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brettworks

thinking through music


  • July 20, 2018

    Music Lessons 2

    Music is like an organism a delicate constellation of interrelated parts each of which needs to work perfectly to maintain the spell like a living thing robust when moving well flexible and even-tempered like a biology in sound one beat ahead of its own extinction. Continue reading

    poetry, Uncategorized
  • July 19, 2018

    Resonant Thoughts: Philip Brophy’s “100 Modern Soundtracks” (2004)

    “The ‘nature of sound’…is not a/any/all sound’s essential or absolute guise (as such divination is impossible) but its irreducible behavior, distinctive apparition and ingrained purpose. It eschews any essence as to what it might be—as if it is a metaphor pointing to some sonic soul that has motivated the act of description—and instead accepts its… Continue reading

    Resonant Thoughts, Uncategorized
  • July 17, 2018

    Art About Music: Kerry James Marshall’s “Past Times” (1997)

    Continue reading

    art about music, Uncategorized
  • July 16, 2018

    Different Types Of Musicians

    Once in a while I imagine different general musician types, among which I include myself. Here are six types:   The underplayer. The underplayer doesn’t play “out” or deliberately enough. He’s often fairly recently out of school (a college music program), has his playing together and knows the notes, but there’s something missing. Maybe his… Continue reading

    musician types, Uncategorized
  • July 13, 2018

    Optimal Conditions

    Much of doing is waiting for the right time to do anything but especially the music morning’s too early evening too late the afternoon can work if properly configured meaning I need to adjust myself to its parameters freeze thinking become its vibration so I wait procrastinate sweep and clean arrange everything just so the moment… Continue reading

    music theory, poetry, Uncategorized
  • July 12, 2018

    Resonant Thoughts: Jacques Attali’s “Noise” (1977)

    “In music, the instrument often predates the expression it authorizes…it contributes, through the possibilities it offers, to the birth of a new music, a renewed syntax.” -Jacques Attali, Noise, p. 35. Continue reading

    musical instruments, Uncategorized
  • July 11, 2018

    Brett’s Sound Picks: Abul Mogard’s “Quiet Dreams” (2018)

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    Brett’s Sound Picks, Uncategorized
  • July 10, 2018

    Art About Music: Harry Partch’s “Gourd Tree” (1964)

    Continue reading

    art about music, Uncategorized
  • July 9, 2018

    Music Production: Working With Effects

    At some stage in the music production process, I work with audio effects. These effects are known as software “plug-ins” that load inside of my DAW software. An effect can be as simple as an EQ or a reverb, or it can be a more complex type of sound mangler that alters a sound through… Continue reading

    music production, Uncategorized
  • July 7, 2018

    Resonant Thoughts: Richard E. Nisbett’s “Mindware” (2016)

    “The most important thing I have to tell you—in this whole book—is that you should never fail to take advantage of the free labor of the unconscious mind.” Richard Nisbett, Mindware (2016) Continue reading

    mindware, Resonant Thoughts, thought tools, 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

  • Art About Music: “When Is That Young Man Going Home?” (1931)
  • Curating The Week: Freedom, Exceptionalism, Finishing
  • Curating The Archive: Of Slow Voices (5.2.2022)
  • Database: Laura Cannell On The Mechanics Of Acoustic Instruments, Improvising, And Simple Motifs
  • Omni 128 bpm

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