Thomas Brett
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On “Going Classical”: String Arrangements Of Pop Music In Bridgerton
“Bridgerton matched Victorian morality with enlightened heroines, and progressive attitudes with a lavish regency aesthetic. And nowhere was the blend of old and new more evident, than in the music. – Maddy Shaw Roberts, Bridgerton Season 2 soundtrack: every pop song with a classical cover “Nobility, warmth, and equality of tone from one end of Continue reading
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Resonant Thoughts: Mark Fell’s “Structure and Synthesis” (2022)
“I want to promote a description of creativity as a process of attunement to the material environment, not an isolated or inward journey further into one’s thoughts or mind or soul. In this sense, the description I want to promote is one driven by a critical curiosity rather than a thing called inspiration…which I know Continue reading
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Lessons From Running
I spend as much time running as I do making music, which is to say that most days I’m outside training. Last October I ran the Boston marathon—which was delayed in 2021 after having been cancelled twice in 2020—and over the past four months I’ve been training for the April 2022 edition. My first Boston Continue reading
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Resonant Thoughts: Neil Cowley On Orchestrations
“Piano first, generally. Though maybe a small rhythm element may be put in place to spark the harmonic gateway that the piano provides. Then starts the long process of embellishing it, or orchestrating it. I say orchestrating, as I like to think of the synth elements that I add as orchestrations.” Neil Cowley, Headphone Commute Continue reading
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Thinking In 8 And 16 Bar Phrases: Structure In U-Ziq’s “Goodbye” (2022)
U-Ziq’s “Goodbye” (2022) is a marvelous track whose clearly discernible structure is part of the music’s power. (Which reminds me of Steve Reich’s quote in his Writings on Music about “a compositional process and a sounding music that are one and the same.”) The music proceeds in 8- and 16-bar blocks, with each block a Continue reading
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