In this episode of Composer Quest, we get a sneak preview of Nathan Eliot's first solo album, Universe in Me. We talk about the creative process behind his songs, singing super high as a countertenor, and bringing his mandola into a special ed classroom.
"Outsider" composer Rick Sowash has 14 beautiful chamber music albums to his name, all self-published and fan-supported. After graduating from a prestigious music school that he hated so much he refuses to name, he vowed to stay independent of any academic or commercial organization. In this episode of Composer Quest, Rick shares his entire strategy for making it as an independent composer, which he's been perfecting for many years. We also get to hear how Rick converted orange juice, French toast, eggs, and bacon into music for a treble clef quartet.
Fellow composition podcaster Tom Snively has been producing new tracks weekly and picking them apart on his show Making My Own Music. However, his inner composer was dormant for many years as he worked as a computer programmer, then as a financial planner. In this episode of Composer Quest, I talk with Tom about his new venture to make a career out of composing and producing. He's been experimenting with writing video game scores, jazz saxophone tunes, new age music, and a spoken word track based on Philly cheesesteaks.
Ellen Stanley (aka Mother Banjo) brought her banjo over to the Composer Quest studio to share some songs and stories. We talk about everything from her Walden-inspired song to her unusual connection to Paul McCartney. In addition to her banjo-playing career, Ellen is the executive director of the Minnesota Music Coalition, and she worked as a music publicist for the folk label Red House Records. So she also shares some advice on networking, getting airplay, etc.
If some episodes of Composer Quest are like delicious deserts, then this one is like eating your vegetables. Just in time for tax season, we have a special episode on tax tips for musicians and other creative professionals. Attorney and CPA Brad Begley shared lots of tax advice at an event hosted by the Minnesota Music Coalition and Music Mafia Minnesota. It's especially helpful for freelancers and people with a growing creative business.
After a failed dolphin keyboard experiment, Seth Horowitz decided to change roles from dolphin trainer to biopsychologist, neuroscientist, aural therapist, and author. In this Composer Quest episode, Seth explains how echolocation works, and how he used his knowledge of bats to sound design an alien race for a sci-fi show by the producers of The Walking Dead and Heroes. We also talk about his aural therapy recordings engineered to induce sleep, improve focus, and even relieve pain.
If you heard the Questmas episode, you'll remember Josh Wilson's thrilling adventure to find a fortune cookie in Taiwan. I've gotten a kick out of his quirky YouTube series Mr. Wilson Presents, which is a great example of how classical composing can be fun and approachable. Of course, this "infotainment" is not without Josh's flair for music theory terminology. In this Composer Quest episode, Josh teaches me a thing or two about how to structure a symphony like Haydn, how to write upside-down "table music" like Mozart, and how to make decent-sounding choral MIDI files.
Laura Marie believes one of the keys to great songwriting is overcoming self-consciousness and writing with brutal honesty about your own life. In this episode of Composer Quest, we talk about the benefits of forcing yourself to write consistently, and Laura shares songs and stories from her song-a-week project.
At Berklee College of Music, Pat Pattison created the world's first songwriting major. He has taught a host of talented songwriters, including Grammy winners John Mayer and Gillian Welch. I was introduced to Pat through his free online Songwriting course (check coursera.org), and his method of "preserving the natural shape of the language" has really helped me analyze my own lyric writing. In this episode of Composer Quest, I ask Pat about his theory that our language can be interpreted like a piece of music, with a tonic note and harmonic structure. I also share music from The Happiness Project, in which Charles Spearin wrote music to match up with the speech patterns of his family and neighbors.
The 7th Composer Quest Quest is here! As Valentine's Day quickly approaches, I challenge you to write a piece of music for your valentine. The twist is, it must be for your valentine to perform, not you. So if that special someone plays an instrument or sings, this is the perfect opportunity to give him or her a unique gift. Don't feel limited to writing for a romantic valentine, either; you could also choose a friend or family member.