Tag: Music Composition

October 1, 2014

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!

October 1, 2014

Quest 11: Halloween Reeds

I'm excited to announce our 11th Composer Quest Quest, brought to you by our woodwind friends, the Twin Cities Trio! You may remember them from such quests as Quest #1, in which my podcast listeners and I arranged some fun music for oboe, clarinet, and bassoon. Now, the trio is back to inspire you to write and/or arrange music for them on the theme of Halloween. You can either find an existing spooky song (Thriller, the Addams Family theme, etc.) or write one yourself. Send your oboe, clarinet, and bassoon music (PDFs and mp3 or MIDI) to twin.cities.trio@gmail.com on or before Friday, October 17th.

September 24, 2014

How to Make Your First Chiptune Song without Rage Quitting

Since I'm getting more into writing video game music, and since a lot of game developers are looking for an old school chiptune synth sound, I thought I should learn the authentic way to make them: by using a music tracker.

September 24, 2014

Fargo Composer Jeff Russo on TV Scoring

When Jeff Russo's band Tonic hit it big in the 90s, he was just beginning to get interested in film and television scoring. Now his IMDb page is chock full of major TV credits, including composing for CBS's Hostages, 50 Cent's Power, USA's Necessary Roughness, Showtime's Weeds, etc. His most creatively fulfilling work, though, has been on the FX show Fargo, for which he just got an Emmy nomination. I'm excited to bring you my interview with Jeff, which marks the start of Composer Quest: Season 3.

September 22, 2014

Red Leaf Rhapsody

Just a quick post here with my new autumn-inspired composition, performed by the Lux String Quartet this weekend.

August 17, 2014

Quest 10: Autumn Strings

For the 10th Composer Quest quest, I challenge you to write a piece of music for string quartet inspired by autumn. You have until September 1st to send me your composition (charlie@composerquest.com), and the best string quartets will be performed at the Underground Music Cafe on September 21st at 6pm. In this quest announcement episode, I pull out my dusty violin and give a few tips on writing for strings.

June 17, 2014

Film Scoring 101 with Adam Conrad

In this special summer episode of Composer Quest, composer Adam Conrad shares a ton of great insights about how music works in film. He also explains why he transitioned from using MIDI mockups to writing everything by hand, for real musicians.

May 28, 2014

A Concept Album for Every Season with Chris Koza

For the Season 2 finale episode of Composer Quest, I interviewed Chris Koza, who had the crazy idea to create four concept albums in one year, following the change in seasons. These Rogue Valley albums turned out to be a huge artistic success. One song even ended up in Ben Stiller's personal collection, and subsequently The Secret Life of Walter Mitty. Chris shares some songwriting tips and tricks, and we dig into the concepts behind his concept albums, like how he wrote a song for each of the 12 full moons.

May 21, 2014

Composing Tips from Triple Major Alex Cooke

Alex Cooke majored in Math, Psychology, and Theater, but he eventually came back to his first true passion - music. He's an interesting guy, and in this Composer Quest interview, we talk about everything from composing in odd time signatures to the most common Red Hot Chili Peppers chord progression. He also shares a bunch of practical advice on making your pieces both playable and artistically cohesive.

May 14, 2014

Rock and Docs with Composer Silas Hite

I guarantee you've heard music by Silas Hite before. If you didn't play Sims 2 or see Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, then you at least heard Silas's score for the ubiquitous Mac vs. PC ads. Silas is proof that freelance composing is a viable career. In this episode of Composer Quest, we talk about his percussion-driven scores for the documentaries The Record Breaker (a Vimeo Top 10 film of 2013), The Invention of Dr. Nakamats, and Stories from the Evacuation. Silas also shares his creative process behind his rock records, and gives some tips on freelance composing.