2023 may i’m still here
It’s been out a couple of years now but it took me until now to see the “Sparks Brothers” documentary. I’ve always loved those guys, and, like with Frank Zappa, I had and have infinite admiration for their indomitable persistence pursuing their musical vision.
If you know their music or not it’s a must see for anyone who has struggled with a perceived or real lack of success or acceptance.
On other topics… with luck I’ll be able to go over the website sometime soon and clean up all the links that don’t do anything anymore.
2011 october Apologias for the solo composer/producer
Many musicians still don’t consider solo producers “real” musicians. This was a particularly bad bias in the early days of synths and MIDI — partly because there was indeed a mass of really bad music produced using those tools… [This will eventually lead into discussions of electronic music and the composers Jerry Gerber and Jim Aikin (to pick two among many)]
2011 february Zappa at the Synclavier
This is well worth checking out. Zappa explains some its features and how he uses it for composition. The site is sort of crummy to use but the video is worth it. http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=714_1181872966
(Send me an email if you would like a (7.3MB) mp4 file of this segment.)
2010 august I’m still
ASCAP sends me a very cool summary of the news for people in the music biz. It seems that very many of the articles point to a site called “digital music news”. Nothing like a descriptive website name!
I am always interested in reading what people are theorizing about how musicians will be able to make a living from recordings now that the prevailing sentiment among the public is that all content should be free. Many models have been suggested to replace the old “music company shipping records or cds” one. Certainly Apple is making truckloads of money from iTunes, but does that mean that musicians are getting any of it? Classically, in the industry, the musician was always at the very end of the line of people who got paid when a unit was sold, if he received anything at all.
I’m not saying I have a solution, but this site has great articles and debates from people who are in the industry about this issue.
2010 march Two must-view videos
For anyone with the slightest interest in the historical and technical aspects of electronic music: First is a superb and fascinating video of electronic music pioneer Vince Clarke in his Maine synthesizer laboratory: http://www.motherboard.tv/2010/3/17/electric-independence-vince-clarke-and-the-temple-of-synth
And this equally fascinating one of Moby (http://www.motherboard.tv/2009/10/19/electric-independence-moby) In the very last minute of the video, note his comments about the “coolness factor” of electronic musicians…
On another page on this site, there is an ongoing list of various electroacoustic and electronic music sites. On this page we’re just going to have some random links to various other folks’ blogs, podcasts and other links to music production and other stuff that we think is interesting.
2010 april Tight Mix blog
First up is Chris Bracco’s Tight Mix blog. From his about page:
Tight Mix serves the music world’s indie audio recording enthusiasts/musicians. Nowadays, the web is an electronic clutter of information! There is SO much out there, its nearly impossible to quantify. I often find it difficult where to even start searching for the answer to my questions. Tight Mix is a GREAT RESOURCE for audio enthusiasts and musicians alike, and a great place to start your search. I delve through the crazy mess of information to find those great reads that focus on techniques, tips, theories, etc. that you can use to record, market and promote great music.
2009 june Tom Cosm
Now this guy is worth checking out. He is a musician/producer/philosopher from New Zealand. (Using Ableton Live to produce and perform his music.) Besides giving away all his music (!!) he’s busy solving other problems of human existence…Tom Cosm’s site Whatever you may think about his music, he definitely has thought long and hard about it and everything related to it.
2009 june Jerry Gerber
Glad to see his site is still around…I first learned about him several years ago. Specializes in composing for “virtual orchestra” and has interesting and thought-provoking articles about the why and how.
2022-03-19: I just visited it again for the first time in many years. He appears to be as active as ever and now has many more CDs and compositions finished.
Ever since I started composing with MIDI, everyone always said that it would never, ever, be able to produce results that would compare with “real” orchestras or musicians. After listening to Gerber’s oeuvre, I would also remind people that not only, not that long ago, experts asserted that a computer would never be able to beat a chess grandmaster. And not only that, but not that much later, younger experts asserted that, in any case, computers would never be able to play go at a master level. (From wikipedia) In May 2017, AlphaGo beat Ke Jie, who at the time was ranked top in the world, in a three-game match during the Future of Go Summit.)
Page#21/last modified 2022-03-18
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