All Articles

  • How to Make Music with Pigeon Whistles

    How to Make Music with Pigeon Whistles

    Last Summer throughout the UK, it was quite possible that if you wandered into an outdoor arts festival, you had a good chance of seeing a flock of pigeons flying overheard, producing a beautiful soundscape of tones. Introducing Nathaniel Mann, a London-based composer, sonic artist, instrument designer, ethnomusicological thinker and the man who strapped whistles…

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  • Why We’re Throwing an Awesome Concert in NYC

    Why We’re Throwing an Awesome Concert in NYC

    I was asked by a friend the other day: “why are you guys throwing a massive concert at a huge venue before you even have a complete product to market?” Good question, friend. Good question. Well, here’s my attempt at an answer. The goal of Soundfly has always been to empower aspiring and ever-curious musicians…

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  • Crash Course: Learn the Glockenspiel in 60 Seconds

    Crash Course: Learn the Glockenspiel in 60 Seconds

    We’ve all heard that word before — a blend of German-sounding “ocks” and “schps” that, at least for me, conjures up images of old cuckoo clocks or Alpine adventures. But for those who don’t know, a glockenspiel is actually a small metallic xylophone with tuned keys that produce a high-pitched set of percussive tones. The…

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  • Gillian Jackson on Slayerkitty and Animal-Themed Wedding Songs

    Gillian Jackson on Slayerkitty and Animal-Themed Wedding Songs

    Whenever I check in with my friend Gillian Jackson, she’s into something new. Currently, it’s teaching rock to children, scoring films, and playing scream metal (I don’t know if that’s how she’d classify it, but it definitely has screaming in it). Before that, it was neo-classical music, museum tours, and working with snakes and other woodland…

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  • Announcing Soundfly Sessions

    Announcing Soundfly Sessions

    Buy Your Tickets Here Soundfly is throwing its very first concert— Soundfly Sessions. We’re hosting it on January 28 at the eclectic New York City music venue (le) poisson rouge in Greenwich Village, a stage that’s seen such stupendous acts as Lorde, Philip Glass, Nico Muhly, Paul Simon, Erykah Badu, and like a million others.…

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  • Welcome to Soundfly’s New Web Magazine: Flypaper

    Welcome to Soundfly’s New Web Magazine: Flypaper

    A year or so ago, I felt in a rut musically. I’d just gotten back from tour and was totally spent. I’d been playing the same songs over and over again and couldn’t really move on. I needed to branch out, a way to inject originality and creativity back into my work. Basically, I was…

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  • How to Keep Your Musical Resolutions

    How to Keep Your Musical Resolutions

    Stockings are coming down, crumpled wrapping paper’s being shoved into recycling bins, and people worldwide are skeptically patting their winter weight in anticipation of the coming year. While we whole-heartedly support your decisions to start taking cross-acro-zum-fit classes and maintaining a strict paleo-free-tarian diet, why not add something painless to your resolution list? Here are two…

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  • Ian Davis on Bela Bartok and Raunchy Guitar Solos

    Ian Davis on Bela Bartok and Raunchy Guitar Solos

    Ian Davis is your standard musical chameleon — with a seemingly infinite number of bands and projects going at any one time. You can catch him touring around the country with Landlady, writing and recording his own family Christmas albums, or even arranging pieces for My Brightest Diamond. We asked him a few questions to…

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  • 5 Ways to Better Prepare for a Recording Session

    5 Ways to Better Prepare for a Recording Session

    This week, my band and I had a recording session for a new album and I was reminded, as I am every time we record, just how much preparation plays a role in a successful recording session. Obviously, you always hope to just show up and the magic will take over, and before you know…

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Ryan Lott: Designing Sample-Based Instruments