Imagine getting a message from an old friend you haven’t seen in a long time, and making arrangements to meet one evening. As the plans get closer there is anticipation that turns into excitement, and when you finally meet the hours fly by in intense conversation. Later, you excuse yourself to use the restroom and return to the table with the energy noticeably shifted as the end of the evening looms. After saying goodbye, you make your way home wrapped in melancholy as the energy of the night mixes with old memories.

For me, this is the story-line of Jazz. Any single jazz tune does not need to convey this entire story, but it should exist somewhere within it; focused on one scene or another. And whether or not a tune falls within the story-line is not based on how it sounds, but how it feels. Jazz must feel like a conversation.

The story-line of Rock & Roll is that of youthful rebellion and angst as we fight to discover our own identity for the first time. Rock & Roll has to feel like that fight.

The story of Love songs is doing the work to accept and find balance with someone or something being added to our identity. Love songs have to feel like that work.

The Blues is within the story-line of having a piece of ourselves ripped away and having to regain and maintain balance and awareness of ourselves without that piece. The Blues has to feel like loss.

What I call Classical music feels like exploration and discovery, at every level of our awareness.

From my perspective, there are many attempts that fail to fit into these categories. This is the nature of nature; there are always far more failures than successes. But these failures are different from the other music that does not try and is designed for a specific commercial strategy. I call all this other music Audio Design.