Portamental is dedicated to the exploration of music in all its forms and the promotion of musical understanding for all. Contributors include:
Pianist, instrumentalist, vocalist, arranger, molecular biologist and music theorist. Former Music Director of the Achordants. For arranging services, see Broze Brothers Music; for performing and lessons, see Yuri Broze.com.
Accomplished guitarist, vocalist, songwriter, and photographer.
Composer, arranger, double bassist, writer, and didgeridoo builder. Music Director of Brandeis University's Rather Be Giraffes. For arrangement and other sundry music services, check out MusicaRanger.
We like InterCaps.
Yuri and Jeff more than fill any “classical music” or “50′s doo-wop” quotas around here, so I figured I’d do well to veer in a different direction with my posts. This here is Rush performing “Tom Sawyer” live in 2004. I often measure a group’s true talent by how they sound live versus how they [...]
The more I see of Sammy Davis Jr., the more I have to love him. He’s singing a classic tune, updated to some funk/disco hybrid, while wearing hideous striped pajamas and smoking a cigarette suggestively. He’s so skinny at this point too. I do wonder what the rest of the Rat Pack was up to [...]
SmarterMusic is growing in fits and starts, and the SmarterGuide to A Cappella Arranging is off to a particularly fitting start! Two consecutive music directors of the UNC Achordants (and chief arrangers) are currently collaborating in various backrooms of the halls of academia to bring you the most comprehensive and in-depth guide available on the [...]
When we were seven, we unknowingly listened to the likes of Beethoven, Rossini, Debussy, and even Raymond Scott on an almost daily basis, and we ate it all up. So much for kids not appreciating the classics – looks like all it took to spoon-feed a bit of “The Thieving Magpie” was to sugarcoat it [...]
That would make a pretty grand book title wouldn’t it? Dibs! I have been thinking about the musicality of inflection patterns in day-to-day speech (previously here, here), and my friend Jason brought some new information to light on the cognition of speech and music. As it turns out, some new research is being conducted on [...]
Kirei neeeeeeee…. I had never heard this piece until it came as one of the preset ringtones on my Japanese cellphone. Trying to fit so much intense melodicism through that tiny little speaker didn’t really do it justice though, I have to say. For a while, it even served as my alarm clock sound in [...]
And now, your SmarterMusic Thought Of The Day: [Audio clip: view full post to listen]
If you have been involved in producing music for stage or recordings, you are probably well familiar with the trials and tribulations of rehearsal–especially when your bandmates have trouble focusing and a penchant for doodling around. Or is that diddling? Either way, I’m quite reassured to know that an act as high-quality and successful as [...]
Welcome to the smarter music blog! I am always struck at first by the “why” of blogging, and in fact the tiny and short lived blog I wrote only a handful of entries for while living in Asia was dominated by reflexive commentary on the processes of its own creation. Maybe I’ll reproduce one or [...]
Welcome to SmarterMusic, now with Jjjefff. More soon, of course, but the major behind-the-scenes tinkering with technology is done with. Thanks to Blogsdna for the free theme; in time I expect I will modify it beyond all recognition. But for now, we have a start and a new voice. Music stuffs to follow; first will [...]
