Saturday, August 14, 2010
In 1988, a pair of British acid house DJs named Bill Drummond and Jimmy Cauty, variously known as The Justified Ancients of Mu Mu (The JAMs), The Timelords and The KLF, had an improbable number one hit with “Doctorin’ The Tardis.” The track isn’t so much a song as it is an early mashup. Aside [...]
Filed in music, tv
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Also tagged book, dance, doctor who, eighties, looping, mashups, memes, michael jackson, pop, production, rick astley, songwriting, uk, whitney houston
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Classical music recordings are usually straightforward snapshots of live performances. Sometimes recordings are spliced together from multiple takes or overdubbed, but this practice is considered by classical musicians to be highly shameful. Glenn Gould had a very different attitude toward the studio. He loved working there, and viewed it as a more valuable creative outlet [...]
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
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Also tagged analog, audio, audio editing, autotune, book, computers, electronica, hip-hop, improvisation, looping, mashups, music, pro tools, 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 movies, music, software, tv
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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, music, pro tools, public enemy, remixes, rock, sampling
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Thursday, December 3, 2009
Boys And Dance Floors [Audio clip: view full post to listen] Revival Revival vs Janet Jackson mp3 download, ipod format download Right-click or option click the links to save the track to your computer. There are as many different ways of writing songs as there are songwriters. Barbara Singer and I have arrived at a [...]
Filed in autobio, music, software
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Also tagged autotune, composing, improvisation, janet jackson, looping, pro tools, production, reason, remixes, revival revival, sampling, songwriting
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Friday, September 18, 2009
My favorite Michael Jackson song is “Wanna Be Startin’ Something.” This post is part of what’s turning into a series on it. The previous post is about the song as fan art, and some of the fan art that it’s inspired, from bootleg Youtube videos to licensed remixes. This one is about who owns the [...]
Filed in music
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Also tagged bmg, book, bruce swedian, copyright, manu dibango, memes, michael jackson, ownership, quincy jones, remixes, rights, rihanna, sampling, sony, soul makossa, thriller
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See a followup post about female remixes of “A Milli” Lil Wayne and I have some differences of style and taste: about facial tattoos, about drinking cough syrup recreationally, about jewelry on one’s teeth. But we agree about music. He brags constantly that he’s the best rapper alive. I think he makes a pretty good [...]
Filed in music
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Also tagged america, anxiety, autotune, class, cole porter, comedy, computers, drum machines, evolution, hip-hop, improvisation, irony, kanye west, lil wayne, memes, michael jackson, minimalism, natalie portman, natural selection, recursion, remixes, sampling, snl, social media, t-pain, white people
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Wednesday, August 26, 2009
Björk knows how to balance the coldness of electronic production with hotly unpredictable vocals and instrument textures. Her approach is eccentric and her sound gets on some people’s nerves. It took me a couple years to be convinced by her. I’m glad I hung in there, because she’s been one of my best teachers in [...]
Filed in music
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Also tagged audio editing, bjork, book, depression, electronica, hipster, iceland, interface, lord of the rings, missy elliot, pro tools, remixes, sampling, sequencing, timbaland, tolkien
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Thursday, August 13, 2009
Here’s one of my favorite bits of South Park.
Filed in music, video games
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Also tagged america, beatles, book, dance, electronica, gender, guitar hero, masculinity, remixes, rock, rock band, simulation, south park, video games, visualization
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“Once In A Lifetime” by Talking Heads and Brian Eno is one of my favorite songs by anyone ever.
Filed in hardware, music, science
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Also tagged attention, beatles, book, brian eno, david byrne, improvisation, meditation, mixing, philosophy, recursion, reggae, remixes, sly and the family stone, talking heads, tape, tape editing, time
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