This is part of a research project I’m doing for my Psychology of Music class at NYU, thus the formal tone. The backbeat is a ubiquitous, almost defining feature of American popular and vernacular music. Clapping or snapping on the backbeats is generally considered by musicians to be more correct than doing so on the [...]
Also filed in Dance, Music, Science
|
Tagged africa, america, backbeat, dance, drumming, funk, hip-hop, james brown, jazz, neuroscience, nyu, race, rhythm, rock, swing, syncopation
|
Quora user Andrew Stein asks: Musicians: How do you deal with playing songs that have very monotonous parts? I’m going to use James Brown’s Sex Machine as an example. Don’t get me wrong, I love the song. However, the rhythm guitar seems to be nothing but 2 chords played over and over and over with [...]
Also filed in Music
|
Tagged africa, classical, funk, groove, james brown, looping, meditation, Music, prince, quora, repetition
|
Sunday, November 11, 2012
Susan McClary “Rap, Minimalism and Structures of Time in Late Twentieth-Century Culture.” in Audio Culture, Daniel Warner, ed, Continuum International Publishing Group, 2004, pp 289 – 298. This is essay is the best piece of music writing I’ve read in quite a while. She articulates my personal ideology of music perfectly. Also, she quotes Prince! [...]
Also filed in Composition, Emotion, Improvisation, Music, Music Theory, Recording
|
Tagged america, classical, Composition, hip-hop, history, Improvisation, prince, race, Recording, repetition, schoenberg, susan mcclary, technomusicology, theodor adorno
|
I recently saw Under African Skies, the documentary about Paul Simon’s Graceland, and it was spellbinding. The music is so beautiful, the politics are so agonizing. I watched it with my mom and sister, which is appropriate since Graceland was in heavy rotation through my childhood. Mom isn’t a big pop scholar and knew next [...]
Also filed in Autobio, Composition, Copyright and Authorship, Improvisation, Key Musicians, Music, Recording
|
Tagged accordion, africa, apartheid, Bakithi Kumalo, bass, chevy chase, copyright, graceland, guitar, judaica, ladysmith black mambazo, Music, ownership, paul simon, Politics, race, ray phiri, south africa
|
Saturday, February 25, 2012
Chapman, Dale. “That Ill, Tight Sound”: Telepresence and Biopolitics in Post-Timbaland Rap Production. Journal of the Society for American Music (2008) Volume 2, Number 2, pp. 155–175. Chapman examines the impact that Timbaland has had on popular music production, and what his significance is to the broader culture. While Timbaland himself is no longer the [...]
Also filed in Key Musicians, Music, Recording, Sampling, Software, Technology
|
Tagged anxiety, dance, hip-hop, Internet, linkedin, missy elliot, pop, posthuman, production, technomusicology, timbaland
|
Sunday, September 25, 2011
Last year, I spoke on a panel about sampling with a few academics and copyright lawyers. One of the panelists was Martin Schwimmer, a partner in a law firm practicing trademark and copyright law. A big part of his job is going after copyright infringers. Schwimmer assured the audience that no one will ever sue [...]
Friday, September 23, 2011
Anna and I caught one of the best performances we’ve seen in years the other night by Tune-Yards. My friend Andrew, who was at the show, said this afterwards: “I can’t decide whether hearing the president say ‘This is not class warfare, it’s math’ or the fact that this band could become popular makes me [...]
Also filed in Hardware, Music, Sampling
|
Tagged africa, audience participation, drumming, hipsters, indie, looping, merrill garbus, race, tune-yards, ukelele
|
Back in June we went to see the incomparable Reggie Watts perform at Central Park Summerstage. I think Reggie is one of the most exciting artists of our time, but it’s difficult to verbalize exactly what he does. His performances combine improvisational music and absurdist standup comedy into a free-associative yet oddly coherent and impactful [...]
Also filed in Hardware, Improvisation, Key Musicians, Music, Recording, Sampling
|
Tagged comedy, hip-hop, Improvisation, jake lodwick, jazz, looping, reggie watts
|
My friend and sometime musical collaborater Leo Ferguson is releasing an album of his adventurous jazz compositions and arrangements. Leo Ferguson Ensemble (2011) by Leo Ferguson As part of the album’s extended liner notes, I interviewed Leo on May 5, 2011. Here’s an edited transcript; you can also hear the audio on Leo’s site.
Also filed in Composition, Improvisation, Music
|
Tagged barack obama, classical, composing, jazz, john coltrane, leo ferguson, miles davis, steve reich, wayne shorter
|