TED KOCHER — WRITING ESSAYS · OCCASIONAL

Writing

Three pieces so far. One is for music students trying to decide what to do about the robots. One is about a very cheap guitar. The newest is about how an instrumental musician ended up writing lyrics, and it turns out all three are about the same thing.

PIECES

01

Sixteen Thousand Clips and One Honest Sentence

2026 · On process, for instrumentalists

One source played by hand, two hundred generations that are almost right, the round trip through Pro Tools, and the lyrics a lifelong instrumentalist never planned to write.

READ
02

The Robot Sang, I Told the Truth, and Nobody Ever Called Me Again

2026 · On AI, for music students

The tools are astonishing at execution and entirely without appetite. They will do almost anything except want. Includes a receipt: a personal app built in the time it takes to make a pour-over.

READ
03

The $369 Guitar That Ruined Everything

2025 · An ode to a cheap guitar

A Squier Telecaster, an hour of a friend’s time, a set of flat-wound 11s, and the freedom of an instrument your dog can knock over.

READ