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Technology & Classical Music: Consider commenting on the article “Music Education Needs to Be a Click Away” by David Gelernter

The Wall Street Journal recently published the article Music Education Needs to Be a Click Away by Yale computer scientist and former NEA board member, David Galernter. Dr. Galernter opens the article with the statement that “Most children learn nothing about serious music in school and don’t expect to learn anything.” (I realize this is problematic but don’t wish to focus on unpacking the specific content here.) He makes some interesting points regarding how people might leverage the possibilities of… Read More »Technology & Classical Music: Consider commenting on the article “Music Education Needs to Be a Click Away” by David Gelernter

Blurred lines, forensic musicology, and music

[updated 3/17/15] Musicologists, and more specifically forensic musicology, are receiving some attention in the mainstream press lately over the lawsuit regarding whether Robin Thicke and Pharell Williams violated copyright law by essentially creating music substantially similar to Marvin Gaye’s music without permission or providing royalties to Gaye’s estate. (To make a long story short, jurors found Thicke and Williams guilty.) You might be interested in musicologist Joe Bennett’s analysis and commentary on the issue. I’m more interested here in the… Read More »Blurred lines, forensic musicology, and music

Dead Prez & Jean-Pierre Rampal – A serendipitous sample discovery

While listening to the following recording this morning I immediately thought to myself “I know that melody” . . . Jean-Pierre Rampal & Lily Laskine performing Kojo no Tsuki Now check out Dead Prez performing Behind Enemy Lines I looked at the liner notes of Dead Prez’s album let’s get free and couldn’t find any mention of the sample or its source. So, I am not sure of the actual sample source or whether it was manipulated during production, but… Read More »Dead Prez & Jean-Pierre Rampal – A serendipitous sample discovery

Music, Expression, & Responding to Current Events: Michael Brown & Ferguson

A little over a year ago I wrote about Music, expression, and responding to current events in relation to Trayvon Martin. Perhaps it’s the musician side of me but whenever tragedies occur, I often wonder about the ways people use music to mediate their feelings, perspectives, and make meaning of the situation. It should be no surprise that musicians are already responding musically to the tragic killing of Michael Brown and ensuing situation in Ferguson, Missouri. I’m not sure how… Read More »Music, Expression, & Responding to Current Events: Michael Brown & Ferguson

Journalism and the perpetuation of the “declining Music Education” trope

A recent article by Zachary Woolfe in the New York Times, Tested Out Upstate: Classical’s Future: Orchestras in Albany, Rochester and Buffalo Stay Nimble, is not about music education but perpetuates the myth that music education is on the decline or is “decimated.” This trope has a long tradition in a range of journalism even though it is rarely backed up by evidence or the voices of certified music educators. The article Apparently, We Disappeared by Lauren Kapalka Richerme traces… Read More »Journalism and the perpetuation of the “declining Music Education” trope