Like many historically significant Japanese things (Zen Buddhism, character writing, the kimono, temple architecture), the shakuhachi originated in China. And while, like the parenthetically aforementioned items on this list, the shakuhachi can claim Chinese origin, over the course of its history, it has diverged and evolved quite differently from its Chinese relative, the xiao. The shakuhachi is an…
By Andreas Oskar Hirsch Köln or Cologne, Germany, offers a vivid scene with regards to experimental, new music, electronica, classical music, jazz, cross-border projects, improv, and more. To me, the city is quite well-connected to sonic exploration, research, and experiments. In German we call it, “Klangtüftelei,” which means working with sound in a playful and…
Brushy One-String is a Jamaican singer who has become somewhat of a YouTube superstar in the past few years; his songs are inspiring, his energy is magnetic and grand, and he plays a guitar with, you guessed it, only one string. He’s currently touring North America, and in past few years has been able to…
The first song on Kanye West’s The Life of Pablo album, and my favorite so far, is the beautiful, gospel-saturated “Ultralight Beam.” The song uses only four chords, but they’re an interesting four: C minor, E♭ major, A♭ major, and G7. To find out why they sound so good together, let’s do a little music theory. “Ultralight Beam” is…
In anticipation of Carnegie Hall’s upcoming production of West Side Story at the Knockdown Center in Queens, New York this weekend, we’ve been binge-watching anything and everything we can find about the well-loved musical and its creators on YouTube. Of course, it helps that we recently made a series of videos about the show for the aptly named course, The West…
Entrepreneurship in Music Series: 010 TOM TOM MAGAZINE Founder and Publisher Mindy Seegal Abovitz Tom Tom is, to the best of my knowledge, the only print magazine in the world focusing solely on women drummers and female drumming culture. It was founded in Brooklyn in 2009, and somehow in this age of dying…
+ Welcome to Soundfly! We help curious musicians meet their goals with creative online courses. Whatever you want to learn, whenever you need to learn it. Subscribe now to start learning on the ’Fly. Top 40 charts typically aren’t where I go to find new music. When I was a younger musician, I’ll admit I saw that as a sort of…
“A composer is somebody who changes the sonic situation… I see composition as basically just a change, because we have to admit that sound is going on all the time.” —Michael Pisaro One of the musical pieces that has undisputedly come to define the last year or so of my life is Michael Pisaro’s 3-disc…
Covers are wonderful in so many ways. If you are a new artist, learning to take on a cover song challenges you to learn new material, and offers exposure for your originals. If you are a seasoned artist, adding covers to your routine can help you grow and define yourself as a musician, and give…
In the last few years, many artists have taken their fans on a digital journey towards more immersive experiences by releasing content viewable, listenable, and navigable only in app form. Marketers will say that since 52% of all digital music listening now happens on mobile and tablet, artists should stick to digital forms of disbursement.…
