Claude Debussy pioneered the world of sound in western classical music, and I revere him as the head of the sound-as-such movement that includes Varèse, Ligeti, and many, many recent composers. In this post, I’ll explore a single piece of Debussy’s, focussing narrowly on one aspect of the piece to demonstrate how he created music using… Continue reading In Praise of Debussy (Musical Energy: Register)
Musical Energy: Horizontal Density
An important, time-honored way to increase the energy of music is by speeding up. Of course, speeding up the tempo, the speed of the beat, is a very familiar means of doing so. I want to explore a larger concept here, horizontal density, which refers to the number of events per unit of time. Events… Continue reading Musical Energy: Horizontal Density
Grateful for Being Noticed
This spring I was awarded a grant from the Massachusetts Cultural Council to support my workshop, Just Listening. It matters deeply to be noticed, recognized for what one does. I’ve been working on a new venture for several years now, always returning to the idea that I am bringing an experience of value to others.… Continue reading Grateful for Being Noticed
Energy Words
We know immediately if a word describes high energy or low energy: for example, lethargic instantaneously suggests low energy. It also immediately implies musical factors: slow tempo, low volume, probably not high-pitched. Doesn’t this tell us a lot about our everyday language and its implications for the analysis of musical energy? Another word that comes… Continue reading Energy Words
Following the Need
The Just Listening workshop began as an attempt to promote the analytical practice I call the Sound-Energy Aggregate. At a time of great distress about my own future, having had most of my teaching cut one fall, I reached out to a career coach to get help in developing a way to promote the SEA.… Continue reading Following the Need
Music and Community
One of the most important books to have influenced my thinking about music and music-making is Christopher Small’s book, Music, Society, Education. Among the many things it helped clarify for me, one thing that probably drew me into his thinking was that he used Grateful Dead concerts to demonstrate the growth of community in shared… Continue reading Music and Community
Melody as relationship
One of the most simple, yet striking realizations to come from the SEA theory is the fact that melody is a relationship. It’s so often talked of as all about the pitches, what they convey, and that’s not wrong. Many point to the value of rhythm – Ornette Coleman’s saying that rhythm is like oxygen… Continue reading Melody as relationship
Musical Energy: Articulation
Articulation, the way sounds are started and stopped, is a very important transmitter of energy. The connection between speech and music is deep and multi-faceted, but for now I want to bring attention to the way we interpret another’s words as a result of how they are articulated, and suggest that the same sort of… Continue reading Musical Energy: Articulation
Roots
I recently wrote about meta-composing, a path combining many threads of my experience as a musical thinker, composer, and teacher. Funny how things settle into our minds. That seemed, and is, a major realization, a turning point in my compositional career and life. After I posted that, a college classmate and fellow Governor’s School of North Carolina… Continue reading Roots
Musical Energy: Dynamics
One of the most important means of altering the energy of music is by means of dynamics. Officially known as loudness, or sound pressure level, this acoustical fact can be measured accurately and expressed in decibels (dB): perception of loudness is a fundamental aspect of our hearing. Accomplished at the very first stage of the… Continue reading Musical Energy: Dynamics