Wednesday, April 17, 2013
My NYU masters thesis is a drum programming tutorial system for beginner musicians. It uses a novel circular interface for displaying the drum patterns. This presentation explains the project’s goals, motivations and scholarly background. If you prefer, see it on Slideshare.
Also filed in Autobio, Music, Music Teaching, Software
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Tagged ableton, dance, drum machines, drumming, electronica, hip-hop, looping, midi, music notation, nyu, propellerhead, thesis, visualization
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Wednesday, March 27, 2013
For those of you curious about what I’m up to in grad school, this is the big thing. Pardon the stilted language, but, you know, academia. See the slideshow! Title The Drum Loop: a Self-Guided Tutorial System for Programming Dance Rhythms Introduction Dance music production software has never been more accessible. However, even “beginner-oriented” programs [...]
Also filed in Autobio, Music, Music Teaching, Software, Video Games
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Tagged dance, design, drumming, hip-hop, interface, looping, nyu, programming, thesis, visualization
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Computers have revolutionized the composition, production and recording of music. However, they have not yet revolutionized music education. While a great deal of educational software exists, it mostly follows traditional teaching paradigms, offering ear training, flash cards and the like. Meanwhile, nearly all popular music is produced in part or in whole with software, yet [...]
Also filed in Music, Music Teaching, Software, Technology
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Tagged algorithmic composition, classical, Composition, computers, dance, dj, figure, garageband, guitar, Hardware, hip-hop, Improvisation, interfaces, ipad, keybs, logic, looping, midi, morton subotnick, Music, music teaching, nyu, pro tools, propellerhead, reason, skeuomorphism, Software, synths, visualization
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Check out this presentation I gave at the December 2012 Advanced Ableton User Meetup at Tekserve, hosted by Hank Shocklee of Public Enemy. I speak about how useful Ableton Live is as a music teaching tool, using Gnarls Barkley’s “Crazy” as an example. Very shortly after I concluded my talk, my wife went into labor [...]
Also filed in Autobio, Music, Music Teaching, Software, Technology
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Tagged ableton, gnarls barkley, hank shocklee, interfaces, midi, music teaching, visualization
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Saturday, January 19, 2013
From from Sagan’s highly-recommended 1977 book The Dragons Of Eden: There is a popular game, sometimes called Pong, which simulates on a television screen a perfectly elastic ball bouncing between two surfaces. Each player is given a dial that permits him to intercept the ball with a movable “racket”. Points are scored if the motion [...]
Thursday, October 18, 2012
On November 1st, I’ll be presenting strategies for using Ableton as a music teaching tool at the Ableton Advanced Users Meetup sponsored by Shocklee Interactive and Tekserve. The lineup also includes AfroDJMac, Brian Jackson, Ben Casey, Thomas Piper, DVS and DJ Juice E. Be there!
Discussing “Silver Apples Of The Moon” puts me in a quandary. I like Morton Subotnick personally, and very much enjoyed studying with him. I appreciate his desire to liberate the world from the shackles of keyboard-centric thinking. There’s no question that his music is personal, original and forward-thinking. But I find myself unable to emotionally [...]
Also filed in Composition, Hardware, Recording, Sampling
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Tagged analog, anxiety, buchla, Composition, electronica, modernism, morton subotnick, rhythm
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Update: see a more formal draft of my thesis proposal. For my NYU masters thesis in Music Technology, I’m designing a beginner-oriented music learning app for the iPad and similar devices. It will approach music the way I wish I had been taught it, and the way I’ve been teaching it to my private students. [...]
Also filed in Composition, Music, Music Teaching, Software
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Tagged dance, drumming, electronica, fun, linkedin, music teaching, nyu, rhythm, sequencing, thesis
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Apple has long made a practice of giving away cool software with their computers. One of the coolest such freebies is Garageband. It’s a stripped down version of Logic aimed at beginners, and it’s a surprisingly robust tool. The software instruments and loops sound terrific, the interface is approachable, and it’s generally a great scratchpad. [...]
Also filed in Hardware, Music, Recording, Sampling
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Tagged apple, beginners, drumming, garageband, guitar, interfaces, ios, ipad, keybs, linkedin, midi, Music, music teaching, Sampling, sequencing, songwriting
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As I contemplate my masters thesis, I’m looking for good examples of beginner-centric musical user interface design. Propellerhead’s new Figure app has been a source of inspiration for me. It’s mostly wonderful, and even its design flaws are instructive. I have a long history with Propellerhead’s software, beginning with Rebirth in 1998. I’ve made a [...]
Also filed in Composition, Music Teaching, Software
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Tagged beginners, design, drumming, electronica, figure, graphics, hipsters, interfaces, ios, linkedin, music teaching, propellerhead, reason, rebirth, retro, skeuomorphism, synths, touch, visualization
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