Ever since my friend and former roommate Mitchell Adam Johnson got a harpsichord (for $150!), I've wanted to record samples of it and make it into a digital MIDI instrument. Last week we finally did it! Mitchell played every single harpsichord note while I recorded, and I later turned it into an Ableton Live instrument. From there, I sent it to Brian Funk (aka AfroDJMac), and he put some finishing touches on it and featured it on his site.
I've always been attracted to Salvador Dalí's style, but this week I got a book of his paintings (thanks Mom and Dad!) and was completely enthralled by his craziness and creativity. I wanted to try something surreal and dense with imagery and tiny secrets.
At the end of February, I joined in on the Train Jam - a train ride from Chicago to San Fransisco filled to the brim with game makers. The goal of the train jam is to team up and make video games during the 52-hour ride. In the end, 80 games were finished! You can play them all here.
Since there were so many of us composers, I thought it would be fun to put all the music in one place. We created 63 songs, so I divided them up into five albums, all free to download on Bandcamp.
In the final episode of Composer Quest, Mitchell Johnson challenged me to put out an album of my solo songs that I've been collecting over the years.
It's finally here. Four years and 166 episodes later, we've arrived at the finale of the Composer Quest podcast. Before I get too sappy about it, I want to let you know what you'll be in for in this monster episode. It rounds out the end of my world tour, after my journey home to Minnesota. This episode is definitely one for the fans; most of my interviewees in this episode have been prior Composer Quest guests, and I ask them what they've been up to. I don't want to give away too much about how the episode unfolds, but I am really excited for you to listen, when you have 4 hours and 42 minutes to spare.
Ever since I heard music psychologist Dr. Diana Deutsch on Radiolab, I've been fascinated by musical illusions. In this penultimate episode of Composer Quest, I got to visit Diana in person! Join me on a trip that starts at a Halloween organ concert in San Diego and ends in Phoenix with an unprecedented songwriting/podcasting experiment.
This episode marks my return to the US after my trip to Australia and Asia. Despite the jet lag, I was able to get 5 interviews in for this episode. Also, Jeff Goldblum?! And you'll just have to listen for yourself to find out why this episode is called "Squirrels in California."
The second act of my Taiwan adventure features more interviews with music makers in Taipei, plus an interview with me about interviewing. We also discuss the jingles heard everywhere in Taipei, from the train stations to the 7-Elevens to the garbage trucks.
Join me on a musical tour through Taiwan in today's episode of Composer Quest. I stumbled into a music festival celebrating Hakka culture, and I got to record a bunch of interesting ensembles, including the Taiwanese jazz group Sizhukong. Plenty of other surprises come up in this episode, including an impromptu flight to another country...
Australia has been my dream vacation spot since I was about six years old. In today's episode of the Composer Quest World Tour, you'll get an audio peek into my adventures staying with musical families in Melbourne and Poatina Village, Tasmania.