• An article on how to read a poem (or: how to listen to music?).
“When we release ourselves from the need to boil the poem down to a single meaning or theme, the mind can move in a dreamlike, associative way. This associative movement in poetry can at first feel disorienting, but it is actually quite close to the way parts of our minds, unbeknownst to our conscious selves, constantly function, simultaneously attentive to the outside world, but also thinking, processing, half dreaming.”
• An article on the skeuomorphic interfaces of music software.
“Alone, each plugin is hideous in its own unique way. A panel of 3D knobs here, a pixellated oscilloscope there.”
• An article on the prepared piano music of Kelly Moran.
“She developed a very unique process of melding the worlds of electroacoustic deconstruction and classical, harmonious minimalism. Drawing from the techniques of personal heroes like John Cage and Henry Cowell (such as brushing the strings of the piano with her own hands, or inserting various objects into the body of the instrument), Moran took her unconventional timbres and extended techniques and recorded them onto MIDI software programs like Kontakt one piano note at a time, allowing her to perform her complex tonalities as she would on a normal synthesizer. In this way, Moran essentially built new instruments from scratch, filtering the acoustic recordings through a digital interface so that she could apply her dexterous playing style to sounds that would normally be impossible to play on a standard keyboard.”
brettworks 