Malawey, Victoria. Harmonic Stasis and Oscillation in Björk’s Medúlla. Music Theory Online, Volume 16, Number 1, January 2010. The fundamental unit of electronic popular music is the loop. This puts it at odds with the Western art music tradition, which typically favors linear structures with a narrative arc. Repetition has mostly appeared in classical music [...]
Filed in Composition, Emotion, Music, Recording, Sampling
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Also tagged africa, attention, bjork, Composition, linkedin, looping, medulla, nyu, repetition, singing
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I don’t enjoy Girl Talk’s music all that much — I find it overwhelming, like watching someone flip channels on a TV. But I think he’s really important, and anyone who cares about music, technology, originality and ownership should be paying close attention. Adam Bossy raised an intriguing idea in his answer — describing an [...]
Filed in Composition, Copyright and Authorship, Dance, Key Musicians, Sampling
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Also tagged copyright, girl talk, hip-hop, hipster, inspiration, linkedin, mashups, memes, pop, rock, songwriting
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Friday, December 17, 2010
I’ve always been more of a Beatles guy than a Stones guy, but respect where respect is due, “Gimme Shelter” is a classic. It’s on my mind because Dangerous Minds posted the isolated tracks, and they’re a lot of fun. It’s fascinating to hear the separated vocals, guitars, bass and drums. The Youtube videos containing [...]
Filed in Music, Recording, Video Games
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Also tagged guitar, keith richards, merry clayton, michael jackson, Recording, remixes, rhythm, rock, rolling stones, Sampling, singing, sixties, tuning
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Saturday, November 6, 2010
I was doing a frivolous Google search for the Simpsons episode where Bart, Nelson, Milhouse and Ralph form a boy band. They’re in the studio singing, and they sound terrible, until the producer pushes a huge button labeled “studio magic.” Then suddenly they sound like the Backstreet Boys. While I was digging through the Google [...]
Filed in Music, Recording, Sampling
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Also tagged beatles, composing, history, mark katz, Recording, repetition, simpsons, van halen, walter benjamin
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Friday, February 26, 2010
The vast majority of music that I hear is recorded, and if you’re reading this the same is probably true of you. Most people don’t have a clear idea what the recording process is like, especially using computers. Here are my adventures in recording. I grew up in the eighties. Cassette recorders were just starting [...]
Filed in Autobio, Composition, Hardware, Improvisation, Music, Recording, Software
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Also tagged analog, audio, autotune, computers, electronica, hip-hop, Improvisation, looping, mashups, Music, pro tools, Recording, remixes, revival revival, Sampling, sequencing, synths, tape, tape editing, visualization
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This PBS Independent Lens documentary on sampling culture is a good one, and you can watch the whole thing on Youtube. Their resources and links page includes my Biz Markie blog post. Thanks Beautiful Decay for posting the videos. Part one:
Filed in Composition, Copyright and Authorship, Music, Music Business, Politics, Sampling, Software
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Also tagged a tribe called quest, beastie boys, biz markie, clyde stubblefield, computers, copyright, dance, dj, eighties, george clinton, hip-hop, Improvisation, james brown, jeff chang, looping, mashups, memes, michael jackson, Music, pro tools, public enemy, Recording, remixes, rock, Sampling
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Couple of exciting memetic hybrids circulating around the web right now. First, here’s a techno track using samples of Pixar’s Up, which is one of the best and saddest movies ever. Thanks Mike for alerting me to the remix’s existence. Remixing songs is all well and good, but remixing movies, that’s where it’s at.
Filed in Music, Sampling
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Also tagged america, animation, chris isaak, dj earworm, electronica, kevin kelly, lady gaga, memes, movies, pixar, pop, remixes, revival revival, Sampling, up, video editing
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Wednesday, August 26, 2009
I revere Björk above most other musicians. She knows how to balance the coldness of electronic production with hotly unpredictable vocals and instrumental textures. Not everybody loves Björk as much as I do; her approach is eccentric and her sound gets on some people’s nerves. It took me a couple years to be convinced by [...]
Filed in Composition, Key Musicians, Music, Recording
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Also tagged bjork, depression, electronica, hipster, iceland, interface, lord of the rings, missy elliot, pro tools, Recording, remixes, Sampling, sequencing, timbaland, tolkien
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Update: hear my 5.1 surround remix of “Here Comes The Sun.” Why are the Beatles still so cool? By which I mean the late Beatles, Revolver onwards. I like Please Please Me as much as the next guy, but it isn’t why the Beatles are cool now. No, I mean the last few records, especially [...]
Filed in Key Musicians, Music, Recording, Sampling, Video Games
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Also tagged abbey road, analog, audio, beatles, common, divorce, hip-hop, john lennon, kanye west, mellotron, memes, mixtapes, multitracking, paul mccartney, prince, remixes, rock, rock band, Sampling, tape, tape editing, Video Games
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Before digital recording media, recording artists faced a tradeoff between spontaneity and perfection. Recording take after take until the performances are spotless can quickly suck the joy and energy out of the music. But the kind of sloppiness that goes unnoticed in a live performance can get on your nerves after many repeated listens. It’s [...]
Filed in Composition, Improvisation, Music, Recording, Sampling, Software
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Also tagged beatles, composing, gnarls barkley, hip-hop, kind of blue, looping, michael jackson, miles davis, Music, pro tools, psychology, Recording, thriller
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