Intuition Is The Human Compass 'The Third Element'

"Nexus" - A Connection Or Series Of Connections Linking Two Or More Things.

For me intuition has a huge role in my metal detecting especially when I use my Nexus machines, in regards to the concept of Transhumanism, I'm against the whole idea. But the type of merging of man and machine that occurs when I hold any of my Nexus detectors makes complete sense to me, there's a connection that amplifies my intuition. This is because the machine assists and guides you but, primarily it's up to you to make the decisions, you're not leaving it to the machine to tell you what to dig. 

A communication takes place, the element that ties me to these detectors is the threshold, this locks me in and then the ground balance is the alignment tool. We want to resonate with the ground beneath our feet, we don't want to create a 'discord' that distorts the communication that's taking place. This might sound like stupid rubbish to some out there but it makes complete sense to me. There were a number of reasons I stopped using digital detectors, the main one being what I call the 'disconnect'. 

When I was swinging them I wasn't connected to anything, these machines were turning an intuitive process into a digits and numbers game and this was creating a barrier. To me metal detecting has nothing to do with digits and numbers, these machines change the instinctive and intuitive process of detecting into a 'workman like' one size fits all approach. To me they subtract the beauty of metal detecting, and the potential treasures we find, into a soulless regimented experience. We suffer from this in every area of our lives nowadays, it's all so clinical and synthetic, it's as if we're losing touch with ourselves, having relocated our responsibilities over to technology and gadgets. 

Drums & Music In Relation To Using Nexus

When I tune drums I'm working with a sense, so many elements contribute to the end result but the whole process is achieved by a sense. Manufactures have tried to use both technology and gadgets to help make the process accessible to anyone, meaning you don't really need to have any knowledge of drum tuning. Products have come to the market that 'enable' you to tune drums within the parameters that these products allow. We have what is known as a drum dial, this is a dial that you put by each lug and tune to a number. In theory, when the numbers are the same on each lug then the drum is tuned. Different numbers equate to different sounds, for instance, tuning the lugs to the number 50 with give you a "heavy rock" sound and tuning them to say 70 will give you a fusion sound.

Useless

There a variations of this product, the new line are digital but they all work on the same principle, breaking it down, it's a product that enables you to participate in a task where the thinking is 'apparently' done for you. This means you don't really need any real knowledge when it comes to tuning drums, Does This Sound Familiar? It's a product that takes the responsibility away from you, you just follow the instructions without any real thought and understanding. Using these products, you aren't learning anything, let us remember that life is about learning and taking responsibility. Life isn't about asking Alexa and pushing the responsibility onto to an inanimate object.

Equally As Useless

Take the Tune-Bot, the drums must sound amazing when using one because it's the latest tech ... right? Wrong, the product is a fucking joke, you can't place tuning drums within such narrow parameters. These types of products don't have the sense needed to tune any drum, there's far too many variables. Firstly we have drum skin type, you can get double coated, single ply, clear, controlled etc, the list goes on. Then you have shell type, different woods, steel, brass, copper etc, then we have environment, indoors, outdoors, in a tent etc. We also have drums that might be slightly warped meaning the skin won't be perfectly level, this requires a good ear to deal with these issues. Probably the most crucial element is what you call regions, each drum has a series of regions that you can tune them within. Some drums sound better in the lower regions, others in the mid to high, some drums only have one region, you have to work those regions out and you can only do this by both ear, feeling and experience. Does Years Of Using A Drum Dial Make You An Expert At Tuning Drums? No it doesn't Does Years Of Using Digital Detectors Make You An Expert On Metal Detecting? No it doesn't

Variables

The products mentioned just don't have the scope and you can't make it a 'one size fits all approach', I feel exactly the same way about metal detectors and metal detecting. One machine and one coil can't do it all, it can do an ok job but nothing compares to a machine that's fully adjustable that requires both intuition and instinct to use. Digital machines have the same parameters as the drum dial and you can't work outside them. Nexus machines have no parameters, the adjustment is acute and limitless, you're always going to be able to tune you machine perfectly to the ground you're hunting on. 

I look upon tuning my Nexus machines the same way I look upon tuning both the top and bottom skins of a drum. for the drum to sound its best both skins have to be communicating with each other correctly. If one is tuned too high or too low it will effect the overall resonance. They have to be tuned so they're in harmony with each other. This harmony then allows the drum to sound the best it can, there's a "state of flow" between the skins which in turn gives the drum its voice, it's this voice that I call The Third Element. Understanding how to manipulate this voice is the key to really knowing how to work with drums and drum tuning.

In metal detecting, I look upon the coil as the top skin and the ground as the bottom skin. If they're not working in harmony then the communication will be incorrect, it creates a discord which in turn interferes with the communication that's trying to take place, for example "Excess Ground Noise". When both the machine and coil are resonating together it creates The Third Element. It's within this element that the machine is able to communicate via the threshold that there's a metal object in the ground. Due to the acute settings that my Nexus machines have, just like with the drums, you can "tighten or loosen" the resonance within an millimetre of a millimetre. This just can't be achieved on a digital machine, you can argue the case that it can but the fact is it can't be done to the extreme I'm talking about.

The Magic Happens When Things Are Tuned Correctly 

There's part of me that feels I could write a book on this subject but I think I've covered the main points I wanted to make. Intuition is a gift we've all been born with, many have lost this ability due to the modern age that we live in, I've always maintained a relationship with mine. Nothing can be a substitute for intuition and instinct, I truly believe that if you don't use it you will end up losing it. People must learn to listen to themselves, no technology can override the natural gifts we've been given as humans. Let us remember, the best tools for tuning drums is your gut and your ear and the best discriminator when metal detecting is again, both your gut and your ear.