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Notes On Perfect
It’s said that perfectionism is a dangerous trait that leads you on endless goose chases after forever unattainable standards. Or that perfectionism catches you in its net of your own making, as the depth of your aspirations slowly suffocate your ability to finish things: If only I could fix this, this, and this, then it… Continue reading
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On Musical Stasis And Directionality
In some of my favorite musics there’s a tension between a sense of stasis and directionality. Stasis describes a music that “stays in one place” through repetition of one sort or another, while directionality describes a music that “goes somewhere”, usually through melody and harmony. A vamp or a repeating breakbeat is an example of… Continue reading
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Notes On Working In Layers
“Artworks are devices for engineering attention.” – Susan Tallman Insofar as I take inspiration from artists who don’t work with sound, in 2019 I took a lot of inspiration from Vija Celmins, who I first heard about via a (yet another excellent) Calvin Tomkins New Yorker profile. Celmins is celebrated for her meticulous paintings and… Continue reading
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Resonant Thoughts: Paul Klee’s “Pedagogical Sketchbook” (1925)
“The father of the arrow is the thought: how do I expand my reach? Over this river? This lake? That mountain?” “Be winged arrows, aiming at fulfillment and goal, even though you will tire without having reached the mark.” Paul Klee, Pedagogical Sketchbook, p. 54. Continue reading
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Musical Logics
Musical logic is reasoning by other means— not knowing the key but feeling the mode not counting beats but feeling the pulse not planning the form but keeping it open not according to plan but making it up on your way. Music is the pleasure the human mind experiences from counting without being aware that… Continue reading
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On Minimalism and Maximalism
When I’m working on music I alternate a lot between what I call minimalism and maximalism. In addition to its meaning from avant grade music (as the repetition of short phrases that gradually change to create a hypnotic effect), minimalism for me means working with a single sound and finding much of interest in that.… Continue reading
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