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Composer on Fire Podcaster Garrett Hope

Garrett Hope has drawn composing inspiration from spider mating calls, Joan of Arc's trial transcript, oil spills, and rape survivor stories. In this episode of Composer Quest, I ask Garrett about these composing projects, and I ask what he's learned from his podcast Composer on Fire. He shares some words of wisdom from his interviewees, and things he's learned through his own composing journey.

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Cyriak’s Surrealist Music and Animation

Cyriak Harris has wowed the internet with his weird YouTube animations, which often feature dancing, mutating animals, like his 34-million-views video "cows & cows & cows." But he's rarely asked about his soundtracks, which are equally intricate and wild. In this episode of Composer Quest, I interview Cyriak about his composing methods and creativity tips.

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Blind Film Composer Stephen Letnes

What is life like as a blind composer? It's a question I've wondered about, but haven't been able to ask until this interview with Stephen Letnes. In this Season 5 premiere episode of Composer Quest, Stephen shares his adventure into the unlikely field of film composing. We talk about Stephen's love/hate relationship with epic music, his advice for working with directors, and the piano performance that changed his life forever.

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Watch the 2015 MNKINO Film Score Fest

We had our second annual MNKINO Film Score Fest this summer, and it was a big success! Back in the spring, we paired up filmmakers and composers to create new short films. The Composer Quest Orchestra played the film scores live at our screening on August 13th. Thanks to Emma Andelson at SPNN, we have a video of the entire event!

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TV Composer Double Feature: Fil Eisler and Mac Quayle

I'm excited to announce this Composer Quest double episode with TV composers Fil Eisler (Revenge, Empire, UnREAL) and Mac Quayle (American Horror Story, Drive, Mr. Robot). First, we hear from Fil about what he learned while composing for an orchestra during four seasons of Revenge. He shares his tips on getting hired for composing gigs and his tips on scoring the entire arc of a show without getting musically stale.

Next, I interview Mac Quayle about how his dance music background (41 #1 Billboard Dance Hits!) influences his film and TV scoring. He gives some music mixing pointers and explains how to build momentum in a song or soundtrack.

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Music from the Director’s Chair with Jason P. Schumacher

Jason P. Schumacher has made a name for himself as a filmmaker in the Twin Cities, but he's also had songwriting in the background of his life since high school. In this episode of Composer Quest, we talk about Jason's first official EP, Dumpster Baby, which is kind of a retrospective of his melodies and guitar riffs from his earliest songwriting days. Jason also shares some great advice on freelancing, and we talk about some of our favorite film scores.

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Quest 15: MNKINO Film Score Fest

Film Score Fest is back in 2015! MNKINO and Composer Quest will be pairing up filmmakers and composers to create new short films, and the Composer Quest orchestra will perform the scores live at the screening on August 13th (7pm, Landmark Center in St. Paul, MN).

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Scoring and Re-scoring Films with Alex Ruger

By day, he works for living legends Danny Elfman and Inon Zur. By night, he composes film scores himself and "re-scores" classic films like 2001: A Space Odyssey, Inception, and Saving Private Ryan. In this episode of Composer Quest, Alex Ruger talks about his personal challenge to add score to scenes that, admittedly, should not have music. We also discuss his vegetable-based sample library, Lord of the Rings music theory, and how he got the gig with his longtime hero, Danny Elfman.

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Melody and Modulation with Composer Coach Jon Brantingham

After his time as a helicopter pilot in the army, Jon Brantingham returned to his love of music theory and composing. He’s been inspiring people with his practical approach to learning composition, which he’s been sharing in his blog and podcast, Art of Composing. In this episode of Composer Quest, Jon and I talk about what makes a good melody, how to modulate using “pivot chords,” and how to channel Beethoven without outright copying him. We also chat about what he’s been learning in his UCLA film scoring program. It’s a longer and more theory-heavy talk than usual, but it got my composer gears going, so I hope you enjoy it too!

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