brettworks

thinking through music

Curating The Week

September 25, 2014

Curating The Week: Music-Related Stuff On The Internet

1. A video in which the Kronos quartet explains how its members communicate with one another in performance. “The way you play your note is deeply affected by the way the person right before you plays their note.” “What I should really be practicing in anything I do is…flexibility.” 2. A passage from Sean Wilsey’s… Continue reading

Curating The Week
September 19, 2014

Curating The Week: Music-Related Stuff On The Internet

1. A video showing soba noodle master Tatsuru Rai at work. The rhythms are amazing! 2. An article about about why you and your friends might like the same music. “Whether you turn it up loudly and sing along, wearing the music’s emotion like garlands of your own inner feelings, or just use it as… Continue reading

Curating The Week
September 4, 2014

Curating The Week: Music-Related Stuff On The Internet

1. An article about the resurgence of vinyl records. “People still want objects with personality…”If it’s just a nostalgic or hipster-elitest thing, where does that leave us in 10 years? It might be the last gasp of an expiring culture before we all get sucked into the [digital] cloud.” 2. An article about the relationship… Continue reading

Curating The Week
August 25, 2014

Curating The Week: Music-Related Stuff On The Internet

1. An article by drummer Michael Barron about the latest creation of my favorite instrument designer, Roger Linn. The article also includes YouTube videos of several other new multi-touch expressive musical controllers. “In fifty years’ time I think people will still be playing piano, guitars, and violins, but I also think they will be playing… Continue reading

Curating The Week

electronic instruments, Michael Barron, Roger Linn
August 18, 2014

Curating The Week: Music-Related Stuff On The Internet

1. An article about CD baby. “It might not be ideal for somebody like Bruno Mars, but I can gauge what I want to do and you get to control everything, which is cool. You’re giving yourself a chance when you put your stuff up and pay that fee, because you never know who will… Continue reading

Curating The Week
August 12, 2014

Curating The Week: Music-Related Stuff On The Internet

1. An article about the role of innate talent in achieving musical expertise. “The idea that anyone can become an expert at most anything isn’t scientifically defensible, and pretending otherwise is harmful to society and individuals…” 2. An article about an obsessive Brazilian vinyl collector. “I’ve gone to therapy for 40 years to try to… Continue reading

Curating The Week

Daniel Levitan, innate talent

Thomas Brett is a musician and writer who holds a PhD in ethnomusicology from New York University. He is the author of Principles of Electronic Music Production and The Creative Electronic Music Producer, a book described by Sound On Sound magazine as “a deep philosophical analysis of the various creative inspirations, ideas and processes involved in producing electronic music.” His essays have appeared in the journals Popular Music and Popular Music and Society, as well as edited collections by Routledge, Oxford, and Cambridge University presses. Thomas has played percussion on Broadway since 1997 and writes about music at brettworks.com.