Tag: Interview

February 12, 2014

Composer Infotainment with Mr. Wilson

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.

February 5, 2014

Honest Songwriting with Laura Marie

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.

January 29, 2014

Songwriting Theory with Pat Pattison

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.

January 22, 2014

Composer Career Counseling with ACF’s Craig Carnahan

Craig Carnahan has been a part of the American Composers Forum since it was small enough to fit in a living room. In this episode of Composer Quest, he shares advice on writing grants, getting performances of your music, and arranging copyrighted material. Craig explains how ACF's Innova recording label works, and why it's such a great opportunity for composers. We also get to hear a few of Craig's original pieces.

January 15, 2014

Freelance Video Game Composing with Chris Kukla

In this episode of Composer Quest, Chris Kukla shares some practical advice about making a business out of video game composing. He talks about where to find gigs, how to get paid, and how to work well with your clients. We also talk about his "ugly guitar chord" game and his tribute to Hitchcock's film composer Bernard Herrman.

January 7, 2014

Lazerwülf on Charity Songwriting

The infamous trio Lazerwülf joined me for a Composer Quest interview about their new charity single to raise money for children in Africa. We also unearthed some deep cuts from the Lazerwülf catalogue.

December 11, 2013

Schizophrenic Synthpop Storytelling with Felix Frost

Experimental songwriter Ben Simon (aka Felix Frost) caught my ear when I was judging the SpinTunes songwriting contest. His album Phineas Flux has a really shiny pop sound, but it almost never repeats the same phrase twice (in fancy composer language, that's called "through-composed"). We talk about his elaborate plot-driven songs about cowboys and pirates in this episode of Composer Quest.

December 4, 2013

How to Compose Earworms and Fetal Music with Dr. Vicky Williamson

Music Psychologist Victoria Williamson is an expert on earworms - songs that stick in our heads. In this episode of Composer Quest, she reveals her findings on what makes a melody sticky. Vicky also answers my other pressing music psychology questions.

November 27, 2013

Songwriting Tricks with Dylan McFarling

Guitarist Dylan McFarling is obsessed with studying the work of other songwriters and composers, all the way back to Bach and his ingenious Musical Offering. In this episode of Composer Quest, Dylan shares his songwriting tips and explains how string quartets have inspired the way he orchestrates guitar and voice in his songs. Also in this episode, you'll hear some beautiful, previously unrecorded songs that Dylan performed live in the Composer Quest studio.

November 20, 2013

Philosophies of Music Composition with Richard Russell

Composer Richard Russell is a philosopher at heart. In his mission to become a better composer, he went back to school to study the big questions surrounding aesthetics, music, and beauty. He has dug into both existential and practical composing topics in his podcast Creativity and Composition (one of my favorites). I'm pleased to bring you this Composer Quest podcast interview with Richard, in which we discuss everything from feminist musicology to Plato to getting performance royalties from ASCAP.