Thomas Brett
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On Redoing A Not-So-Great Version Of A Track
“It was all change until the very last second.” Verlyn Klinkenborg, Several Short Sentences About Writing Recently I was getting a track ready for release. Usually this involves revisiting music finished some time ago. I find it helpful to let time pass between a first draft and its subsequent edits so I can forget about Continue reading
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Database: U-Ziq On Using What’s At Hand
“Finding a sound that works is half the battle. I am not one of those producers that considers themselves a ‘sound designer’. I hate the term, actually. It makes me think of cinematic rumblings, car park door slams, and Hans Zimmer–all that does nothing for me. I am a musician. I like to use what’s Continue reading
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On Moby’s Slow Motion Ambient
Electronic music producer Moby’s Ambient 23 collection contains some compelling pieces that are evocative and reward close listening. The tracks alternate between synthesizer-based electronic washes of sound and austere piano pieces built upon a few still tones. One of my favorites of the former type is “amb 23-11.” Structurally the music is a I-vi-V progression, Continue reading
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Listening And Remembering Qualities Apparent: Tony Williams On “Cantaloupe Island”
For three or four years when I was a teenager I bicycled on weekends to second hand record stores, searching for jazz albums I had read about or listened to on late night FM radio. Mostly I was interested in the drummers on these albums—Tony Williams, Max Roach, Jack DeJohnnette, Roy Haynes, Baby Dodds, Papa Continue reading
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The Minimalist Mindset In Music Production
“Space, as my work evolved, really became my subject.”Richard Serra “Keep it simple stupid.”Kelly Johnson A minimalist hears less as more. A minimalist simplifies music production, bracketing the experience by reducing the number of variables and possibilities considered while building a track. A minimalist begins with a single sound. A single sound’s qualities allow it Continue reading
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Resonant Thoughts: Graham Massey On Composing On the Mute Buttons
“The way we used to compose was sort of like filling a 24-track tape full of loops, basically. Some of them will be 8-bar loops, some of them will be 2-bar loops, some of them will be 6-bar loops. So they’d all spiral ‘round each other while you composed on the Mute buttons. And one Continue reading
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Thinking in Pairs
In the course of building a track there are many opportunities practice the concept of thinking in pairs. The idea is that a musical part or element is better when it’s somehow doubled, so that it works alongside a duplicate form of itself. Thinking in pairs relates to recursive music production, but here are three practical Continue reading
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