This blog post is about the component parts of music. It covers topics like timbre, pitch, rhythm, melody, and harmony, and it introduces the concept of active listening.
The Elements of Music
Sound Reinforcement
This blog post covers the equipment used for live sound production. It explores sound reinforcement, loudspeaker arrays, signal processing, and other topics related to amplified public address. This post also features a how-to guide for setting up PA systems. Finally, there is a quiz for assessing your knowledge of sound reinforcement.
Mixing
This post covers the art and craft of mixing. It considers adjustable components, common problems, and goals. A step-by-step guide is also included.
Signal Processors
This blog post is about the most common audio effects—EQ, reverb, and dynamics. It summarizes and explains these devises, and it analyzes their use in professional audio. Plugins from the DAW called Studio One are used as examples.
Why Does Music Exist?
This blog post covers music from an evolutionary perspective by considering arguments for and against its adaptivity. Does music provide some important survival value to humanity? Some think it does, and some think it does not. There is not consensus on the matter, but the debate is an interesting one.
Loudness, Decibels, and Balance
This blog post is about volume and loudness. It explores various decibel systems, and it explains how to balance and maximize volume using a Digital Audio Workstation (DAW).
Dawn of the Dub
This post investigates the style of music known as Dub, which was an early form of electronic dance music. In the late 1960s, artists like King Tubby and Scratch Perry began creating alternative versions of existing reggae songs by rearranging sounds within multi-track recordings. This innovation, now called remixing, marked the birth of dub.
Rhythm & Blues and Rock ‘n’ Roll
In this post, Brian Jump explores the history of rhythm & blues and rock 'n' roll. He covers exciting musicians like Ike Turner, Ray Charles, and Elvis Presley, and explains their crucial contributions to the evolution of both styles. Also included are listening suggestions, video links, and study questions.
Music on Earth
This post offers a broad view of humanity's musical customs. It explores the evidence for prehistoric music making, and it explains how music got passed down through the ages. The world's musical traditions are also explored, as are the earliest efforts to notate music.
The Devices and the Voices
This post covers jazz timbre, jazz ensembles, and the theory of jazz sound. Common instruments are described, like trumpet, piano, and saxophone, and common techniques are defined like syncopation, swing, and call-and-response. Also covered is jazz’s peculiar take on melody and its proclivity to use blue notes and blues scales.
Chasing the Chords 