brettworks

thinking through music

December 2010

  • Just A DJ In The Subway Or . . . ?

    Well, this one threw me for a loop, but bear with my description . . . A useful way for a musician to promote his or her music AND a musical event is to bring it directly to the commuting public by performing in the subway.  At Union Square this afternoon, a DJ demonstrated his audio finesse.  (You can listen… Continue reading

  • An Interview With Percussionist Junior Wedderburn

    Born in Port Antonio, Jamaica, Junior “Gabu” Wedderburn is a master percussionist who has played drums for over forty years.  His music making draws upon the traditional Jamaican ritual styles of Kumina, Pocomania, Tambu, Bruckins, and Nyabinghi.  I interviewed Junior in November in New York City about Nyabinghi music as well as a documentary film he… Continue reading

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  • Your Musical Tastes, Automated

    Virginia Heffernan has an article on the popular Internet radio service Pandora in today’s New York Times.  Pandora allows users to set up personalized radio stations that generate playlists based on users’ musical preferences.  All it takes is an initial song, and Pandora analyzes* (see footnote below) the music based on quantifiable qualities such as instrumentation,… Continue reading

  • More Cookery-Music Connections: Texture and Timbre

    In a video podcast lecture available on iTunes U, the chef Grant Achatz discusses the creative process involved in arriving at new dishes.  In a short video from the lecture Achatz introduces what he calls “flavor bouncing.”  He begins with a single ingredient/flavor (white beans) and then maps a list of possible other ingredients/flavors (bacon, beer, almonds…) that could successfully “bounce off”… Continue reading

  • Creative Strategies From elBulli’s Cookery

    This blog post is not about music or sound per se, but about the creative process of cooking.  I am a big fan of books about cookery, and they can be read from a sideways perspective–thinking by analogy about how they may offer insight onto other domains.  With that said, every once in a while you… Continue reading

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  • Brian Eno on Improvisation, Computers and Music

    One of the reasons why musician and producer Brian Eno’s words are worth reading is that he often has timely things to say about music and says them in a way that makes sense and makes you pause and think.  In a recent Pitchfork interview (my second Pitchfork-related post in a week), Eno discusses strategies for improvisation and the… Continue reading

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