The Third Thing: the ‘Sound’ of Interpersonal Synergy

I don’t listen to podcasts very often, but one that I do subscribe to is Twenty Thousand Hertz, a podcast all about “the stories behind the world’s most recognizable and interesting sounds.” Host Dallas Taylor often asks his guests the same question: What is your favorite sound? It’s a great question to ponder: what sound […]

Rhythm, Compatibility, and Riley’s In C

Have you ever noticed that when we talk about people we really love being around, it’s easy to speak of our connection in rhythmic terms?  “We’re on the same wavelength.”“It’s like they’re tuned to the same frequency as me.”“She and I vibe so well together!”“He and I, we just click.”“We’re so in sync!” There are […]

Reflections: About last night…

Last night, I attended a live performance of Mahler’s Symphony No. 1 for full orchestra. In practically any other year, that sentence would be relatively unremarkable. I often attend symphony concerts, and I love Mahler. But in 2021? I feel like that sentence needs to be rewritten as: LAST NIGHT, I attended a LIVE PERFORMANCE […]

Reflections: Tenebrae Choir, St. John’s Smith Square (London, England), July 6, 2018

Of all the fundamentals I practice on flute, my favorite to play are long tones with diminuendos. For those unfamiliar with the term, diminuendos are when you gradually get softer and softer in volume until the sound disappears entirely. It is a difficult skill to master on the flute because the tuning becomes very unstable […]

Thoughts on Ride’s “Pulsar”

I’ve been thinking quite a lot about Ride’s new single “Pulsar” since its surprise release last week. (Via Google)  pul·sar <ˈpəlˌsär/> noun: ASTRONOMY a celestial object, thought to be a rapidly rotating neutron star, that emits regular pulses of radio waves and other electromagnetic radiation at rates of up to one thousand pulses per second. […]