All Episodes
Episodes
The Making Of An Epic Orchestral Adventure - Time Machine
I walk you through a short, epic orchestral adventure, taking you through some mixing decisions, and scoring decisions that can lead to exciting orchestral textures with natural orchestral forces.
This audio was taken...
View Episode
The "Big One" to Focus On (Beginner or Advanced)
This episode talks about the one big question you should ask yourself if you're trying to develop and grow as a composer. From years of teaching, I've learned that beginners and more advanced composers can get so much...
View Episode
How To Actually Develop A Musical Style
This episode talks about developing a musical style, and specifically: What exactly is musical style, and how can we develop our own unique voice?
In the last part of the episode, I mention my upcoming free Composer...
View Episode
Help me to Design a Composer Workshop
I'm excited to announce a Composing Workshop, which will happen live from April 29th to May 6th! It's completely free, and while I've drafted the lesson plans, I need your help putting the finishing touches in! Listen...
View Episode
How Memorizing Music Will Transform Your Composing
After last week's illuminating conversation with David Conte (check out the podcast episode), I decided to try out memorizing a few short pieces of music, to see what the experience teaches me. Spoiler alert - I'll...
View Episode
How to Actually *Learn* Composing - Composition Pedagogy with David Conte
This is one of the most illuminating conversations on music I have had in living memory. Our guest today is David Conte, who is Chair of Composition at the San Francisco Conservatory, student of Nadia Boulanger, and...
View Episode
How John Williams Writes for Percussion (Not What You'd Expect)
This episode explores Williams' writing for non-tuned percussion, particularly in his cue "The Quidditch Match" from Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. We look at how John Williams uses percussion in ways you...
View Episode
The Five Phases of Composing
This episode talks about the five essential phases of composing that experienced composers generally go through, and why it might be a great idea to adopt them. It also shares details of my upcoming training on...
View Episode
John Williams' Orchestration in Harry Potter, 'Leaving Hogwarts'
This episode explains how valuable it is to "learn from the masters". I spent last night transcribing a track from one of my favourite film scores; in the latter half of this episode, I show you what John Williams'...
View Episode
Stuck in a 4-Chord Loop? Here's Why Your Beginning Matters
In this episode, I explain how to avoid problems like the '4-chord loop' that plagues a lot of music, and why the beginning of your piece is crucially important when handling this kind of problem.
To join my list and...
View Episode
My Composing Process: The Creative Phase
This episode talks about the power of the 'Creative Phase' - a period of sheer creativity at the start of each project. I talk about how to implement a creative phase, and what it can do for your writing process.
If...
View Episode
My Composing Process and Tools
This episode looks at my composing process and tools, referring to a track I wrote and mocked up in the first week of January. We talk about all the gear, software, and processes you'll need to go through to produce...
View Episode