Notes from the archive
Between the traditions.
Occasional essays on the music, the instruments, and the hours they’re made for. One new piece roughly each month.
July 2, 2026 · 4 min read
The instruments that disappear.
On attack, density, and voice-likeness — the three measurements that decide whether an instrument accompanies your work or interrupts it.
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June 8, 2026 · 6 min read
How to listen to breath instruments.
Duduk, ney, shakuhachi, quena, bansuri — a short guide to hearing what a column of moving air actually does, and why it sounds so human.
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June 8, 2026 · 6 min read
How to listen to plucked strings.
Kora, oud, sitar, kantele, kalimba — what to notice in attack, decay, and the overtones a plucked note leaves ringing behind it.
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June 7, 2026 · 5 min read
Two duduk videos that explain the instrument.
If SlowHum is the long quiet room, these performances are the human reference point: breath, reed, drone, and grief without theater.
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June 7, 2026 · 5 min read
Kora videos for hearing the river.
Two visual reference points for the West African harp-lute: the public song, the intimate resonance, and the two hands that make motion feel steady.
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June 7, 2026 · 5 min read
Oud videos for hearing wood and speech.
The oud makes most sense when you watch taqsim: a fretless instrument thinking in short phrases, pauses, and slides.
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June 7, 2026 · 4 min read
Why the duduk sounds human.
On apricot wood, breath, and the strange closeness of a reed that seems almost to sing.
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June 7, 2026 · 4 min read
Why the shakuhachi leaves room.
On breath, bamboo, and the Japanese flute that treats silence as part of the phrase.
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June 7, 2026 · 4 min read
Why the kora feels like water.
On twenty-one strings, inherited memory, and the West African harp-lute that keeps moving without hurrying.
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April 18, 2026 · 4 min read
Why thirty minutes.
On the unfashionable thirty-minute length, the YouTube algorithm that rewards endless loops, and the slow hours this music is actually made for.
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