Composer Quest: A Songwriting and Music Composition Podcast - Schizophrenic Synthpop Storytelling with Felix Frost

Schizophrenic Synthpop Storytelling with Felix Frost

12/11/13 • 32 min

Composer Quest: A Songwriting and Music Composition Podcast

Experimental songwriter Ben Simon (aka Felix Frost) caught my ear when I was judging the SpinTunes songwriting contest. His album Phineas Flux has a really shiny pop sound, but it almost never repeats the same phrase twice (in fancy composer language, that’s called “through-composed”). We talk about his elaborate plot-driven songs about cowboys and pirates in this episode of Composer Quest.

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How to Compose Earworms and Fetal Music with Dr. Vicky Williamson

Music Psychologist Victoria Williamson is an expert on earworms – songs that stick in our heads. In this episode of Composer Quest, she reveals her findings on what makes a melody sticky. Vicky also answers my other pressing music psychology questions: Why do babies have an innate sense of rhythm? Why did Clive Wearing, a severe amnesiac, retain his ability to perform music? When did humans start playing instruments? Also in this episode, you’ll get to hear the sound of the world’s oldest instrument, and a never-before-released Charlie song. Enjoy!

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Merry Questmas!

Santa visits the Composer Quest studios to kick off this special Christmas episode. You’ll get to hear music from the past three quests. First, we travel out to rural Minnesota for KMS Elementary’s heartwarming performance of our collaborative Christmas musical Elfluenza. Ms. Hamann’s 1st-3rd graders also give us composers some advice. Next, I reveal which orchestral carol arrangements were chosen and performed by the Amadeus Chamber Symphony. Finally, we get to experience Mr. Wilson’s epic journey to find a fortune cookie in Taiwan for the fortune cookie songwriting quest.