Doing Music

How do you go about teaching a history of electronic music which fairly credits Black innovators? In this episode of Doing Music, King Britt tells us about his groundbreaking Blacktronika course at University of California San Diego. In the process of educating students about seminal music movements pioneered by Black communities—from funk and disco through Chicago house and Detroit techno on to drum & bass and beyond—the acclaimed US producer reveals the positive impact being an educator and instigator has had on his own music making. Learn about the importance of nurturing community and hear illuminating stories from a lifelong devotee to the culture. 

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Blacktronika on Instagram

Lynnée Denise

Juan Atkins

Alvin Toffler - Future Shock

Kodwo Eshun - More Brilliant than The Sun

DeForrest Brown Jr. - Assembling A Black Counter Culture

Bob Gluck - You’ll Know When You Get There: Herbie Hancock and the Mwandishi Band

Keep up with King Britt on Instagram, Twitter and via his website.

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Doing Music is brought to you by Ableton. Follow us on TikTok and Instagram.

If you could design the perfect clubbing experience, what would you put in it? Zora Jones explores that idea in her audio-visual world-building projects, where the technological wonder of the virtual collides with the human connectivity of community. In this episode of Doing Music, Zora tells Craig Schuftan about how she toys with fantasy and reality in her modernist bass-heavy productions. As an ever-evolving artist, she delves into her development as a singer and songwriter, her appreciation for devoted fandom and the enduring influence of golden-era MTV. 

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Gorge Music

Recording Unhinged Book About Unconventional Techniques By Sylvia Massy And Chris Johnson

The Lives of the Surrealists by Desmond Morris

Eroge Video Games

Busta Rymes ft. Janet Jackson - What’s It Gonna Be?!

Keep up with Zora Jones on Instagram, Bandcamp and via her label Fractal Fantasy.

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Doing Music is brought to you by Ableton. Follow us on TikTok and Instagram.

How do you design music education that’s engaging for beginners and experienced users? That’s the challenge Dennis DeSantis faces as head of Ableton’s Learning Team. In this conversation with Craig Schuftan, Dennis talks about the importance of play and interactivity in learning and making music, as well as the value of simplifying complex concepts for beginners. Along the way we hear about his own musical journey, the power of diverse influences and debates around pitch and tuning systems.

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Learning Music

Learning Synths

Making Music: 74 Strategies for Electronic Producers by Dennis DeSantis

Première Poème Symphonique, György Ligeti 1963

Patrice Rushen - Forget Me Nots (Official Video) 

Our Band Could Be Your Life by Michael Azzerad

Keep up with Dennis DeSantis on Instagram, YouTube and via his website.

Tell us what you think of this episode: [email protected]

Doing Music is brought to you by Ableton. Follow us on TikTok and Instagram.

Erika de Casier’s distinct slant on R&B celebrates her eclectic influences even as it updates them. In this episode of Doing Music, Erika tells Craig Schuftan about the many threads of inspiration which shape the warm, intimate music she makes. Along the way we learn about the nuances of remote versus in-the-room collaboration, the importance of trusted feedback and managing self-doubt. From vocal recording to testing her tracks in hire cars, it’s an illuminating insight into the heartfelt practice of a truly unique talent in modernist pop music.

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Craig David - Born to Do It

Meet the Secret R&B Weapon Behind NewJeans’ Catchiest Hits

Doing Music is brought to you by Ableton. Follow us on TikTok and Instagram.

Is it necessary to bare your soul to make good music? Roberto Lange has swapped the beautiful introspection of his earlier songwriting as Helado Negro to draw inspiration from outside sources. In this episode of Doing Music, host Craig Schuftan speaks to Lange about the people, places, and processes which influence his work, from the North Carolina landscape he calls home to field recording, experimental sampling and imaginary meetings with Pauline Oliveros and Lupe Lopez. 

Explore further:

Pierre Schaefer - ‘Acousmatics’ 

Pauline Oliveros - ‘Some Sound Observations’ 

Freddy Mamani - Neo-Andean Architecture

Keep up with Helado Negro on Instagram, YouTube and via his website — and check out his latest album Phasor.

Bendik Giske’s adventurous music demonstrates how much potential a stripped back approach can have if you push hard enough against the limitations. In this episode of Doing Music, the celebrated Norwegian saxophonist talks to Craig Schuftan about his extended technique and the power of a minimalist method for music-making. As his performances and studio recordings prove, Bendik’s focus is on repetition as a route to deeper truths, but the conversation reveals that his exacting style also draws on mistakes as an essential creative tool, and the revelation that if you play a synth riff by The Prodigy a million times, it becomes your own.

Explore further:

Helen Thorington — The Noise of the Needle

Beatrice Dillon

Kodwo Eshun — More Brilliant Than The Sun: Adventures In Sonic Fiction

Jean Cocteau

Gertrude Stein — Portraits and Repetition

Jack Halberstam — The Queer Art of Failure

For Gavsborg, cultivating a space for ideas to flourish is essential. In conversation with Craig Schuftan, the co-founder of maverick production crew Equiknoxx talks about his formative years in Kingston and the various places and people that have shaped him. Beyond the day-to-day of home studio life, Gavsborg shares his thoughts on what it takes for collaboration to bloom, and when high-pressure situations can unlock untapped potential.

Keep up with Gavsborg on Instagram, YouTube and SoundCloud — and check out his latest album An Honest Meal.

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Doing Music is brought to you by Ableton. Follow us on TikTok and Instagram.

Sofia Kourtesis’ sparkling dance music is brought to life by her diaristic phone recordings, depicting vivid scenes that play out like the movies she’s inspired by. In this episode of Doing Music, Sofia tells Craig Schuftan about the importance of imperfection in her sound, finding ways to protest in her choice of samples and embracing her Latin American heritage in her music. As a Peruvian artist relocated to Berlin, her story takes in her engagement with club music in the German capital, discovering her own sound and the desire to make music beyond the confines of the dancefloor.

Explore further:

The Warriors

Los Hermanos Ballumbrosio

Keep up with Sofia Kourtesis on Instagram and via her website - and check out her latest album Madres. 

Tell us what you think of this episode: [email protected]

Doing Music is brought to you by Ableton. Follow us on TikTok and Instagram.

Robin Skinner’s open-hearted songwriting as Cavetown matches lyrical vulnerability with an emotive approach to production. In the first episode of Doing Music, Robin tells host Craig Schuftan about his rise to fame as a teenage YouTube sensation and what that means for him and his music. It’s a sensitive insight into a DIY artist who has shared his most intimate issues through song, touching on the search for a sense of home, navigating fame and collaborative songwriting as the next step in self-therapy. Along the way, prepare to bask in the nostalgic warmth of the Moomins and contemplate the idea of an 18th century emo kid.

Explore further:

Comet in Moominland by Trove Jansson 

‘Homesick’ by Cavetown, from Moominvalley Official Soundtrack 

The Sorrows of Young Werther by J.W. von Goethe 

Keep up with Cavetown on Instagram, YouTube and via his website — and check out his latest EP Little Vice.

Tell us what you think of this episode: [email protected]

Doing Music is brought to you by Ableton. Follow us on TikTok and Instagram.

Doing Music is a new podcast series hosted by musician and author Craig Schuftan, where he talks to a varied cast of inquisitive contemporary artists about the ways they make music and where they get ideas from. These are candid conversations about the endlessly fascinating, sometimes challenging journey every artist goes on from one lightbulb moment to the next, with space to touch on production approaches along the way. Whether you’re an avid creator, a curious listener or a devoted fan, these wide-ranging episodes have something for everyone who ever wondered what’s behind a great piece of music.

Doing Music is brought to you by Ableton. Follow us on TikTok and Instagram.