Posts

Prior Posts

September 4ths

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9/4/2012 Milwaukee for MAM visit. Excellent collection of modern art: Judds, Morris Louis’s, Kelly’s...      9/4/2016 On dealing with monotony in music: Monotony is largely subjective based upon cultural factors. I like constraints. With spare and/or repetitive bass parts I like to experiment with duration, space, and range, to the extent that the music allows it. Tension can be created by switching octaves; leaving space and playing with notes and rest durations can push and pull the groove in interesting ways. Alternating the role of player and listener, as well as little rhythmic adjustments can be effective.  [On Bass Lines] 9/4/2017 People are still asking if 4’33” is music. If you broaden the definition of music to include a range of sound that includes pitch as well as noise, then it can be music if you are mindful of the sounds around you. Each “performance” is different because the ambient sounds are different. I’ve understood it as being equal parts co...

Chord Tones For the Bird Bones

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 AI-generated.    

Expecting the Call (AI Jazz)

A "Mingused" blues, harmonizing a blues scale with extended chords. Amazing how good the AI spins are, even with the free model. It has a hard time sussing the chords, but then learns them.  

Universal Speech Rhythms

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    The rhythmic grouping of eighth-quarter-eighth (or quarter-eighth-eighth or eighth-eighth-quarter) beginning on a downbeat is one of the most common speech rhythms, probably in any language. Displacing them an eighth note in either direction makes the words unintelligible ("ships arrive" becomes "ships A-rrive", "jumbo jet" becomes "jumBO jet"), but there are other words that could be mapped to that rhythm, e.g. "container". Obviously it doesn't matter in instrumental music, but speech rhythms can become rhythmic building blocks. Some words with the 8-4-8 (or 8-8-4) schema: Ships arrive Walk the streets In my youth Got around Thinking that Better than Still alive

Curio No. 103

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  Slippery Slope , based on Dynaxiom 2878. The vibe is Barrett-era Floyd with the characteristic descending chromatic lines. *** How Suno spins it:    

Creative Evolution

I have always worked combinatorially, i.e., each creative act is somehow connected to others, either spontaneously (when I am aware of them) or later when I associate them with existing works. This works the same for my music as well as art projects. I also have always kept lists of ideas, titles, strategies, and so on, which I go back to very often. Electronic notebooks, such as Evernote have made this easier (perhaps too easy), but I used to keep paper journals and sketchbooks. There are two basic ways to add cohesion to creativity: 1) create the work then serialize; 2) create similar pieces in an existing series. This also works in music where you can compose first, then add to a collection (album) or define the framework for the album and fill it in accordingly. I don’t think there’s anything that I do, either through design methodologies, or through improvisation that doesn’t fit with something I’ve done before. I know there are some artists who like to make something they’ve neve...

Base 12 Symmetries in Music

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 From Islamic Design: A Genius For Geometry      

Broken Wing (AI Versions)

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  5/8 Delta Blues     

5/27/2026

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  Buncheong

Be Bach (AI Version)

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Typically I would have transcribed a sax solo and attempt to play it on the bass. In this case I paraphrased a Bach Partita in a Be Bop style and for the bass, but this is a sax version of the head played on the bass.   

0826 (My Cynical Me)

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