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Inside the recording process

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 hardware, music, software | Also tagged analog, audio, audio editing, autotune, book, computers, electronica, hip-hop, improvisation, looping, mashups, pro tools, recording, remixes, revival revival, sampling, sequencing, synths, tape, tape editing, visualization | Comments (2)

The case for sampling, and copyleft generally

Monday, February 8, 2010

My friend Adam, a non-musician but devoted music fan, asked me why sampling is good. He’s used to hearing me defend it from the idea that it’s bad, but he’d never heard a positive argument for it. In case you’ve ever asked the same question, here’s my answer.

Filed in computers, music | Also tagged beyonce, book, brian eno, chi-lites, copyright, disney, evolution, fan art, fans, funky drummer, grateful dead, intellectual property, janet jackson, joni mitchell, kickstarter, lil wayne, manu dibango, memes, michael jackson, midi, monkeysphere, public domain, remixes, sampling, songwriting, swv | Comments (2)

Imogen Heap and artificial harmony

Tuesday, January 26, 2010

Here’s a live rendition of Imogen Heap’s song “Hide And Seek.” It’s introduced by Zach Braff, but don’t let that dissuade you from watching.

Filed in music | Also tagged authenticity, autotune, book, brian eno, electronica, harmony, imogen heap, improvisation, interface, keybs, midi, pop, remixes, sampling, synths | Comments (0)

Copyright Criminals

Monday, January 25, 2010

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 movies, music, software, tv | Also tagged a tribe called quest, audio editing, beastie boys, biz markie, book, clyde stubblefield, computers, copyright, dance, dj, eighties, george clinton, hip-hop, improvisation, james brown, jeff chang, looping, mashups, memes, michael jackson, pro tools, public enemy, recording, remixes, rock, sampling | Comments (1)

Open-source music

Tuesday, January 5, 2010

Sample-based music isn’t stealing. It’s valuable and important. It shows the way toward a future for recorded music that’s more in continuity with music’s past. Recordings are cool and everything, but they encourage passivity. If I buy a recording, I can listen to it or dance to it, both fine activities, but what if I [...]

Filed in music, software | Also tagged amazing grace, blues, book, copyright, folk, google, improvisation, internet, jazz, kanye west, learning, memes, music theory, opensource, remixes, sampling, transcribing | Comments (1)

Coltrane was an analog remixer

Saturday, November 28, 2009

The current fetish for originality in music is partially an outgrowth of copyright law. If you write your own songs, you can make more money from the publishing rights in addition to your album sales. The influence of Bob Dylan and the Beatles further created the expectation that popular musicians would mostly be writing their [...]

Filed in autobio, computers, music | Also tagged arrangement, big band, book, chet baker, coltrane, copyright, count basie, duke ellington, frank sinatra, harmony, improvisation, jay-z, jazz, lego, looping, memes, miles davis, modules, music theory, my favorite things, originality, reharmonization, remixes, sampling, swing, symmetry, the sound of music | Comments (0)

Janet and Michael vs Molly and me

Tuesday, October 20, 2009

Working on Janet Jackson songs made me want to see if she did any tracks with Michael. Here’s what the internet has to say: Michael sings backup vocals on Janet’s early album Dream Street. Janet sings backup on Michael’s “PYT.” She’s in the part towards the end where he says “Pretty young things, repeat after [...]

Filed in autobio, music | Also tagged autobio, creativity, guitar, harmony, hip-hop, janet jackson, michael jackson, molly, music theory, psychology, singing, teaching, vest pocket psalm | Comments (2)

Sampling keybs

Friday, August 7, 2009

One of the greatest weirdnesses of electronic music is the sampling keyboard. You press a key and any sound recording you want pops out, at whatever pitch. The recent passing of John Hughes made me think of the scene in Ferris Bueller’s Day Off when Ferris samples his coughing and puking on an E-mu Emulator [...]

Filed in hardware, music | Also tagged audio, beatles, book, eighties, ferris bueller, grateful dead, jazz, john hughes, keybs, mellotron, midi, reason, recording, recursion, sampling, synths, tape, yello | Comments (0)

Loop mode: improvisation is composition is recording

Thursday, August 6, 2009

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 music, software | Also tagged audio editing, beatles, book, composing, gnarls barkley, hip-hop, kind of blue, looping, michael jackson, miles davis, pro tools, psychology, recording, thriller | Comments (2)

How musical instruments work

Wednesday, July 29, 2009

There are a lot of different musical instruments out there. Just about all of them share four basic components: a harmonic oscillator, a source of noise, a control surface for modulation, and a resonator.

Filed in hardware, music, science, video games | Also tagged book, chiptunes, guitar, music theory, overtones, physics, resonance, singing, synths, video games | Comments (0)

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