Fickle Ears

I was only born in 1982, but I am still just barely old enough that I don't take things like the internet, CD's, and cell phones for...

With funding for public school music and art programs in constant jeopardy, it is crucial for all advocates of such programs to be armed wit...

It seems obvious from the outset that most any attempt to define what "culture" is has about the same chance of succeeding as does...

It has been obvious to me for some time now that us musico-bloggers are fond of relying on a certain group of big words to make ourselves so...

Most instances of overdubbing that I've run across have been effective, but there's one pitfall that I've noticed quite a few ti...

I'm of the opinion that music with supposed political content generally accomplishes less both as music and as political commentary than...

A funny thing happens to me every Thursday afternoon on my way to the non-musical part-time day job that I work in order to keep from starvi...

In preparation for an upcoming competition (fellow competitors will surely recognize the repertoire), I've spotted a couple of editorial...

"There are no chop problems, only air problems." "Air isn't everything, it's the only thing" ...so the conventio...

I am frequently asked by acquaintances why exactly it is that I am not pursuing an academic career. It runs in the family, after all, and is...

When I was in college, one of my professors was fond of referring to music as "The Social Art." It has also been said that an ense...

I have a problem with those who blindly claim allegiance to "The Arts." For one thing, if all of "The Arts" share one th...

Who: Pan-Metropolitan Trio Stefan Kac, Tuba Japhlet Bire Attias, Chapman Stick® Owen Weaver/Nick Zielinski, Percussion What: CD R...

Something that has been bothering me lately has been the content of music-oriented newsletters and journals. I feel like a fine line is bein...

What matters is not how many people listen to your music, but what their relationship is to that music. If they are people who show up only ...

One of the truly maddening things about brass playing is conditioning. A day off can be constructive, or it can set you back a week; two or ...

Please excuse the uncharacteristically diaristic blog entry that follows. If nothing else, I'm sure there are a few fellow brass players...

For lack of having anything more substantive to present here for the last few weeks, here are a couple of unrelated ideas that have been bou...

When I work with my students on intervals, I use the "atonal" system where you count the number of half steps rather than the trad...

Popular discourse makes a distinction between an art and a science, the latter being applied to any pursuit that is empirical, objective and...

This is really appalling: apparently some film schools require students to sign the rights to their student works over to the university. A...

In talking to several acquaintances recently, I have learned that most of them have at least one quirk when it comes to their CD buying and/...

The blogroll concept has always bothered me. If someone puts you in their blogroll, are you obligated to put them in yours? Why bother putti...