MusicyTechGeek

musicyteckgeek is now http://www.kyleowen.com/blog/

Kyle — Wed, 26 Jan 2011 02:04:53 +0000

musicytechgeek.com is moving to http://www.kyleowen.com/blog/. The blog was a hobby at first, and I wanted it to grow into something more than it is, but it has become my personal blog for my music and my feelings on music and technology. After the domain expires, I will be deleting the account, and all of my posts will be available on my personal blog. If you are a fan of the blog, I ask that you please subscribe to my blog from my personal web page. I will be adding content, but it will be more focused on my music and my composition process. I appreciate those who have been reading my most popular posts, such as my flute posts and my Gazelle post.

I appreciate everyone that has stuck around thus far, and I hope that you will stuck by at my new location. You can find the RSS feed for the blog at my home page.

Thank you again for your support,

Kyle Owen

A quick update!

Kyle — Fri, 19 Nov 2010 22:24:11 +0000

A quick overview of what’s going on:

School:

Registered, classes paid for, and classes start Jan 5th. I’m very excited!

Job:

I’m being laid off in April, due to outsourcing. I’m happy about getting ready to take the next step in my life, although I have no idea where my income will be coming from, and how much I’ll be making to pay my bills while in school.

Movie:

Picture lock is almost here, and hopefully next week I will have the full film ready to be scored. The deadline is Nov 30th for submission for a film festival, but I will be able to work on it until I start school in January. After that I will be making small finishing touches on it until the ‘red carpet’ premiere in May.

iPhone game:

I have a list of compositions I need to do, and I’m very excited about this project. It looks like this will be a long term contract, and I’m happy to be working with such a great developer.

That’s it for now!

Yes, I am still writing the choral piece and some other chamber music, but as of right now they are on hold for these two big projects. I’m really happy to have a Documentary and an iPhone app to be adding to my overall music resume and experience for my business.

-Kyle

Please check out the documentary at: Abandoned Allies
The iPhone app is being made by: Tantrum Apps

I am composing for Tantrum Apps!!

Kyle — Tue, 02 Nov 2010 13:30:47 +0000

As of September, I have officially been on the team of Tantrum Apps for development of a new iPhone and iPad game geared towards education for kids. I have started composing for Lawrence, the develop for Tantrum Apps and also TriOut, and we hope that this partnership will remain strong as we work on this application together and hopefully others in the future.

Here is a small sample of the app that I’m composing for:

You can check out more of my works at kyleowen.com and you can find Lawrence’s work at TriOut and Tantrum Apps.

I’m very excited about this new venture for my composition and to have the opportunity to work with Lawrence on this and hopefully future apps!

-Kyle

Why I don’t perform my own works

Kyle — Tue, 12 Oct 2010 15:47:06 +0000

Recently I was asked why I don’t play my own compositions. I know that some modern composers do, but I tend to stay away from it for several reasons. I’d like to explain them here, so people understand my feelings on my music and why I am against performing it myself.

As a composer, the gift of the music is being able to listen to someone else’s interpretation of it. Some composers write to get their music out there, and want it out there regardless of how it is played. I don’t personally feel that way. I really enjoy working with performers, and having them interpret my music to suit them. The best experiences I’ve ever had with my music have been when I have worked with the performers of my music, and have been able to get their emotional feedback and response to the notes I had written. Because of this, I know that it becomes more limited for me to get my work out there and performed, but I’m willing to wait until a partnership with performers is developed and they are able to impart their feelings and emotions into the music.

If I record my own pieces, I then take more ‘ownership’ of the performance. If I take ownership of it, and people look to the recording as a reference for what the piece ‘should’ sound like, they lose the ability to decide for themselves how things should be interpreted. I have experienced this several times as a performer, where the recording of the piece I was listening to and learning would directly change the way that I would prefer the piece. Music, in many ways, is about emulation of performances we have heard before, or have been taught to replicate. It is hard for a performer to be completely unique in their performance of a piece, and often when you can find it they are the best and most interesting recordings you can find or pieces.

I consider myself a composer first, performer last. I enjoy working on compositions written by other people, but I enjoy creating it a lot more. The process is therapeutic, and it is very natural to me after doing it for so long. If I felt I wanted to market myself as a performer I would record my own pieces, but realistically performing is a very small part of my creative life right now. I still play here and there for small things, or with ensembles when I get the chance, but my focus creatively is on composition and writing new music for people who may enjoy it. My goal is to get out as much of the music I hear in my head as I can. To get it out there and to have it be interpreted by performers who know what they are doing.

I know there are many people that could potentially disagree with my statements on this issue, but it is a matter of what I personally believe when it comes down to my art. My art is putting out the music, not performing it, and I’m well aware of that. Also, my fulfillment is in the creative process of composing the music and working with the performers that enjoy playing my music. That being said, if you are a performer, and are interested in performing any of my works, please contact me, and I’ll gladly give you a copy for free. I’m willing to make my music easily available to those who want it, and who would like to perform it. All is ask for is that I’m notified if the piece is being performed and when. If I’m available to make it to the performance, I will do everything I can to be there and to support you!

Best always,

Kyle

Note:

You can visit kyleowen.com to listen to samples of my music. This is not a complete listing of all of my music, but only that which I’m ready to share with the world. I have many projects that are currently going through the creative process, and once they are completed they will be on the website. Please contact me personally, if you would like to arrange a performance of the music.

Thank you

Accepting change…(and update to what’s going on with me!)

Kyle — Sun, 12 Sep 2010 14:14:16 +0000

Lets face it, most people don’t handle change well. Very few people, including myself, can go through severe life changes without just being bothered by the fact that change in happening. It is normal to get comfortable in a situation that you are in, and by the time you adjust and think that it will be your new ‘normal’ things change again. This cycle, is not only emotionally exhausting, but sometimes very physically exhausting as well.

I bring up change, because just like music, transitions are important to getting to the next chapter/segment of your life. How you handle the change is as important as what the changes are. This is something I try to keep in mind as my life changes more and more as the end of the year approaches. To give you a small update on what is going on in particular aspects of my life:

Music/Composing:

I’m still composing for Abandoned Allies, and it seems as if it is on track to be done by the end of the year. I have been on this project almost all year, and it has been a great experience working on the creative team with Camden. She is such a thoughtful person, and on a creative level, we work REALLY WELL together. We have already started talking about the next project, but we both understand that we need to finish this movie first before we working on another! She has made it very clear that she wants to continue to work with me on upcoming projects, and it is an honor to know that she wants that type of working relationship with me.

I’m still currently working on a choral piece, with words by a local poet. I have a good portion of it done, but haven’t had a chance to work on it lately do to personal things going on. I hope to get back to it soon, while I have a small break from composing for the movie.

I have some other project ideas that I have in the back of my head, and I think that I will start scores for some of them soon so I can just start working on ‘notes’ and do the normal process I do to build melodies that fit well within the instruments I’m writing for. Once I actually start something, I’ll let you know!

I’m playing flute for a friends wedding next month! I am really excited to get to give friends music during such an event. I always like being able to contribute to other peoples happiness and if playing the flute a friends wedding provides that I’m more than willing.

School:

My transcripts from my previous schools have finally been received, and I scheduled to take the placement test for my math class towards the end of the month. I’m really excited about school! After I take my placement test, I need to talk to financial aid and my advisor and then I should be good to go for a start date of Jan 5th!

Work:

My work announced about a month ago that they would be outsourcing a large portion of my department. They have been giving us weekly updates in terms of the timeline, and they have offered a severance package to those being let go. I will know next week if my position will be eliminated, and when my last expected day would be. I have plans set up for both scenarios, either being kept, or being let go. Those of you who know what I do, and know where I work, I have mixed feelings on the announcement of the department being outsourced. I don’t expect to write on this again, because either I will be let go or I won’t. I will still be starting school in January, regardless of what happens with work. My work situation will either dictate that I will go part time or full time initially. I know that I’m ready to go back to school and start working on a degree. I am going to be working on an A.S. with a focus in Pre-Engineering, and then I hope to transfer into a local state college and finish off a B.S. in Computer Science.

Personal:

There has been a lot going on in my personal life. I moved again, back into my sisters house. There are many things that caused this to happen, but I’m no longer living with my best friend. This has been a positive change because I’m now spending a lot more time with my family and my niece and nephew. My friend and I are working on keeping a healthy relationship, and hopefully we will be able to as after living together for more than 2 years it is a change for both of us.

As of right now, that is the breakdown of what is going on with my life. I’m staying busy and spending a lot of time with my friends as I get things in order. The reason I mention change in this post is because, personally, I know that I’m going through a lot. I just have to remind myself that I’m still in the transition stage for many of the things I’m dealing with and that it is normal for me to be scared/excited/nervous and everything else that people can feel when they experience drastic life changes.

Best always,

Kyle

Why say yes?

Kyle — Sat, 14 Aug 2010 03:45:00 +0000

I know this may seem odd, but I had a hard time saying yes to things when I was really young. I had believed that my options were set, and that my ‘path was clear’. Little did I know that I was wrong, and it wasn’t until I started saying yes to new opportunities that I realized I was wrong.

This doesn’t mean that you have to say yes to everything, but it means that if you are stepping into something that isn’t in your comfort zone you have to decide and analyze why you said no to the question that you were asked. Fear is an excuse for many people, and if you don’t work past your fears you will never grow as a person. You have to be willing to step outside what you are comfortable in and jump into new projects and new opportunities to allow and force yourself to grow. This was very hard for me for a long time, and when I look back at the life decisions I have made, I’m happy to say that I have taken a risk every time and have been willing to step outside what is ‘comfortable’ to me. Personally, I have a lot going on right now, and I will explain later as more is taken care of, but I’m happy to say that I embrace change and the challenges life throws at you. Out of all of my life lessons, it is by far one of the most important ones I have learned.

It is much more important how you react to the challenges thrown at you, vs the challenges you face. When you reflect on your life, you will remember the challenges, but it is much more important you remember and learn from how you handled it. Life is complicated, and so are decisions, but I can tell you that the easy way out is normally not the best way for you to go. Sometimes it means sucking it up and being humble and accepting help and other opinions. I’m grateful for my friends and the family I have to support me as I make changes in my life to get in a position so that I can finally pay back the people who have helped me so much up to the point in my life. I haven’t forgotten you, nor will I.

Best always,

Kyle

Compositional goals from 2004

Kyle — Sun, 20 Jun 2010 02:41:48 +0000

Back in 2004, when I really started to consider composition as a major I made a list of pieces that I wanted to write within my composition ‘career’. I put it aside as my life priorities changed, and I found it yesterday. I think it is time that I bring back this list, and hope to start crossing more things off. So that I can hold myself accountable, I want to make it public. This isn’t a complete list of ideas, but as of right now it is a big enough one to always remind me that I have projects I can and need to be working on!!

List of Compositions to complete:

Solo Works
Piccolo
Flute – Romantic style piece, “Jig”, and others.
Alto Flute
Bass Flute – Low Register stuff
Oboe
English Horn
Clarinet – 3 Sketches for A Clarinet (also other A Clarinet pieces)
Saxophone
Viola
Cello
Trumpet
Baritone
Tuba
Marimba
Soprano
Tenor
Bass
Soprano Sax
Tenor Sax
Alto Sax

Solo with Piano:
Piccolo
Flute
Alto Flute
Bass Flute (unamped)
Bass Flute (amp)
Clarinet
Soprano
Tenor/Baritone
French Horn
Trumpet
Marimba
Soprano Sax
Tenor Sax
Alto Sax

Chamber Music:
Piccolo, Flute and Piano
Flute, Alto Flute and Piano
Flute, Bass Flute and Piano
Piccolo and Bass flute
Flute Duo/Trio/Quartet/Quintet
Flute Choir (up to 8 parts)
Flute and Clarinet
Flute and Marimba
Bass Flute and Clarinet
WW Quintet (standard)
Brass Quartet (Trombone)
Brass Quartet (Trumpet)
Trumpet, Trombone, Violin, Cello
Flute, Marimba and Trumpet trio
Sax duets and trios
Sax Quartet (Soprano, Alto, Tenor, Bass)
String Quartet
Soprano and Alto with Piano
Soprano and Bass with Piano
Tenor and Bass with Piano

Bassoon Quartet/Quintet/Sextet

Small to large ensembles:

2 piccolo/3 flute, 2 oboe, 3 clarinet, 2 bassoon, 2 alto, 1 tenor sax, 1 baritone sax, pitched percussion, snare drum (16 musicians).

2 Flutes, 2 Clarinets, 2 Bassoons, and 2 French Horns (double quartet)

Early Bands (Elm. and JH)

Beginning Band (HS)
Intermediate Band (HS)

Symphonic Band (with English horn, Soprano sax, and alto flute) (C)
Symphonic Band with Flute Quartet (Picc, C, alto, bass). (C)

Picc/2 flutes, 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons, 4 violins (2 parts), 2 violas (1 part),
4 cellos (2 parts), 2 Trombones, 2 trumpets, 1 tuba,
3 mixed percussion (24 musicians)

String Orchestra

Full Orchestra

Men’s choir (TTBB)
Treble Choir (SSAA)
Mixed Choir (SATB)

Fickle Consumers?

Kyle — Tue, 15 Jun 2010 17:43:15 +0000

With the start of iPhone 4 pre-order sales, and a lot of problems on the AT&T and Apple end, many consumers who were planning on pre-ordering the phone are getting upset. This is causing many to say “Well, I will just get something else then.” One person I saw wrote, “Well AT&T and Apple store are both down, so I guess I’ll just go Windows Mobile.” To me, this is a little crazy. If you want a device, you should want it regardless if you can order it or not within the first few hours of pre-orders. Are they just talking out of anger, or are they truly going to make another purchase because of these problems?

I would not be surprised if Apple sells 1 Million units alone or more in pre-orders on the new phone. For the first time that I can recall, the Apple store went down because it was being hit so hard by consumers who wanted to put them name in the pre-order hat. With many 1st generation iPhone users willing to now upgrade to the new device + the incentives that AT&T is giving to many iPhone 3G owners I expect the new phone will sell very quickly and will become very popular very fast. I think in this case, the “Gizmodo-gate” will help overall sales because people are aware of the phone at a much higher level than normal. It received A LOT of press, and because of that everyone has seen it already. The keynote even played on it a little bit at the announcement, which was the best thing for them to do. Although it wasn’t an intentional leak, I see it doing nothing but helping sales of the device at this point for the average consumer.

Every place that has the iPhone up for pre-order today has had problems. The AT&T internal servers have been going up and down, and because the Apple store accesses those servers to verify what price you will pay for the phone (either subsidized price, or unsubsidized, etc based on current contract, or contract renewal) they haven’t been able to have success either. This has left many people upset, but I suspect many of the vocally angry people are some of the more informed consumers, that feel they MUST have the pre-order in for the device as soon as humanly possible.

So, were you one of the ones that got booted out of either AT&T’s system or Apple when you tried to pre-order? If you got kicked out of pre-ordering, are you still going to buy the device as soon as you can get into the system? I hope that many people were ‘just talking’ and that they truly been’t going to change their mind on the device they were going to buy just because of a huge flood of interest in the device by others. Please let me know your thoughts!!

-Kyle

TILT scoring contest results and what is next for me!

Kyle — Sun, 06 Jun 2010 14:52:53 +0000

Well, as some of you may know by now, I didn’t make it into the 2^nd round of the TILT: The Movie scoring contest. I don’t know what percentage of votes I got, but I wasn’t in the top 3, so therefore didn’t move on to the next round to be considered for the job. Regardless, I enjoyed the process, and have found some people that I’d like to stay in contact with and potentially work with in the future if given the opportunity. I appreciate your votes for me and all of the great feedback I got! It was great to hear what you thought of my entry, and I hope to share more of my music with you soon. I will be doing a blog post about my process for the TILT scoring contest entry, but I don’t know if I will get it done this month. I should be able to!

What else is going on?

Movie:

Fortunately, I have a lot going on and that I am going to be doing within the next couple months. The movie I’ve been composing for: Abandoned Allies; is getting closer and closer to editing being complete. This means that once all the editing is done that I will be working with the director to work out the music and thematic development to help tell the story. I’m really excited about this, and since being on the project since January *as the composer* It has been really exciting to see the editing come together and the movie’s form start to take place! Camden has been a pleasure to work with, and I’m excited about getting closer to this project finishing so that we can start to get it out.

First Choral Piece:

I decided that it was time to write a choral piece. So, I started to go through the people that I chat with a regular basis with on twitter and I stumbled upon (@missxkaren) and her work. I contacted her and asked her if she would be interested in doing a collaboration piece. She has been writing poetry for years, and has written over 200 poems! So, since we started talking about it, I have started composing a piece called “Frozen in Time” for SATB based on a poem by Karen-Maeby McCormick. I’m excited about this project, and will be talking with local choral directors to see if I can possibly get it performed!

National Band Association Composers Competition:

I will be entering in the 2012 NBA Composers competition and to be prepared for that I am going to have to write as much of the piece as I can this year so that I can work on getting it performed and recorded so that I’m able to submit it for the contest! I’ve started doing my preliminary research and I know a band director who will be willing to play it after it is done J I have an idea of what I’m going to do with it, I just need to make sure that I can execute it well.

Flute + Electronics set:

Currently, this project is on hold. I don’t have the time to invest in it with all of the other projects I have going on. I hope to complete it by the end of next year though!

Flute quartet:

I will finish the flute quartet this year. I have the first movement done and now I am just waiting for the movie project to be over so I can finish it. I’m very pleased with the first movement, and you can hear a sample of it in my music section of my web page!

Potential collaborations:

I have started to set up potential collaborations with some other people I know on twitter. Some composers, and some visual artists. I hope that these end up happening after I’m done with the movie and that as I continue to finish projects that I continue to add them. I’ve started to realize that I really like working with people (I know this sounds funny, but I’ve spent a lot of time as a composer locked away by myself, and not sharing my work!).

CompTIA A+ Certification:

I start my 2^nd class for my certification on the 16^th of this month! I’m ready for the classes to be over and to have the certification, because I haven’t been able to give it the time I’ve really needed to this year with the composition stuff. It is going to continue to be a challenge for me to balance my composition, studies, and personal/family life!

I will feel much better about things overall once I get my first tech certification done so that I can start to prepare for the others that I have planned out. I really want to get into a career that can and will help support my artistic endeavors and I feel the tech industry is the right one for me. I just need to make it happen and continue to move forward!

Thanks for your support as always,

Kyle

TILT Scoring Contest!

Kyle — Thu, 06 May 2010 01:06:28 +0000

I have been given the opportunity to enter in a competition to get the chance to write music for an independent film collaboration. I found out about TILT by someone I follow on twitter (@philontilt) and decided that I’m at the point in my ‘composition career’ that I need to do everything I can to get my name out there and build my resume by attaching myself to strong people who I’d like to work with now and in the future. I thought that this would be a great opportunity, and I’ve been plugging away at my contest entry for the last couple weeks. Submissions are due by May 15th. I’m really excited to see what type of feedback I get from the people who follow and interact with me regarding my music.

The way the competition will work:

All composers have been given from April 21st to May 14th to score a video (1 video; 2; 2 minute clips) downloadable from Vimeo.

Once submissions are received, TILT will do another blog posting with the entries and people will have until May 31st to cast their vote for which they like the best.

After all votes are received, the top 3 entries will be considered by the TILT team and someone will be selected an offered the opportunity to score the movie. The winner will be announced on June 3rd!
(paraphrased from TILT website)

Here is my entry!

Voting starts May 17th!

To say that I want this opportunity is an understatement. I know that I would do everything I can to give them what they are looking for to score their film, and I hope that I can at least make it to the top 3 so that I’m truly ‘in-the-running’. I’ve talked with Phil, and interacted with other members of the team, and they seem like a great group of motivated and talented people. To be able to work with them would be a great opportunity and a pleasure, and I’d love to be part of their creative team to help bring their vision to life. If you’d like more information about TILT, you can go the following places:

TILT Website
Twitter: Phil (director), King and Keck (writers), TILT on twitter

While working with Camden, the Director of Abandoned Allies, I realized that I really enjoy the process of creating music for someone else’s vision. It is a very different creative process than what I would normally do when just composing music for me and it is something I really enjoy. I’ve had nothing but a great experience working with Camden, and she has been a great motivator for me to move forward to look into other scoring opportunities. I’m still currently working on Abandoned Allies, and progress is being made as the film comes together and more research and interviews are added. I’m really happy to be part of Camden’s team, and as more happens with Abandoned Allies, I’ll post! I’m meeting with Camden on Thursday to see the movie where it stands now and to talk about musical needs. Thank you Camden for your support and faith in me as we work together, now and hopefully in the future!

If you like my entry, when the contest is open for voting, I ask that you please vote for me and my submission to get me in the top 3. Again, I’d love this opportunity to work with the TILT team, and I can’t do this by myself. I need the support from those who like my music and who want to see me succeed in this area of music composition. I’ll be posting updates here as I find out what is happening with the contest, and you can check out other samples of my work at my home page, kyleowen.com!

Thanks again,

Kyle