Tag: research notes
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Research Note 014: Amateurs & Professionals
These days I’ve been telling people about my recent return to playing music seriously. Quite a few people ask whether I was professional or amateur which usually makes me pause to think. When you’re referred to as an amateur, it’s usually implied that you might be less qualified or even less talented than a professional.…
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Research Note 13: Interplay in Jazz
As you may or may not know, I’m currently enjoying a sabbatical that has given me the time to explore my love of music and musical instruments. My research is about how we interact when we create music, both with instruments, other people and environments. I’m going to begin with what I know best, the interplay…
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Research Note 12: Timeboxing for Music
Creating music can give you so much joy. When you’re in a state of flow and you finish a song and it sounds great. But if you ask most music producers they all agree that there seem to be as many or more moments of agony. Despite our will, there are lots of real reasons…
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Research Note 011: Creating Contraints to Create
Normally I get shit done, but with music composition I tend to take my time. That normally leads to other distractions and songs just don’t get finished. In fact, they barely get started, I have a melody or a rhythm kicking around in my head and I play it into Ableton and save it. That’s…
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Research Note 010
This week I’ve been deliberating over buying a new guitar after selling my old Roland SH-101. The guitar I’m interested in is an archtop hand-made from 400yr old Red Cedar from Stanley Park by Thomas Groppi.But that inner voice is asking, but you have lots of guitars why would you need another? For me, guitars…
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Research Note 009: Is improvisation just spontaneous composition?
Well, yes and no… Yes, when you improvise you are certainly generating musical ideas.yes and these ideas contain what is referred to as “compositional elements”.yes and as a skilled improviser, you are often constructing a solo in a sophisticated “compositional” manner. But describing improvisation as “spontaneous composition” is an incomplete (and usually inaccurate) description of…
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Research Note 008: Improvisation and Composition
Today I had a great rehearsal with the Jazz Connexion Big Band, my reading is finally getting to the stage where I can enjoying it and I was really in the zone for one of my solos in Groovin’ High, a bebop tune that we’re doing a fast samba arrangement of. I’ve been thinking more…
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Research Note 007: Write drunk, Edit sober
“Write drunk, Edit sober”. Apparently Ernest Hemingway may have said this. As I work towards developing my own writing practice I have noticed that I’m a much better editor than writer and find it difficult to turn off the editing mode in my mind. I have considerably less trouble with this as a musician. From…
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Research Note 006: Anti aesthetic is an aesthetic
I’m curious about what makes a great music instrument. Have you ever wondered why certain instruments are so popular and people find new ways of creating music on them decade after decade? While other, possibly more interesting or technologically advanced instruments seem to get forgotten or dismissed as inaccessible. As I look at our current…
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Research Note 005
Doing this writing thing daily is not easy, after all I’ve already missed 3 days in my first week. I can always work up to being consistent about it. I feel like I’ve got to have something profound to say or why bother, but that’s not the point, is it? I’m writing daily as a…