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Resonant Thoughts: Jaron Lanier’s “Dawn of the New Everything” (2017)
“When we think technology can surpass our bodies in a comprehensive way, we are forgetting what we know about our bodies and physical reality. The universe doesn’t have infinitely fine grains, and the body is already tuned in as finely as anything can ever be, when it needs to be” (49). “The unceasing flow of… Continue reading
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Resonant Thoughts: Arnold Berleant’s “Notes For A Phenomenology Of Musical Performance” (1999)
“The performer necessarily comes at the music from within…Most often the performance situation catapults a musician into a rare and unusual condition, one that reveals the basic features of experience with eloquent directness, free, at least to some extent, from the usual overlay of cultural and philosophical presuppositions that nearly always obstruct our awareness. What is… Continue reading
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How Drummers And Percussionists Use Rhythm To Engage Time
Drummers and percussionists use rhythm to engage musical time in a variety of ways. Here are some of the techniques we use: Marking time through articulating meter. (One-two-three-four-five-One-two-three-four-five…) Dividing time through subdivision of the meter’s main beats. (One-and-two-and-three-and-four-and-five-and…) Decorating or accentuating time through accents and emphases. (One-two-three, Two-Two-Three…). Driving forward time (or somewhat worse: pushing).… 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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Resonant Thoughts: Four Suggestions For Creativity In “The Runaway Species”
In their exceptionally readable book, The Runaway Species (2017), David Eagleman and Anthony Brandt offer four suggestions for cultivating creativity: • Don’t glue down the pieces. “We don’t just set out to improve imperfection—we also tamper with things that seem perfect” (134). • Proliferate options. “When the brain proliferates options, it gets off the path of least… Continue reading
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Traces
trace – a mark, object, or other indication of the existence or passing of something Music is a space-generator, and one of the unexpected gifts of being a musician is that making music generates a space in which to think about it. When I play I’m usually thinking about several things at once, including moment-to-moment… Continue reading
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