In honor of Composer Quest turning 2 today, I thought it would be fun to present some totally subjective podcast awards.
Best Songwriting Advice
Brian Laidlaw
Brian gives a ton of solid songwriting tips in his episode. One thing that stuck with me: ask questions with your songs rather than force meaning into them.
Nerdiest Music Theory Episode
Justin Merritt
Often, guests and I go off on tangents that probably totally alienate non-music-theory folks. This is one of those episodes. It’s fascinating to me, though!
Best Music Business Advice
Rick Sowash
Rick intentionally remains an outsider in the music world, but he gave some great practical advice about being a freelance composer. He talked about working with performers, raising funds for an album, and promoting your work.
Most Fascinating Interviewee
Mary Beth Huttlin
I found out right before our interview that Mary Beth has a form of synesthesia where she experiences color when she hears music. She also explained how any mental image unleashes a flood of melodic ideas that she can use in her compositions. As a side note, she’s also finished 12 of the 13 composing quests!
Best Music Production Demo
Whitaker Trebella
Whit produced a video game track on the spot and explained his entire process along the way.
Favorite Celebrity Interview
Diana Deutsch
Dr. Deutsch is basically the founder of music psychology, so I was incredibly thrilled to talk with her about the musical illusions she discovered.
Best In-studio Performance
Paul Spring
Paul’s lighter songs “Type II Diabetes,” and “St. Cloud Traffic” made his ode to the Newtown tragedy that much more unexpected and heartbreaking.
Most Cameos on the Podcast
Maia Hamann
In addition to her own interview, Maia has been instrumental in orchestrating five of our composing quests (puns intended).
Best Use of Robots
Patrick Flanagan
Wait, you’ve never seen robots playing drums?
Favorite Composer Quest Intro Theme
Mitchell Adam Johnson
It’s hard to top Mitchell’s original Composer Quest theme, which also inspired my quest announcement theme. You can hear Mitchell’s acoustic version in Episode 100.
Strangest Interview
Lazerwülf
Outstanding Artwork
Matt Schubbe
Matt is the man behind the amazing pixel art Composer Quest logo. I also interviewed him about writing a pooping duck robot song.
Charlie’s Favorite Quest Submission
Josh Wilson
Not only did Josh create a beautiful fortune-cookie-based song, he also produced an amazing behind-the-scenes video about his arduous quest to find a fortune cookie in Taiwan.
Favorite Overall Episode
Torley
Composing philosophy, creativity tips, laughter, and a serious discussion about Aspberger’s – this episode has it all. I also picked this one because Torley is such an enjoyable speaker to listen to (important to me after several editing passes).
