philosophy Archive

  • I love this arti­cle writ­ten by Carl­ton Cuse, one of the show run­ners of my favorite tele­vi­sion show of the last decade, “Lost.” In this arti­cle he faces a cri­sis...0January 29, 2011

    Once “Lost”, How to be Found?

    I love this arti­cle writ­ten by Carl­ton Cuse, one of the show run­ners of my favorite tele­vi­sion show of the last decade, “Lost.” In this arti­cle he faces a crisis…

  • This arti­cle by Joseph Plam­beck is about how retail­ers such as Best Buy are mak­ing up for the loss of CD sales by offer­ing musi­cal instru­ments for sale. As such,...0May 31, 2010

    Children Choose Music

    This arti­cle by Joseph Plam­beck is about how retail­ers such as Best Buy are mak­ing up for the loss of CD sales by offer­ing musi­cal instru­ments for sale. As such,…

  • Can you remember the first time you heard a live performance of a symphony that you love? I recall hearing the Beethoven Ninth for the first time in a live concert. I was in my last year of high school and heard it performed by the Honolulu Symphony. It was...0May 10, 2010

    On Audio Fidelity

    Can you remem­ber the first time you heard a live per­for­mance of a sym­phony that you love? I recall hear­ing the Beethoven Ninth for the first time in a live con­cert. I was in my last year of high school and heard it per­formed by the Hon­olulu Sym­phony. It was…

  • Have you spent time brows­ing around ASCAP’s web­site? Some inter­est­ing things buried there. For instance, here’s Murphy’s Laws of Song­writ­ing, includ­ing this bit about aim­ing your songs espe­cially to an...0March 8, 2010

    The song as a (gendered) script

    Have you spent time brows­ing around ASCAP’s web­site? Some inter­est­ing things buried there. For instance, here’s Murphy’s Laws of Song­writ­ing, includ­ing this bit about aim­ing your songs espe­cially to an…

  • An impor­tant arti­cle (link below) by Anthony Tom­masini in the 14 Feb 2010 New York Times asserts that for both com­posers and per­form­ers, the old “dogma” has been dis­carded and...0February 14, 2010

    When Anything Goes, What Has Merit?

    An impor­tant arti­cle (link below) by Anthony Tom­masini in the 14 Feb 2010 New York Times asserts that for both com­posers and per­form­ers, the old “dogma” has been dis­carded and…

  • I write music, and I also write about music. So this quote from singer-songwriter Andrew Bird has some res­o­nance for me: Ulti­mately, I think that writ­ing about music is a delib­er­ate...0April 22, 2009

    Creating music | Writing about music

    I write music, and I also write about music. So this quote from singer-songwriter Andrew Bird has some res­o­nance for me: Ulti­mately, I think that writ­ing about music is a deliberate…

  • Stu­dents of the great Ger­man philoso­pher Hegel are famil­iar with his notion of the dialec­ti­cal process. It is com­monly summed up as the way a pre­vail­ing the­sis is con­fronted by...0April 9, 2009

    What’s the opposite of creativity?

    Stu­dents of the great Ger­man philoso­pher Hegel are famil­iar with his notion of the dialec­ti­cal process. It is com­monly summed up as the way a pre­vail­ing the­sis is con­fronted by…

  • Ruth Richards’s excel­lent book, Every­day Cre­ativ­ity fea­tures an essay by Mark A. Runco called “To Under­stand is to Cre­ate.” In this essay, Runco argues for three stages of cre­ativ­ity, pick­ing...0April 4, 2009

    Postconventionality and creativity

    Ruth Richards’s excel­lent book, Every­day Cre­ativ­ity fea­tures an essay by Mark A. Runco called “To Under­stand is to Cre­ate.” In this essay, Runco argues for three stages of cre­ativ­ity, picking…

  • I’m read­ing Howard Gardner’s influ­en­tial book on mul­ti­ple intel­li­gences, Frames of Mind. Gard­ner adds this quote from Arnold Schoen­berg, “hardly known for his sentimentality”: Music is a suc­ces­sion of tones...0March 23, 2009

    Schoenberg the sentimentalist?

    I’m read­ing Howard Gardner’s influ­en­tial book on mul­ti­ple intel­li­gences, Frames of Mind. Gard­ner adds this quote from Arnold Schoen­berg, “hardly known for his sen­ti­men­tal­ity”: Music is a suc­ces­sion of tones…

  • Bob Dylan has an inter­view on his web­site in which he has some inter­est­ing things to say about audi­ences and styles. About the craft of cre­at­ing music, for instance, he says:...0March 18, 2009

    Bob Dylan on audiences

    Bob Dylan has an inter­view on his web­site in which he has some inter­est­ing things to say about audi­ences and styles. About the craft of cre­at­ing music, for instance, he says:…

  • Have a look at this baby girl, col­or­ing in a col­or­ing book. She is enjoy­ing the sen­sory expe­ri­ence of it, the tac­tile sen­sa­tion of hav­ing crayons in her hand and...0March 16, 2009

    Coloring inside the lines

    Have a look at this baby girl, col­or­ing in a col­or­ing book. She is enjoy­ing the sen­sory expe­ri­ence of it, the tac­tile sen­sa­tion of hav­ing crayons in her hand and…

  • When I wrote my Vio­lin Sonata last year, I was grap­pling with sev­eral ques­tions from the realm of New Musi­col­ogy. I thought I would share them here to see if...0February 24, 2009

    Is there a gendered aesthetics? A few good questions

    When I wrote my Vio­lin Sonata last year, I was grap­pling with sev­eral ques­tions from the realm of New Musi­col­ogy. I thought I would share them here to see if…

  • It’s not a show I usu­ally watch, but I hap­pened across some­thing called Hell’s Kitchen on tele­vi­sion the other night. For the unini­ti­ated, it’s a real­ity TV show in which...0February 18, 2009

    What Chefs Can Teach Composers

    It’s not a show I usu­ally watch, but I hap­pened across some­thing called Hell’s Kitchen on tele­vi­sion the other night. For the unini­ti­ated, it’s a real­ity TV show in which…

  • In the 9/6/07 issue of Rolling Stone mag­a­zine, with Maroon 5 on the cover, lead singer Adam Levine’s mother makes a provoca­tive state­ment: “I wouldn’t let him lis­ten to kid’s...0August 29, 2007

    What Is “Children’s Music”?

    In the 9/6/07 issue of Rolling Stone mag­a­zine, with Maroon 5 on the cover, lead singer Adam Levine’s mother makes a provoca­tive state­ment: “I wouldn’t let him lis­ten to kid’s…