Glaze Tests

These are the glaze tests I have been working on in the glaze development class that I have been taking. We have all been getting some really interresting results, and these are mine. I will post the recipes once I get all my notes together.

New job???

Well, it's been about 3 weeks since I went on an interview for a position at a big construction company. The interview was arranged by a placement agency and after the 2nd week with no word, I assumed that I had not gotten the position. Then yesterday, out of the blue, I got a call from the agency letting m know that the company still had not made a decision but that I was one of their top two. We decided to put it on the back burner as we did not know when a decision would be made and I didn't want to not be considered for any other positions. THEN I got a call this morning asking if I would be willing to temp for them until they made a decision one way or the other. As I am quickly coming to the end of my financial rope, I said yes. So... I start on Monday, and have all my digits crossed that they will decide to keep me once they get to know me.

What to teach?

I have been teaching at Fairview Studios for approximately 6 months and the one thing that I always struggle with is coming up with new ideas to teach. The only time I never have this problem is when there are new students. I always demo a bowl to the newbies. I am endlessly searching the web for new and exciting ideas. So, if anyone out there can suggest anything that they think would be a good demo for a pottery class, please let me know. I am always willing to try something new in either the basic form, the function, or in the decoration. I'm thinking of covering some new types of lids and incorporate them into various lidded objects like casceroles, teapots, cannisters etc.
I better make my mind up soon, class is tomorrow....whoops, I guess I should say today, I'm posting this after midnight.

The Mad Potters Sale

These are just some pictures of my tables at the Mad Potters Sale that was held this past Saturday at the Hillhurst Sunnyside Community Centre.
I think it went "OK", I don't have a reference point as this was my first time selling with this group. It should be interresting to see how the Fairview sale compares. The Fairview sale is May 1st. The only thing that might cause problems is that the community association is also having their neighborhood clean up day on the 1st as well, and there will be lots of people dropping off their junk. Maybe this will improve the foot traffic to our show.

new pots

I just picked up the latest pots. They are currently wrapped up and ready to go to the show on Saturday. They are also pinging away in the background.

Big Bowls

I went down to Galleria a few days ago to pick up a cheque for last month's pottery sales, and they mentioned that they were in need of more large bowls and platters. I was in the studio this past weekend and decided to throw some really large bowls. Once I started, I couldn't stop. Each one is half a bag of reclaimed studio clay. I used the reclaim because even though it is soft and easy to throw, it has lots of grog and stands up well. I am guessing on the weight, but I think each bowl would be about 11 or 12 pounds each and they are probably 2 feet in diameter. I don't think I can do too many of these marathon giant bowl throwing sessions, my arms and shoulders ate killing me.
I will take some pictures once I get them all trimmed up. I managed to trim the ones I threw on the weekend, but the last couple that I made yesterday and today are just too wet.

2 upcoming sales - gotta get cracking

Well, it is that time of year again, and I find myself faced with 2 spring sales this year, and am running out of time to get ready for them (nothing new there).
My first spring sale is the Mad Potters Sale, and is at the Hillhurst-Sunnyside Community Centre on April 17th. The 2nd sale is the Fairview Studio Spring Sale, and is at the Canyon Meadows Community Centre on May 1st. I have never participated in the Mad Potters Sale, but they have been in operation for a while, so hopefully the turnout will be good. Fairview is always a good sale. The students get together twice a year and offer up their work for sale to help off set the cost of classes and firing. You can usually get a good deal on all kinds of pottery.
Oh ya, I have glazed the new "mountain" pots I was working a couple of weeks ago, and as of Tuesday, they were waiting to get fired. I will be in the studo tomorrow, and hopefully they were fired, but I am not sure there will have been a full load ready. Chances are they will still be in the kiln (if at all) tomorrow, and I wont be able to get at them until Saturday. If they are ready, I will take some pictures and post asap. I am eager to see how they turned out. I am worried that the rims will be too fragile (they were very delicate in the bisque state), but my hope is that the porcelain will yeild some strength. I have had a lot of comments on them. Some people were confused by the delicate nature of the pots rims, but others were very enthusiastic about them and thought they exuded a certain "Zenness". I glazed them with a commercial glaze on the lower half of each pot (Mayco "stoned denim"), and then the entire piece is glazed in the studio clear glaze. The commercial glaze turns a smokey blue under the clear, and I am hoping will accent these pots nicely. I wish I could afford to do some lusters on these pots. I think they would look very nice with a little platinum around the rims.

New glaze? Probably not.

I am working on a new glaze. I preformed a quadratic blend of four ingredients and picked one of the tests that looked the best. With that base glaze I preformed a series of line blends with 4 different oxides. The results have come out of the kiln and I have to say that it was a complete failure. I am doing these tests as part of a glaze class and there were some really nice results in other groups. I new that my ingredients were going to yeild some interresting results, even if they didn't form a good glaze. The ingredients were neph sey, borax, a local clay, and bone ash. The glaze that seemed to work nicely as a clear base was just 75% borax and 25% bone ash. Very clear and felt very slick and glossy. Once we added the oxides however, the "glaze" went all crusty and then the clear gloss ran down the test tiles. Not very successful, but informative none the less.

Thank you!!

Ok, so I absolutely hate shopping for clothes. Knowing this, my mother took it upon herself to arrange a day of shopping with her friend Linda in order to get my wardrobe renewed for interviews (I have one tomorrow afternoon). Linda has a good eye, and I really appreciate the help with this chore.
No pots today, but will be in the studio on Friday night. I will be at the fairview sale meeting tomorrow night and then refreshing centennial gallery as the ccaa "out of the box" show is over.

A little singed around the edges

I did a raku firing on Friday for a group of chemistry students from SAIT.
They were covering reduction/oxidation reactions and their instructor thought this would be a fun way to demonstrate a real world example. As I was checking the kiln, peering inside to see if the kiln was close to temp, I caught a bit of the heat from the flu, and I got a little bit singed around the temples, and eyelashes :)
I think it went pretty well. They all made their own pieces and of course there was a pipe, ooops...vase in the group.
I will have some pictures and perhaps some video clips to post soon. In the mean time, here are some of my results from the firing.

Finally!

I have a job interview tomorrow morning. Cross your fingers and toes.

new pics

Here are the pots I posted about last time.
I was teaching this evening, and was able to get these trimmed up and take some pictures. I threw a couple more this evening, as well as 6 cups in a similar style. One is a shallow dish, and the 2nd is similar in size to the large one pictured here.
I will probably glaze them in a clear glaze, but a smoky blue on the lower half. I think a simple clean glaze is called for with these pots. I will post pictures of the final result.

New Shapes

I was at the studio on Sunday, and was working with a new (to me) porcelain. I am not a fan of it yet, and in response to it's lack of workability, I decided to make some bowls that take this lack of workability into account. The walls are straight, with a slight inward angle, and the rim is thin and wavy, which will hopefully look nice when glazed in a clear glaze. These bowls acutally have a nice, clean look to them, and have a mountainous feel. Maybe working with this cranky body will have a nice side effect...a new shape that is fun to make, and not the same old, same old.
Again, pics will follow. I will see if I can get them trimmed up tomorrow, and then take some shots of them "in progress".
My laptop's power port is not working right now, and so I have been using the battery from the laptop my parents loaned me to power my laptop while their laptop is charching my battery and vice versa. I guess the next step is to find a cheap monitor so that I can use the PC tower they gave me, and use that instead of my laptop. I checked out getting it repaired, and it will take 2-3 weeks as it would need to be sent away. I don't have that much patience, or time to be away from the computer, so I will tough it out, and wait to get a new computer after I find a new job...

testing, testing and more testing

Good Grief! I just got home from mixing 25 glaze tests. I am taking a glaze formulation class, and we had to pick 4 ingredients (1 feldspar, 1 melter, 1 clay, and 1 other ingredient from a specific list). My partner and I chose Nepheline syenite, Doc Mills (a local clay), Borax, and Bone Ash.
We mixed 25 tests of all 4 of these ingredients using a predetermined percentage of each ingredient totaling 100 grams.
My feet hurt, and my hands are chapped.
I am pretty sure we will get some interesting results, most of them will suck, but I am hoping for at least 3 or 4 viable tests.
Must go to sleep now, I need t be at Ceramics Canada first thing tomrrow.
I will take some pics of the resulting tests when they are done.
We will be doing some line blends involving different oxides next week.

Raku Demo - March 26

I will be doing a raku demo next week for a chemistry course at SAIT (Southern Alberta Institute of Technology). The teacher has arranged for a field trip for her class so that they can witness oxidation and reduction reactions first hand in a fun setting (albeit a bit smokey and stinky).
Dave(the studio owner), hates doing Raku, but thought I would like to do it. I don't really like the flashy raku, I am drawn more to the simple white crackle glazes contrasting with the blackened clay body, but for this class, I think the iridescent copper sand type of glazes would work quite well, as they show the reduction quite nicely. I will take some pictures of the stuff that comes out of the firing and post them if there is anything really nice.

These pics are a pot that I raku fired last summer, and I was quite happy with the result.

massage

Just came back from a 1 hour massage. Gotta use up all my health benefits before they expire at the end of the month. Even though they can be painful, they sure do loosen you up. I highly recommend massages if you can find a really good therapist. I go to Sante Spa (1.5 blocks from my house). I have had massages from other places, like physio therapist offices, but the spa setting is much more relaxing, and peaceful.

The photo that I have posted with this is of my first painting that I did that I really really like. It is currently hanging on my living room wall, and I took it with my cell phone, so the quality isn't that good, but I think you get the gist. I was using acrylic molding paste and acrylic ink. The squiggly lines were created by embedding yarn in the molding paste, and then once it dries a bit, I pulled the yarn our, leaving the imprint of the yarn behind.

UNEMPLOYED, BUT STILL POTTING!

These are some of the things I have been working on recently. The Pictures were taken by by friend Barb Clarke. She is studying photography, and these were her first "commissioned" photos.
On another note, I have been spending a lot of time in the studio lately. I was restructured out of my job. Oh well, I am not angry, just ticked off. I am looking for work now that will take advantage of my creativity, and allow me to grow and develop my skills.
I have a couple of pottery sales coming up. The first is the Mad Potters Sale on April 17th, and the 2nd is the Fairview Studios Pottery Sale on May 1st.
I am also currently participating in a glaze development class for cone 6 offered through Fairview Studios, and hopefully this will result in some interesting new surface treatments for my work.
The painting that I have included in the photos above is one the paintings I have been working on. I have been part of a painting group that meets once a month. We are not all professional painters, but some of the members do make a living at it and are quite good.

Well, it's been a while since I last posted. What can I say, I'm just plain lazy. The year has been full of challenges. The studio moved locations almost 1 year ago and we moved to cone 6 as well. Talk about a compete 180. We were firing to cone 10 gas and now we are working at cone 6 electric. I am just now beginning to get a handle on how to successfully glaze at this temp and in this neutral atmosphere.
I have been teaching every Tuesday evening for the past 3 months and for at least 1 of those months I have been teaching a glazing class. I think the most intimidating part of pottery for many students is glazing. It is so final and they want their pieces to come out perfect so are hesitant to let loose and experiment. I am willing to let pieces fail as it is simple to just make another.
Lately, I have been changing the way I throw. I have been shaping completely by hand or "wet" shaping as opposed to "dry" shaping using a rib. It actually let's me achieve more fluid shapes with more motion. They are less stiff looking to my eye at least.
I have recently found a photographer that will be willing to take pictures of my work for me. I don't have the proper set up at home and she has recently begun studying photography and has all the equipment. As my friend, she has offered her services in exchange for referrals to my potter friends.

Good grief Charlie Brown, it sure has been a while since I have posted anything.
Oh well, better late than never.
Well, since my last post in February, the studio installed 2 new kilns, both electric. It was way too expensive to Install the old gas kiln from the last place. It sure has been a steep learning curve gettng used to firing to cone 6 in oxiatiion.
The studio had it's bianual sale on June 13 th and all things considered ("world economic crisis", new glazes to get used to etc), we didn't do too bad.
I have taken up paintng, and meet once a month with a few other potters that paint to have some fun and fool around with colour and texture. I will have to post pictures of what I'm up to once I get around to it.
The Calgary Clay Arts Association and Ceramics Canada put on a one day workshop with Katrina Chaytor on June 14th. It was fantastic and even though she hand builds all her work, I think I can incorporate
some of her ideas into my own thrown work.
I have less than a month to submit my piece to the CCAA's juried show in September. The show is titled "goodness gracious...Great Bowls of Fire". If I can ever get around to photographing it that is.
The CCAA is finally having a propped sale this fall. It will be held at the bearspaw community centre on November 1st. I think I will be busy throwing pots from now until then. I may have a go at repeat ware like bowls, mugs and plates. It won't be the majority but it will help fill the table.

News

Well, the studio is back up and running (partially at least). Classes have been running again for the last 3 weeks, but the kiln situation has yet to be resolved. It turns out that the large gas kiln will cost way too much to hook up (approx. $20, 000). The alternative to this is to go electric. It will reduce our capacity by about half, but allow for faster turn around. What once took 3 days to load, fire and cool, will now only take 2. This will also allow for the option of firing over night. We will also have access to a broader colour pallet. We were pretty much restricted to the earthy colours, due to cost, and materials safety, etc. So, if the cost of firing is reduced, then the cost of ingredients in a glaze recipe can go up by the same factor.

What does a potter do when they are not able to fire for a while, and get their colour and surface texture fix? It turns out, that this potter paints.

My boss at Ceramics Canada began a little group of people that are interested in painting, and using texture. We are mostly an abstract group, most have some art school, ie BFA degrees (not me, I am a self taught potter and now painter). So, I have been experimenting with acrylic inks, gel mediums, modeling pastes etc to achieve thick texture with depth, something you can see through to the deeper layers of colour etc….

I tried something new last night. I wanted to create a lens effect whereby the coating over the paint or image would magnify it. A while ago, I had purchased a 2 part varnish kit at a craft store. I wasn't sure what I would ever use it for, but I saw it used on a home decorating show once to create a very thick varnish layer on a table. Anyway, long story short, I mixed some up and poured it over some images that I had previously stuck on , and the clarity was excellent. The product runs a lot, so I had to pour it into an area where I had created a dam of thick gel to contain it. After it cured (approx 12 hours), I began layering some thick gloss gel medium on it, nothing too thick, and only sparingly. I sticks well, and you can see through it to the acrylic varnish layer and beyond, so all in all, very happy with the results. I will post some images of what I have been working on later.

Jesus Mary N'Joseph

It is freezing out there. The thermometer says -13, but the wind chill is apparently -25. I think their calculations are a bit off. It feels more like -250.
Anyway, it's been a while since my last post. I have been busy, as usual.
Fairview Studios has finally finished moving to it's new location. I helped Dave move, and I gotta tell you, it was brutal.
These images give you just a wee bit of an idea of how much stuff we moved into the new space.



These images are of one of the truckloads we loaded up andl delivered


These images are of the new space. The only things that have been set up so far are the wheels, the shelves, and the wedging tables.

Pricing

I have just been thinking about the issue of how to price pottery (or any other art / craft for that matter.
It has come to my attention that recently; a plate of mine was entered into a fund raising auction where it fetched 3 times what the original purchaser paid for it. I have also put items into these types of fund raising auctions where they generate between 3 and 6 times what I feel is a fair retail price.
My belief is that this jump in what people are paying is due to the fact that they are supporting a good cause, and are getting something as a “bonus” for donating money. I have been told that if people are buying these items for a greater amount than what I am charging, then I should increase my prices to reflect this. That would be nice, in theory…however, I think they are priced accordingly, and in all honesty, I could not ask someone to pay over $100 for a small 13” plate. I think people should be able to afford this art form, and to price it out of the “every day person’s” budget is, in my mind, a little greedy. Now, I don’t have a problem charging a higher price for something that is extra special that came out of the kiln with just a bit more pizzazz that was expected, or that I spent 20 hours working on as opposed to 1 or 2 hours. For instance, I charge between $15 and $20 for a cereal bowl, but $20-25 for a coffee mug. It takes longer to make the cup, even though it may be the same size or smaller than the cereal bowl.

Delinquent Blogger

Ok, so I have been a bit tardy. It has been a while since my last post, and a few things have happened.
We had our Fairview Studios Pottery sale, and even with the “recession” our sales were still quite robust. Not a record breaker, but not the worst either. We made $8302 in 3 hours, not bad for a Saturday mornings work. I managed to sleep in, and arrived at the venue with 10 minutes to spare. Everyone helped me set up, but as I did not have very much this year, it went quite smoothly. I usually pack my tables to the gills, and then only sell half. This year, I sold almost everything, but then again, I probably had half of what I normally do.
Another recent event, Fairview Studios is going to be moving. The lease was not renewed, as the owners want to expand their business into the studio’s bay. The good news is that they helped Dave find a new space, are going to pay the expenses of the move etc. The only glitch was that they had to increase the gas pressure in the new space to accommodate the large gas kiln we use. The new space is a Quonset, well lit, very well insulated (so we wont freeze our fingers off in the winter, and will stay cool in the summer). It has a gated yard and is located in a purely industrial location so we can do all kinds of alternative firings year round (unless a fire ban is on in the summer), so we can do mid winter raku etc…maybe I can perfect my naked raku process.

A few weeks ago, I fired the kiln solo. Dave was going to Kansas, and in order for one more glaze to get fired before the sale, I volunteered to learn how to fire it and then fire it on my own the Sunday before the sale. It went well, it is a bit tricky during the reduction, as you have to keep the back pressure up just enough, but not too much so you don’t fill the studio with stinky fumes, and then again, during the rest of the firing, you want to keep the back pressure up just enough so that the flame is just licking out the peep hole, but have the air intakes open all the way, and the dampers slightly closed. That night, I had nightmares of under fired ware, ware that had stuck to the UNDERSIDE of all the kiln shelves, over fired ware, etc…but it all worked out fine. No disasters, and it all looked good.

Catching Up

The 5x5 show officially opened on Sunday. It was a pretty successful day I think. Not tooo many people showed up, but enough came and opened up their wallets. The pic I have posted above is all I have had time to post right now. The ones I took are still in the camera, and so this came from my Mum's blog (I don't think I would have ever imagined using the phrase "my Mum's blog" 5 years ago)
Susan and I set up on Saturday, and it took over 2 hours to clear out the old stuff from the front and get all the new pieces artfully arranged.
There was food, and drink, and I think everything was pretty well received.
I did find out that I have a 1 person fan club. I guess this guy comes in and buys my altered teapots all the time and gives them away as gifts.

I will be teaching classes for Dave for the next few days (tonight, tomorrow, Monday, and Tuesday) while he is away in Bend Oregon for a family reunion.

Susan from the Galleria in Inglewood has asked for several large pieces to go into a home decorating and design show in the Round Up Centre in September, and I am currently working on a couple of really large, low and wide bowls, plus I have a huge planter waiting to be glazed. Hopefully these will survive and that she likes them.

Gallery Opening July 20, 2008

5x5 Loud & Clear is the name of the show. There will be 3 painters and 2 potters. This is going to be the last group show for Centennial Gallery. The Gallery will be moving to a new location in August, with a Galla Re-Opening set for Sept. 13/08. The new space is smaller than their current location, so there will not be enough room to have group shows. There will be a small room that will be used for single artist showings/Artist of the month type events.

it's been two weeks since I last posted an entry, and a little bit has happened since then.The Art Market opportunity for the CCAA did not happen. Probably for various reasons such as not enough notice. I only got a couple of replies, and that would not have been enough people.Second, the Centennial Gallery will be moving its location in August. Our current location is in a section of the Palliser Square that will be undergoing radical renovations. The space they are in now is going to become escalators. So...we will be moving down the hall to a smaller space, but one that hopefully will allow for more off the street foot traffic. The only really big issue with the space right now is that in order to maintain our current level of rent (ie: really really cheap), the management will not be responsible for much in the way of renovations or getting the space ready for us to move in. The big problem that we are facing is that the last tenant was a jewelry store / diamond cutting school, and they did a midnight run and took all the keys to the space. When we finally got in there to have a looks, it was discovered that there were 15 concrete pillars that the diamond cutting machines were mounted on, and then behind that, there are the same number of concrete posts for what purpose I have no idea. So, we have to find a way to remove these GD pillars and posts, without it costing too much. Personally, I think that is our main concern, and the other renos are cosmetic at the most, ie: washing walls, carpet cleaning, painting, lighting etc. This work can be done by members, or the on site electrician (donated to us by the management). The pillars need to be contracted out to a cutting and coring company. The funny thing is that this has to be done in July, as the space is directly over Vertigo theatre, and they are currently closed, but will begin rehearsals during the day in August, and we can't make any noise.
Thirdly, I will be in the last group show for Centennial (no group shows after we move, due to lack of space), only individual shows. The show will be running from July 18-Aug 15, and the Official Opening is July 20th noon to 3pm.
Lastly, I may, if Dave chooses to pick me, be his studio tech/cleaner. In exchange, I would get free classes, a private(ish) studio space, a reduction in firing fees, and 24/7 access.

Starting to get webbed feet...

If it continues to rain much more, I will start to get webbed feet, and my condo will become a house boat...
At this rate, we wont have fire bans this summer, and the studio can raku with reckless abandon...
Just when you think the rain has stopped, the clouds open up and another downpour is underway.
It was hailing last night on my way home from work, and I heard that it was snowing in some part of the foothills this morning (it's June for crying out loud!) I guess we should never be amazed at the constantly ever changing variety of weather we get here in Calgary, but we always are.

On another note...
I was working at Ceramics Canada on Saturday, and I met two very eager potters. A husband and wife who just recently moved here from Portland Oregon were in the shop pricing out materials, and wheels etc... They seemed to be very eager to get going with their studio, and getting involved with the clay community here (such as it is). I told them about the CCAA, and they were all excited about the new group. I hope that in time they will become members, once we get ourselves sorted out and are able to offer something other than an e-mail list :)

Possible Opportunity for the CCAA

The City of Calgary, in conjunction with the EPCORE Centre for the Performing Arts, and the Olympic Plaza Cultural District are starting up a new initiative called Sunday Art Market in the Plaza. They are inviting local artists to submit applications to be a part of this event. Every Sunday from Jun 22^nd to August 31^st, there will be an outdoor (indoor if weather doesn’t cooperate) art market. This first year, it is being offered free of charge to artists on a first come first serve basis. I am in the process of finding out if they will accept a “group” application, whereby the CCAA would be the booth, but each Sunday would promote a different set of artists. There is the potential to have 22 artists participate under the CCAA umbrella. The Art Market wants the vendors to be there for as many of the 11 Sundays as possible, so this would let many of us participate, but not feel over burdened with having to set up and tear down displays for 11 weeks.

We don’t have much time to organize this, as the cut off for application is June 10, and then after that, only 2 weeks until the opening day.

How I spent my Victoria Day Long Weekend...

For most people, the first long weekend of the summer (In Canada, it is the Victoria Day Long Weekend) means packing up a tent, or trailer, and heading to the mountains, or lake, or cabin etc. I am the exception to that rule. I spent my entire holiday at the studio, where I found my inner mug. I normally hate throwing mugs, but every once in a while, I take it on as a challenge to find "that perfect mug". I think I found that mug. The one that I can throw with ease repeatedly, has an interresting shape, allows for a comfortable handle, and allows for surface decoration and interresting glaze applications. I will need to see how they turn out with various glazes, but so far so good.

pottery bomb

A bomb exploded in my living room. I have pottery from my sliding doors to my front door. The studio sale is in 3 days, and I have to wrap and pack it all before Friday.
At the very least, it is a great anti theft method. If anyone tries to break in, they would break their neck on my pottery before they ever got out again.

Tall, Taller, Tallest

On Saturday, I finished working at Ceramics Canada for the day, and decided that I wanted to go to the studio and throw for a couple of hours (scratch that, a couple always turns into 3 or 4).
I didn't have a set goal in mind, but I hadn't thrown anything large or tall in a while, and so I set out to throw the tallest cylinder I could in one go, ie: not in segments.
I wedged up about 1/3rd of a bag of Laguna B-mix, and away I went, made a relatively tall cylinder that became a vase, nothing too huge, just to get me warmed up. I would say about 12-13 inches high. next I wedged up about a half a bag of clay, centered it, opened, and pulled, collared, and pulled and collared and pulled and collared.....I pulled and collared more than the standard 3 times, as I wanted it to be as narrow as possible. After all, I'm not making sewer pipes. Anyhow, I soon discovered however that the height of the tallest cylinder that I can throw (unless thrown in sections) is limited my my arm pit. I can only reach so far down inside the pot before I can't raise from the bottom anymore. So...I figure I could have gotten it taller if my arm was longer, and I was taller, as it is, I made it to approximately 23-24 inches. The size of the finished bottle though is only about 14 inches, so it is quite amazing how much height you lose when shaping and finishing the form.
Another thing that I noticed while throwing these forms (Threw 4 over 2 days) is that if I am listening to my ipod with headphones, I am able to concentrate much more, but remain really loose, as opposed to when I am either listening to the radio, or nothing at all. The result being a much taller and better thrown and on centre pot if I have the headphones on.