How I Make Music
John Bartmann
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Discover new fiction podcasts in an immersive, sound-designed listening experience with their music composers. In this show, we challenge audio drama music makers to break apart a song, soundtrack or composition and get into why and how it was made. Immersive listening. Headphones recommended.
Available episodes
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Dec 29, 2022
111 Where the Stars Fell - Newt Schottelkotte - Here With You
Join Nashville-based singer and audio drama creator Newt Schottelkotte in a musical trip to a small town with some big secrets. Where the Stars Fell is a semi-serialized audio fiction supernatural fantasy and part of the Fable and Folly network. In this episode, hear touching stories about how Newt wrote and performed the country-folk song ‘Here With You’ as an outro theme for episode 18 of the series. An immersive listening experience. Headphones recommended.
SHOW NOTES
Where The Stars Fell audio drama https://wherethestarsfell.com/
Newt Schottelkotte home https://newtschottelkotte.com/
Caldera Studios home https://calderastudios.me/
MUSIC CREDITS
Music: John Denver - Annie’s Song
Music: Hozier - Wasteland Baby
Music: Tyler Childers - Lady May
The Mountain Goats - It Froze Me
BECOME A PATRON
Patrons get bonus episodes, early access, full video interviews with contributors, a listing on the Wall of Fame, immersive podcast editing tutorial video livestreams and resources, access to the show’s hidden back catalog, bonus material for creating your own show and a massive thank you! Become a patron and support the composers of audio drama! https://patreon.com/howimakemusic
ABOUT THIS SHOW
Discover new fiction podcasts in an immersive, sound-designed listening experience with their music composers. In this show, we challenge audio drama music makers to break apart a song, soundtrack or composition and get into why and how it was made. Immersive listening. Headphones recommended.
Follow How I Make Music in your favorite app https://pod.link/howimakemusic
Show notes, transcripts and patron credits https://howimakemusic.com
How I Make Music is created by John Bartmann https://johnbartmann.comSupport the show
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Nov 11, 2022
Dice Tower Theater - Mike Atchley - Dark Journey
Join composer and showrunner Mike Atchley in a musical trip into the skies of fantasy tabletop roleplaying game audio drama Dice Tower Theater presents: Dawn of Dragons. Young heroes bound in love and kinship are forced on a quest to discover the truth behind the magic of dragons and seek those that stole it. In this episode, hear how the epic fantasy music of Dice Tower Theater is inspired by re-constructed DnD gameplay recordings. An immersive listening experience. Headphones recommended.
SHOW NOTES
Dice Tower Theater audio series https://dicetowertheatre.com/
Good Ham Productions https://www.goodhamproductions.com/
MUSIC CREDITS
Music: Glenn Danzig - Retreat And Descent
Music: Jo Blankenburg - Garador’s Flight
Music: Richard Wagner - Ride of the Valkyries
BECOME A PATRON
Patrons get bonus episodes, early access, full video interviews with contributors, a listing on the Wall of Fame, immersive podcast editing tutorial video livestreams and resources, access to the show’s hidden back catalog, bonus material for creating your own show and a massive thank you! Become a patron and support the composers of audio drama! https://patreon.com/howimakemusic
ABOUT THIS SHOW
Discover new fiction podcasts in an immersive, sound-designed listening experience with their music composers. In this show, we challenge audio drama music makers to break apart a song, soundtrack or composition and get into why and how it was made. Immersive listening. Headphones recommended.
Follow How I Make Music in your favorite app https://pod.link/howimakemusic
Show notes, transcripts and patron credits https://howimakemusic.com
How I Make Music is created by John Bartmann https://johnbartmann.com
Support the show
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Sep 28, 2022
Stone Island - Marcus Bagala - A Storm Is Just A Storm
Join Emmy Award-winning composer Marcus Bagala in a trip to the bottom of the ocean for magical realism audio drama Stone Island by Gimlet Media. Set in present-day Maine, Harry is followed by a journalist who aims to uncover the truth of his harrowing encounter with dark beings from a terrifying storm. In this episode, hear how peaceful ocean field recordings set Marcus off on a journey to write, produce and score a two-part story set in his childhood homeland. An immersive listening experience. Headphones recommended.
SHOW NOTES
Stone Island audio series https://open.spotify.com/episode/3ka100351RGSDxA1LuXejH
Marcus Bagala home https://www.marcusbagala.com/
Youth In A Roman Field band https://www.youthinaromanfield.com/
MUSIC CREDITS
Music: Schooner Fare - Will Ye No Come Back Again
Music: Townes van Zandt - Lungs
Music: Gustavo Santaolalla - The Last of Us soundtrack
Music: Mark Korvin - The Lighthouse soundtrack
TRANSCRIPT
http://howimakemusic.com/episode/
WHY BECOME A PATRON?
Patrons get bonus episodes, early access to all future episodes, full video interviews with contributors, a listing on the Wall of Fame, access to the show’s hidden back catalog, bonus material for creating your own show and a massive thank you!
Become a patron https://patreon.com/howimakemusic
ABOUT THIS SHOW
Discover new fiction podcasts in an immersive, sound-designed listening experience with their music composers. In this show, we challenge audio drama music makers to break apart a song, soundtrack or composition and get into why and how it was made. Immersive listening. Headphones recommended.
* Follow How I Make Music in your favorite app https://pod.link/howimakemusic
* Show notes, transcript and credits https://howimakemusic.com
* How I Make Music is created by John Bartmann https://johnbartmann.comSupport the show
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Apr 22, 2022
The Program audio series - Christien Ledroit - The Match and the Fire
Join acclaimed composer Christien Ledroit in a trip into popular dark sci-fi audio drama The Program audio series. In a future time, protagonist Mira is a scientist whose work rattles the establishment. In this episode, hear how Christien combined mid-pandemic choir recordings and an electronic score to tell the story of Mira’s explosive discoveries. An immersive listening experience. Headphones recommended.
TRANSCRIPT http://howimakemusic.com/episode/
ABOUT THIS SHOW
Discover new fiction podcasts in an immersive, sound-designed listening experience with their music composers. In this show, we challenge audio drama music makers to break apart a song, soundtrack or composition and get into why and how it was made. Immersive listening. Headphones recommended.
* Follow How I Make Music in your favorite app https://pod.link/howimakemusic
* Show notes, transcript and credits https://howimakemusic.com
* How I Make Music is created by John Bartmann https://johnbartmann.com
BECOME A PATRON
Patrons get bonus episodes, early access to all future episodes, full video interviews with contributors, a listing on the Wall of Fame, immersive podcast editing tutorial video livestreams and resources, access to the show’s hidden back catalog, bonus material for creating your own show and a massive thank you!
Become a patron https://patreon.com/howimakemusic
Support the show (https://patreon.com/howimakemusic)
SHOW NOTES
The Program audio series home https://programaudioseries.com/
Christien Ledroit home https://cledroit.wordpress.com/
Support the show
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Mar 29, 2022
Forgive Me! - Adam Raymonda - Forgive Me! Theme
Join Windfall co-creator and composer Adam Raymonda in a fun-filled trip into audio drama sitcom Forgive Me!. A Catholic church called St. Patrick’s is the backdrop for an anthology of stories from a range of colorful parishioner characters, from the zany to the troubled, all rallying around the long-suffering Father Ben. An immersive listening experience. Headphones recommended.* *
*
*SHOW NOTES
Forgive Me https://roguedialogue.com/fm-about
Adam Raymonda http://adamraymonda.com/
MUSIC CREDITS
Music: Jon Brion - Knock Yourself Out
Music: Blink-182 - All The Small Things
Music: Radiohead - Creep
TRANSCRIPT http://howimakemusic.com/episode/
ABOUT THIS SHOW
Discover new fiction podcasts in an immersive, sound-designed listening experience with their music composers. In this show, we challenge audio drama music makers to break apart a song, soundtrack or composition and get into why and how it was made. Immersive listening. Headphones recommended.
* Follow How I Make Music in your favorite app https://pod.link/howimakemusic
* Show notes, transcript and credits https://howimakemusic.com
* How I Make Music is created by John Bartmann https://johnbartmann.com
BECOME A PATRON
Patrons get early access to all future episodes, full video interviews with contributors, a listing on the Wall of Fame, immersive podcast editing tutorial video livestreams and resources, access to the show’s hidden back catalog, bonus material for creating your own show and a massive thank you!
Become a patron https://patreon.com/howimakemusic
Support the show
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Mar 2, 2022
The Godshead Incidental - Irene Zhong - So So Much To Hold
Join Australian violinist and composer Irene Zhong in a baroque-meets-hip-hop trip into urban fantasy audio drama The Godshead Incidental. To create the theme tune for the show, Irene was Influenced by experimental hip hop group Clipping, found sound sampling, irregular time signatures and their classical music roots. An immersive listening experience. Headphones recommended.
SHOW NOTES
The Godshead Incidental audio drama https://godsheadincidental.com/
Irene Zhong https://www.irenezhong.com/
MUSIC CREDITS
Music: Clipping - Shooter
Music: Sylvan Esso - Hey Mami
Music: Dessa - Children’s Work
TRANSCRIPT http://howimakemusic.com/episode/
ABOUT THIS SHOW
Discover new fiction podcasts in an immersive, sound-designed listening experience with their music composers. In this show, we challenge audio drama music makers to break apart a song, soundtrack or composition and get into why and how it was made. Immersive listening. Headphones recommended.
* Follow How I Make Music in your favorite app https://pod.link/howimakemusic
* Show notes, transcript and credits https://howimakemusic.com
* How I Make Music is created by John Bartmann https://johnbartmann.com
BECOME A PATRON
Patrons get early access to all future episodes, full video interviews with contributors, a listing on the Wall of Fame, immersive podcast editing tutorial video livestreams and resources, access to the show’s hidden back catalog, bonus material for creating your own show and a massive thank you!
Become a patron https://patreon.com/howimakemusic
Support the show
playlist_add
Feb 9, 2022
Thirteen - Caleb Ritchie - Barrier Islands
Join classically trained pianist and composer Caleb Ritchie in a lighthearted trip into anthology audio drama Thirteen. Island witches, ocean marimbas and Rachmaninov all formed the basis for the composition ‘Barrier Islands’, a piece for which Ritchie chose instruments based on the sound of water. An immersive listening experience. Headphones recommended.
TRANSCRIPT http://howimakemusic.com/episode/
SHOW NOTES
Thirteen audio audio drama https://thirteenpodcast.com/
Support Woe.Begone on Patreon https://www.patreon.com/join/thirteenpod
Caleb Ritchie music https://www.calebritchie.com/
MUSIC CREDITS
Music: Etude Tableaux Op39 No2 in A Minor - Sergei Rachmaninoff (Lugansky)
Music: Secret of Mana Opening Theme by Hiroki Kikuta
Music: Your Welcome Voice by Dan Gibson
ABOUT THIS SHOW
Discover new fiction podcasts in an immersive, sound-designed listening experience with their music composers. In this show, we challenge audio drama music makers to break apart a song, soundtrack or composition and get into why and how it was made. Immersive listening. Headphones recommended.
* Follow How I Make Music in your favorite app https://pod.link/howimakemusic
* Show notes, transcript and credits https://howimakemusic.com
* How I Make Music is created by John Bartmann https://johnbartmann.com
BECOME A PATRON
Patrons get early access to all future episodes, full video interviews with contributors, a listing on the Wall of Fame, immersive podcast editing tutorial video livestreams and resources, access to the show’s hidden back catalog, bonus material for creating your own show and a massive thank you!
Become a patron https://patreon.com/howimakemusicSupport the show
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Jan 4, 2022
Woe.Begone - Dylan Griggs - Painted Glass
Join Woe.Begone creator and composer Dylan Griggs as we explore composition 'Painted Glass' and take a trip into the mind of the sociopathic fictional series character Mike Walters. With influences ranging from The Postal Service and Bon Iver to alternate reality games, 'Painted Glass' is a rich and varied indie love song which musically conveys the inner workings of a troubled mind. An immersive listening experience. Headphones recommended.
TRANSCRIPT
00:00 INTRO
The piece of music we're listening to in the background is called Painted Glass. It's a narrative intermission song, which I wrote for a time-travel mystery story Woe.Begone today. We'll break it down and get into why and how it was made. You're listening to How I Make Music, where audio drama composers get to tell their own stories. In this show, we break apart the music of a fictional podcast and take a trip into how it was made. My name is Dylan Griggs. I'm a showrunner, actor, writer and musician from Kentucky. And this is How I Make Music. Welcome back to How I Make Music, Painted Glass from the audio drama Woe.Begone by me, Dylan Griggs. Thanks for listening in.
01:40 ABOUT
Yeah. So my name is Dylan Griggs. I am the, I guess showrunner is the appropriate word because I'm the actor, writer, soundtrack, artist, editor, all of that stuff for a show called Woe.Begone. Woe.Begone is the story of this guy named Mike Walters who discovers a mysterious and violent online game called Woe.Begone. Mike is a danger to himself and others to put it lightly, who is in love with someone and is very concerned about that and what that can mean for their relationship. Horror sci-fi mystery with some comedy, roughly in that order. The show isn't for everyone, there are some violent moments. There are some moments that might cause discomfort in some people.
I record the whole soundtrack for that episode, from front to back in response to the things that happened in the episode. I've been doing indie music since I was like 13, 14. I just have this workhorse mentality as far as getting songs done. I really like breaking format. I wrote a whole bunch of electronic music as a teenager. And then I put it away for a long time and became a de facto rock musician. Bere's a rock track from my band Sadloaf.
I started playing around with Ableton as a way to write the show. I feel like it sets me apart a little bit to have so much music and so much focus on music. It's a very fast paced...there's a lot of ‘go with your gut’ story writing and songwriting. Honestly, everything is written in a week. It also became a way to trick people into listening to my music because in order to listen to the episode of Woe.Begone, you have to listen to my music.
04:27 INFLUENCES
There is an immediate comparison to be drawn between Painted Glass and The District Sleeps Alone Tonight by The Postal Service. They are the same tempo and in the same key. That was totally on accident. I like the sort of organ-y sounds that The Postal Service song has. We're going home at the end of every bar, essentially. Yeah, going home. It's like a full release of tension. It's what you imagine as the last note of a song where everything is completely resolved and there isn't any tension to glean from it. You're completely at rest. There's a pedal tone of like the F the whole time. We're very grounded.
When I grew up, I didn't have anything but a computer for the first couple of years that I was making music and I got really into Telephone Tel Aviv, where they're doing these sort of, I guess, simple melodies, but they've got these drums that are sort of IDM. And they're not afraid to be abrasive with the drums. Like the drums are the key instrument in the song. It's almost like a breakcore. And so I love that whole album Fahrenheit Fair Enough.
So, yeah, I don't know how to say thSupport the show
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Oct 27, 2021
Among the Stars and Bones - Oliver Morris - Pandemonium
Okay. The piece of music we're listening to in the background is called Pandemonium. It's a theme from Among the Stars and Bones, an audio drama about a team of xeno-archaeologists investigating alien ruins on a distant world. Today we'll break it down and get into why and how it was made. I love doing voiceovers. You're listening to How I Make Music, where audio drama composers get to tell their own stories. In this show, we break apart the music of fictional podcasts and take a trip into how it was made. My name is Oliver Morris. I'm a composer from Bedfordshire. And this is How I Make Music. Welcome back to How I Make Music, Pandemonium from this audio drama Among the Stars and Bones by me, Oliver Morris. Thanks for listening in.
1:36 ABOUT
Among the Stars and Bones is a xeno-archaeological horror show. Chris, the writer, he was like you did the theme for Modern Fae and I was like yes I did. I didn't know a lot about it other than the fact that it was a xeno-archaeological horror show, which was just the best combination of words that I had heard in a pitch document ever, because you’ve got xeno for aliens and then archaeology. So I was very excited to make this piece of music that was going to build and grow along with the show. The show itself is about a bunch of xeno-archaeologists who get together to go investigate this ancient dead alien civilization. They find relics from it, and then they start to get convinced that the relics are controlling them in ways and it goes to some wild places for sure. Take us to outer space! Chris Magilton is the writer of Among the Stars and Bones. Oh no, wait, hold on. I've mispronounced that already. Go me. Chris Marlington Chris McClinton. Hold on. I feel really bad. Chris Magilton. Magilton. Magilton. Chris Magilton. Chris Magilton, the writer, and he also plays Ben on the show. I only know him as ‘ungodly hour’ because that's the time that he always contacts me. Sorry Chris.
4:13 GETTING STARTED
I own approximately 27 guitars. I play keys. I do at all. My intro into composing properly was for my podcast Kane and Feels, Paranormal Investigators. Kane and Feels, Paranormal Investigators, a horror noir audio fiction show. Which is just very funky from beginning to end. That's how I kind of got my start in composing. I'm a fiend. I just I make music. I can't stop. It's nicotine and music. Those are my two vices.
5:20 HALF LIFE GAME INFLUENCE
When we started kind of composing, I asked Chris if there's anything he wanted it to sound like and he was like, well I do really like the Half-Life video games. I love the soundtrack of Half-Life, which are these wonderful, industrial synthetic beats. Play scientists with a crowbar, it's one of the more bizarre opening concepts to a thing. You're like hitting undead zombies with a crowbar. Delving into the back catalogue of that was joy. Doing that sort of initial kind of figuring out of what the sort of the timbre of the piece was going to be like. I'm a big fan of an Australian band called Pond, who wrote a song called Giant Tortoise. Huge, soul-evaporating baseline. And I was like, how soul-evaporating a baseline Can I come up with?
7:10 MARIMBA BITCRUSHER
The piece itself is a waltz. So it’s in 123. So we had these piano lines. One of the piano lines we eventually switched over to a marimba. We used bit crushing on it until it sounded like something that a servo could sing something that a piece of machinery could sing. You can get like orchestras of servos now. Somebody will play Smells Like Teen Spirit on 50 dead hard drives from computers. Were sort of building up the rhythm section, trying to make it sound as digital as possible, trying to make it sound as kind of inorganic as possible. without actually succumbing to a boom clap. This hi hat that's just going to and a couple of little toms sound like they come Support the show
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Oct 6, 2021
Marsfall - Sam Boase-Miller - The Trial
Discover new audio drama by music. How I Make Music is where audio drama composers get to tell their own stories. Visit https://howimakemusic.com and subscribe in your podcast app.
TRANSCRIPT
The piece of music we're listening to in the background is called The Trial. It's featured in the soundtrack from the fiction podcast Marsfall. Today we'll break it down and get into why and how it was made. You're listening to How I Make Music, where audio drama composers get to tell their own stories. In this show, we break apart the music of a fictional podcast and take a trip into how it was made. My name is Sam Boase-Miller. I'm a composer, producer and voice actor from the US and this is How I Make Music. Welcome back to How I Make Music, The Trial by me Sam Boase-Miller. Thanks for listening in.
1:06 ABOUT
Marsfall is a sci-fi/fantasy story about the first colonists to settle on Mars. We follow them starting in the year 2047. So maybe 2047 is actually the year that we’ll get people on Mars. Mini helicopter that's flying around from the Perseverance lander. And yeah, it's pretty incredible the strides that we're making. Life imitating art!The scene takes place in the trial for ANDI, our colony AI. It's his trial for closing the door on a particular colonist who was about to create havoc for the rest of the colony. That philosophical debate, the trolley debate: should you pull the lever and try to avoid most people knowing that you'll kill one person? Or should you just let the trolley kill all five people to save the one. So this was the trial that we're all of our main characters kind of come together for the first time. And in this scene, we hear interjections from several of our characters.
2:52 CELLO
I started playing cello in school. Sort of like a string music petting zoo. My good friend at the time was playing viola. And so I thought, I really want to play viola. So I expressed this to the director of the orchestra and she was like, “no, you don't want to play viola. Your hands are big. You should play the cello.” So I was already at nine years old being told what to do! Like what musical instrument I should be taking up. It's actually the closest instrument (other than the trombone) to the range of the human voice. Both really, really low and it also gets into that high coloratura kind of soprano end of things
4:38 P-FUNK & INFLUENCES
I'm a big George Clinton fan. And part of what I love about Parliament Funkadelic is that they’re very imaginative harmonically and melodically and rhythmically. Yeah, I just I love that era. funk music from the 70s. Right around, you know, ‘75, ‘76. The orb is an electronic music group, I really got into their ethereal and ambient music where you're just like taking on a whole journey. The place where you end up is certainly very different from where you started.
6:03 ERIC SARAS
My co creator and music editor, he's director extraordinaire, Eric Saras. He's also one of our writers of the show, he and I first connected through music, we both went on an orchestra tour to China together. And as you can imagine traveling to another country and touring and performing music brings people close together pretty quickly. And so I met him and we realized that we were very similar in our outlook on music, and that just got a lot of things kind of kicked off creatively. We wanted music to be featured really heavily. He kind of realized that there was more or less these like kind of pillars or buckets that the majority of our music was falling into. And we called them a numbering system essentially like one through six being silence to total music taking over and being the focal point of the scene. So going through that and knowing that ahead of time helps me really plan. Okay, my workload, is this seen a one or is it a six? Or Support the show
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Jun 11, 2021
Hood - Samuel Pegg - A Chance To Be Free
Discover new audio drama by music. How I Make Music is where audio drama composers get to tell their own stories. Visit https://howimakemusic.com and subscribe in your podcast app.
TRANSCRIPT
The piece of music we're listening to in the background is called A Chance To Be Free. It's one of the themes for the audio drama soundtrack from Hood: Noble Secrets, and the whole series by Spiteful Puppet. Today, we'll break it down and get into why and how it was made. You're listening to How I Make Music, where audio drama composers gets to tell their own stories. In this show, we break apart the music of fictional podcasts and take a trip into how it was made. My name is Samuel Pegg. I'm a composer from London, United Kingdom. And this is How I Make Music. Welcome back to How I Make Music, A Chance To Be Free from the audio drama Hood by me Samuel Pegg. Thanks for listening in. Hood was the first audio drama that Spiteful Puppet had ever put together. So we were all learning really what to…
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Apr 14, 2021
Hood - Samuel Pegg - Hood Theme
The piece of music we're listening to in the background is called Hood Theme. It's a main theme for the soundtrack from the audio drama Hood: Noble Secrets and the whole series by Spiteful Puppet. Today we'll break it down and get into why and how it was made. You're listening to How I Make Music, where audio drama composers get to tell their own stories. My name is Samuel Pegg. I'm a composer from London, United Kingdom. And this is How I Make Music. Welcome back to How I Make Music, Hood Theme from the audio drama Hood by me Samuel Pegg. Thanks for listening in. Hood is a historical audio drama with a sort of fresh twist on the Robin Hood stories that we all know. He's this kind of lone figure against his better instincts. Well, I grew up in Oxford, and I played cello and piano growing up. Played in orchestras. At the moment, I'm doing quite a lot of things for a historical theme park in Spain and France. Take a listen. It's just been really nice to record a couple of them in London…
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Apr 7, 2021
1865 - Lindsay Graham - Theme from ‘1865’
The piece of music we're listening to in the background is the outro theme music from the historical audio drama 1865. Today, we'll break it down and get into why and how it was made. You're listening to How I Make Music, where the musicians of audio drama get to tell their own stories. This show will break apart a song soundtrack or composition and investigate the insights into how it was made. My name is Lindsay Graham. I'm a composer, sound designer and podcast host and producer from the United States. And this is How I Make Music. Welcome back to How I Make Music, “1865”, by me, Lindsay Graham, thanks for listening in. "1865" is a historical audio drama that tells the story of the aftermath of President Lincoln's assassination. The protagonist is largely forgotten in American history. He was the Secretary of War at the time. He really rose to the occasion, and tried to put the country back together in this fraught period of American history that still reverberates today.
2:28…
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Mar 31, 2021
The Strange Case Of Starship Iris - Erin Baumann - Fear For The Storm
The piece of music we're listening to in the background is called Fear For The Storm. It's the theme song from The Strange Case of Starship Iris. Today we'll break it down and get into why and how it was made. You're listening to How I Make Music, where audio drama composers get to tell their own stories. In this show, we break apart a song soundtrack or composition from a fiction podcast and take a trip into how it was made. My name is Erin. I'm an audio editor, sound designer (and sometimes vocalist) from San Francisco, and this is How I Make Music. Welcome back to How I Make Music Episode 98 "Fear For The Storm" by Jess Best, S.E. Winters and me, Erin Baumann. Thanks for listening in.
1:38 INTRO
So Starship Iris is an outer space mystery shows that then evolves into a really great found family romp. All the while, it's still in outer space. Within the world of the podcast, there is a mysterious band called Birdy and the Swan Song. No one has ever seen the lead singer of this band,…
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Mar 24, 2021
The Oyster - Alex Aldea and Andrew Joslyn - The Opening of the Oyster
Alex : Dude, so like, it's gotta at least be like - I was thinking about it the other day - it's gotta be like 15, 17 years at this point.
Andrew: Probably Yeah.
Alex: Holy shit.
John: That's Alex Aldea speaking to Andrew Joslyn. They're part of the Paragon Collective, the network responsible for audio dramas like Darkest Night and The No Sleep Podcast.
Alex: Andrew and I do compose a lot of podcast music together but Andrew is also a music luminary. He's done string arrangements for Ke$ha to compositions from Macklemore to literally everything.
Andrew: Yeah, even film stuff with like Corbin Bernsen and Denise Richards There you go!Alex: Andrew plays every single string instrument. So even like in Darkest Night, a lot of the strings that you hear are real strings.
John: The audio quality in this episode is a Zoom rip. Sorry about that. But I got some great conversation with these guys. My name is John Bartmann. I'm the creator of How I Make Music. I'll let these two audio drama s…
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Mar 17, 2021
Spacemerica! - Ian McGowan - Spacemerica! Main Theme
“When we first got into doing the audio drama thing, it was very clear immediately how supportive the community was. Made us feel a lot better about getting our feet wet and just like diving into this madness.”
0:21 ABOUT The piece of music we're listening to in the background is the main theme for the audio drama Spacemerica!. Today, we'll break it down and get into why and how it was made. You're listening to How I Make Music, where audio drama composers get to tell their own stories. In this show, we break apart a song soundtrack or composition and take a trip into how it was made. My name is Ian McGowan. I'm a speech and language therapy student and musician from St. Louis, Missouri, now based in Scotland, and this is How I Make Music. Welcome back to How I Make Music Episode 95, Spacemerica! by me, Ian McGowan. Thanks for listening in. Spacemerica! is a space opera sci fi comedy about a group of people - a ragtag motley crew - that ends up going on the hunt for a treasure. An…
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Mar 3, 2021
Five audio drama composers share their insights
In today’s episode of How I Make Music, we drench ourselves in reverb once again to recap the highlights from the first five episodes of the show. Take a trip into the work of respected and acclaimed audio drama composers. Join David Devereux (Tin Can Audio), Gabe Alvarez (Starcalled), Nate Fisher (Observe and Report), Randy Greer (The Culling) and Erik Jourgensen (Heroics) in a 5-star musical expose!
DAVID DEVEREUX, TIN CAN AUDIO
Scottish composer David Devereux runs Tin Can Audio and has produced the audio dramas Middle:Below, The Tower and The Dungeon Economic Model. In this short insight, he reveals how imposter syndrome can make us feel dishonest for using software versions of instruments.
https://tincanaudio.co.uk
GABE ALVAREZ, STARCALLED
Texas-based composer Gabe Alvarez writes and composes for Starcalled, an action space sci fi audio drama with an epic cinematic score. Gabe shows us that creators need to write and make the content that they themselves want to hear.
http…
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Feb 24, 2021
The Kinesigraph (from Brass) - Amanda Laven - The Kinesigraph
The piece of music we're listening to in the background is called The Kinesigraph. It's the solo piano soundtrack from a short film called The Kinesigraph, which is tied into the universe of the audio drama Brass. Today, we'll break it down and get into why and how it was made. You're listening to how I make music, where audio drama composers get to tell their own stories. Every Wednesday, we break apart a song soundtrack or composition and take a trip into how it was made. My name is Amanda Laven. I'm a composer and sound designer from the capital region of New York. And this is how I make music. I'm Amanda Laven, I'm a composer and sound designer living in Schenectady, New York.
0:52 INFLUENCES
I was the composer for The Kinesigraph, which is a short silent film set in an alternate steampunk version of 1885 known as the Brass Universe. The same universe in which the Brass audio drama and several stage plays and short films are set. My work is primarily chamber orchestral and electr…
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Feb 17, 2021
Timestorm - Michael Aquino - In The Timestorm
The piece of music we're listening to in the background is called In The Timestorm. It's the theme song from Timestorm, an audio drama about two kids who get the chance to preserve their history. Today we'll break it down and get into why and how it was made. You're listening to How I Make Music, where audio drama composers get to tell their own stories. Every Wednesday, we break apart a song soundtrack or composition and take a trip into how it was made. My name is Michael Aquino. I'm a composer, musician, sound designer and podcast producer from New Jersey. And this is How I Make Music. Welcome back to How I Make Music Episode 93 by me, Michael Aquino. Thanks for listening in. Timestorm is an audio drama about two twins Alexa and Benny Ventura, who are yanked into another dimension by their cousin who gives them this crazy mission: to travel through time to preserve their culture's true history. Throughout the the series, they visit three different continents across the span of five…
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Feb 10, 2021
The Unexplainable Disappearance of Mars Patel - Chris Tarry - Main Theme
The piece of music we're listening to in the background is called Mars Patel Season Three Main Title. It's the theme from a podcast I co-created called The Unexplainable Disappearance of Mars Patel. Today we'll break it down, get into why and how it was made. You're listening to How I Make Music, where audio drama composers get to tell their own stories. Every Wednesday, we break apart a song soundtrack or composition and take a trip into how it was made. My name is Chris Tarry. I'm a musician, composer, writer and podcast producer from New York City. And this is How I Make Music. Welcome back to How I Make Music Episode 92. Mars Patel Season Three Main Title, written by myself, Chris Tarry. Thanks for listening in. The Unexplainable Disappearance of Mars Patel is sort of like a Stranger Things-esque podcast about middle schoolers who start to go missing. And Mars Patel and his gang of friends try and get to the bottom of the mystery.
1:40 INFLUENCES I come from a real jazz background…
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Feb 3, 2021
The LaFresian Chronicles: Arsen - John Bartmann - King Arsen Approaches
The piece of music we're listening to in the background is called King Arsen Approaches. It's this regal fantasy theme, which I wrote for the audio drama, the LaFresian Chronicles: Arsen. Today, we'll take a very quick look at the behind the scenes of why and how this track was put together. You're listening to How I Make Music, where audio drama composers tell their own stories. My name is John Bartmann, and I'm a music composer from South Africa. And this is a little show called How I Make Music.
1:02 ABOUT So today's show is a little bit different. As you might know, I usually speak to other audio drama composers and then edit my voice out entirely. But to be perfectly honest, I was dropped by a few contributors this week and I had to plug a gap so I'm forced with the happy task of interviewing myself today! I'll keep it shorter than usual, and hopefully I can convey some of my own passion for the music of audio drama. The LaFresian Chronicles: Arsen is a full cast fantasy audio dr…
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Jan 27, 2021
Windfall - Adam Raymonda - Windfall Main Theme (Part 2)
The piece of music we're listening to in the background is the main theme from the dystopian science fiction podcast windfall. Today, we'll break it down and get into why and how it was made. You're listening to How I Make Music, where audio drama composers get to tell their own stories. Every Wednesday, we break apart a song, soundtrack or composition and take a trip into how it was made. My name is Adam Raymonda. I'm a sound designer and composer from Syracuse, New York. And this is How I Make Music.
1:54 ABOUT
The show takes place in the weeks and days leading up to Contact Day, which is the celebration of when the citizens of Windfall first met Wanda. The people on the ground will say, "Wanda damn it!", like instead of "goddamnit". We were certainly inspired by Battlestar Galactica. And Battlestar specifically has "frack" that they use as their - instead of saying "fuck." Right. "Fuck, fuck, fuck." Right.
2:55 INFLUENCES
A big influence have been Coheed and Cambria. One of the…
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Jan 20, 2021
Windfall - Adam Raymonda - Windfall Main Theme (Part 1)
The piece of music we're listening to in the background is the main theme from the dystopian science fiction podcast windfall. Today, we'll break it down and get into why and how it was made. You're listening to How I Make Music, where audio drama composers get to tell their own stories. Every Wednesday, we break apart a song, soundtrack or composition and take a trip into how it was made. My name is Adam Raymonda. I'm a sound designer and composer from Syracuse, New York. And this is How I Make Music.
ABOUT
Welcome back to how I make music Episode 89 the windfall main theme, by me, Adam Raymonda. Thanks for listening in. Windfall is a large ensemble cast science fiction drama and it takes place on a planet called Proxima. It's this towering city where the wealthiest of the wealthy live on the top of the city and the poorest of the poor live on the ground. This city was built up to a castle that appeared in the sky on Proxima. The residents worship their god queen who was found in th…
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Jan 13, 2021
Dining In The Void - Ali Hylton - You Probably Shouldn’t Trust Me
The piece of music we're listening to in the background is called You Probably Shouldn't Trust Me. It's a villain theme song from season two of the audio drama Dining In The Void, a sci-fi podcast about sleuthing and secrets in space. Today, we'll break it down and get into why and how it was made. You're listening to How I Make Music, we're audio drama composers get to tell their own stories. Every Wednesday, we break apart a song, soundtrack or composition and take a trip into how it was made. My name is Ali Hylton. I'm a synesthetic podcast creator and composer located in South Texas, and this is How I Make Music. Welcome back to How I Make Music Episode 88. And you can trust me when I say this is the song You Probably Shouldn't Trust Me by me, Ali Hylton, who you can trust. Thanks for listening in.
01:19 ABOUT
Dining In The Void is about six alien celebrities and they're all brought on to a space station for a dinner party. Upon arrival, they find out that someone has trapped the…
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Dec 23, 2020
The Lost Cat Podcast - A.P. Clarke - Dark Streets
The piece of music we're listening to in the background is called Dark Streets. It's one of the soundtrack pieces I wrote for The Lost Cat podcast. Today, we'll break it down and get into why and how it was made. You will listening to How I Make Music, where audio drama composers get to tell their own stories. Every Wednesday, we break apart a song, soundtrack or composition and take a trip and how it was made. My name is A.P. Clark. I'm a musician and writer from London, England. And this is How I Make Music. Welcome back to How I Make Music episode 87, Dark Streets. by me A.P. Clark. Thanks for listening in. The Lost Cat podcast is a storytelling audio drama that details my continuing adventures and trying to find my cat, which is lost. It features monsters, ghosts, old ones, some cats, several ends of the world, and lots and lots of wine.
01:44 INFLUENCES
I've been a musician since I was a teenager, you know, started in rock bands. But then I discovered all of the 60s singer-songw…
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Dec 16, 2020
Dark Dice - Steven Melin - Devil’s Gamble (Part 2)
The piece of music we're listening to in the background is called Devil's Gamble. This is part two of a two-part break down. It's a soundtrack I composed for the horror, fantasy, audio drama, Dark Dice. You're listening to How I Make Music, where audio drama composers get to tell their own stories. Every Wednesday, we break apart a song and take a trip into how it was made. My name is Steven Melin. I'm a music composer in Atlanta, Georgia. And this is How I Make Music. Welcome back to How I Make Music, Devil's Gamble by me Steven Melin. You can check out part one in the feed if you'd like. Either way, thanks for listening in. Dark Dice is a horror actual play DnD podcast that uses immersive soundscapes to create an added layer of intensity. The story is about six travelers who embark on a journey into the ruinous domain of the nameless God. They will never be the same again. Basically, what this means is, it's a tabletop game, which gets recorded while the actors and the performers are…
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Dec 9, 2020
Dark Dice - Steven Melin - Devil’s Gamble (Part 1)
The piece of music we're listening to in the background is called Devil's Gamble. It's a diabolical medieval battle track I wrote for the Dark Dice podcast. Today, we'll break it down and get into why and how it was made. You're listening to How I Make Music, where audio drama composers get to tell their own stories. Every Wednesday, we break apart a song, soundtrack or composition and take a trip into how it was made. My name is Steven Melin, and I'm a music composer in Atlanta, Georgia. And this is How I Make Music. Welcome back to how I make music Episode 85 Devil's Gamble by me Steven Melin. Thanks for listening in.
Dark Dice is a horror actual play D&D podcast that uses immersive soundscapes. The story is about six travelers who embark on a journey into the ruinous domain of the Nameless God. They will never be the same again.
1:26 Live instruments
One of the requests from the team on this show was to use as many medieval historic timeless instruments as possible, and one of th…
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Dec 2, 2020
Gr8 And Terrible - Lee Rosevere - Discovery
The piece of music we're listening to now in the background is called Discovery. It's a retrowave soundtrack from a fiction podcast called Gr8 And Terrible by A.R. Oliveri. Today we'll break it down and get into what retrowave is and how and why this piece was put together. You're listening to How I Make Music, where audio drama composers get to tell their own stories Every Wednesday, we break apart a song soundtrack or composition and take a trip into how it was made. My name is Lee Rosevere. I'm a composer in Charlottetown PEI in Canada and this is How I Make Music. Welcome back to How I Make Music Episode 84, Discovery, by me, Lee Rosevere.
01:12 Gr8 And Terrible audio drama
Gr8 And Terrible is a fiction podcast about a high school student that stumbles upon an ancient curse that grants immortality. But there's a catch: every full moon she must kill someone or she'll die.
01:26 80s influences
I was always a big fan of the 80s in general as being a child of the 80s and growing up…
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Nov 25, 2020
Hector Vs The Future - Odinn Orn Hilmarsson - Theme From Hector Vs The Future
The piece of music we're listening to in the background is the theme tune to Hector Vs The Future, a comedy podcast about a cantankerous museum owner's battle against technology and obsolescence. Today, we'll break it down and get into why and how it was made. You're listening to How I Make Music, where behind the scenes musicians get to tell their own stories. Every Wednesday, we break apart a song, soundtrack or composition and share some of the musical insights into how it was made. My name is Óðinn Örn Hilmarsson. I'm a composer and sound designer living in London, and this is How I Make Music.
00:52 About the show
Welcome back to How I Make Music episode number 83. Hector Vs The Future by me, Óðinn Örn Hilmarsson. Now, this episode of How I Make Music features some stronger than usual language and our tech overlords demand that we label it explicit. You have been warned. Enjoy. Hector Vs The Future mostly follows Hector, a cranky old curmudgeon who curates a museum called…
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Nov 18, 2020
Grimwell County - Ben Valdmets - Riders In The Night
The piece of music we're listening to in the background is called Riders In The Night. It's an Ennio Morricone fever dream from the supernatural cowboy show Grimwell County. Today we'll break it down and get into why and how it was made. If you're listening to How I Make Music, where behind-the-scenes musicians get to tell their own stories. Every Wednesday, we break apart a song, soundtrack or composition and investigate the insights into how it was made. My name is Ben Valdmets. I'm a composer, musician and voice actor from Austin, Texas, and this is How I Make Music. Welcome back to How I Make Music Episode number 82, Riders In the Night by me. Ben Valdmets. Thanks for listening in.
01:34 Grimwell County
This audio drama's called Grimwell County. It's a story about a bounty hunter and a vigilante who get roped into hunting supernatural threats in the old American West. Sort of X-Files meets cowboys. It's meant to give the listener strong cinematic vibes. If you close your eyes, ma…
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Nov 11, 2020
Unwell - Stephen Poon - Unwell Theme
Join soft-spoken ‘Unwell’ composer Stephen Poon in a gentle midwestern music composition breakdown. For fiction podcast 'Unwell: A Midwestern Gothic Mystery', Stephen’s influences ranged from Irish traditional music to the retro sound of Nintendo game cartridges. The Unwell Theme is a rollicking, foot-stomping soundtrack born of a nerve-wracking recording process with a host of live string musicians. An immersive listening experience. Headphones recommended.TRANSCRIPT00:00 INTROThe piece of music we're listening to in the background is the Unwell closing theme. Today, we'll break it down and get into why and how it was made. You're listening to How I Make Music, where behind-the-scenes musicians get to tell their own stories. We break apart a song soundtrack or composition and get into the insights into how it was made. My name is Steven Poon. I'm a composer based in Chicago, USA. And this is How I Make Music. Welcome back to How I Make Music Episode 81, the Unwell closing theme…
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Nov 4, 2020
Civilized - Eli Hamada McIlveen - Civilized Main Theme
The piece of music we're listening to in the background is the theme to the podcast Civilized. It's a regal intro theme with a vintage sci-fi feel and today we're going to break it down and get into why and how it was made. You're listening to How I Make Music, where behind-the-scenes musicians get to tell their own stories. Every Wednesday, we break apart a song or a soundtrack or composition and get into how it was made. My name is Eli Hamada Mcllveen. I'm a composer, sound designer and writer from Canada, and this is How I Make Music.
01:12
Civilized is a dark comedy sci fi series that's also completely improvised. There's a small terraforming team who have crashed landed on a far-off planet, and they're doing their best to survive. And they're pretty terrible at it. So this is the opening theme to the show and introduces us to the world via this opening narration read by our actor Risa King. And kind of kind of builds the mood until Mike comes in with "Civilized".
02:11 Analog sy…
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Oct 28, 2020
#079 Wooden Overcoats - James Whittle - Wooden Overcoats Main Theme
The piece of music we're listening to in the background is the main theme from podcast sitcom Wooden Overcoats. Today, we'll break it down and look at some of the insights into why and how it was made. You're listening to How I Make Music, where behind-the-scenes musicians get to tell their own stories. Every Wednesday, we break apart a song, soundtrack or composition and get into the insights into how it was made. My name is James Whittle, composer, performer and conductor from the UK, and this is How I Make Music.
00:46 About Wooden Overcoats
Wooden Overcoats is a podcast sitcom about two rival funeral directors. On the one hand, there's Rudyard and Antigone Funn, siblings who rival themselves at times! And then newcomer to the island Eric Chapman, who has a fantastic presence and everyone falls in love with him. They compete for funeral business and a lot more on the island of Piffling. It's kind of satire comedy of small island and village mentality. But also a very nostalgic and…
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Oct 14, 2020
The Museum At Tomorrow - Jeffrey Nils Gardner - Five Twenty-Three AM
Join accomplished sound artist and ‘Unwell’ audio drama creator Jeffrey Nils Gardner to explore a disorienting ambisonic violin recording sound installation which toured both Burning Man and the streets of Chicago. 'Five Twenty-Three AM' was adopted as an unsettling and arty exploration of sound and used as the soundtrack for fiction podcast 'The Museum at Tomorrow.’ In writing the piece, Gardner’s influences ranged from Pauline Oliveiros to John Cage. Immersive listening. Headphones required. TRANSCRIPT00:00 Intro The piece of music we're listening to in the background is called Five Twenty-Three AM. It's an instrumental track used in The Museum At Tomorrow, an abstract audio fiction collage miniseries. Today we'll break it down and experience why and how it was made. If you're listening to How I Make Music, where behind the scenes, musicians get to tell their own stories. My name is Jeffrey Nils Gardner. I'm a sound artist, director and designer from Chicago, Illinois. And th…
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Oct 7, 2020
Entropy - Aaron Weatherford - Deneer Death Experience
The piece of music we're listening to in the background is called Deneer Death Experience. It's an action cue from the sci fi audio drama Entropy, which tells the story of a group of people working to find a new habitable planet. I would describe this cue as an action cue that kind of dips and turns, slows down speeds up. You're listening to How I Make Music, where behind-the-scenes musicians get to tell their own stories. Every Wednesday, we break apart a song, soundtrack or composition and get into why and how it was made. My name is Aaron Weatherford. I'm a composer from Summerville, South Carolina. And this is How I Make Music.
IN THIS EPISODE
1:21 About Entropy
The name of this audio drama is Entropy. And it's about a group of people trying to find a new habitable planet. Within that, there is a little bit of conflict between colonies. My favorite character is actually the villain Deneer. His full name is Pron Deneer. The name of the piece that we're going to be breaking down t…
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Sep 30, 2020
The Hidden People - Katharine Seaton - Shaylee Meets Black Annis
The piece of music we're listening to in the background is called Shaylee meets Black Annis. It's a somber soundtrack which I wrote for the fiction podcast The Hidden People. Today, we'll break it down and get into why and how it was made. You're listening to How I Make Music, where behind the scenes musicians get to tell their own stories. Every Wednesday, we break apart a song, soundtrack or composition, and give composers a chance to share some of the insights into how it was made. My name is Katharine Seaton. I'm a composer and sound designer from the UK, and this is How I Make Music.
IN THIS EPISODE
01:07 Welcome
Welcome back to How I Make Music Episode 76, Shaylee meets Black Annis by me, Katharine Seaton. Thanks for listening in. The Hidden People is a long format audio drama. In this episode, you'll hear me talk about Shaylee and Black Annis. These are two of the characters in the story. I first got involved with Dayton Writers Movement to make The Hidden People when they we…
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Sep 23, 2020
The White Vault - Unsealed - Brandon Boone and Travis Vengroff
The piece of music we’re listening to in the background is called Unsealed. It's the mysterious title theme for season three of the audio drama The White Vault. Today, we'll break it down and look at some of the insights into why and how it was made. You're listening to How I Make Music, where behind-the-scenes musicians get to tell their own stories. Every Wednesday, we break apart a song soundtrack or composition and get into why and how it was made. My name is Brandon Boone. I'm a composer from Cincinnati, and this is How I Make Music.
IN THIS EPISODE
01:17 Intro
I used to have a cello that I rented for like a year for some projects and people would see it in my room like oh, you play cello. I'm like, no, I just use it. I just use a cello. I don't play it. I took lessons with the strictest teacher from Russia who had like the old school like slap on the wrist if you do it wrong.
02:13 Two versions
So today we're looking at two versions of the song unsealed from the white vaul…
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Sep 16, 2020
#074 This Planet Needs A Name - Trace Callahan - Within Gravity
The piece of music we’re listening to in the background is called Within Gravity. It's a relationship theme for Quill and Mandry, two characters in the hopepunk sci-fi audio drama This Planet Needs A Name. Today, we’ll break it down and look at some of the insights into why and how it was made. My name is Trace Callahan. I'm a composer from Florida in the United States, and this is How I Make Music.
IN THIS EPISODE
01:39 Evolving
The piece Within Gravity begins in one of the prologue episodes for the show and evolves into its full form over the course of several episodes as the relationship between the two characters evolves. Within Gravity has its roots in American folk song, especially music of Aaron Copland. Very simple violin motives and melodies. Here's a section from a piece called Appalachian Spring by Aaron Copeland. Take a listen and see if you can hear how it influenced Within Gravity. The idea of hope and exploration and openness that his music tends to evoke.
02:45…
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Sep 9, 2020
073 Mockery Manor - Laurence Owen - Are You A Memory
The piece of music featured in this episode is called Are You A Memory. It’s a traditional jazz piece which I wrote for the comedy/horror audio drama Mockery Manor by Long Cat Media. The show tells the story of an amusement park set in Britain in the 80s with a dark and thrilling history. And furry mascots. This week we’ll look at some of the insights into why and how it was made. My name is Laurence Owen. I'm a composer from the United Kingdom, and this is How I Make Music.
IN THIS EPISODE
01:23 I was a child actor when I was a kid. It all came together recently when I thought actually, I should be making audio dramas!
01:37 This song, Are You A Memory is from the podcast Mockery Manor, which is set in a theme park in 1980s Britain. There’s a lot of music in the show, including songs by fictitious pop stars of our own invention. In reality, they’re all just me singing in different voices.
02:21 The piece was designed to sound like an old scratchy jazz shellac record on a g…
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Sep 2, 2020
Casual Magics - Jacob McNatt - Colin
The piece of music featured in this episode is called Colin. It’s a genre-bending piece which I wrote for the fantasy audio drama Casual Magics by Inside Fictions. The show tells the story of a young mage who must discover his identity as a freshman at The Weisz Institute, a college for mages. This week we’ll look at some of the insights into why and how it was made. My name is Jacob McNatt. I'm a composer from the United States, and this is How I Make Music.
IN THIS EPISODE
01:23 Casual Magics is about young mages at a college for magical beings, and they quickly get swept up in danger beyond their abilities
01:52 The writer and producer, Steve Spalding, came to me with the idea of listening to Darren Korb as an influence. Darren Korb is an American game composer
02:28 We knew we wanted there to be an element of jazz. I always want to incorporate the orchestra. In my head I kept hearing elements of hip hop, even though I have no experience in it. The result was a total genre m…
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Aug 26, 2020
The Amelia Project - Fredrik Baden - Theme From The Amelia Project
The piece of music featured in this episode is called The Amelia Project Theme. It’s a fun and eccentric piece which I wrote for the dark comedy podcast The Amelia Project, which tells the story of a mysterious agency which helps its clients fake their deaths. This week we’ll look at some of the insights into why and how it was made. My name is Fredrik Baden. I'm a composer from Oslo, Norway, and this is How I Make Music.
IN THIS EPISODE
01:18 I still choke up when I think about my high school graduation composition. Take a listen.
02:10 The Amelia Project, which tells the story of a mysterious agency which helps its clients fake their deaths. Clients feature scientists, politicians, cult leaders and even an AI. The only way to get in touch with The Amelia Project is by having a really interesting story to tell.
03:09 Today’s selected soundtrack is version 7.6 of the musical theme. Over time, I’ve written many versions of the musical theme for different contexts.
03:30 My…
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Aug 19, 2020
#070 What’s The Frequency - Kurt Nelson - After The Darkling Thrush
The piece of music featured in this episode is called After The Darkling Thrush. It’s a chamber piece which I wrote for a performance in New York City in 2015. The piece was later adapted to the psychedelic noir audio drama What’s The Frequency, which tells the story of Walter “Troubles” Mix and his partner Whitney as they search for a missing writer and navigate through a city quickly falling into madness. This week we’ll look at some of the insights into why and how it was made. My name is Kurt Nelson. I'm a composer from New York, and this is How I Make Music.
IN THIS EPISODE
01:04 About What’s The Frequency and the backstory of how I got involved.02:55 The work was inspired by European composers from the second half of the 20th Century, including Witold Lutoslawski, Alban Berg and Luigi Dalapicco.04:44 I draw heavily on the symmetry of the octatonic scale in this composition. The flute solo demonstrates this in a very clear way.06:47 This atonal type of music is a goo…
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Aug 12, 2020
The Big Loop - Daniel Birch - The Fugue
The piece of music featured in this episode is called The Fugue. It’s an atmospheric piece which I wrote for the sci fi season finale of the audio drama The Big Loop, which follows a ship’s peace officer sent to investigate strange visions haunting the crew. This week we’ll look at some of the insights into why and how it was made. My name is Daniel Birch. I'm a composer from Somerset in England, and this is How I Make Music.
*IN THIS EPISODE*
01:59 For this episode of The Big Loop show creator Paul Bae wanted a mix of ambient drones and haunting sci fi horror themes.
02:33 Influences include the score for Ex Machina by Ben Salisbury & Geoff Barrow. I’d heard they used a plugin called PaulStretch, which influenced me to create ambient tones of The Fugue. I retained certain childlike qualities using an instrument called a celesta. Clint Mansell’s score for Moon is another influence, and uses sparse instrumentation to create a powerful score.
04:43 Show creator Paul Bae sen…
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Aug 5, 2020
Three-Months Forevers from ‘The Orphans’ by James Barbarossa
The piece of music featured in this episode is called Three-Months Forevers. It’s a slow and steady post-rock influenced piece which I wrote for the sci-fi audio drama The Orphans, which follows a group of survivors who crash land on an alien planet. The soundtrack aims to convey a yearning feel as the characters feel the loss of one of their own. This week we’ll look at some of the insights into why and how it was made. My name is James Barbarossa. I'm a composer from England, and this is How I Make Music.
IN THIS EPISODE
01:37 The piece was influenced by the Dr Who theme. The bass and drums captured the emotion I was trying to convey. There’s a certain amount of ‘aping’ when it comes to imitating your influences.
03:42 I used a chimes patch as a leitmotif for the character Nora Evers. The chimes play whenever she is present, physically or otherwise.
05:01 In Batman Vs Superman, the Wonder Woman musical theme is a distorted electric cello. Strings are traditionally femal…
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Jul 29, 2020
Theme from 'Confessional' by David R. Simpson
The piece of music featured in this episode is called Confessional. It’s a menacing and grisly piece which I wrote for the historical audio drama Confessional, which tells the story of a 15th century French sadist called Gilles de Rais. The soundtrack aims to convey a dark and viscerally evil feel. This week we’ll look at some of the insights into why and how it was made. My name is David R Simpson. I'm a composer from Scotland, and this is How I Make Music.
IN THIS EPISODE
02:37 Inspirations for the piece included the drone-based music written by Mark De Gli Antoni for Werner Herzog’s documentaries ‘Into The Abyss’ and ‘On Death Row’. Another influence was Hildur Guðnadóttir’s Oscar-winning score for Joker. An ugly drone with a beautiful string line speaks to me of two sides of humanity - both the monstrous and the sublime.
04:03 When I write for chamber music, I inevitably end up listening to the album ‘Handwriting’ by Rachels. It came out at the time of inst…
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Jul 21, 2020
Palimpsest - Ian Ridenhour - Anneliese
The piece of music featured in this episode is called Anneliese. It’s an off kilter piece which I wrote as the character theme for the psychological fantasy/horror audio drama Palimpsest. The soundtrack conveys a quiet and contemplative feel. This week we’ll look at some of the insights into why and how it was made. My name is Ian Ridenhour. I'm a composer from Asheville, NC, and this is How I Make Music.
IN THIS EPISODE
01:56 I was influenced by Gregorian chant music. Gregorian sheet music was written without barlines, and I wanted the feeling of flowing seamlessly without a fixed rhythm.
02:54 The first electronic artist I listened to was Deadmau5. I’ve cited him as an influence because of the idea that Anneliese should use a palette of purely electronic sounds. Other influences include Moses Sumney, who is from my home town of Asheville.
03:38 The rhythm in this track is complex. It’s a core 6/8 and I’ve added a bizarre 2+5 meter over it. Listen as I count along. There…
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Jul 14, 2020
We Fix Space Junk - Hedley Knights - Theme from We Fix Space Junk
The piece of music featured in this episode is called Theme from We Fix Space Junk. It’s a playful and futuristic piece. I wrote it as the opening tune for the comedy sci-fi audio drama We Fix Space Junk, a story about two female repairmen who travel space fixing things (and trying not to get killed in the process.) The soundtrack conveys fun, adventure and an overall positivity, and this week we’ll look at some of the insights into why and how it was made. My name is Hedley Knights. I'm a composer from London, and this is How I Make Music.
IN THIS EPISODE
01:53 Influences for the piece came from Tim Souster’s theme for the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy TV show and from historical 70s depictions of the future.
03:32 The piece was written entirely in MIDI, using no live instrumentation. This gives it a more digital, futuristic feel. I used a deliberately fake-sounding string patch from a program called Reason and layered it with a more realistic sample-based string library…
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Jul 8, 2020
Darkroom - Ryan McGowan - The Interrogation of Carol Shaw
The piece of music featured in this episode is called The Interrogation of Carol Shaw. It’s a dark and menacing horror-influenced soundtrack that I wrote for the psychological thriller audio drama The Darkroom Podcast, a weird fiction story about an amateur photographer and the mysterious photographs he discovers on old rolls of film. The soundtrack was conceived with a cobwebby basement in mind, and created live on a Korg MS20. My name is Ryan McGowan. I'm a composer from Steep Falls, Maine, and this is How I Make Music.
IN THIS EPISODE
00:00 At the point in the story where this track plays, the audience is beginning to realize that some of the creepy, supernatural deductions made from viewing the antique photos might be true. An elderly woman, Carol Shaw, experiences an existential dread upon seeing them.
03:38 John Carpenter’s Halloween theme was one of the influences behind the track, particularly in the arpeggiated piano. Other influences include Trent Reznor and Atticus Ro…
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Jul 1, 2020
Heroics - Erik Jourgensen - Halftone Comics
The piece of music featured in this episode is called Halftone Comics. It’s a light and cheerful comedy soundtrack that I wrote for the superhero audio drama Heroics, a story about a group of superheroes who decide to pivot and go evil. It contains a lot of live woodwind instrumentation and serves as a leitmotif for the story’s comic shop. My name is Erik Jourgensen. I'm a composer from Los Angeles, and this is How I Make Music.
IN THIS EPISODE
01:13 Influences included Ennio Morricone’s score for Once Upon A Time In America and Jon Brion’s score for Lady Bird.
02:20 On Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood, there’s a comic shop called The Nerdist. I used to go there to watch comedy. I wanted this piece to capture the feel of just hanging out in a cool comic shop like The Nerdist.
03:43 We were fortunate enough to be able to have live players on the Heroics score. Bassoon, sax, trombone, strings and guitar were included in the lineup.
05:11 I wanted to avoid using sample librari…
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Jun 24, 2020
The Culling - Randy Greer - Rupture
The piece of music featured in this episode is called Rupture. It’s a heavy and dissonant horror-inspired action soundtrack that I wrote for the choose-your-own-adventure audio drama The Culling, a story about a research intern who discovers some disturbing experiments happening at a remote space colony. My name is Randy Greer. I'm an audio drama writer and composer and this is How I Make Music.
IN THIS EPISODE
01:12 I played in a metal band for years, and I’m pretty sure I lost some hearing. My influences include cinematic horror, specifically Night on Bald Mountain by Modest Mussorgsky (1867), The Deadspace 2 soundtrack by Jason Graves and Joseph Bishara’s soundtrack for Insidious
02:35 Rupture is a soundtrack for the audio drama The Culling. The aim is to convey chaos breaking out at a research facility when they learn about the outbreak of a viral contagion. It accompanies a crowd stampede sequence. I wanted people to imagine what music would be playing if they had to run…
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Jun 17, 2020
Observe and Report - Nate Fisher - Title Theme
The two versions of Title Theme from Observe and Report covered in this episode are soundtracks for the sci-fi audio drama Observe and Report, a story about an alien that gets stranded on earth. My name is Nate Fisher. I'm a writer and composer from Washington. I wrote the two versions of this piece to express the loneliness of an earthbound alien. The first version is a gentler solo piano piece while the second incorporates big orchestral elements for a grand cinematic feel. Let’s break it down!
IN THIS EPISODE
01:33 My favorite score is Steve Jablonsky’s score for the first Transformers film. I’m also influenced by Martin O’Donnell and Michael Salvatori’s score for the Halo games. And, of course, Howard Shore and John Williams.
02:26 I’ve come to the conclusion that it’s better to start with a new project instead of a template. Templates save time, but end up making your music sound the same. I sit at the piano and just noodle around until something comes out.
03:00…
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Jun 10, 2020
Starcalled - Gabriel Alvarez - Back to the Berenian
An immersive listening experience. Headphones recommended. Join audio drama creator and composer Gabriel Alvarez in a climactic rollercoaster soundtrack for an epic space action scene for fiction podcast Starcalled. Gabriel’s influences included 90s Australian TV series Farscape, Batman Returns and, of course, Star Wars. Let’s break it down!
TRANSCRIPT
ABOUT & INFLUENCES
Early influences for Back to the Berenian included Danny Elfman’s score for Batman Returns, Australian TV series Farscape and, of course, Star Trek and Star Wars. Before I started creating the series, there just wasn’t much out there exactly like what I wanted to hear. So you take it upon yourself to create the type of stuff you want to hear. After all, who doesn’t pretend they’re climbing into the cockpit of a spaceship?
BACK STORY
The original inspiration for doing a DIY sci-fi show came from tabletop gaming, Dungeons and Dragons and Farscape. I was living in a crummy apartment with my friends and we…
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Jun 3, 2020
The Tower - David Devereux - The Fog Clears (Interlude)
*An immersive listening experience. Headphones recommended.*
Join Tin Can Audio's Scottish creator and composer David Devereux in a gentle ascent into the clouds of audio drama. For fiction podcast 'The Tower', their influences ranged from a family love of the Wurlitzer organ to games like Hyper Light Drifter. This piece 'The Fog Clears' was written as an interlude which bridges the story of Kiri, a young girl who climbs an infinite tower to escape the drudgery of her life down below. The Fog Clears is a gentle and expansive soundtrack which musically describes the moment Kiri achieves clarity, peace and the strength to continue her journey.
TIMESTAMPS
02:12 The Fog Clears was written for a narrative audio fiction series. Influences included Pink Floyd, Jeff Wayne’s War of the Worlds and the classic ‘Studio Ghibli’ sound of Ryuchi Sakamoto.
04:30 A Wurlizter electric piano sound serves as the basis for the entire soundtrack. It can feel a bit dishonest saying you used a Wurli…
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Apr 23, 2019
Welcome to How I Make Music. Where are episodes 1-58?
WHERE ARE EPISODES 1-58?
Hey, this is John Bartmann, creator of How I Make Music. How I Make Music is a weekly show which features short, dramatically edited chats with the music composers of audio drama.
The first episode launched in April 2019 and featured only my voice talking about my own composition and process. After 58 of these weekly episodes, I decided to pivot and start including other voices on the show. I've since unpublished the first 58 episodes, and the show now appears to begin at episode 59.
If you'd like to hear Episodes 1-58 to get a sense of the roots of the show and how we got here, they're available exclusively at https://patreon.com/howimakemusic.
Thanks for listening! To support the show, visit https://howimakemusic.com and share it with other people into close-listening and musically sound-designed human interest audio experiences.Support the show
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