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
Arranging New Standards with Chan Poling
Most famous for his songwriting in the new wave band The Suburbs, Emmy-winning composer Chan Poling has gravitated lately to performing pop music from other iconic songwriters. His jazz trio, The New…
00:30:00 |
Wed 27 Mar 2013
Cassette Tapes and Synesthesia with Warren Hildebrand
Songwriter Warren Hildebrand of Foxes in Fiction has a special sensory gift. He experiences images and color when he listens to certain music, and hears tones when he sees certain images. In this epi…
00:29:38 |
Sat 23 Mar 2013
Synesthetic Composing with Mary Beth Huttlin
Dr. Mary Beth Huttlin is not only a talented composer and clarinetist, but she's also gifted perceptually. She has perfect pitch and a constant stream of melodies in her head to draw from. Mary Beth …
00:29:47 |
Wed 20 Mar 2013
Mary Ellen Childs on Music Composition
Prolific composer Mary Ellen Childs writes music for everything from orchestral instruments to zippers. In episode 23 of Composer Quest, she shares her creative process, which often involves bouncing…
00:29:58 |
Sat 16 Mar 2013
Quest 1: Arrange Pop Songs for Bassoon, Clarinet, and Oboe
Your Composer Quest quest, should you choose to accept it, is to arrange a pop tune or movie/TV theme for the Twin Cities Trio, which is Maia Hamann on bassoon, Karen Jennings on oboe, and Mary Beth …
00:08:05 |
Thu 14 Mar 2013
Dessa on Writing Hip Hop Lyrics
Rapper and poet Dessa somehow found time to join me over the phone for Composer Quest Episode 21, in the midst of her nationwide tour (SXSW, New Orleans, Nashville, etc.). I was honored to talk with …
00:26:16 |
Wed 13 Mar 2013
Social Media for Songwriters with John Anealio
In episode 20 of Composer Quest, Sci-fi songwriter/composer and Functional Nerds co-host John Anealio shares tips on getting your music out to the online world without seeming like a narcissistic par…
00:28:05 |
Sat 09 Mar 2013
Crowdfunding a Creative Bender with Tim Cheesebrow
As a dad of two young kids, songwriter Tim Cheesebrow has limited hours in the day for music. But he recently wrote an album's worth of material in a self-imposed solitary confinement at a cabin in n…
00:28:32 |
Wed 06 Mar 2013
Composing Your Way out of Plato's Cave with Ted Moore
In episode 18 of Composer Quest, electroacoustic composer Ted Moore enlightens us about coding music to interact with human performers. He also shares his ideas on choosing a musical form for your pi…
00:29:57 |
Sat 02 Mar 2013
Subconscious Songwriting with Mike Nilles
Guitarist and songwriter Mike Nilles has a secret method for writing melodies: dreaming them up! In episode 17 of Composer Quest, Mike and I swap stories about our dream-inspired songs. We also talk …
00:28:34 |
Wed 27 Feb 2013
Minnesota Waterfall Disaster Music with Nick Syman
Jazz trombonist Nick Syman has challenged himself to write a large jazz ensemble piece based on the St. Anthony Falls collapse in 1869. Nick talks about how using a story can help you structure an in…
00:27:39 |
Sat 23 Feb 2013
Drum Kit Melodies with Pete James Johnson
Jazz drummer Pete James Johnson has recently been getting into sampling his dad's old records to make beats for his DJ project Elephane. In this episode of Composer Quest, Pete shares his beat sampli…
00:27:38 |
Wed 20 Feb 2013
Composing YouTube Soundtracks with Corridor Digital's Sam Gorski
Sam Gorski and Niko Pueringer have built up a fanbase of nearly 1.5 million YouTube subscribers on their channel, Corridor Digital. Sam writes and produces most of the music within a very short deadl…
00:27:38 |
Sat 16 Feb 2013
Film Scoring with Hollywood-Bound Will VDC
Will Van De Crommert produces Hollywood-quality film scores in a humble basement studio at Saint John's University. We talk about composing for film, his portfolio for USC Film School, and how to pro…
00:25:56 |
Wed 13 Feb 2013
A Composition Seed with Dr. Brian Campbell
I felt like I was right back in a composition lesson with Dr. Brian Campbell, my former CSB/SJU music professor, when I interviewed him for this episode of Composer Quest. As always, he imparted plen…
00:30:55 |
Sat 09 Feb 2013
Songwriting Inspiration with Paul Spring
Paul Spring was destined to be a poet, being raised in a family of English professor parents, and now having six brothers and sisters who are also English teachers. In this episode of Composer Quest,…
00:43:37 |
Wed 06 Feb 2013
Teaching Kids to Compose with Maia Hamann
This episode, I talk with my girlfriend, Maia Hamann, about how she teaches her young students to compose music. She explains her strategy of breaking music down into individual elements, something a…
00:35:17 |
Sun 03 Feb 2013
The Okee Dokee Brothers' Joe Mailander on kindie songwriting
I think there's a good chance Joe Mailander will win a Grammy for Best Children’s Album. He and his fellow Okee Dokee Brother Justin Lansing took a trip down the Mississippi river to write some beaut…
00:36:57 |
Wed 30 Jan 2013
Composing for iPhone games with Whitaker Trebella
In this episode of Composer Quest, I chat with video game musician and coder Whitaker Trebella. He shares his words of wisdom on writing for games, producing chiptune music, and getting composing gig…
00:40:30 |
Sat 26 Jan 2013
How to write a pooping duck robot song with Matt Schubbe
Matt Schubbe, the graphic designer behind our 8-bit Composer Quest art, is also a songwriter himself! In this episode, we talk about how he writes songs for (and with) his wife, Donna. Matt tends to …
00:30:39 |
Wed 23 Jan 2013
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