, NJ)September 10Lineup: Christian McBride; Artemis; Monty Alexander; Matthew Whitaker; Danielle Ponder; Immanuel Wilkins; The Cookers; Ozmosys; others

JazzFest White Plains (White Plains, NY)September 14-18Lineup: Joey Alexander Trio; Buster Williams Quartet; Grace Kelly; Ragan Whiteside; Miki Hayama & Richie Goods; Albert Rivera Quintet; others

Pittsburgh International Jazz Festival (Pittsburgh, PA)September 16-18Lineup: Ron Carter Foursight; Stanley Clarke N 4ever; Incognito featuring Maysa Leak; Average White Band; Buster Williams & Something More; Vanisha Gould; Samara Joy; others

Atlantic City Jazz Festival (Atlantic City, NJ)September 17Lineup: Brian Culbertson; Jazmin Ghent; Althea Rene; Jeff Bradshaw; Najee

Morristown Jazz & Blues Festival (Morristown, NJ)September 17Lineup: Bria Skonberg; Frank Vignola; Veronica Lewis; Walter Trout Band; James Langtons New York All-Star Big Band

Monterey Jazz Festival (Monterey, CA)September 23-25Lineup: Ranky Tanky; Ravi Coltrane; Artemis; Gregory Porter; Christian Sands; Monterey Jazz Festival on Tour; Julian Lage; Brandee Younger; others

Exit Zero Jazz Festival (Cape May, NJ)September 29 October 2Lineup: Gregory Porter; Angelique Kidjo; Jose James; The Baylor Project; Christian Sands; Orrin Evans; Stacy Kent; Joshua Redman; others

BRIC Jazz Festival (Brooklyn, NY)October 20-22Lineup: Lizz Wright; Joel Ross; Freelance; Jose James; DOMI & JD Beck; Theon Cross; Matthew Whitaker; others

Angel City Jazz Festival (Los Angeles, CA)October 21-23Lineup: Luciana Souza & Vince Mendoza; Marquis Hill; John Escreets Seismic Shift; David Murray Trio; Jonathan Pinsons Boom Clap; Battle Trance; others

James Moody Jazz Festival (Newark, NJ)November 8-20Lineup: Maria Schneider; Christian McBride, Fantasia; Jazzmeia Horn; Dee Dee Bridgewater & Savion Glover; Yellowjackets; others

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SWTOR 7.1.1 Healer Balance Changes Overview and Analysis – VULKK.com

Posted: at 5:55 pm

This article will give you a preview of the Healer Combat Styles proposed changes coming with SWTOR Update 7.1.1. Ive also got a detailed analysis of the changes how they will affect the combat styles, the healing in general; and I also shared some personal thoughts and suggestions for further changes that BioWare should implement.

Table of Contents:

Operatives / Scoundrels reign supreme. They are capable of doing gargantuan amounts of AoE healing by spamming Kolto Injection / Underworld Medicine on themselves to turn it into an AoE heal with the Kolto Burst / Medical Burst ability tree buff.

Mercenaries / Commandos and Sorcerers / Sages can still bring acceptable numbers, but youre not doing your group any favors by taking both of those instead of at least 1 Operative / Scoundrel right now.

Operatives / Scoundrels arent without their limitations. Theyre less flexible than Mercenaries / Commandos and especially Sorcerers / Sages because approximately half their GCDs have to be spent maintaining Kolto Probes / Slow-release Medpacs. If they unexpectedly have to burst heal someone up, they risk letting probes fall off of others, forcing them to spend extra GCDs reapplying them later.

They also dont have much survivability at all, especially in PvE content, even compared to other healers. That said, PvE survivability has been an issue for Operatives / Scoundrels in general for quite a while though and will only finally be fixed for DPS with 7.1.1.

Mercenaries / Commandos are well-rounded and theyre particularly good at offering frequent, reliable, potent burst healing thanks to Supercharged Gas / Supercharged Cell. However, Heat / Energy Cell management became harder and less forgiving with the launch of 7.0 because Vent Heat / Recharge Cells and Thermal Sensor Override / Reserve Powercell were combined into a single ability.

Their mobility is also very poorly suited to the new R-4 Anomaly operation where fast, extremely precise movement is preferred. On the other hand, Sorcerer / Sage mobility is incredible. They can travel as far as Mercenaries / Commandos with Force Speed, but while having complete control over where they end up and without having to spend multiple GCDs and while they cant make themselves immune to knockbacks, Phase Walk is almost always able to get the job done.

Sorcerer / Sage healers are truly the jack-of-all-trades, master-of-none. Their flexibility is unparalleled among the healer disciplines. They have multiple options for a given scenario and are rarely locked into doing a specific ability at a specific time like Operatives / Scoundrels are with refreshing probes and Mercenaries / Commandos are with Supercharged Gas / Supercharged Cell and somewhat with Kolto Shell / Trauma Probe.

Thanks to their Volt Rush / Telekinetic Blitz build, Sorcerers / Sages also have the easiest time off-DPSing by far and can consistently deal a comparatively high amount of damage while keeping HPS numbers up.

Their biggest, and in my opinion, appropriate drawback is that they arent as strong as other healers in any given category. They have less frequent access to consistent, reliable, potent burst next to Mercenaries / Commandos and considerably weaker AoE healing next to Operatives / Scoundrels.

Source:SWTOR Forums.

Operative / Scoundrel and Mercenary / Commando are getting the biggest changes with Operative / Scoundrel getting a nerf and Mercenary / Commando getting a considerable buff. Sorcerer / Sage is also getting buffed, but the effect is smaller.

Mercenary / Commando healers will be getting nearly a 2% HPS increase. The only heal that isnt buffed by the first change is Kolto Shot / Med Shot. At 22k HPS, this is a 440 HPS increase. Integrated Scanning / Integrated Probes will do the same, so were looking at nearly a 1k HPS increase just from that, and then the 5% increase to critical healing gets us another ~2.3% increase, so were gonna be sitting at about 23.5k HPS for 22k HPS of healing.

The 5% boost to Critical Scanning / Critical Probe will boost the average healing dealt by Healing Scan / Advanced Medical Probe by an additional 4.4%, or 8.8% total, including the buff to Warden / Potent Medicine. Its still gonna be tough to justify taking that over Integrated Scanning / Integrated Probes because its really only 3.8% more on a single one of your heals, even if it is your strongest.

The nerf to Kolto Burst / Medical Burst will bring the healing power of AoE Kolto Injection / Underworld Medicine back down to earth, such that its HPS will be comparable to Kolto Waves, and which one heals for more will depend on which tactical item is equipped and whether Kolto Injection / Underworld Medicine is instant or not.

BioWare clarified on the forums that each stack of the new Reactive Substance buff will heal for about as much as a tick from Kolto Waves. However, its still unclear if the 10% healing boost to Kolto Stim / Underworld Tactics only applies when Kolto Injection / Underworld Medicine is used on yourself like the additional TA / UH it currently generates or if it will be a flat bonus.

I think players are still going to have a hard time justifying taking either option over Kolto Burst / Medical Burst even after the nerf unless its just really not possible for players to stack up or AoE healing isnt needed. I think Kolto Burst / Medical Burst might need to come along with an Energy cost increase for Kolto Injection / Underworld Medicine as well

The change to Nano Mark / Kolto Mark should help to make the other options more viable outside of single-target healing situations.

A 6% boost to Corrupted Bastion / Resurging Power is insufficient. So long as Resurgence / Rejuvenate spreads to at least 1 person, its gonna come out ahead in terms of HPS, but Resurgence / Rejuvenate can spread to up to 4 people, so its basically never gonna get better.

If BioWare is serious about Corrupted Bastion / Resurging Power, they need to think way bigger, like having each stack increase the critical chance of that ability by 25% and making it stack up to 4 times instead of 3.

The other changes are similarly small as well. The 5% buff to Resurgence / Rejuvenate healing will mostly cancel out the buff to Corrupted Bastion / Resurging Power since it makes Resurgence / Rejuvenate spread stronger. Its better than nothing, but it kinda feels like a token buff next to the Mercenary / Commando buffs and power that Operatives / Scoundrels will still have.

Rocket Out / Propulsion Round is fine in PvP because its mostly just a getaway tool and going backward is typically not dangerous, but there are a ton of instances where going backward in PvE is lethal.

Yes, you can spin your toon around really fast to go in the direction you want, but it feels extremely clunky and is way more difficult to do than it should be. No other ability in the game requires such technical skill to use.

The best way to fix it would be to make it so Rocket Out / Propulsion Round sends you in the direction youre moving rather than always backward, and perhaps it could still move backward if youre not moving at all or are backing up when you activate it.

Powertechs / Vanguards have an extra 45% movement speed granted by Hydraulic Overrides / Hold the Line (75% total). It used to be part of a special utility, but now its baked into the base ability. Powertechs / Vanguards dont have to give up nearly as much to take Hydraulic Overrides / Hold the Line either, only also Electro Dart / Cryo Grenade and Shield Cannon (4% heal per Shoulder Cannon), which I think we can all agree is objectively worse than Responsive Safeguards / Echoing Deterrence.

Its time for Hydraulic Overrides / Hold the Line to be equally strong for all Mercenaries / Commandos and Powertechs / Vanguards by giving Mercenaries / Commandos the 75% Hydraulic Overrides / Hold the Line.

This would definitely take a lot less work to implement compared to adding directionality to Rocket Out / Propulsion Round and would probably be enough on its own to put the combat style on more even footing with regard to mobility.

Kolto Surge / Adrenal Surge (65% Kolto Overload / Andrenaline Rush) is so much more consistently useful in PvE because it actually lets the ability work reliably as a DCD because attacks that chew through 35% of your HP in a single hit are a whole lot more common than ones that can get through 65%.

It wouldnt make much of a difference in PvP because both buffs pretty similar in terms of overall power and Mercenaries / Commandos could use 1 more thing to help reliably mitigate big hits since Chaff Flare / Diversion is so inconsistent.

Electro Net is primarily a PvP ability. Yes, it provides a small DPS increase akin to an offensive cooldown, but its pretty pointless for healers to have access to a beefy DoT with a 2 min cooldown (especially if it messes). Responsive Safeguards / Echoing Deterrence is situational as well, but at least its useful to everyone.

It would be better for everyone to have access to Responsive Safeguards / Echoing Deterrence and have Electro Net be part of the level 68 choice instead. It would also make more sense since Mercenaries / Commandos really seem to have a toolbelt feel with their ability tree buffs and would be a more appropriate choice where they have to choose between CC and mobility.

This change would be less necessary if Kolto Surge / Adrenal Surge and Trauma Regulators / Trauma Stabilizers were swapped.

Supercharged Gas / Supercharged Cell is far too essential to Mercenaries / Commandos to give up in exchange for Supercharged Celerity, especially considering they dont have an ability like Frenzy / Valorous Call to auto grant 10 stacks of Supercharged Gas for free. Here are several ways to fix this issue:

Supercharged Celerity also doesnt sufficiently accelerate the speed at which abilities can be activated when going from the 1.4s GCD to the 1.3s GCD. In 10s at the 1.4s GCD, In 10s with the 1.4s GCD, you can activate 7.14 abilities; with the 1.3s GCD, you can activate 7.69 abilities. This is the only GCD threshold where 10% alacrity doesnt result in an additional ability activation over those 10s.

If it were to grant 20% alacrity instead, that would be enough to bring players down to the 1.2s GCD, where players could get that single extra ability in because they could do 8.33 abilities in those 10s.

Hydraulic Overrides doesnt make a whole lot of sense conceptually as an animation and the VFX have always looked pretty outdated. It would be so much cooler if the ability got rebranded to make use of the jetpack / rocket boots where activating Jet Speed / Gyroscopic Alignment Jets would grant you the movement speed and CC immunity by having the jets keep you stable and speed you up.

To be clear, the effects of Hydraulic Overrides would remain the same, just the animation / VFX and name would be different. Jet Speed would fit better if Mercenaries / Commandos got access to the 75% movement speed boost while Gyroscopic Alignment Jets fits better with the CC immunity aspect. Hydraulic Overrides could take over as the name of the ability tree buff and I think thats a more fitting name for the effect anyway.

Operative / Scoundrel DPS will be in a fine spot with 7.1.1 in terms of survivability thanks to the AoE DR being added to the Countermeasures / Surrender ability tree buffs. Its understandable that healers are not receiving that buff since BioWare does not seem to want to give AoE DR to healers, but Operatives / Scoundrels are still way too far behind the other healers in terms of (PvE) survivability.

To put this in perspective, I was talking to one of the Operative healer mains on my team about the Operative / Scoundrel healer balance, he brought up that he feels he has to take Tactical Overdrive / Hotstreak because it can reset the cooldown on Shield Probe / Defensive Screen and has used it exclusively to reset the cooldown on that ability.

Its so depressing to watch someone waste such an insanely powerful ability just to get one more use out of what is arguably the weakest DCD in the game. It gives off the same energy as Finn becoming drinking buddies with a Happabore on Jakku.

There are several unique ways to improve healer survivability without adding another ability or affected the balance of the DPS disciplines:

Healers could really use some DR on a DCD, but I couldnt come up with anything that felt unique without adding a new ability or affecting DPS balance. The only way I can see to get around this would be to split the Revitalizers / Surprise Comeback DCD given to Stim Boost / Pugnacity for Lethality / Ruffian where Medicine / Sawbones gets the DR component and Lethality / Ruffian gets the HoT. Lethality / Ruffian could theoretically tolerate that nerf with the upcoming addition of AoE DR.

Operative / Scoundrel healer will continue to be difficult to balance without making it overpowered until the functionality of Kolto Probe / Slow-release Medpac is changed.

I envision Kolto Probe / Slow-release Medpac acting as an IV drip and by applying Surgical Probe / Emergency Medpac or Kolto Infusion / Kolto Pack, youre squeezing the IV bag. Individual probes would be substantially weaker, but you could give them a stronger, immediate burst whenever its needed by spending a TA / UH.

By making Kolto Probe / Slow-release Medpac no longer stack, Operatives / Scoundrels become less dependent on maintaining probes on so many targets for healing because the overall output of Kolto Probe / Slow-release Medpac is reduced.

Operatives / Scoundrel healers would have a clearer option when burst is required by spamming Surgical Probe / Emergency Medpac to effectively direct the healing previously provided by the second stack of Kolto Probe / Slow-release Medpac Medpac to whichever player actually needed the healing.

Tactical Advantage / Upper Hand would become far more of a limiting factor to healing output compared to how many people have Kolto Probes / Slow-release Medpac. Operative / Scoundrel HPS would be lower than it is now when you have Kolto Probes / Slow-release Medpacs on more than 4-5 targets, so that amount needs to be viable which is why Medical Engineering / Medpac Mastery is returning to having a 15% chance.

Surgical Probe / Emergency Medpac would also likely need to heal for 50% more to compensate for the lower HPS from not needing Kolto Probes / Slow-release Medpacs on so many players. A 50% boost to Surgical Probe / Emergency Medpac would be equivalent to 50% of the healing dealt by one of these new 24s Kolto Probes / Slow-release Medpacs over its full duration.

The core rotation would involve maintaining Kolto Probe / Slow-release Medpac on the ~4 players you think will be taking the most damage, using Surgical Probe / Emergency Medpac spam and Kolto Infusion / Kolto Pack to burst people up, and then using your other heals on cooldown in between.

The ideal skill play would be to apply Kolto Probe / Slow-Release Medpac the GCD before the player takes a bit hit and begin casting Kolto Infusion / Kolto Pack that would land just after the damage followed by additional Surgical Probes / Emergency Medpacs as needed. Fundamentally, healing output would be more limited by TA / UH generation rather than GCDs in between refreshes as it is now.

Such significant changes would absolutely need to happen on the PTS. Im curious to hear from healers about if they would like this redesign or not. I know I would personally be way more inclined to play Operative / Scoundrel healer if it wasnt so rotational.

The additional rebalancing with the release of 7.0 put Sorcerer / Sage healers in a pretty good spot. They dont need nearly as many tweaks as the other 2 disciplines.

Polarized / Potent Resolve is laughably bad. I propose it be replaced with the following effect that I call Sustaining Innervation / Soothing Trance:

Healing an ally with Innervate / Healing Trance while they are affected by Static Barrier / Force Armor causes them to gain 1 stack of Sustaining Darkness / Soothing Protection rather than lose 1 stack. In addition, activating Polarity Shift / Mental Alacrity finishes the cooldown on Innervate / Healing Trance and while Polarity Shift / Mental Alacrity is active, Innervate / Healing Trance applies Static Barrier / Force Armor to the target if they can benefit from it and grants an additional stack of Sustaining Darkness / Soothing Protection per tick.

In order to make this work, the Sustaining Darkness / Soothing Protection discipline passive would also need to stack up to 20 times (technically only 18) and be granted at level 35 instead of 78.

Basically, each full channel of Innervate / Healing Trance would give 4 stacks of Sustaining Darkness / Soothing Protection while Polarity Shift / Mental Alacrity would allow for more significant burst healing that fits with the overall theme and builds upon the current terrible effect.

Sustained healing output would remain a fair bit lower than what is offered by the Resurgence / Rejuvenate spread option in exchange for superior burst. The Unmatched Haste legendary implant would also synergize with this option, making it a better choice to use with the Volt Rush / Telekinetic Blitz build.

The only real thing Id like to adjust for Sorcerer / Sage healers would be for Unnatural Preservation / Force Mend to heal for more. It didnt get an appropriate increase compared to how much our health pools were raised with 7.0, just like Shield Probe / Defense Screen, and its a bigger issue for healers compared to the DPS disciplines which have more options to boost survivability.

Perhaps the Dark Resilience / Valiance utility that increased its healing by 30% and made Extrication / Rescue grant DR could be made into a passive or swapped out for the Conspiring Force / Confound ability tree buff. I always liked Dark Resilience / Valiance as a utility and was sad that I couldnt take it more in 6.0 because of Surging Speed / Metaphysical Alacrity being a DPS boost thanks to the set bonus.

Special thanks to Zab and Malka for their help and presence in the Featured image. I also want to thank Tom for spending multiple hours talking to me about the Operative Scoundrel healer changes.

See the original post:

SWTOR 7.1.1 Healer Balance Changes Overview and Analysis - VULKK.com

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