Composer Quest: A Songwriting and Music Composition Podcast
Join the quest! Learn how composers and songwriters create music in this podcast hosted by Minneapolis composer Charlie McCarron. Whether you’re a music composition grad or simply an occasional noodler on a guitar, each guest has a new perspective for you on the creative process of composing and songwriting, along with some concrete ideas to apply to your own music.
- Update frequency
- every 5 days
- Average duration
- 49 minutes
- Episodes
- 166
- Years Active
- 2013 - 2017
Merry Questmas!
Santa visits the Composer Quest studios to kick off this special Christmas episode. You’ll get to hear music from the past three quests. First, we travel out to rural Minnesota for KMS Elementary’s h…
00:40:30 |
Fri 20 Dec 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 repeat…
00:32:29 |
Wed 11 Dec 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 …
00:30:22 |
Wed 04 Dec 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 …
00:33:37 |
Wed 27 Nov 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 als…
00:31:25 |
Wed 20 Nov 2013
Video Game Composition with Michael Chadwick
After nerding out about video game soundtracks for 20+ years, Michael Chadwick finally started composing his own, a few of which are for games that don’t actually exist. In this episode of Composer Q…
00:32:33 |
Wed 13 Nov 2013
Indie Film Composing with Brooke deRosa
DJ, opera singer, and film composer Brooke deRosa is making a name for herself around LA. She recently sang operatic vocals on Ghostface Killah’s new album 12 Reasons to Die and performed on Jimmy Fa…
00:29:19 |
Wed 06 Nov 2013
Quest 6: Fortune Cookie Songwriting
Have you ever drawn a fortune from a fortune cookie and thought, this would make an awesome song? No? Well neither had I, until just recently. So I decided to make that our challenge for the sixth Co…
00:18:53 |
Wed 06 Nov 2013
Halloween Composing with Sideshow Sound Theatre
Your regular Composer Quest host has been replaced by a Demonic Overlord. Enjoy this talk with William Dodson and Wendell Jones, who compose Halloween music as the duo Sideshow Sound Theatre. Stay un…
00:30:56 |
Wed 30 Oct 2013
Writing Lyrics Like a Criminal with Brian Laidlaw
Poet Brian Laidlaw has been teaching songwriting at McNally Smith College of Music, in which he challenges students with assignments like writing from the perspective of a murderer. In this episode o…
00:36:09 |
Wed 23 Oct 2013
Dutch Dance Music with Ducked Ape
DJ/producer duo Sjoerd Huissoon and Tim van Doorne are on a quest to get one huge dance hit with their project Ducked Ape. In this episode of Composer Quest, I interview Sjoerd and his manager Budi V…
00:33:43 |
Wed 16 Oct 2013
The Psychology of Creativity with Wilma Koutstaal
Cognitive neuroscientist Wilma Koutstaal studies and teaches about creativity at the University of Minnesota. In this episode of Composer Quest, she shares words of wisdom with all of us who want to …
00:33:38 |
Wed 09 Oct 2013
Social Sound Experiments with Marc Weidenbaum
Every week, disquiet.com music journalist Marc Weidenbaum feeds his community of hungry sound artists a creative new challenge. In this project, called Disquiet Junto, Marc challenges composers to pr…
00:31:08 |
Wed 02 Oct 2013
Quest 5: Arrange a Carol for the Amadeus Chamber Symphony
I’m excited to announce a brand new Composer Quest competition! The Amadeus Chamber Symphony is in need of Christmas carol arrangements for their holiday performances with the College of Saint Benedi…
00:13:14 |
Mon 30 Sep 2013
Composing for Youth Jazz Ensembles with Dean Sorenson
Student jazz players have likely come across the name Dean Sorenson – his jazz curriculum books have been published by Kjos music and played in schools across the globe. In my Composer Quest intervie…
00:30:29 |
Wed 25 Sep 2013
“I’ve Written a Song. Now What Do I Do?”
In this special episode of Composer Quest, multi-platinum songwriter Kevin Bowe tells us everything he’s learned about getting your music published and placed on TV. He also explains how to get the b…
01:19:30 |
Mon 23 Sep 2013
Audacity Producer Desmond Simmons is Big in Japan
Desmond Simmons, a.k.a. Precise Hero, produces music using only open-source software – he says his computer is too old to handle anything other than Linux. So how did Desmond’s DIY mixes end up on th…
00:31:14 |
Wed 18 Sep 2013
Music Composition for the Masses with Anthony Joseph Lanman
Guitarist, composer, and podcast producer Anthony Joseph Lanman has racked up over 350,000 followers on Soundcloud – a number most classical musicians can only dream of. You’d think this huge listene…
00:30:58 |
Wed 11 Sep 2013
Rhythms of Tanzania with Br. Onesmo Sanga
The stereotype of African rhythms being complex and fascinating is completely true. I found out firsthand during my nine months in a very remote part of Tanzania, living at Hanga Abbey and teaching E…
00:29:56 |
Wed 04 Sep 2013
Charlie’s Musical Obituary
I set out to create the first episode of Composer Quest Season Two, and ended up with this heavenly look back at my musical history, embarrassing demos and all. So now, for something completely diffe…
00:31:14 |
Wed 28 Aug 2013
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