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brettworks

thinking through music


  • July 18, 2019

    Action And Better Action

    Play a drum fill, withhold the fill. Resolve the chord, leave it hanging. Round out the mix, thin it. Try it again, use this first take. Introduce the section, get right to it. Build a composite, keep it stratified. Steady beat, fluctuating rhythm. Manage the mood, mix the emotions. The right way, what about this… Continue reading

    poetry, Uncategorized
  • July 17, 2019

    Brett’s Sound Picks: Earthen Sea’s “Window, Skin and Mirror” (2019)

      Brett’s Sound Picks 2019. Continue reading

    Uncategorized
  • July 16, 2019

    Art About Music: Casio’s KX-101 (1984)

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    art about music, music technology, Uncategorized
  • July 15, 2019

    Lessons From Making Ambient Loops From Ambient Tails

    One of the most enjoyable parts of music production is making ambient loops from ambient tails of sounds. I begin doing this several months after a piece is already underway, with its main sounds and parts somewhat set into place. To make an ambient loop, I look for those moments between or just after the… Continue reading

    loops, Uncategorized
  • July 12, 2019

    Friday Freestyle: A Miscellany Of Ten Things I’m Thinking About

    • A thoughtful electronic music tutorial by Mr. Bill about sound design. In it, Bill introduces an interesting idea he calls “Idea Jams.” • Something that Gary Vaynerchek said: “I’m obsessed with micro-failures.” • The Tour De France has begun. Not a lot happens in any given stage, but the repetition and the rhythm, the stunning… Continue reading

    Friday Freestyle, Uncategorized
  • July 11, 2019

    The Music Speaks Up

    The music keeps reminding you that you don’t know it well enough, that you’re not paying attention to what it needs. You’re not listening. You’re hearing what you hope I should be,  rather than what I am. The music is tight but not right, filled out but not filled in, descriptive but not imaginative. Listen… Continue reading

    poetry, Uncategorized
  • July 10, 2019

    Brett’s Sound Picks: Leafcutter John’s “This Way Out” (2019)

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    Brett’s Sound Picks, Uncategorized
  • July 9, 2019

    Art About Music: Frans Floris’s “Allegory of Music” (1570)

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    art about music, Uncategorized
  • July 8, 2019

    On Being Musically Authentic

    authentic — of undisputed origin; genuine; real; bonafide; legit Every artist aspires to be authentic to how he or she thinks of themselves to be. In an ideal world, we would only make the music/art/literature/sculpture that we want to pursue, whether that’s because it expresses us, it expresses a concept important to us, seems compelling… Continue reading

    authenticity, Uncategorized
  • July 5, 2019

    Friday Freestyle: A Miscellany Of Ten Things I’m Thinking About

    This week I introduce Friday Freestyle: A Miscellany Of Ten Things I’m Thinking About. It’s a new post format in which I share ideas and questions without developing them further into blog posts. It may become a regular thing, or this may be the first and last installment! I really don’t know. • What are… Continue reading

    Uncategorized
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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.

Recent Posts

  • Brett’s Sound Picks: Laura Cannell’s “The Water Had Carried Her” (2026)
  • Curating The Week: AI and Human Touch, AI and Writing, AI and Taste
  • Marimbafied 35
  • Pianola
  • Tuning

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