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Art About Music: Nicolas Poussin’s “A Dance to the Music of Time” (1634-1636)
(In this painting the figure representing Time plays a lyre.) Continue reading
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Art About Music: Roy Lichtenstein’s “The Melody Haunts My Reverie” (1965)
(The piece refers to the 1927 song “Stardust” written by Hoagy Carmichael.) Continue reading
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Resonant Thoughts: Arvo Pärt On Reduction
“You can drown in the sewage water of our time’s creativity. The capability to select is important, and the urge for it. The reduction to a minimum, the ability to reduce fractions–that was the strength of all great composers” (114). “Reduction certainly doesn’t mean simplification, but it is the way–at least in an ideal scenario–to… Continue reading
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Resonant Thoughts: Notes on Formalism in Dave Hickey’s “Pirates and Farmers”
“In music we start with the parts and adduce the whole” (87). “We try to isolate the critical frequencies, ask the right questions, and never gain knowledge or truth…So formalism doesn’t do answers because answers, would conclude the endless dance of inquiries that keeps the work alive” (88). “So formalism begins with an instantaneous sense… Continue reading
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On Timbre: Clark’s “Cryogenic”
“Timbre, more than any other parameter, appears to constitute the nature of sound itself…It is the very vibratory essence that puts the world of sound in motion and reminds us, as individuals, that we are alive, sentient and experiencing. As the essence of individual sonic events, timbre speaks to the nexus of experience that ultimately… Continue reading
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Short Tones, Long Tails
Oh– don’t even bother searching through the preset sounds just work with the default, with what you have, simple and unadorned. It’s a saw wave sound, not so special or shaped to your liking, but what does your taste have to do with it? Add an effect to color the wave, maybe a reverb to… Continue reading
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Exploding Musical Moments: Drake’s “One Dance”
“I had to bust up the silence.” – Drake, “One Dance” (2016) That Drake song is playing again—it’s always playing when I’m at the gym. Do I like it? I’m not sure. Does that matter? Nope. But I’m already humming it. The kick drum is so prominent, so artificial in its bass contours, in its… Continue reading
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