It’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

Tour 11: Psychology in the Southwest

Jan 18th, 2017 3h 37m

Ever 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 co

Tour 10: Squirrels in California

Jan 11th, 2017 2h 38m

This 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 wh

Tour 9: Surprises in Taiwan 2

Jan 4th, 2017 2h 2m

The 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 ga

Tour 8: Surprises in Taiwan

Dec 28th, 2016 1h 32m

Join 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. Plent

Tour 7: Family in Australia

Dec 21st, 2016 3h 2m

Australia 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

Dec 14th, 2016 2h 40m

If 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 creativ

Tour 5: Games in Chicago 2

Dec 7th, 2016 2h 17m

Take 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

Nov 30th, 2016 3h 10m

From 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

Nov 23rd, 2016 1h 59m

This episode, I'm in Philadelphia and New York to chat about music theory, film scoring, and slot machine composing.

Tour 2: School in Ohio

Nov 16th, 2016 2h

This 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

Nov 9th, 2016 1h 17m

For 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 C

Quest 20: Olympics

Aug 20th, 2016 11m 33s

Since 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

Jun 29th, 2016 1h 16m

How 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 shoul

Hypnotherapy and Creativity with Vanessa Cornett-Murtada

Jun 22nd, 2016 1h 4m

St. 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, a

Comic and Sublime Songwriting with Erik Ostrom

Jun 15th, 2016 1h 12m

Erik 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 a

Episode 150: UBK on Music Production and Arranging

Jun 7th, 2016 1h 19m

For 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 us

Magical Songwriting Tips with Jess and Peter

Jun 1st, 2016 1h 2m

Jess 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

Thing a Week with Bryan Schumann

May 25th, 2016 59m 29s

Composer 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. B

Quest 19: MIDI Remix

May 18th, 2016 7m 12s

Since 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

Patching Together a Creative Life with Anton Torres

May 18th, 2016 55m 51s

Anton 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

Game Music Melee

May 11th, 2016 57m 44s

A 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

Daniel Levitin on Evolution and Songwriting

May 4th, 2016 1h 7m

Musician, 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 t

Asperger's Are Us Composer Crystal Grooms Mangano

Apr 27th, 2016 49m 8s

Crystal 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 al

Composing for a Mutant Lobster Wife with Sage Lewis

Apr 20th, 2016 54m 9s

When 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 Que