Tag: composition

2023- How did I do?

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scenic view of ocean during sunset

It’s that day of the year again where I reflect and scruitinize the heck out of the rest of the previous year (Boy, write enough of these and it starts to feel like Deja Vu!).

Here we go again!!!!!!

On January 1st I set out to focus less on resolutions or goals and instead rebuild my lifestyle from the ground up through Action Items. For your reference, here is a link to last year’s post.

Action Item #1 Schedule Composing, Instrumental Practice, Gym, Meal, and Email time into my calendar at SPECIFIC BLOCKS OF TIME.

The grade I’m going to give myself is an 80%. Having a dedicated Journal with a layout that works from my brain seemed to work to help this happen- when I remembered to write things down that is. It worked well enough that this year I bought a Disney Cats version of the same planner ( but smaller this time so I can carry it with me and write things down the second I learn of it in 2024.)

Overall, I did not always adhere to the schedule strictly, but it was a marked improvement from previous years. I definately got a lot more done than in 2022.

Action Item # 2 Replace Phone Screen time with the activities listed above.

This earned me a solid E for Effort! I’ve learned through this endeavor that in 2024 I need to have a nonphone alarm clock in my room and have a hard stop at 8:00 Pm and be more disciplined about picking it up during the day. TikTok is just too darn addicting for my knowledge-obsessed brain.

Action Item # 3 Adopt a CONSISTANT bedtime and wakeup routine.

Another E for Effort!

I tried. I really did. Sometimes I get insomnia which makes this impossible to adhere to. I’ve learned that I just need to let my body relax when it’s ready and make sure that all technology is off at a certain time to keep this from happening. Being a natural night owl – which I’ve been all of my life, makes this very difficult to adhere to.

For 2024 bedtime wil happen when it happens but I am going to to more things to help sleep happen more consitantly in the future.

Action Item # 4 Add my original compositions 1 piece a day to my WOOCOMMERCE Store. ( 10 minutes/ morning) to start.

I should have worded this “Working on Adding my compositions to the store”. The grade was about a 70%.

I was relatively consistant most of the year with working on this. My rate ended up being 1 piece added every 2-3 weeks depending on the complexity and how much else I had going on in life at the time. As a result, 34 titles are available for purchase, and more ( that can be added at a faster rate now that I’ve gotten over the learning curve) are coming in 2024!

Action Item #5 Form a habit of Posting 1x/day, focusing on no more than 2 social media channels at a time.

Grade : Another E for Effort.

There were times where I was on top of this, and time where my posting resembled a metaphorical wasteland of blank pages.

I’ve learned that as long as I’m managing myself, this is going to be an ebb and flow. At least I’m learning how to use the Canva social media posting calendar, so I can do the thing where I hyperfocus and make a bunch of future posts at once to keep it more consistant.

Action Item # 6 Hold myself accountable for these items!

I am going to be generous and give myself the Canadian Grade, which is an A. I’ts still a lower A, so about 90%. I was relatively consisitant in checking last year’s post to reevaluate how I felt how I was doing at the time and it definately helped.

Below are a list of Highlights from 2023 and Accomplishments that were able to happen by inplimenting these action Items.

  1. I finally have a working store and have 34 titles and counting currently available with more in the queue.
  2. I am overall healthier. My teeth feel and look better. I can finally bench over 80 lbs- a long way from not even being able to do one pushup 2 years ago. Squat and deadlift are over 105 lbs and counting! And I can walk multiple miles without feeling winded. Although I still wear the same size that I always have ( which is fine by me) I can see and feel more muscle relative to fat ratio. Not having to ask for help when lifting heavy things like groceries and manhasset music stands has been nice too.
  3. My students are doing well and the studio is full. I’ve had more inquirees that I’ve had to turn away due to time ( I’d take more if my energy level allowed it, but I need to create and perform too) . In short, I can keep my self employed job status!
  4. I had a blast teaching keyboard at the She Rock She Rock Camp. It was greating being able to fit this part time opportunity into my schedule over the summer and was totally worth the time.
  5. I was able to take 2 weeks off consecutively to go to Pennsic. It was an honest to goodness vacation!!!!!
  6. I hit my goal of attending 25 plus live performances.
  7. I composed a grand total of 4 new pieces and have a notebook full of germ ideas that will be used for 2024. Considering most of 2023 was spent rebuilding my lifestyle and editing old pieces to make them available to a mass audience, and barely anything was created the year prior, this was commendable. ( 2024 is going to be a lot more fruitful and I’m excited!!!!)
  8. My music had several premiers and performances that I’m aware of ( There may have been more) – Allemonde de Eleri with full ensemble at Brass Chix, the Horn version of Lunar Tides, as well as the collaboration with Clare Howard on “For the Record”, Painless Parker’s Giant Bucket of Teeth by the Fridley City band in March, Freewill Fanfare with the Minneapolis Trombone Choir, also on March, Not A Flower Suite in August, and A Babe in Bethlehem ( Brass Band Version) with the Twin Cities Brass Band in December.
  9. I performed with severeal ensembles playing trombone- Swing Sisterhood Big Band, The Twin Cities Brass Band, Lady Band, Minneapolis Civic Orchestra, Minneapolis Trombone Choir, Triforce Trombone Trio, and our yet unnamed, but high Calibur performing Brass Quartet . I joke that 2 of us have their performance Doctorates, one could have had theirs but chose Computer Science instead, and then there’s me. But, they invited me so I gues I’m doing ok. 🙂
  10. I feel that I’m actually getting better at playing the guitar- kinda sort of – thanks to studying with my colleague, Andrew Thomas, who is a wonderful Teacher BTW. I’m also getting better at how to explain concepts to students and relate to them through my suffering. xP
  11. Midwest was a success! The first year of the CoadChrome Collective booth went well, and I’m sure we will be exhibiting many more years.
  12. Made More Music overall and am happier compared to the last few years. Here’s to continuing this trend in 2024!

Performance 12- A Brass Quintet of Friends and Colleagues at a Friend’s/ Colleagues wedding 8/23/2023

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I’m attending 25 Live Performances by the end of 2023!

This report was unexpected, but I am choosing to count it, mainly because it was a chance to support my colleagues in more ways than just attending a performance, and because there was a full-on performance of sorts at this wedding.

The friend that got married was Gavin Carney, a fantastic trombonist /fellow nerd/all-around great human who started teaching next door to me at the studio and sort of adopted me as his Friday morning duet partner sometime in 2022. Practicing with him has made me a better player and I’m glad that the universe introduced us. His now-wife, Taylor is pretty fantastic too!

The Friends and colleagues in the quintet were Lauren Husting – Bass Trombone ( I know her from Brass Chix stuff and running into her in the wild on Trombone) Lara Dietrich- Tenor Trombone (A friend/ colleague who gave me the chance to teach at Maestoso Music Studio, which she owns!), Ally Partin- French Horn ( I know her form Brass Chix and runnings out in the wild) Derek Thorsteinsson- Trumpet( Colleague at Maestoso and a great person to talk to in between waiting for students, and Gerard Ahlgren- Trumpet( I used to work with him at Maestoso and he’s a great player too )

They played a variety of pieces to add to the ambiance from your wedding standards ( classical/ rennaisaince brass mixes) to the unusual- I remember hearing Oh Shenendoah with some Juicy harmonies and modulations that stuck out from the usual fare. If this was not a musicians wedding, I’m not sure we would have heard this arrangement, but given the crowd, the variety was welcome. They also performed the entirety of Ralph Vaughn Williams Folk Song suite, which I happily hummed along to.

The highlight of the performance was a premiere from my colleague John Proper ( Last name is Pronounced like you would pronounce the “pro” in Professional because I believe he’s on his way to becoming a Pro!)

He wrote a suite based on a melody and variations for Gavin and Taylor as a surprise. It was well-structured and turned out marvelous!

Overall, I enjoyed the music and, although I didn’t expect anything less from Gavin, I’m glad they hired live musicians for both the ceremony and reception. It was totally worth it!

Congratulations to Gavin and Taylor on a beautiful wedding, to JP on the premiere, and to my friends and colleagues on a great/ successful performance. I hope you all get more gigs.

2022- How Did I Do?

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green tree

Every year I have been setting Goals and offer a reflection at the end of the year. This is my reflection for 2022.

Composing

FINISH the projects from last year that were started.

Did it happen?

Hahahaha…nope. This year was a bit of a firestorm of unexpected difficulties that sapped my mental capacity and emotional energy for much of the year.

What did I finish though?

  • Pieces now offered for Sale- Allemonde de Eleri, A Well Traveled Rhapsody, Chorale on a Palestinalied, Fy Gwanwyn Sky, Painless Parker’s Giant Bucket of Teeth, A NOT FOR SALE ( because it would be illeagal for me to do it at this time to my understanding) arrangement of Kingdom Heart’s Music for Brass Band, and Several Arrangemts you can find on my Sheet music plus Publisher Page.
  • An orchestral Brass Fanfare that has yet to be Read!
  • Several Aural Sketches for Projects that were started last year. I am currently putting these on paper and assembling them to send out over January, now that I’m feeling less burnout.

Sell at least 1 score a month

Did It happen?

Not as I had hoped. Next year, I will be taking on a more refined approach to advertising my works for sale, including building an email list and newsletter. On the plus side, I’ve been selling 1 score/ month since September.

Start Making some Money from Composing

Did it happen?

Sort of yes. I did not get paid as a composer for writing this year. However, I did negotiate a paid commission to be completed this coming year, and for the first time in a long time. I will be paid as a writer in 2023.

Lesson Studio Goals

Build studio up to 30 students.

Have at least 2 big recitals this year ( With at least one being in person, Covid Pending), and generally find more performance opportunities for my students.

Host A Quarterly Studio GET-TOGETHER via Zoom with Games and playing opportunities for peers only.

Have more students participate in MMTA contests and festivals.

Increase educational content on the studio YOUTUBE channel. (sorry, as of now this is for MY STUDENTs only, although I may make some of the videos public eventually). Every other Friday, I plan on recording a short video and UPLOADINg it.

Continue to become a better teacher for my students.

Did It happen.

YES!!!!! In fact, the plan worked a little too well. I ended up with 33 Students at the end of summer!

Musicianship Goals

Play an EtudE Every Practice session

Improve my sightreading on both Piano and Trombone

Establish a functional practice routine and schedule a time to practice every weekday.

Did I succeed?

Mostly. There were some periods where I was not practicing regularily, and in retrospect, I may have been suffering from some form of depression and burnout due to the firestorm. It was due a mix of taking care of others during their chrisises, doing the job of 3 people and feeling underappreciated and a whole mix of other things that just left me feeling numb at the end of summer. After all, if you stand in the cold long enough, you eventually don’t feel it any more.

Luckily, things are looking up finally.

I do have a properly challenging routine now thanks to my friend, and very talented Trombonist Gavin Carney, have been consistant since September, and can’t wait to keep getting better at the Trombone in 2023!

Life and Relationship Building

Continue to improve my health and stregnth.

Did I Succeed?

Overal, Yes!

I took a break from focusing on this and, surprise, surprise, it coinsided with that period where I was not practicing reguarily and feeling comfortably numb. Exercise helps Mental health and I will continue to go to the Gym at least 2 days a week, and find some form of movement every day. If not, I may face another unproductive stretch of time that I can’t get back.

Continue to Volunteer at leAst 4 times a year

Did it happen?

Yes, though in small ways.

Most of this was helping at MMTA theory events, from proctoring exams to giving directions. I also volunteered my time with the Twin Cities Brass Band, helping with web admin tasks and organizing the social media team. I have to say that they were the ones who put in the most effort and got things done though. All I did was delegate 🙂

Plan monthly phone calls and emails, Aim for 1 New person per month to start with in this list.

Did It Happen?

Yes, but not in a steady stream. It was more like a few waterfalls, of 3-4 people every few months. After counting it averaged to 1.3 people/ month.

Support fellow artists through Album/ music PURCHASES and RECOMMENDATIONS, and email them with compliments.

Did I do It?

I did not buy anything this year as the first half was rather lean financially. However, I did do a LOT of listening and sent some reccomendations of my fellow composers to artists that I thought would be a good fit when talking with them over this year. For Example,one of my students is now a FLOOR BABA Fan after exposing them to their music in a lesson. Many encouragements came in the form of Facebook and Twitter comments. I aim to offer more of these in the future.

Attend at least 3 newtorking events or festivals.

Did I do it?

YES!

Brass Chix in January

MMTA Meetings with my local Chapter bi -monthly

Midwest Band and Orchestra Clinic in December

All in all, 2022 was a spiritually and emotionally challenging year. Life threw a few unexpected tests my way and some important lessons were learned. I learned who in my immediate sphere is worth my time and who needs to grow a little more before I think about interacting beyond a surface level again. I also learned that I am capable of doing the work of 3 people if necessary and, even though I do not always like to be that person, I’m a pretty good leader when it comes down to it. The ability to make and share music is a privilege and I got to experience some goosebump-worthy moments with duet partners, The Twin Cities Brass Band, Swing Sisterhood Big Band, and The Triforce Trombone Trio. I even had the pleasure of hearing my piece, A Ship’s Calling performed and recorded by Calypsus Brass, which was AMAZING! Here’s looking forward to 2023, in which I will write down my intentions and post about them in the next day or two.

2022 Music, and Life, Goals.

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The last few years I have been psting my goals for the coming year in order to look back at periodically and hold myself accountable. Here is this years list of goals in their respective catagories.

Composing

FINISH the projects from last year that were started.

  1. ) Enter Spirit- Flex band score. I am currently working with a band director to have it read and finish the graphic score element. This should be ready for the public by May if all goes according to plan.

2) Painless Parker- Band Score. I need a few volunteers to read the piece and give feedback for the final score. I aim to have it available for purchase asap.

3) Continue my editing of past works. – I got a litle more than halfway through, and then I lost my productivity streak. By the end of the year I aim to be finished with all prior pieces. It will help that I’ve gotten better at engraving for anythihg that I write this year, so lots of time will be saved!

4) Documentary Score- Almost finished. It was postponed due to covid and a big life transition for the director. I just need to touch base with the director a few more times to get this done.

5) Vocal and Instrumental piece with a Librettist- I started this one with them as a new type of collaboration for me. Most of the Ideas are in the germ phase, but this will get done by the end of this year at the latest.

Sell at least 1 score a month

I will be ramping up advertising on Facebook as well as taking the initiative to contact more musicians and directors directly. I’ll also be adding lots more pieces and arrangements to My website store and on Sheet Music Plus.

Start Making some Money from Composing

Eventually, I’d like this to make up the bulk of my livelihood along with performing and teaching. Luckily it’s looking like at least one paid commission is shaping up with a fantastic Trombonist.

I can’t wait to share more of these details with you in the coming months.

My one Resolution- normally I don’t do these but I’ll make an exception in this case- is to Share more of what I am working on. Please follow me on Instagram or TikTok @shogan_composer to see more of my process this year.

Lesson Studio Goals

Build studio up to 30 students.

Have at least 2 big recitals this year ( With at least one being in person, Covid Pending), and generally find more performance opportunities for my students.

Host A Quarterly Studio GET-TOGETHER via Zoom with Games and playing opportunities for peers only.

Have more students participate in MMTA contests and festivals.

Increase educational content on the studio YOUTUBE channel. (sorry, as of now this is for MY STUDENTs only, although I may make some of the videos public eventually). Every other Friday, I plan on recording a short video and UPLOADINg it.

Continue to become a better teacher for my students.

Musicianship Goals

Play an EtudE Every Practice session

I’m starting with the good Ol’ Rochut book 1 and will work my way through the book one etude at a time. When I’m done, I’ll look for a new book to progress to. It is my hope that I will become a better player by making this commitment to my practice routine. It should also help me……

Improve my sightreading on both Piano and Trombone

Establish a functional practice routine and schedule a time to practice every weekday.

Life and Relationship Building

Continue to improve my health and stregnth.

I started this last year in 2021 and began strength training with Barbells as of June.If I can keep with the schedule of 3-4 days of stregnth training and eat well, I’ll be well on my personal goal to be able to squat my body weight by June as well as do 1 unassisted pullup by then. Maybe I’ll even surpass it! Although My goals here are not asthetic, I am looking forward to see how things change here as the year progresses. The reason for this is that it helps my mental health quite a bit and I’d like to remain as healthy as I can to do thie things that I love- Mainly Make Music! Also, as I am now in the dirty 30’s, I’d like to not be complaining about back problems like so many of my peers are already.

Continue to Volunteer at leAst 4 times a year

I am excited to see what opportunities 2022 brings, especially with MMTA. Assuming things keep opening back up, I’d also love to have a recital or perform at a nursing home.

Plan monthly phone calls and emails, Aim for 1 New person per month to start with in this list.

This may be a lofty goal, since being extraverted in this capacity takes quite a bit of uncomfortable effort on my end, but I’m going to try by listing a set day on my planner calendar to do this. It wil be at the end of the month too so I have that long to come up with someone.

Support fellow artists through Album/ music PURCHASES and RECOMMENDATIONS, and email them with compliments.

Attend at least 3 newtorking events or festivals.

Next Month, I’ll be attending Brass Chix as I have every year, and in March, the MMTA convention is in Minneapolis, so I’ll be attending at least 1 day of this as well.

2021 Goals- How did I do?

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It’s that time of year- The end of the year where I give you my report card and evaluate the goals that I set at the end of the previous year.

Here is what happened:

BIG GOAL: Make More Money/ Be able to solely do MUSIC to survive.

Update: Success! I am surviving. As of June, I was able to just teach and complete an engraving project to make the minimum that I neded to bring in to justify being my own boss. Next year I will set my goals toward Thriving… and then some.

Mini Goal: Sell 10 scores of my own music. My goal is a minimum of 25 total including arrangements.

Update: I sold 12 total. Yeehaw. It looks like I’ll have to evaluate and revise my strategy.

Mini Goal: 15 students by June

Update: I have since surpassed that goal and am up to 20 students!

BIG GOAL: Get to know more people

Update: I didn’t meet as many new people in person as I was hoping to ( thanks Covid) but did meet some. I talked to Alex Gardner and Matthew Driscol via the magic of zoom and meet a few local musicians and composers through a Monthly Composer Meet up and throught the Z festival, both of which met online. I’d really like to actually get to know more people this next year beyond briefly meeting them.

If you count it though, I did get to meet some awesome new students and their wonderful families 🙂

Mini Goal: Contact 2 new people in music/ month minimum

Update: This fell by the wayside but I did manage to average 1-2 every other month. Next year I will schedule monthly phone calls and emails in my planner.

Big Goal: Write 3 hours minimum of music

Update: If you count all of the unrecorded improvising I did, I ….probably?… reached this goal. However, my composing focus was nonexistant most of this year and getting things written down just did not happen.

Mini Goal:Create more creative opportunities

Update: I did it- but via a different avenue that I set out to follow. I am now part of a trombone trio called The Trifore Trombone Trio and got to exercise my creativity by making marketing content for the Twin Cities Brass Band. I also participated in Z-Fest this summer which provided some interesting ppportunities as well.

Big Goal: Be even more giving and spread more JOY

Mini Goal: Send more notes in the form of cards and emails

Update: Success. I’ll keep this goal active for next year too.

Mini goal: volunteer my time in a musical capacity at least 4 times

Update: This happened exactly 4 times. I volunteered at an MMTA event this Fall, helped out with a large music sorting project, and helped a few friends with their musical projects a few times this year. Next year, I hope to help out at more events because helping is fun. 🙂

Throwback Thursday September 2021 Recap

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September 2nd 2021

This Week’s #throwbackthursday piece is related to the event I’ve been excited about that is happening this weekend: MNKINO Film Score Fest!(BTW- It’s this Saturday at 8 In Mears Park, St Paul MN if you can come).A few years ago, in 2017, I wandered to an event that I had heard about on a podcast called Composer Quest called the MnKino Film Score Fest Meetup. It was at an underground bar in the middle of Minneapolis- or was it St Paul? As is tradition for me with trying new things, I had no idea what I was getting into. Also, meeting new people in groups still terrified the bejeebus out of me, but there I went. At the time, I was starving for creative opportunities outside of my mundane day job and, although it scared me, I reasoned that the best way to make this happen was to step out of that comfort zone and talk to strangers. Somewhere in the large crowd a, talented yet also introverted and kind animator named Beth Peloff talked to me and decided that I was going to be her composer (YAY!).Together, we created a little film called Blob’s Adventure. You can watch it here:https://vimeo.com/218081763

September 9th 2021

Do You remember looking up at the sky on a carefree summer day, imagining the pictures and scenes in the clouds? Today’s #ThrowbackThursday piece was written on such a summer afternoon. When I used to work at a printer factory, I’d come home and need to decompress. Being that the job left little time for much else between driving home, eating dinner, and sleeping to wake up early and do it all over again, there was a 30-minute window that I’d have to myself. I chose to walk from my Dad’s trailer home to the end of the road and back most evenings after scarfing down my meal. That day in 2010, I admired those picturesque clouds in the sky and imagined what it could sound like. At the time I was listening to a lot of Debussy piano music as well. Cumulus Humilis- The scientific name for the type of clouds that I saw that day- is the name of this piece. It was premiered by Jimmy Knezetik- a pianist I knew in undergrad who has the most sensitive touch of any pianist I’ve known. Listeners enjoyed it because it is easy on the ears and my theory teachers loved it because it uses something called Locrian Mode. (Note- I did not do this on purpose. It was a happy coincidence). A few years after composing the piece, Avguste Antonov recorded the piece and did a wonderful job. It is included on his debut album, An American Journey.https://www.sheetmusicplus.com/…/cumulus…/21854853…#pianomusic#newmusic#solomusic

September 16th 2021

In 2009, around this time, I started my undergrad degree at Youngstown State in Ohio. At the time, I had just met my – unbeknownst to me- future husband. He took me to one of Youngstown’s greatest hidden treasures, Mill Creek Park, as part of a tour of the area. We walked around on this adventure for a while when a rather large tree branch suddenly snapped, and almost beamed us in the head on the way down from the fall. Me being me, blamed it on the trickster Faeries that obviously got a laugh at almost killing this intruder, .and yelled something unintelligible back at them. Darko laughed, I laughed, and this whole near-death experience is now immortalized in a Trombone and Euphonium duet. Today’s #ThrowbackThursday piece is dedicated to these Wood Nymphs who happened to give me the inspiration to finish the duet I was writing for fellow composer Dan Brandt and I, just in time to not get scolded by our studio professor. #Brass#BrassDuet#Trombone#Euphonium#WomanComposer#NewMusichttps://www.sheetmusicplus.com/…/meliae…/21816732…

September 23rd 2021

Who Likes Thunderstorms???…….. Actually, not me. In fact, I sometimes find them terrifying! This week, we had a fairly loud one that kept me up quite late. The loud sound of the thunder hurts my ears and seeing a Lightning strike victim in the ER when I was little because my mom used to work nights and sometimes had to take us with to her job, may have contributed to this uncomfortableness. Thank goodness though. MN needed the rain. That brings me to this week’s #ThrowbackThursday piece.https://www.sheetmusicplus.com/…/reign-of…/21833455…Reign of Thunder is a flute solo and one of my first pieces that premiered at YSU. However, it was written it in the summer before starting my studies Shanyse Strickland , a Fantastic Musician known for her Horn playing and Composing these days, was the Flute Player! Cory Davis did a wonderful job accompanying on piano and I took his suggestion to double the octave in the left hand, thus improving the piece. #Flute#Flutesolo#piano#womancomposer#newmusic

ZFestival- a July 2021Adventure!

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This past month I participated in the first Composition Festival I have in a long time- ZFestival.

I first heard about ZFestival from a fellow Twin Cities Based Composer, Johnathan Posthuma. When I first applied to participate, as per usual fashion for me, I HAD LITERALLY NO IDEA WHAT I WAS GETTING MYSELF INTO! That was on purpose. 🙂

So what is this festival you ask? ZFestival is an online month long festival where they pair you with artists, composers and musicians from all over the world ( but mostly North America) and tell you to go create something.

They also have workshops and talks with guest artists and It’s all online. That’s right. I didn’t even have to leave my house or wear pants to participate in this event. ( I mean, I did wear pants except for that one time I wore a skirt. It’s just that it wasn’t required.)

Also, unbelievably, it’s FREE to participate.

They had 3 tracks this year for composers to participate in. The one I was chosen for was a multidisciplinary track.

The group consisted of Clarissa Littler, Timothy Leimu Sillman Walters, Tyler Katz, and Myself. So, a group of composers, multi instrumentalists, an amatur watercolor artist , and a computer programmer (Their instrument was listed as Math) who may or may not have doubled on these skills with prior knowledge that that was what they were going to do.

To create the project, we decided to trade pieces and record and engineer them from our own homes. A lot of Trial and Error on my end was had.

The final Gala Took place on July 31st and August 1st 2021. It was amazing to see what all of these groups came up with and celebrate their creativity. Our Project, which resembles a Prog Rock Space Opera with improvised live visual programming , was on August 1st and is the second one on the program.

As a BONUS and for your viewing pleasure, please watch the product of the 48 Hour Challenge I did with Tim, along with the rest of the projects. The prompt was…interesting to say the least. XD

You can learn more about ZFestival by visiting zfestival.org

Extra-musical Effects: What are they and how can we use them?

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Recently, my friend and fellow composer Sakari invited me to guest teach her class “YouTH Can Compose.”

For the focus on the class, we talked about Extra-musical effects and discussed how they can make their way into our compositions.

So, what are extra musical effects? The Definition that we came up with together was “Anything that isn’t the music itself that can influence our compositional decisions.”.

Some examples might be:

Elements from nature like wind or the sound of flowing water

People

Memories

Sound effects- like those in Cartoons

Places

Colors

And even in some cases music.

In the class I had them listen to Of Wizards and Dragons and we listed and discussed extra musical influences in the piece. Wind- which one student mentioned before we started listening- found its way into the enchanted forest section and was illustrated by windchimes for example.

Another Student mentioned that thinking about their family when they write helps them create. That is another Extra Musical influence for sure!

Tying into this insightful comment, I talked about how Bernard, who used to teach African Drumming as a way to bring people together and was a great human being, was added into the piece when Fredonia wanted to premier it. I added a Djembe part that was not there before to honor him.

We also watch and listened to Blob’s Adventure, a film that I scored and I talked a bit about the process of receiving the film with no sound and having to draw on extra musical influences to score it.

The Students observed some of my tricks of “Mickey Mousing” – for example using dissonance on brass instruments to sound like car horns, and using the bass drum and melody direction to imitate what was happening onscreen. I also showed them the part with the bicycle and explained how the Queen Song Bicycle influenced my decision to use a rock drum beat and repeated scales.

We discovered how we can use timbre and various instruments and their abilities as a tool to illustrate what we envision sonically.

For their project, I read a short story (I Wish I Were A Butterfly) and they each picked a character to write a theme around.

Their pieces illustrated the way insects flew by having the melody hover or flutter, or echoed ( in the case of the Frog and the Cricket echoing his ugly thoughts). The colors of laughter or mud were illustrated cleverly through timbre as well. Some drew on the illustrations themselves to create their pieces.

Overall, this was a great experience sharing this technique with these aspiring composers and I hope reading this helped spark some new ideas for you.

So, fellow composers, what are some extra musical effects that you can think of and how have they found their way into your music?

A Well Traveled Rhapsody

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Mr. Slocum was a wonderful human being. He was the one professor who, no matter who you were, would cheer you on and always have encouraging things to say after brass juries. It did not matter if you were in his horn studio or not. He always seemed to care about the students. Mr. (Bill) Slocum always took time out to talk with anyone who would listen to his recollections of his remarkable past, and he had a plethora of stories to tell from his experiences! It was through these recollections that I learned of his past performing summers at Tanglewood (under Leonard Bernstein!), his time with the Cleveland Orchestra, and his connection with my Hometown Orchestra of Buffalo NY, the Buffalo Philharmonic, having performed in this organization as well as several others. Sometimes these stories would trail into the next hour when you were trying to leave for class. You’d try to say good bye but somehow could not, as his stories always left you hanging on for more.

He also took time out to help me in a way that I’m not sure the other professors knew how. Although he was not my composition professor, he would give me helpful advice as to which pieces to study, and what I should try next. He also took me aside after a class once and did what most do not do: told me to my face how much potential I had, the good things he had heard around the building, and how he recognized my work ethic. (Sadly Mr. Slocum, I could not afford to go to the festivals that you advised me to go, but I promise to keep my promise to you to keep composing). Somehow, he knew that I needed that confidence boost.(Thank you!)

When he passed away in April of 2015 , I was heartbroken. I can only imagine the grief his students and family must’ve felt upon hearing this news.

At the time, shortly after graduating, I had reluctantly moved to MN to live at my Dad and stepmom’s home, and was broke, car-less and jobless. That day (April 15th), after taking the bus to the next town over to job search for the afternoon, I had some time to burn while waiting for a ride back, so I stopped at a Perkins for some coffee. It was there that I received the news.

Shortly after that bombshell, a theme in 6/8, distinctly played on a horn appeared inside my head. It was a theme fit for a hero! Thankfully I was prepared with some scrap staff paper to scratch it down, and fatefully place my coffee, leaving a ring- or “seal of approval” over the new melody.* This melody would remain untouched for about four years.

*This is also the origin story of how I came up with the coffee seal of approval and why I call my self publishing business Coffee Seal Music, summed up in one sentence!

This past Summer, Bill Richter, who I hadn’t heard from in almost 3 years, contacted me asking if he could commission me to write something for his Master’s recital. This came as a surprise, as the last time I had heard from him, he’d left YSU and transferred schools and as far as I was aware, was studying something completely different. At the (no doubt incessant- he had an almost magical way of making his thoughts and intentions known ) urging of Mr Slocum, Bill had returned to school to study the horn! In a stranger twist of fate- call it serendipity if you will- Bill had requested that I put the ending to Mahler 1 in the piece as this was the last piece that Mr. Slocum had coached the YSU Horn studio on, and, this melody that had been sitting there since Mr. Slocum’s passing fit PERFECTLY alongside Mahler’s melody.

A Well Traveled Rhapsody starts with the hero’s theme, where it morphs into several references to many famous horn lines and solos, of which I am told Mr. Slocum enjoyed on his time on earth. Some of these you may catch are a reference to Holst’s Jupiter (as he exuded Jollity), Mozart’s Jupiter (the piece he advised me to study as it has everything I’d ever need), variations of the opening to Strauss’s Horn concerto and Wagner’s Siegfried Call and , of course, Mahler 1.

The middle section, while not a direct quote, alludes to the melodic horn writing of Jerry Goldsmith as heard in the Star Trek the Motion Picture Soundtrack. As the piece seems to wrap up in the last third, I tried to emulate the feeling of listening to his stories and trying to leave his office, but truthfully wanting to hear more as he’d trail on with his wonderfully interesting recollections. Finally, the hero’s theme rises up gracefully in the piano, octave by octave just as his spirit, as far as I can tell, may have risen towards the heavens upon his departure from this mortal realm. It ends on a plagal cadence because, well, of course it does!

Mr. Slocum with his Students at the YSU Horn Studio Pumpkin Party circa 2008

Bill Richter will Be premiering A Well Traveled Rhapsody at his recital on April 19th , 1 PM at Indiana University of Pennsylvania. This piece is written in the memory of William (Bill) Slocum and his gregarious, giving, uplifting, musical spirit.

Edit: The Premiere is on Sunday, April 25th, 11 am Central Time ( Noon Eastern Time).

The Link to watch it is https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QHi8I9kBjeY

2011 Mr Slocum and his last horn studio class before retiring.

2019 Goals- How did I do?

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Big Goal: Continue to increase income

Mini Goal: Set up the rest of my online store:

Did I succeed: Ha Ha. Nope. This is still a work in progress. But, I did manage to find a friend who is helping me set this part up-FINALLY!

Mini Goal: Sell more music

Did I accomplish it: Yes- I sold one score and even got my first concert music commission (Thanks Bill!). That’s one more than last year. Woo hoo!!

2020 is going to be the year where I aim to sell at least 5 scores- but hopefully more. Actually setting up my online store will probably help this goal come to fruition 😛

Mini Goal: Increase my teaching studio size

Did I succeed: Yes! I am now teaching at Maestoso Music studio and have a total of 2 trombone students and 3 piano students. I am also, teaching a couple of ukulele students as well. That’s up from just 2 last year!

Big Goal: Get out there even  more than in 2018

Mini Goal: Jam More

Did I succeed: Yes!…sort of. I managed to get together and play 4 times this year with friends.

Mini Goal: Go to more music gatherings and concerts- that are not my own.

Did I succeed: Yes, but barely. This summer kicked my butt when the swing band went a little uh, gig happy, a relative passed away, and life once again happened. Summer was when I had hoped to go to something every weekend as summer tends to be more relaxed schedule wise yet filled with a plethora of free concerts to listen to. This did not happen as planned, but I averaged about 1.5 every other month, which is way better than it could have been.

Mini Goal: Get better at this Marketing thing.

Did I succeed: I’m going to have to say no. Other life things took priority this year. Next year though, this is going to move more toward the top of the priority list. I do like to eat food ya know! (also, getting paid to perform and write is nice too.)

BIG Goal: Get healthier

Did I succeed: Yes- but mostly during the spring and summer. I sort of fell off the wagon once it started getting colder as far as exercise is concerned. Excuses- excuses, I know. But, I do eat a lot more veggies than I did last year. Now to see if I can drop the sweets a little. My miserly tradition toward buying new jeans before they have irreparable holes in them depends on it! (also, cavities are expensive and painful as I’ve come to find out.)

Big Goal: Write More:

Did I succeed: Yes- please see my final thoughts.

Also, as the urge to write seems to happen most often at night when I *should* be sleeping, I am no longer going to fight this- even if I do have to get up an hour earlier now with this self-imposed schedule. Bring on the Insomnia!

Final Thoughts:

I did manage to accomplish a few things this year that were not goals. For starters, this has been the most productive year composing since graduating from YSU in December 2014. This was not only in terms of volume but in variety as well. New pieces were written for a church brass gig, trombone choir, the VGM challenge and a brand new film score. I was able to put on a successful concert of newly composed and arranged works with my friends from Coffoa Brass in October. Also, thanks to my wonderful mentor, I am now beginning to explore the world of electronic composition. All it took was someone patient enough to show this technology illiterate, broke, and frustrated person how to steer the ship.Overall, 2019 was a step in the right direction.

~Tomorrows post will consist of 2020’s goals, but please feel free to comment with your accomplishments this past year. I would love to hear about them!~

Thanks for reading!!!!