brettworks

thinking through music

working knowledge

  • The Problem Of Exactitude

    exactitude – not approximate in any way; precise, from the Latin verb exigere – to thoroughly perform The phrase the problem of exactitude occurs to me to describe a kind of left-field situation I encounter regularly when I’m working on music or writing about it. The situation can be described as a tension between my Continue reading

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  • Wander

    wander – to move in a leisurely, causal, or aimless way I wander all the time when I’m running which is to say that for a part of each day, most days of the week, I’m outside wandering somewhere—going up and down back streets, over fields (such as they are in New York), past airports, Continue reading

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  • Playing Along

    When I’m composing I’m almost always playing along with something that’s already sounding. Pop musicians often begin with a groove, but since I don’t make beat music (at the moment) I often begin with free improvisation at the keyboard. I’m searching for something—a chord, a bit of melody—that I haven’t exactly heard before. I’m searching Continue reading

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  • Letting Go

    One of the most important questions any maker of things addresses in their work is How do I know then the work is done? I have worked on projects that were completed in a few minutes, as well as on projects that have stretched over years of on and off tinkering. But no matter how Continue reading

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  • Working Knowledge: A Composer’s Thinking 

    Play for a while— nothing sounds good, this isn’t working (despair). Try again, play for a while— a few moments sounds ok, but this still isn’t working (despair). Realize you’re not listening to what you’re doing— so play again, this time listening to what is, not what isn’t: now you head in a different direction Continue reading

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  • Working Knowledge: The Quieting Process

    The perceptual key to effective writing—words or music, it doesn’t matter—is getting into a space of concentration. I call this the Quieting process: a narrowing of attention where the present is felt as a fully enveloping perpetual now. Yesterday’s work is gone—you can barely recall it!—and tomorrow remains a question mark. You’re left with only Continue reading

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  • Working Knowledge: Creating Space Between The Notes Or, Subtractive Epistemology

    It may be a bit of a cliché in music to talk about the space between the notes, but it’s a cliché for good reasons and with good intentions. The space between the notes is where the time of the music is most perceptible. In drumming, for instance, the space between two stick attacks on Continue reading

  • Working Knowledge: How It’s Sounding

    If something sounds good today, return to it tomorrow. Chances are that it will probably still sound good: musical quality maintains its value over time. Conversely, if the music doesn’t sound good today, it won’t improve over time. Chances are that it will probably still sound bad tomorrow: musical problems persist over time. Continue reading

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