Tag Archives: music

Game Changes

Posted on May 20, 2023 by midiguru

Last year I participated in the Interactive Fiction Competition (IFComp). There are prizes for the top entries, and people are asked to donate to the prize pool. I knew I would likely win some prize money (and I did), so … Continue reading →

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Structure and Meaning in Experimental Music

Posted on December 11, 2022 by midiguru

First, a brief stroll through history. When multitrack tape recording became affordable in the late 1970s, it became practical for the first time for musicians who didn’t have a band not only to compose music but to hear what they … Continue reading →

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Let Me Count the Ways

Posted on October 9, 2022 by midiguru

I first encountered a synthesizer in 1975. I had just been hired as an assistant editor at a startup magazine called Contemporary Keyboard. (The name was later changed to Keyboard.) My boss, who was living down the walkway in the … Continue reading →

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Fumble-Fingered

Posted on September 25, 2022 by midiguru

I’ve memorized a fair amount of piano music. I can sit down at the piano and play for an hour, going through ten or fifteen pieces, without opening any of the books of sheet music that are stacked next to … Continue reading →

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Strike Up the “Band”

Posted on April 17, 2022 by midiguru

Lately I’ve been doing bits of recorded music for the Sunday services at my local Unitarian-Universalist church. Before the pandemic (and before the lovely woman who was our pianist died) I used to play cello in services from time. I … Continue reading →

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Not Being Trendy

Posted on March 24, 2022 by midiguru

Pop music has always been about trends — either setting a trend or following one. Partly this is for reasons of finance: In order to stay in business, a record company has to purvey predictable platters. Most listeners, be they … Continue reading →

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Music and Senescence

Posted on January 17, 2022 by midiguru

There are two ways to make music. First, you can physically play an instrument. (For simplicity we’ll lump your throat and mouth in with the other instruments.) Instead, you can record it, most likely using a computer. What you’re recording … Continue reading →

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Presentation & Substance

Posted on January 9, 2022 by midiguru

At what point does the presentation of a piece of music — its staging — become an essential part of the music’s significance? To look at it another way, at what point does the staging become a distraction? This is … Continue reading →

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Tune Time

Posted on November 15, 2021 by midiguru

If you play music, everybody wants to know what kind of music you play. Classical? Bluegrass? Prog rock? It’s wearisome. Saying, “I just do whatever pleases me,” is true, but it doesn’t provide much in the way of information. Some … Continue reading →

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Imperfections

Posted on October 9, 2021 by midiguru

Synthesizers will spoil you. That’s one of the possible answers to today’s pressing question. There are other possible answers. I love microtonal music. There are many, many interesting tuning systems, and my piano, as lovely as it is, only does … Continue reading →

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