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.
Something to spur imagination while I’m working on a new part of the arranging guide: Non-traditional notation. While sheet music is super-handy, and provides a common language to communicate music, sometimes people just don’t speak Wookie, and you have to think outside the box. ~How would you write out parts for someone who doesn’t read [...]
Oh, you’re such a beautiful doll! This 1911 hit was a wartime favorite that shows how Barbershop harmony, ragtime, and popular music overlapped. [Audio clip: view full post to listen] This is sung by Bill Murray and The American Quartet in 1912. Fantastic stuff here, very vintage. It’s hard to imagine this being the height [...]
“Guh, chicka chicka tss” “Doof, tepuh kss” “Pfft dubba dubba, kcha” It’s a fallacy that drums noises are reserved to just drums, just as vocal percussion is limited to the vocal percussionist. If you can speak, you can do VP, and if you’re writing arrangements for people who can speak…well, everyone can be a drum [...]
For those who aren’t up and savvy with their Christian Bale celebrity gossip, our recent Batman was caught on tape verbally beheading some poor dude on the set of Terminator 4. Just a heads up…it’s pretty much just strong language. Here’s the original rant, which was followed by a techno remix, R&B/Club remix, and my [...]
This is a classic short film which won the Academy Award, and has a very interesting soundtrack to say the least: The creator and composer is Norman McLaren, who apparently cut little wedges and nicks into the side of the film to create the score! I would be curious to know how he managed to [...]
Pretty stellar stuff here — gospel with Elvis. His roots were deep in the gospel tradition, and his success was largely due to his ability to sing in “black” styles while being socially acceptable to the white audience of the day. Race has defined America in so many ways; this recording is well-suited to meditate [...]
A rather excellent YouTube video, detailing the dangers of the “isms” and the wonders of American Freedom! The music within is pretty classic soundtrack music of the era — very influenced by the art music of the period, but also much more likely to be enjoyable to the ears of the audience. Have we lost [...]
The best way to get better at your craft is study the work of others and practice. And steal. There was a whole phase in contemporary music when quoting famous pieces was in vogue. The art of “mashup” is when your material is, essentially, other people’s stuff (plug for Girl Talk; I never danced harder [...]
Howdy campers, and well met! My name’s Dan, and I’m a newly inducted member of the SmarterMusic family. It’s a pleasure to be here. I’ve been music directing a co-ed all-genre a cappella group called Rather Be Giraffes at Brandeis University for almost four years now, as well as years and years of orchestra and [...]
Quite ridiculous are the comments made by YouTube viewers — even with the audio preview feature implemented, comments tend to be somewhat inane. Please enjoy this art project of a video, of Leonard Bernstein conducting Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 5. If you can see this, then you might need a Flash Player upgrade or you need [...]
