Thomas Brett
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On Editing Music While Listening And Looking At It
While working on a musical project recently I realized the value of editing while looking at the MIDI notes. Listening to the music while following along each part one at a time lets me see what’s sounding and then make the appropriate changes in dynamics and arrangement. For instance, I can hear that there’s a… Continue reading
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Brett’s Sound Picks: Rebekka Karijord’s “Morula”
Rebekka Karijord’s two and a half-minute “Morula” seems built entirely out of voice. It begins with a simple sung arpeggio–a three chord, nine note statement. The voice seems processed, maybe auto-tuned, or maybe sampled. By the third time around its call is responded to in a higher register, with a contrasting shape. We also hear… Continue reading
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Questions For A Composer About Music
How do you want people to use your music? Is it for sitting-still listening? Is it for dancing while listening? Is it to soundtrack a film? Is it to help you study? Is it to set a mood on a date? Is it to accompany a text? Is it a working through of a theory?… Continue reading
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What Is Adele Doing That So Many People Respond To?
The English pop megastar Adele has an epic voice and it’s this quality of epic-ness that sets her apart and draws us towards her music. What makes her voice epic? Her flawless sense of pitch, her phrasing, her all out power. Most of us who aren’t singers or have no particular interest in the voice–this… Continue reading
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Music And Attention
Focus on me music says, to bridge memory and anticipation, to order the scatterbrain– improve your functioning, learn to be better through style. Pay attention to my tones in succession or vertical stacking, follow them along their travels, soaring over landscapes, skimming across water. Register my rhythms in unison- or clashing-ness, vibrate with their architectures,… Continue reading
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Notes On The Africa Express Version Of Terry Riley’s “In C”
“Rules are not as important as results.” – Terry Riley (from an interview here) If you happened to be knowledgeable about the rhythmic riches of African musics and also happened to attend one of the early performances of Terry Riley’s pioneering minimalist piece “In C” in 1964, you might have noticed that something was up. You… Continue reading
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Uncritical Listening
Only the simplest music I get analytically, unpacking without trying, dividing without counting, hearing without thought transcription. When complexity sings I take a step back to view its note shapes from afar, observing without judging, counting without unpacking, suspicious of their busy work. It was a piece by Takemitsu– I noticed one tone, the first,… Continue reading
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