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brettworks

thinking through music


  • May 11, 2022

    Resonant Thoughts: Geoff Dyer’s “The Last Days Of Roger Federer And Other Writings” (2022)

    “Knowledge has to be laid down in the brain in overlapping and criss-crossed layers. You need the underlay before you can have the carpet and then—then you can abandon the analogy because it’s completely unsustainable. Everything has gradually to become a kind of sediment in the brain, its ocean floor—a place so dark and mysterious… Continue reading

    Resonant Thoughts
  • May 10, 2022

    Notes On What Worked

    “Let me tell you the secret that has led me to my goal. My strength lies solely in my tenacity.“ – Louis Pasteur  At the risk of overthinking things, I take notes about my work as I’m making it, with the belief that reflecting on process sharpens one’s focus and elevates the next session’s prospects enough to make such reflecting… Continue reading

    workflow
  • May 9, 2022

    Cadences

    Listen on Spotify or Apple Music Continue reading

    cadences
  • May 5, 2022

    Resonant Thoughts: Fred Gibson On Starting From A Point Of Real Intricacy

    “I like styling with something that’s really intricate and complex, sound‑wise. Like dragging a whole finished song into a granular synth. So, you’re starting from a point of real intricacy and trying to find order in it, as opposed to coming from a pure sine wave and trying to add intricacies. I like going the other way around more.” – Fred… Continue reading

    Resonant Thoughts
  • May 4, 2022

    Brett’s Sound Picks: Joep Beving’s “Mushin” (2022)

    (2022 Playlist) Continue reading

    Brett’s Sound Picks
  • May 3, 2022

    Notes On Drumming And Running

    “No matter how mundane some action might appear, keep at it long enough and it becomes a contemplative, even meditative act.” “The repetition itself becomes the important thing; it’s a form of mesmerism. I mesmerize myself to reach a deeper state of mind.” – Haruki Murakami Occasionally I wonder about how musicians who aren’t percussionists or drummers… Continue reading

    drumming and running
  • May 2, 2022

    Voices, chords, beat

    Continue reading

    Uncategorized
  • April 29, 2022

    Resonant Thoughts: Anna-Karin Berglund (aka AKB) On Not Working In A Linear Way

    “To not work in a linear way when making a track. It’s better to just start somewhere and explore from there, don’t try and write a song from start to finish, make it random. And also don’t be afraid to get theoretical when making music, especially electronic music. There is a lot to be found… Continue reading

    Resonant Thoughts
  • April 28, 2022

    Brett’s Sound Picks: AKB’s “Skymningszonen” (2020)

    (2022 Playlist) Continue reading

    Brett’s Sound Picks
  • April 27, 2022

    Art About Music: The Luttrell Psalter (1325-1340)

    (left to right: musicians playing harp, pipe and tabor, organistrum, and portative organ) Continue reading

    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

  • Resonant Thoughts: John Ashbery’s “A Wave” (1984)
  • Art About Music: Google’s Lyria 3 (2026)
  • Studio Observations: Listening To Improvisation
  • Database: Shane Parish on Revoicing and the Game Of Subtraction
  • Jup-8000, No. 1

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