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Working Knowledge: Performing, Tinkering, Composing
“Think dynamically.” – Nassim Taleb, Skin in the Game (2018) Somewhere around 2002 I began making electronic music on a computer in a kind of old-fashioned way because I didn’t know any better: using a MIDI keyboard, my goal was to physically play every sound myself, one part at a time. There were a few… Continue reading
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Lessons From Composing Music Adapted To Writing
“So how did I learn to write? From listening to music. And what’s the most important thing in writing? It’s rhythm.” – Haruki Murakami Begin with something simple, even obvious, then complexify it to turn it into something else. From a single idea generate multiple parts and variations. Build a form, gradually, by introducing one… Continue reading
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Song On Sixth Avenue
It happens to be raining the busking band playing the epic ballad four purple chords B flat sus 2 Gm7 F E flat a progression repeated the sax singing the melody blowing variations and now I hear how a song is sad when the chords keep falling. Continue reading
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On Musical Detritus And Memory
It was still winter and the room was cold so I walked over to the radiator, opened the valve, and returned to my desk. A few minutes later the room warmed up and, just to confirm what I could already feel, I walked back over to touch the radiator—blazing hot. Involuntarily, I began singing: The… Continue reading
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Resonant Thoughts: Grant Snider’s “The Shape Of Ideas (2017)
“Minimalism is simple. Got rid of the unnecessary. Create structure. Stop searching for hidden meaning. Embrace what is solid. Lose yourself in patterns. Don’t fear empty space. Stay clean. Be bold and colorful. Don’t be too expressive! Less is more. But less is more difficult than it looks.” -Grant Snider, The Shape Of Ideas, p. 55. Continue reading
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Ways Of Listening
Listen so quietly that music’s voice whispers listen so intensely that music’s style dissolves listen so quickly that music’s motives unravel listen so openmindedly that music’s aims multiply listen so nonchalantly that music’s sounds wander listen so hopefully that music’s solution sings. Continue reading
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