brettworks

thinking through music

technique

August 25, 2026

On Intuition and Technique

Wasily Kandinsky, Improvisation 35 (1914) Music production is a back-and-forth between two ways of organizing sound. The first way is intuitive, which means making by playing, improvising, trial and error, and following whatever sounds good. The intuitive is an example of what Daniel Kahneman called System 1 thinking, which is decision-making that’s fast and instinctive.… Continue reading

intuition, technique
May 29, 2014

Lessons From An Interview With John McPhee

In an interview with The Paris Review, John McPhee discusses ideas about writing process and structure. Here are some highlights: “The fundamental thing is that writing teaches writing.” “Structure is not a template. It’s not a cookie cutter. It’s something that arises organically from the material once you have it.” “Ideas occur, but what I’m doing,… Continue reading

structure, technique, theory, writing

John McPhee

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.

technique

On Intuition and Technique

Lessons From An Interview With John McPhee