Meet the Teacher

"Good morning, class!"

1.

What makes a "beat" interesting?

2.

What makes a beat generic?

3.

What are some examples of amazing beats?

4.

Ok...same three questions, but define "drone" instead of beat.

5.

Tempo--like a sprained ankle--what do you favor?

6.

Do you notice how often your tempo is in the comfort zone?

7.

Do you notice how often your dynamics are in the comfort zone?

8.

Do you want to be a listener's comfort zone?

9.

Why should I want to listen to your comfort zone?

10.

What, really, is structure?*

11.

What makes a loop unfailingly interesting?
(as opposed to...)

12.

What makes a loop dangerously sleepy-time...easily, boringly comfortable?

13.

How might you make that loop LESS OBVIOUS?**

14.

Wait, did we talk about structure being sort of BULLSHIT? Oh! You think I'm wrong? Prove me wrong!***

15.

Where's the flexibility if you insist on so much of "the music" being performed electronically?

*Structure, my ass. The artist can always defend their work when they build it on a structure, regardless of how unrecognizable or audible that structure may be. We artists LOVE structure. And eighty years from now, some scholar too smart for their own good, at home alone with a good bottle of wine, is going to have to write a thesis paper, and maybe they'll stumble on the structure that was indeed the artist's very concept. A paper shall be written. Merit shall proven, and thus deserved, and thus awarded. But the audience...let's talk about the audience...

**Er...try layering three of the same on top of each other, offset by a few seconds?

***Structure means nothing if it isn't performed well.