Tuesday, Jun 17, 2008

Episode 20: What Music Means to the Number 20!

Download this episode (18 min)
In this special 20th-episode celebration, I share an interesting musical factoid or story connected to each of the numbers from 1 through 20. The stories these numbers tell includes various hidden meanings in compositions, becoming an expert on your instrument, key moments in the evolution of Western music, and even a musical "death curse"!

Posted by Dr. Scott Watson at 11:06 PM |  MAKE A COMMENT  

Sunday, May 25, 2008

Episode 19: The Craft of Composition ("Fantasy On An Old English Air")

Download this episode (13 min)
Many folks imagine that composers are suddenly struck with a lightning bolt of creativity as they sit at their pianos, enabling them to pour out divinely dispensed notes onto the page. In reality, inspiration plays a much smaller role than you'd think. It's the 'craft of composition' - the nuts and bolts work that transforms a small idea into a cohesive and musically satisfying whole - that takes up the majority of a composer's time and energy. In this episode, I'll share some of the craftsmen-like decisions at work in a piece of mine, Fantasy On An Old English Air, in an effort to demystify the process of composing music.

Posted by Dr. Scott Watson at 9:53 PM |  MAKE A COMMENT  

Monday, Mar 24, 2008

Episode 18: Musical Fusion

Download this episode (10 min)
Throughout music's history, right up to the current day, composers, arrangers and performers have sought to merge diverse musical traditions in order to create hybrid styles. Whether it's combining music from different cultures, genres, or even time periods, musical fusions have yielded some interesting results. In this episode we examine the idea of musical fusion.

Posted by Dr. Scott Watson at 12:05 AM |  MAKE A COMMENT  

Wednesday, Feb 27, 2008

Episode 17: The Significant Role of Repetition in Understanding Music

Download this episode (18 min)
In this episode, we'll discuss the significance of repetition in music. Specifically, we’ll look at how the right mix of repetition and variation of musical ideas – on both a small- and large-scale – contributes to how music is understood by listeners.

Whether you want the "inside scoop" on some cool things to listen for when hearing music, or perhaps even want to compose yourself and are looking for how to make your music communicate more effectively, please listen in!

Posted by Dr. Scott Watson at 6:04 PM |  MAKE A COMMENT  

Friday, Feb 15, 2008

Episode 16: The Interesting Intersection of Modern Art Criticism, Music Technology, and Philosophy's "Hegelian Dialectic"!

Download this episode (8 min)
Windows PC vs. Mac OS computers. Finale vs. Sibelius music notation software. Have you noticed that people tend to ally themselves to some consumer products with an almost evangelical fervor? In this episode, we look at the implications of this dynamic, in both broad and specific terms, for users of music technology.

Posted by Dr. Scott Watson at 1:35 PM |  MAKE A COMMENT  


My Podcast Alley feed! {pca-197001bf99b45cd35713356abb69b683}