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brettworks

thinking through music


  • December 17, 2024

    Resonant Thoughts: Callum Robinson’s “Ingrained” (2024)

    “A Brief Note On: Finding Your Voice Pore over books and magazines, get online, read interviews with designers in different fields and discover, if you can, what moves them to do what they do. Scroll (God help you) through social media. Collect, curate, and digitally scrapbook. Train that algorithm to feed you something nutritious for… Continue reading

    craft, Resonant Thoughts
  • December 16, 2024

    Atelier: Plucked, Struck, Sampled

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    atelier
  • December 13, 2024

    Brett’s Sound Picks: Merely and Malibu’s “E22” (2024)

    Playlist 2024 Continue reading

    Brett’s Sound Picks
  • December 12, 2024

    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

    same walk, different music
    music, review, reviews
  • December 11, 2024

    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

    database
  • December 10, 2024

    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

    Resonant Thoughts
  • December 9, 2024

    Atelier: Current Study 1

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    atelier
  • December 6, 2024

    Brett’s Sound Picks: Nicolas Jaar’s “F Collect” (2024)

    Brett’s Sound Picks 2024 Continue reading

    Brett’s Sound Picks
  • December 5, 2024

    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

    Resonant Thoughts
  • December 4, 2024

    Art About Music: Johannes Vermeer’s “Girl Interrupted at Her Music” (1658-1661)

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    art about music
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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

  • Jup-8000, No. 1
  • Curating The Week: Blogging, Music and Truth-Telling, Memory
  • Resonant Thoughts: Daniel Poppick’s “The Copywriter” (2026)
  • Brett’s Sound Picks: Shane Parish/Autechre’s “Maetl” (2026/1993)
  • Aftertouch

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