Writer, musician, and professional musicologist (CWU). I study the influence of marketing on the history of music. co-founder Glisten IQ

Joined June 2009
I wrote and produced music for RealTruck's ad campaign last summer. We did a version with just percussion. Every sound you hear in this ad was made by banging, scraping, or otherwise using a truck as a percussion instrument. Love how this turned out.
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I'm a professor with a startup. What do I know about GTM?? @NebulaAI just made it easier with a $1k grant to fund my GTM for the next 3 months. 🙏 I'm just trying to find behavioral scientists who need an experiment-builder that actually handles video and audio stimuli well.
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Pay now or pay later.
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**add all to reading list**
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Growth is earned when you invest in loss. It was humbling. Sometimes humiliating. In The Art of Learning, Joshua Waitzkin tells the story of his early days training in Push Hands, a Tai Chi practice. He had a classmate named Evan, and every time they stepped onto the mat, Evan smashed him around. Not once or twice—every session, for months. But Waitzkin kept coming back. Because he knew that the fastest way to grow wasn’t to avoid these beatings, it was to seek them out. He calls it “investment in loss”—the practice of deliberately putting yourself in situations where you are overmatched. Not to prove anything. Not to protect your ego. But to find out, as quickly as possible, where your weaknesses are. Each time Evan put him on the ground, Waitzkin treated it like a diagnostic tool. Where did his stance collapse? Where was his timing off? Where did he lose balance? Over time, he stopped fearing being hit. He relaxed under pressure. The chaos slowed down. Evan’s movements became easier to read, his attacks easier to anticipate. And then, one day, Waitzkin threw Evan to the ground. Months of losses had quietly built the foundation for that single moment. Most people avoid these kinds of situations. They stay in their comfort zones, working only with peers they can keep up with, rehearsing for audiences who will clap no matter what. But comfort is a trap. It feels safe, but it slows growth to a crawl. The real acceleration happens at the edge of your ability, where mistakes are frequent and survival depends on adaptation. This is true whether you are sparring in martial arts, learning an instrument, building a business, or writing your next book. If you can resist the urge to protect your ego, if you can see each defeat as tuition paid toward your future skill, you’ll improve faster than you thought possible. The losses are not setbacks. They are investments. So this week, find your “Evan.” Step into a room where you’re not the best. Let yourself get thrown around. Learn what the losses have to teach you. When the game slows down later, you’ll know exactly why.
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How can loss be the fastest way to grow? New issue drops tomorrow in The Creative Process: Joshua Waitzkin’s “investment in loss," and why embracing defeat can be your greatest advantage. Subscribe here to get it (free): mark-samples.com
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Happy Birthday, Elliott. Which album are you spinning today? #ElliottSmith forever.
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Mark Samples retweeted
Idaho Piano Teachers, Don't Miss Keith Snell's FREE Piano workshop August 7th! Sponsored by Chesbro Music Company - Idaho Falls, Idaho. Click Link for Details: mailchi.mp/kjos/free-keith-s…] #KeithSnell #PianoTeachers #PianoTeacher #Piano #KjosMusic #ChesbroMusicCompany
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When designing the ideal research setup, a research table separate from your desk is essential. It’s a surface for thinking—organize note cards, mark up books, move ideas around. What’s on your essential research setup list?
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Mark C. Samples => MC Samples I think deep down my parents knew I was going to be a musicologist who studies popular music.
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"The perfect song doesn't exi—" Name that song 👇
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I'll go first: Paul Simon, "Some Folks Lives Roll Easy"
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How did you first hear/learn about your favorite song?
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My friend Pete recommended I check out Cannonball Adderley’s Somethin’ Else. Track 2 = “Love for Sale” 🤯
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