Composer Quest: A Songwriting and Music Composition Podcast
166 episodes - English - Latest episode: over 7 years ago - ★★★★★ - 59 ratingsJoin 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.
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Episodes
Tour 12: Finale in Minnesota
January 25, 2017 02:00 - 4 hours - 259 MBIt’s finally here. Four years and 166 episodes later, we’ve arrived at the finale of the Composer Quest podcast. Before I get too sappy about it, I want to let you know what you’ll be in for in this monster episode. It rounds out the end of my world tour, after my journey home to Minnesota. This episode is definitely one for the fans; most of my interviewees in this episode have been prior Composer Quest guests, and I ask them what they’ve been up to. I don’t want to give away too much about ...
Tour 11: Psychology in the Southwest
January 18, 2017 16:00 - 3 hours - 199 MBEver since I heard music psychologist Dr. Diana Deutsch on Radiolab, I’ve been fascinated by musical illusions. In this penultimate episode of Composer Quest, I got to visit Diana in person! Join me on a trip that starts at a Halloween organ concert in San Diego and ends in Phoenix with an unprecedented songwriting/podcasting experiment.
Tour 10: Squirrels in California
January 11, 2017 01:00 - 2 hours - 145 MBThis episode marks my return to the US after my trip to Australia and Asia. Despite the jet lag, I was able to get 5 interviews in for this Composer Quest episode. Also, Jeff Goldblum?! And you’ll just have to listen for yourself to find out why this episode is called “Squirrels in California.”
Tour 9: Surprises in Taiwan 2
January 04, 2017 13:00 - 2 hours - 112 MBThe second act of my Taiwan adventure features more interviews with music makers in Taipei, plus an interview with me about interviewing. We also discuss the jingles heard everywhere in Taipei, from the train stations to the 7-Elevens to the garbage trucks.
Tour 8: Surprises in Taiwan
December 28, 2016 00:30 - 1 hour - 84.4 MBJoin me on a musical tour through Taiwan in today's episode of Composer Quest. I stumbled into a music festival celebrating Hakka culture, and I got to record a bunch of interesting ensembles, including the Taiwanese jazz group Sizhukong. Plenty of other surprises come up in this episode, including an impromptu flight to another country...
Tour 7: Family in Australia
December 21, 2016 01:00 - 3 hours - 167 MBAustralia has been my dream vacation spot since I was about six years old. In today’s episode of the Composer Quest World Tour, you’ll get an audio peek into my adventures staying with musical families in Melbourne and Poatina Village, Tasmania.
Tour 6: Creative Work in LA
December 14, 2016 14:00 - 2 hours - 147 MBIf you've ever thought about moving to Los Angeles to pursue a creative career, today's episode will give you a glimpse into that world. I talk with six creators about what it takes to turn art into your job, while staying motivated and creatively fulfilled.
Tour 5: Games in Chicago 2
December 07, 2016 01:00 - 2 hours - 126 MBTake a peek behind the scenes of the Composer Quest Olympics in today's episode. I also talk with video game composers in Chicago about career advice, rhythmic composing tips, and silly six-second Vine melodies.
Tour 4: Songwriting in New England
November 30, 2016 14:00 - 3 hours - 174 MBFrom pig racing to public-access TV, this three-hour episode chronicles my adventure around New England. I talk with four different songwriters about their process, and I co-create two songs from scratch along the way.
Tour 3: Theory in New York
November 23, 2016 14:00 - 1 hour - 109 MBThis episode, I'm in Philadelphia and New York to chat about music theory, film scoring, and slot machine composing.
Tour 2: School in Ohio
November 16, 2016 15:00 - 2 hours - 111 MBThis second episode of the Composer Quest World Tour is all about school. Should you go to undergrad or grad school for an artistic field? What do you learn in school that you couldn't on your own?
Tour 1: Games in Chicago
November 09, 2016 06:00 - 1 hour - 70.7 MBFor the final season of the Composer Quest podcast, 110 Kickstarter backers decided it would be fun to send me on a two month trip around the world, interviewing composers and songwriters. I'm thrilled to announce that the first episode of my Composer Quest world tour is here!
Quest 20: Olympics
August 20, 2016 16:00 - 11 minutes - 10.6 MBSince I'll be on my Composer Quest World Tour this fall, I decided we had to do something worldly and big for the final composing quest. In the spirit of the 2016 Rio Olympics, I'll be hosting the official Composer Quest Olympic Games!
Sound Design and Score: An Indie Film Round Table
June 29, 2016 17:00 - 1 hour - 70.1 MBHow does a composer write music that doesn't draw attention to itself? How can a director convey scoring ideas if they're not a musician? Why is temp music important for an editor? When should sound design reflect the real world, and when should it be from a character's psychological perspective? Will the dialogue editor choose the lavalier or boom mic recording, or both? These are just a few of the conversation-sparking questions we discuss in today's Composer Quest podcast episode (the sea...
Hypnotherapy and Creativity with Vanessa Cornett-Murtada
June 22, 2016 00:30 - 1 hour - 59.4 MBSt. Thomas professor Dr. Vanessa Cornett-Murtada specializes in teaching piano, creativity, and performance anxiety reduction techniques. In this episode of Composer Quest, Vanessa shares some tips on getting past mental blocks as a composer, and she explains how hypnotherapy can be helpful in reducing stress, increasing productivity, and sparking creativity. She also explains why Brahms is her favorite composer.
Comic and Sublime Songwriting with Erik Ostrom
June 15, 2016 00:30 - 1 hour - 66.6 MBErik Ostrom was working at a Silicon Valley startup when he realized songwriting was his true passion. He has since moved back to Minnesota and found another passion: the improv comedy world. In this episode of Composer Quest, Erik and I talk about his recent performance with The Local Music Scene, a song-based improv comedy troupe. Erik also shares some great stories behind his songs and insights into writing interesting lyrical rhythms.
Episode 150: UBK on Music Production and Arranging
June 07, 2016 14:00 - 1 hour - 72.7 MBFor this special 150th episode of Composer Quest, I got to talk with Gregory Scott, co-host of my favorite music production podcast, the UBK Happy Funtime Hour. Gregory answers my tough music production questions like: “what effect would you use if you could only choose ONE?” He also shares his process in creating the upcoming Sneaky Little Devil record with his wife Sarah. Also in this episode, you’ll get to hear the results of our MIDI Remix Quest, where composers swapped MIDI data and bli...
Magical Songwriting Tips with Jess and Peter
June 01, 2016 01:00 - 1 hour - 57.6 MBJess Scherer and Peter Lund faced a songwriting quandry: what do you write about when you've been happily married for several years? They decided to stretch their imaginations by writing a magical concept album about wizards, and it turned out to be great songwriting fuel. In this episode of Composer Quest, our conversation covers songwriting tips, circuit-bending a teletubby, and a nomination for the greatest Texas jingle of all time.
Thing a Week with Bryan Schumann
May 25, 2016 01:00 - 59 minutes - 54.5 MBComposer Bryan Schumann has embraced self-imposed deadlines; he’s been consistently making at least one “thing” every week in 2016 and blogging about it. In this episode of Composer Quest, we talk about what he’s learned from this experiment. Bryan also talks about his eco-friendly music projects, like a bike-powered electric band and his future solar-powered recording studio.
Quest 19: MIDI Remix
May 18, 2016 21:00 - 7 minutes - 6.59 MBSince the recent episodes of Composer Quest have been about electronic and video game music, I thought we could do a composing quest related to it. So here's your challenge, should you choose to accept it: create a loop-able piece of music that's under 2 minutes, using MIDI. Send me your audio file and MIDI layers ([email protected]) by May 25th. Next, I'll send your MIDI layers to another random participant in this quest, and they will add their own sounds to your MIDI data, with no...
Patching Together a Creative Life with Anton Torres
May 18, 2016 18:00 - 55 minutes - 51.1 MBAnton Torres has been an electronic music hobbyist for over 20 years, using the very earliest incarnations of Apple's Logic and Ableton Live. In today's episode of Composer Quest, Anton shares some wisdom on living a creative life, even if you only have 15 minutes to spare each day. We also hear why Anton decided to leave his suit and tie job in New York to pursue his creative dreams, and how he ended up working at the board game company Asmodee North America.
Game Music Melee
May 11, 2016 23:00 - 57 minutes - 52.9 MBA few weeks ago, I got to participate in a very fun live composing event at GlitchCon, called Game Music Melee. Three of us composers got up onstage to write video game music on the spot, based on game suggestions from the audience, in JUST 30 MINUTES. Not a lot of time. Emily Reese of the Level with Emily podcast hosted, and after two rounds of composing, she interviewed us about our process. It turned out so cool, I wanted to post it as this week's Composer Quest episode.
Daniel Levitin on Evolution and Songwriting
May 04, 2016 00:00 - 1 hour - 62 MBMusician, neuroscientist, and author Daniel Levitin has brought music psychology to the masses with This is Your Brain on Music and The World in Six Songs. For today's episode of Composer Quest, I got to interview Dan about why humans evolved to be musical. Dan also shares songwriting tips he's learned in talking with Paul Simon, Joni Mitchell, Sting, Stephen Stills, and Victor Wooten. In the second half of the episode, you'll hear Dan perform a couple of his own songs, including an exclusive...
Asperger's Are Us Composer Crystal Grooms Mangano
April 27, 2016 17:00 - 49 minutes - 45 MBCrystal Grooms Mangano recently scored the documentary Asperger’s Are Us, which follows a comedy troupe of four autistic guys. In this episode of Composer Quest, Crystal shares her process in deciding how to score this comedic documentary. I also ask Crystal about scoring the trailer for the Patrick Steward film Match, and we talk about the merits of flute in film scores.
Composing for a Mutant Lobster Wife with Sage Lewis
April 20, 2016 18:00 - 54 minutes - 49.6 MBWhen I called up Sage Lewis on Skype, I didn’t realize he was a fellow Minnesotan. He’s now out in LA, composing for films like Operator, starring Mae Whitman and Martin Starr, and a VR film called The Surrogate. In this episode of Composer Quest, we talk about what it takes to move to and find connections in LA. I also ask Sage about his score for the short film Caterwaul, about an old man and his mutant lobster wife.
Improv Looping with Mandy and Mikey
April 13, 2016 19:00 - 1 hour - 57.2 MBAre you a "gardener" composer or an "architect" composer? My new (almost) neighbors Michael Maiorana and Mandy Fassett came over to talk about their different composing styles for today's episode of Composer Quest. They decided that Mandy is usually the "gardener" and Mikey is usually the "architect."
Quest 18: MNKINO Film Score Fest 2016
April 09, 2016 16:00 - 9 minutes - 8.27 MBI’m happy to announce that we’re bringing back MNKINO Film Score Fest this year! If you haven’t heard of it, it’s an awesome challenge where filmmakers and composers are paired up to create short films, and the Composer Quest Orchestra plays the scores live at the screening. Sign up below if you want to participate this year as a composer or filmmaker!
Podcasting 101 with Guest Producer Jenny Handke
April 06, 2016 23:00 - 1 hour - 59.4 MBFor the Season 6 Premiere of Composer Quest, I asked aspiring podcast producer Jenny Handke to guest produce the episode. Jenny was interested in gaining some podcasting knowledge, so I thought we could record our conversation and post it as kind of a Composer Quest behind-the-scenes. We talk about everything from interviewing techniques to the ethical question of editing conversations to make people sound smart. I also ask Jenny about her own upcoming podcast, which will either be infinitely...
Transylvanian Ethnomusicology with Colleen Bertsch
December 23, 2015 19:00 - 1 hour - 60.8 MBEthnomusicologist Colleen Bertsch is in Romania right now through a Fulbright grant to study Transylvanian violinists. I got to Skype with Colleen for this episode of Composer Quest, and we talk about her faithful recreation of Romanian folk music with her band Szászka, and the crazy time signatures (22/16!) she's played with her Balkan band Orkestar Bez Ime.
Star Trek Fan Filmmaker Tommy Kraft on Scoring “Horizon”
December 16, 2015 00:30 - 1 hour - 63.7 MBTommy Kraft has been “living under a bridge” in order to finish his passion project, the feature-length Star Trek film Horizon. He’s doing almost everything himself: directing, writing, editing, composing, visual effects, and even making the costumes. The film is Tommy’s ode to the Enterprise TV series, which played an important role in his life by helping him sort through his struggle with depression. In this episode of Composer Quest, I talk with Tommy about his approach to scoring Horizon,...
Composer on Fire Podcaster Garrett Hope
December 09, 2015 02:00 - 1 hour - 70.9 MBGarrett 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.
Whiskey Songs and Space Musicals with Bubba Hollenhorst
December 02, 2015 20:00 - 1 hour - 66.3 MBBubba Hollenhorst is a songwriter friend who I often only chat with during loud concerts or on the dance floor. In this episode of Composer Quest, I get to know Bubba a little better. He shares stories from his albums Enter the Enchanted Whiskey Forest and Space Love, along with tips on writing a post-apocalyptic space-themed musical. I also ask him about the dozen or so hilarious jingles he's written for segments on his podcast The Weekly Awesome.
Guild Wars 2 Composer Lena Chappelle on Melody Writing
November 25, 2015 12:00 - 1 hour - 56 MBVideo game composer Lena Chappelle worked her way into the game business by starting as a quality assurance tester. Now she’s both designing and writing music for games like Guild Wars 2. In this Composer Quest interview, Lena shares some of her music and creativity tips, including her method of composing songs during her bus rides. She shares how to write a good melody, and how her experience as an author has influenced her musical storytelling. I also ask Lena about her perspective as a tra...
Cyriak's Surrealist Music and Animation
November 18, 2015 17:00 - 1 hour - 60 MBCyriak Harris has wowed the internet with his weird YouTube animations, which often feature dancing, mutating animals, like his 34-million-views video "cows and cows and cows." But he's very 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.
Quest 17: The Tattoo
November 11, 2015 18:30 - 12 minutes - 11.2 MBI’m excited to announce our next composing quest, courtesy of Tim Cheesebrow and his forearm. Tim has been looking for a way to commemorate his family tree through music, and he’s decided to leave it to Composer Quest listeners to write a “Cheesebrow family” melody. Tim will then choose his favorite composition, and TATTOO IT ON HIS ARM.
Niche Songwriting with Jonathan Rundman
November 11, 2015 18:00 - 1 hour - 74.3 MBJonathan Rundman’s songs have appeared on the Ellen Degeneres show, the CBS Morning News, and NPR. He realized the success of these songs have been due in part to their narrow topics, like insomnia and wearing glasses. But Jonathan has recently shifted to writing songs with more “heart” than his journalistic lyrical past, after somewhat of a mid-life crisis and a purifying experience playing ancient Finnish music. In this episode of Composer Quest, Jonathan shares words of wisdom from his 25 ...
EDM Production Tips with Sam Matla
November 04, 2015 16:00 - 59 minutes - 54.5 MBSam Matla admits that his hometown of Wellington, New Zealand doesn’t have a big electronic dance music scene. But he’s been hard at work producing EDM tracks and educating people about electronic music through his blog and podcast at EDMProd.com. For today’s episode of Composer Quest, I interviewed Sam about his production techniques and advice for new producers.
Slot Machine Composing
October 28, 2015 20:00 - 1 hour - 67.4 MBReel spins, rollups, symbols, celebrations, underscores - they're all different sound ingredients that go into a slot machine. In this episode of Composer Quest, I interview three guys in the sound department at High 5 Games about their unique challenge of making music for casino slots. We talk about the composition techniques they use to hook players into these elaborate slot machine story worlds. I also ask them how they feel about using their musical skills to get people to throw down mone...
Kevin MacLeod, King of Royalty-Free Music
October 21, 2015 17:00 - 1 hour - 58.8 MBIf you’ve been to an indie film fest, you’ve probably seen Kevin MacLeod in the credits. Or maybe you’ve heard his music in a cute cat video, or a Minecraft video, or in a department store, cab ride, or on hold. By writing an enormous amount of music and giving it away for free, Kevin has built his reputation as the single biggest royalty-free music composer.
Jason Graves on Game Composing
October 14, 2015 14:00 - 1 hour - 69.8 MBTomb Raider, Until Dawn, and the Dead Space series are some of the big-name video games Jason Graves has been scoring recently. In this episode of Composer Quest, Jason shares a ton of great composing, production, and music business advice, along with lessons he learned from his in-depth study of John Williams scores. We also get to hear his apples-to-apples comparison of the Skywalker Sound studio and the Abbey Road studio.
Blind Film Composer Stephen Letnes
October 07, 2015 17:00 - 1 hour - 81.8 MBWhat 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.
Quest 16: Gamer’s Rhapsody Game Jam
September 23, 2015 17:00 - 18 minutes - 16.5 MBEmily Reese (Joon Media), Tim Turi (Game Informer), and Thomas Spargo (Gamer’s Rhapsody) join me for this quest announcement episode. This fall, we’ll be teaming up composers, game developers, artists, etc. to create new video games from the prompt, “I Barely Survived That Game Jam.” Visit http://composerquest.com/quest16 for details. Visit http://composerquest.com/quest16 for details.
Season 4 Finale: Jon Brantingham Returns
July 01, 2015 17:00 - 1 hour - 89.8 MBFor the Composer Quest Season 4 finale, I asked Jon Brantingham back to chat. He shares some great insights on musical form, film scoring, and the Gustav Mahler orchestration style.
African Guitar Legend Siama Matuzungidi
June 24, 2015 19:00 - 1 hour - 68.6 MBSiama Matuzungidi played guitar on and wrote some of the biggest pop hits of the 70s in Zaire (now the Democratic Republic of the Congo) and Kenya. In today’s episode of Composer Quest, I talk with him about the soukous style of creating interesting rhythm guitar parts and lead parts to complement them. We also talk about Tim, his talented cockatiel who can improvise in the right key over Siama’s guitar playing. As a bonus, Siama writes a song on the spot in honor of the thief who stole his s...
TV Composer Double Feature: Fil Eisler and Mac Quayle
June 17, 2015 20:00 - 1 hour - 61.3 MBI’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 Bil...
Inside the Creative Mind of Noah Keesecker
June 10, 2015 20:00 - 1 hour - 93.2 MBIn today’s episode of Composer Quest, I interview Noah Keesecker about everything from the perils of grad school to making musical ping pong tables. Along the way, I discover that Noah is on the “spectrum of synesthesia” as he calls it. For example, he often experiences smells when he hears things (bassoons smell like mossy logs), and he strongly associates visuals and sounds, which has led to some really cool multimedia works like Tonegoblin. Noah shares some great tips on being both a creat...
Composing a Symphony with Musicologist Michael Dodds
June 03, 2015 19:00 - 50 minutes - 46.1 MBComposer and Baroque music specialist Michael Dodds is the subject of an upcoming documentary called Blessed Unrest (currently being Kickstarted) about the personal challenge of creating a 40-minute choral symphony. Michael joined me on Composer Quest to talk about the techniques he used in writing his symphony, like borrowing from the beautiful Romantic harmonies of Richard Strauss. Michael also explains how Baroque composers are like jazz musicians, and how music theory is linked to the his...
Game Music so Sweet it’ll Make Your Teeth Hurt, with Lisa Walkosz-Migliacio
May 27, 2015 16:00 - 1 hour - 64.5 MBLisa Walkosz-Migliacio is a video game designer who also specializes in composing sparkly “tingy tingy” music that perfectly complements her games like the cute, bunny-filled Usagi-chan. With about 350,000 downloads of that game, she’s clearly found a niche: young girls who don’t have many games designed with them in mind. In today’s episode of Composer Quest, I talk with Lisa about her creative process as both a composer and game designer. We also get to hear about her first ever game, a flo...
Music Evolution with DarwinTunes Creator Bob MacCallum
May 20, 2015 17:00 - 57 minutes - 52.7 MBOver the past few years, Bob MacCallum has been focused on one question: can music evolve through natural selection? In this episode of Composer Quest, we discuss Bob’s amazing evolutionary music project, DarwinTunes. In the DarwinTunes experiment/game, participants rate and “mate” short sound loops to breed new musical offspring. Although it started with randomly generated sine waves and noise, the evolved sounds are now surprisingly musical. Also in this episode, we talk about Bob’s scienti...
Composer Secrets with Ian Dicke
May 13, 2015 23:30 - 1 hour - 75.2 MBIan Dicke has secrets, but not the scandalous kind. In this episode of Composer Quest, we talk about his tricks of the trade when it comes to structuring his compositions and developing musical ideas. Ian also shares his approach to teaching post-1940s art music, which usually only gets about a week of attention in undergraduate music programs.