editing
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Notes On Dylan Henner’s Marimba Music
“I still believe that the primary virtue and usefulness of criticism resides precisely in its limitations—in the fact that the critic’s fragile linguistic tryst with the visible object is always momentary, ephemeral, and local to its context. The experience blooms up in the valley of its saying, to borrow W.H. Auden’s phrase, but it does Continue reading
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On The Editing Mindset
I spend more time editing music than I do recording it. As I’ve talked about this topic here and here on this blog, my typical workflow is to work up pieces over a few weeks and then put them aside for about a year. (Isn’t this the aging secret of cheese- and wine-making?) Eventually I Continue reading
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On Editing Music For Articulation
Over the past month as I was editing some new music for a piano-like instrument it struck me that what I was trying to do is make the music “breathe” more. One component of musical breathing has to with how its sounds are articulated. As my laptop’s dictionary reminds me, in music “articulation” refers to Continue reading
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Notes On Editing Music
Editing is taking things out, getting rid of pointless part doublings and overlaps. This creates space which allows what is already there to fill it. Editing is nudging a part earlier or later to sync (or not sync) better with the others. Editing is dropping a part into a lower register, moving a pitch up or Continue reading
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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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On Editing Lessons: Pruning, Voice, And Style In Writing
As I was editing a piece of writing I discovered a number of words that kept popping up and watering down the work. So I took note of the words–words that had become habitual and distracting ticks, and unnecessary connective tissue–and pruned them out. Here’s some notes on what I found: “just, but/yet, almost, so, Continue reading
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