brettworks

thinking through music

Uncategorized

June 5, 2020

Curating The Week: Genealogies Of Learning Percussion, The Import And Export Of Ideas, Lou Harrison

• An essay on genealogies of learning: reflections on learning percussion by my percussion teacher, Russell Hartenberger, who writes about his teacher, Alan Abel. “In my lessons, Mr. Abel played everything with me, providing the perfect template for learning. As I played, I would imitate the movement of his hands and try to duplicate the… Continue reading

Curating The Week, genealogies of learning, Uncategorized
June 4, 2020

Brett’s Sound Picks: Alva Noto’s “Xerrox Voyage” (2020)

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Brett’s Sound Picks, Uncategorized
June 3, 2020

Untitled

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ambient music, Uncategorized
June 2, 2020

Piano In A Space

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improvisation, piano music, Uncategorized
June 1, 2020

Inner Navigation: Music Production Routes

In a recent post I wrote about being continually lost whilst producing music. But I neglected to mention that in addition to being lost, I’m finding ways to navigate the uncharted paths of my music software. To put it another way: now that I’m okay with being lost, I’ve turning my attention to how… Continue reading

music production, musical navigation, Uncategorized
May 29, 2020

Music For Solo Piano

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ambient music, solo piano music, Uncategorized
May 28, 2020

Resonant Thoughts: Rival Consoles On Sketching Ideas For Music

“Over the past 5 years I have been sketching compositions on paper. Sometimes they are detailed, specific outlines of what I imagine for the music, sometimes they are how I would like a synth to sound, sometimes they are me thinking out loud about the structure of the music I am working on. The main… Continue reading

music notation, Resonant Thoughts, Uncategorized
May 27, 2020

Art About Music: Henri Matisse’s “The Piano Lesson” (1916)

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art about music, piano music, Uncategorized
May 26, 2020

(Untitled)

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ambient music, concentration, Uncategorized
May 22, 2020

Being Lost In Music Production

It might come as a surprise for you to know that when I’m making new music, I’m usually lost—lost in the sounds, obviously, but also in the sense that I don’t quite have my bearings: it’s not clear where the music is going, where I am in the midst of that going, and which steps… Continue reading

being lost, music production, music technology, Uncategorized

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.