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Same Walk, Different Music: Squarepusher’s Brief Music
Producer and multi-instrumentalist Tom Jenkins (aka Squarepusher) is (re)known(ed) for his intense drum and bass rhythm programming, electric bass playing, and forward thinking about music production. But it may be Jenkins’ mellower and very brief tracks that are his best work. Leading the way is the magisterial, one-minute-and seventeen-second “Tommib”, a piece that’s organ music Continue reading
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Database: Janerik Kongshaug On Compression And Dynamics
“When it’s mixed, it’s finished. If you’re doing a mix, why should you send it to someone else to change the mix? Of course, today what’s happening is everybody is compressing. A lot of music today sounds so compressed— you get tired. There are often no dynamics. Many people say the ECM recordings sound so Continue reading
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Resonant Thoughts: Kevin Kelly’s “Excellent Advice For Living” (2023)
“Separate the processes of creatingfrom improving. You can’t write and edit or sculpt and polish or make and analyze at the same time. If you do, the editor stops the creator. While you invent, don’t select. While you sketch, don’t inspect. While you write the first draft, don’t reflect. At the start, the creator mind Continue reading
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Brett’s Sound Picks: Nicolas Jaar’s “F Collect” (2024)
Brett’s Sound Picks 2024 Continue reading
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Resonant Thoughts: Brian Eno and Bette A.’s “what art does: an unfinished theory” (2024)
“In art we research our feelings. Artists are feelings merchants–a piece of art is something designed to trigger feelings.” “Through art, you can investigate the kind of feelings you want to have, and where to get them. Art gives us the chance to answer the question: What is it that I really like?” “The things Continue reading
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Keywords: Small Structures
Agnes Martin, “Untitled” (1961) Ambitious ideas imagine grand designs, but we achieve them through building small structures: one sentence then another, connected, a few considered sounds working in concert, counterpointed. Small structures is the principle of finding the most minimalist expression of a music’s idea, doing the least to achieve a maximum effect. A minimalist Continue reading
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