Teaching the studio as instrument

Matthew D. Thibeault. Wisdom for Music Education From the Recording Studio. General Music Today, 20 October 2011.

Stuart Wise, Janinka Greenwood and Niki Davis. Teachers’ Use of Digital Technology in Secondary Music Education: Illustrations of Changing Classrooms. British Journal of Music Education, Volume 28, Issue 2, July 2011, pp 117 -­ 134.

Digital recording studios in schools are becoming more common as the price of the required hardware and software falls. Matthew Thibeault urges music teachers to think of the studio not just as a collection of gear that can be used to document the “real” performance, but as a musical instrument in its own right, carrying with it an entire philosophy of music-making. Digital studio techniques have collapsed composition, recording and editing into a single act. Since most of the music we encounter in the world is recorded, and most of that digitally, any music program needs to include the recording, sequencing and editing process as part of the core curriculum.

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The Schizophonia of David Byrne, Brian Eno, and The Orb

In this post, I compare and contrast the soundscapes of two iconic sample-based tracks:  “Regiment” by David Byrne and Brian Eno, and “Little Fluffy Clouds” by The Orb.

Recorded ten years apart using very different technology, these two tracks nevertheless share a similar structure: dance grooves at medium-slow tempos centered around percussion and bass, overlaid with decontextualized vocal samples. Both are dense and abstract soundscapes with an otherworldly quality. However, the two tracks have some profound sonic differences as well. “Regiment” is played by human instrumentalists onto analog tape, giving it a roiling organic murk. “Little Fluffy Clouds” uses synthesizers and digital samples quantized with clinical precision.

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A modern classical fan responds

I’ve talked a lot of smack about high modernist music on this blog recently. Yesterday I got an email from a composer named Evan Kearney with some thoughtful reactions. Here’s what he had to say:

[Y]ou wrote that you didn’t ‘get’ High Modernism (serialism, Webern, Pierre Boulez, Elliot Carter, etc.) and what it offered for the average listener. I can tell you that their music had an immediate impact on me. It is unlike any tonal or post tonal music though. It hits me hard in a very startling way.

It is as if your soul is being bared to the harshness of reality and you can gain some sort of epiphany through the almost psychedelic nature of the atonal soundscape. Granted, I prefer pre-atonal composers like Bartok more than true serialists, but nonetheless, that is my way of appreciating it.

One more thing — interestingly, I have converted two of my friends, who, like myself (before I started getting in to jazz and classical about six years ago) were big “prog” rock, electronic music, and “progressive” hip-hop fans.

They still are, of course, and with the current influx of amazing music via the internet that will probably just increase. My point however, is that after a few reviews of modern classical, I have gotten them to genuinely enjoy it. And they both cite the same reasons for liking it as me — the pseudo-altered-state of mind, high-alert, thrill-ride-esque journey that goes with it.

So there you have it, folks, as articulate an explanation of this music and its attractions as you’re likely to find. You may also want to check out Evan’s own works on his SoundCloud page.

Sonic analysis of “Tightrope” by Janelle Monáe

The most fun Music Technology class I’m taking this semester is Advanced Audio Production with Paul Geluso. A major component of the class is learning how to listen analytically, and to that end, we were assigned to pick a song and do an exhaustive study of its sonic qualities. We used methods from William Moylan’s book The Art of Recording: Understanding and Crafting the Mix. I chose “Tightrope” by Janelle Monáe featuring Big Boi.

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Catch my presentation at the Ableton Advanced Users Meetup

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!

How has the representation of the human body changed in modern and contemporary art over the last 100 years?

Big question! First, a little philosophical throat-clearing: I don’t believe that modern/contemporary art is as radical a break with the past as it likes to think. I had an art professor in college argue that, really, all abstract art is representational, and all representational art is abstract. Any abstract art has to refer to particular sensory impressions that the artist has had, because there’s nothing else we have to draw on for material. No matter how crazy the art is, we can’t help but look for signs of the physical world in it. Meanwhile, even the most photorealist painting is still abstract. You’d never be fooled by a painting into thinking you were looking out a window. Ultimately, it’s just static blobs of color on a flat surface; you have to do quite a bit of interpretive work to be “convinced” by the illusion.

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Nicest blog comment ever

Received via email from one Pierre Boyer:

Wow. I just stumbled upon your blog tonight, and I’ve been reading it for 4 hours straight now. I just can’t stop. I’ve been a rock enthusiast, guitar player and amateur composer for some years,but only as a hobby. Being more of a scientific mind, I’ve always tried to find patterns in the music I like, as much out of curiosity about *why* I liked this particular song and not this one, as because it gave me clues for my compositions. That lead me to moody all-nighters (probably like this one) reading countless scientific literature pdfs about psychoacoustics when I really should be sleeping. I’ve always made small experiments whenever I thought I found a pattern. Using GuitarPro (which, I now realize, is just a dumbed-down version of your ideal 3-in-1 tool of transcription,edition and recording) and tabs I found on the net. So just imagine how I felt reading the first few articles on your blog :D. I also happen to LOVE physics, mathematics, and anything that provides abstract and mathematically-beautiful models about the world we live in. I’m not very good at getting ideas from my mind on a paper in a structured or even remotely intelligible way however. And your blog…it’s just… It’s like everything I ever thought of or considered (and a LOT LOT more stuff that I never thought of and just blew my mind),but could never clearly state or manage to get my head around is just there, beautifully told, expertly written, using a nice wordpress theme. I can’t stress enough how much in awe I am right now. You definitely are one of the most clever and useful person I’ve ever met in my life (well, read, but you get the point) and will probably met. I’ll be reading your blog like mad for the next few hours, and probably a few days after that, and some more days again after that. And from the very little I had time to read, it’ll probably change my understanding of music, and my whole life in general, forever. I also agree with you about the western way of teaching music, which I took class of for 3 years before I just couldn’t stand this non-sensical and counter-intuitive way of notation and composition. Which also is,I guess, one of the thing that pushed me to look somewhere else for answers. I also read books about copyright (like that one by Lessig recommended on xkcd) and thermodynamics, and pretty much all the stuff that is featured on this blog. Well, as you can see by now, I didn’t lie about not being able to write anything structured :p. I just wanted to let you know how much of a miracle your blog is to me right now. I sincerely, whole-heartedly thank you for putting all that priceless knowledge for free on the internet.

Greetings from France !

Pierre. (Not a native speaker)

Toward a better music curriculum

I love music grad school and am finding it extremely valuable, except for one part: the music theory requirement. In order to get my degree, I have to attain mastery of Western tonal harmony of the common practice era. I am not happy about it. This requirement requires a lot mastery of a lot of skills that are irrelevant to my life as a working musician, and leaves out many skills that I consider essential. Something needs to change.

Don’t get me wrong: I love studying music theory. I spent years studying it for my own gratification before ever even considering grad school. I’ve written a ton of blog posts about it, taught it for money, and talked about it to anyone who would listen. But the way that music theory is taught at NYU, and in most schools, is counterproductive.

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My top 100 jazz tracks

A while ago I wrote a post explaining how jazz works. In response, someone asked me to name my favorite hundred jazz tracks. So here’s my list. It’s totally subjective and necessarily incomplete, but I can guarantee that any of these tunes will make your life better. Hear them on Spotify.

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The Disquiet Junto

Update: see extensive documentation of one of my Junto projects.

A significant chunk of the music I’ve made in the past year has been prompted by a blogger and journalist named Marc Weidenbaum, proprietor of the fine electronic music web zine Disquiet. This is funny, because while I’ve had a number of online exchanges with Marc, we’ve never actually met face to face. Nevertheless, in the age of the internet, this is no obstacle to a creative relationship.

My first contact with Marc came when he wrote up some of my sample genealogies. I started following his blog, which has put me in touch with a lot of new music and musicians. While I’m less interested in the avant-garde than Marc is, he’s a fine advocate for it, and he writes about “normal” music too.

Rather than just commenting on the experimental electronic music scene, Marc has recently taken it upon himself to spur the creation of new work. Continue reading “The Disquiet Junto”