brettworks

thinking through music

May 14, 2021

Resonant Thoughts: Allison Funk’s “On Pruning” (1999)

“Cut it way back. Do not be afraid to pinch the first, the only blossom. The berry cannot thrive in freedom. Have no mercy, gardener…” Allison Funk, “On Pruning” Continue reading

negative epistemology, negative space, pruning, Resonant Thoughts
May 12, 2021

Piano And Its Echo

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echo and delay, piano music
May 10, 2021

Miserere

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counterpoint, Uncategorized
May 7, 2021

Curating The Week: Vibes, Josquin des Prez, KMRU

• An article on vibes. “The word ‘vibe’ is short for vibration—something that resonates and echoes, suffusing a space. In the early twentieth century, the term became associated with the vibraphone, a cousin of the marimba, which uses motorized fans beneath its bars to achieve a vibier sound. At the time of its invention, in… Continue reading

Curating The Week, Uncategorized
May 4, 2021

Memory Vector

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memory, piano music, resonance, space, Uncategorized
May 4, 2021

Populating Sounds

One technique I use often is to create variations on a single sound that has the potential to be multiple sounds. I begin whilst browsing presets, not looking for anything in particular, just hoping to be surprised. Searching for sounds outside of the context of making music can be dreary work: ninety percent of the… Continue reading

interestingness, it doesn’t matter how blog posts are tagged, populating sounds, Production Stories, sound design
May 3, 2021

Piano In A Space

Listen on Spotify and Apple Music. Continue reading

piano music
May 1, 2021

Super Flumina

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Uncategorized
April 30, 2021

Notes On Structure And Sound Design

One production/compositional strategy that I find perpetually useful is to keep different components of my workflow distinct. For example, rather than create a unique sound first and then play something using that sound, I play using a generic sound (e.g. a piano) and then later change the sound into something more interesting (or not). In… Continue reading

Production Stories
April 29, 2021

Art About Music: Ernie Barnes’ “Song of Myself (c. 1970)

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art about music

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.