Rhythm Kaleidoscope: A Master Composer Takes On Free Jazz
November 26, 2018We give music names and put it in categories, but the language itself knows no boundaries. Rhythm Kaleidoscope by Frank Macchia and Brock Avery sends the listener on trip into fresh, unexplored territory. Macchia is a composer who is not afraid to take risks and follow the music wherever it leads him. Bringing together elements…
RIP, Tom Petty
October 3, 2017
Coming together to fight climate change
August 17, 2016A recent AP piece argues that climate change is the most polarizing current social issue because it stimulates our intuitive tendencies toward collective action or individualism. The logic makes sense but that isn’t what happened in WWII. The country came together and galvanized its resources to fight a global threat. In The New Republic Bill McKibben…
REFUGEE at The Annenberg Space for Photography
July 3, 2016I recently visited the Annenberg Space for Photography in Century City, CA for the first time. The main space and Skylight Studios are in the middle of the Century City complex and you would never know they were there from the street. This felt elitist to me but the layout is nice, admission is free,…
YouTube Revenues Explained…
March 23, 2016YouTube monetization is complex but well worth understanding in a music economy where every revenue stream counts. Attorney Chris Castle recently participated in a SXSW panel and posted an excellent guide to YouTube monetization on his MusicTechSolutions blog. A Billboard chart explains revenue splits for compositions, recordings, and videos, and Castle touches on the opacity…
Learning How To Learn
April 30, 2015I read a lot…mostly nonfiction; business books, history, science, and cognitive psychology, not to mention the endless online journals, blogs, software tutorials, and news articles. When it comes to the practical application of Big Ideas retention rapidly fades. I have so many books I want to read I jump into the next one, hoping that…
Was Alan Turing the Father of Hip Hop?
March 11, 2015The tragic story of brilliant British mathematician Alan Turing has been popularized in the award-winning 2014 film, The Imitation Game and recent books by Walter Isaacson and Steven Johnson. Turing’s work cracking the Enigma code, and developing the technology that would become modern computing has become part of the popular lexicon. Less well known is his…
Rosanne Cash responds to Hypebot’s Bruce Houghton
October 9, 2014 OffPost by Rosanne Cash.
Beethoven’s Morning
August 15, 2014 Off“Beethoven rose at dawn and wasted little time getting down to work. His breakfast was coffee, which he prepared himself with great care – he determined that there should be sixty beans per cup, and he often counted them out one by one for a precise dose. Then he sat at his desk and worked…
Musicians Are Natural Entrepreneurs
June 17, 2013 OffBerklee Today, the journal for alumni of Berklee College of Music, recently gave me the opportunity to explore the relationship between musical training and the skills of entrepreneurs. I interviewed several Berklee alumni who have gone on to create groundbreaking music technology companies serving independent artists. Derek Sivers – founder of CD Baby Panos Panay…