In this blog I want to share some of my thoughts about various topics. Since my background is in music, its practice and theory/thinking about it, my posts here are going to touch that general topic in one way or another.
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Intro
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My musical life began when I picked up the guitar at the age of seven. Later I moved on to electric bass and finally double bass, which became my main instrument. After finishing my jazz double bass studies at the Conservatory of Amsterdam I took on musicology at the University of Amsterdam in which I earned the Master’s degree specialising in Black music (or African American music, if you prefer). I continued this specialisation in my Art Studies Research Master’s studies. The latter also included research trips to Rome and New Orleans and especially from the latter I have a lot of material I intended to make use of here.
As my short academic career didn’t lead to any publications (one co-authored article is at the editor at the time of writing this), many of my posts here will be of topics I wrote about during my studies. I’ll also upload some of the articles I wrote then for those interested in some further reading. Additionally, I’ll write here about music I’ve heard, live and recorded, and the thoughts such performances have brought up. My interest in music is perhaps most importantly cultural and social; how music “works” and is used in different cultural and social settings by performers, audiences/listeners, promoters, authorities and various other agencies. So rather than music theoretical analysis of performances I’ve witnessed or music criticism in the traditional sense, I’m more inclined to produce contemplative texts about the philosophical, phenomenological and perhaps ethical dimensions of music.
I’ll try to post something whenever I get around to do so. There’s a comment link on top of every post. Please, feel free to use it! I’d like to hear your thoughts and engage in discussion. As the topics I discuss here are mostly not tied to specific time, such as the performance discussed or the time of posting, feel free to comment also some older posts should you feel like you have something to say.
Looking forward to some lively discussions!
Cheers, Mikko
P.S. For more about this blog and the thoughts behind it, please see other posts in the Intro menu.