Posts Tagged ‘Music’

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I am composing for Tantrum Apps!!

November 2, 2010

 

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


Posted in announcement, collaboration, composition | Tagged , | Leave a Comment »

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Why I don’t perform my own works

October 12, 2010

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

Posted in art, composition, Music, opinion | Tagged , , , , | Leave a Comment »

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The struggle between balancing art and logic…

April 6, 2010

The struggle between balancing art and logic to me is a daily issue. When I was planning on being a teacher, I wasn’t worried about if music was going to be a part of my life or where it fit. Music would have been my focus, and not my ‘hobby’. I always thought that no matter what I was doing, that I was always going to be focusing on my art. Now as I have gotten older and my priorities have changed more from ‘creating my art’ to ‘living my life and allowing my arts to be my release’ I find that I’m emotionally in a constant battle.

I have this strong desire to create, simply create. I love to play with sound, because it is what I exposed myself to the most when growing up being active in the music world. I also love to look at and enjoy movies, paintings, and other various types of art, because even though they aren’t musical, I still get musical ideas and impressions from them. I miss taking the time to focus on this more, and expose myself to new various types of art.

Today, overall, was a great day. I finished the first of my 3 classes for the computer certification that I’m working on. I’m very happy that I passed the class exam so that I can move on to the next, but it wasn’t easy to get there. The material itself wasn’t hard, but forcing myself into the logic part of my brain has been the hardest part of it. It has been a struggle for me to make sure that I’ve been putting in the time to study, and work on everything to prepare myself for future job opportunities and goals that I have. I would find myself composing or listening to music, or working on my main website, or doing something other than studying the facts needed to do well in the computer world. It is nice to finally put a name to so many things that I’ve known of (conceptually) for a long time, but the other part of my brain goes “okay…you know this stuff..you have been dealing with it for years…why do you need to put a formal name to it?” I had similar thoughts when I first started studying music in college. I knew I needed the theory, but part of me didn’t want to learn it. I had blissful ignorance being able to explore the sounds without being limited to traditional music theory that is beat down all musicians throats when they go to college. I know many people will disagree with this, but I truly feel that the name of certain compositional and theory techniques don’t matter in the real world of composing. They are good to know to help you analyze and be more objective of your music, but the reality is, they aren’t NEEDED to do well.

I started exploring composition techniques when I was really young, and just found that I learn more when I can explore when I’m not told what my ‘limitations’ are. Terms – by definition – limit exploration. They make things more ‘cut and dry’ and give a name to things that really don’t need to be named. I find this to be much more true in the music world than the computer world, but to a degree it applies. Again, I’m not suggesting musicians don’t need to know anything about the music they are playing or creating, but I think sometimes education doesn’t help people understand things, that it just puts a limitation on what a concept is. Perhaps my overall opinions on education is more fluid, or it is possible I’m dumb and I have no idea what I’m talking about ;-) . I just don’t feel EVERYTHING needs to be given a name for us to be able to interact with it.

I’m still learning new things about music and computers on a daily basis. I love it, and I love to learn and explore new concepts. Sometimes more than anything else though, I just want to be downed in art, creation, and emotions from various forms of art, that I just want to get lost in it, and not remember all of the technical stuff that I’ve been taught about it. Understanding art, on a technical level, can make it harder to enjoy it. I find myself analyzing music as I listen to it, because that is what I was taught to do, and quite frankly, sometimes I just want to be able to turn it off!

I’m sorry if I lost you in my slight rant…I just hope someone somewhere can understand what I mean and the points I’m trying to get across. Now that my first computer class is done, I hope to be able to focus more on art and content creation. My vacation with my family is at the end of May and as soon as I get back I will be starting on my 2nd CompTIA A+ certification class. I’m excited about it, and I’m also excited about writing more music for the movie project that I’m a part of! I feel incredibly lucky that I’m able to expose my creative experience with people, and network with other people that can also just love the arts for what they are: controlled and sometimes uncontrolled self expression.

-Kyle


Posted in art, Music, opinion | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a Comment »

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Questions to help define my personal business model for my music.

March 11, 2010

As I write more music on a regular basis the thought of what I want to do with it becomes something I think about more and more. I have been composing technically for about 10 years with some time off to move from place to place and settle. Now it is time for me to start thinking about the projects I’m doing now and what I want to be doing with my music in the future. Right now I’m lucky enough to be composing for a movie, but I don’t know when/if I’ll get other opportunities to work with such great people again. I feel incredibly lucky to have this opportunity, and I’m not taking it lightly as a commitment I have made.

I have the option of “locking things down” and making all of my music and projects “paid only” but that doesn’t help spread the openess that music promotes. Realistically, I’m lucky if I have 1 or 2 fans of my music. Mainly because I haven’t put it out there for people to have access to it. I’m sure that as I put more and more of my music out there and expose myself to more people, I will eventually have 10 fans, and maybe even 100. I know that I’ll greatly appreciate anyone that says they like my music, and I’m willing to take criticism and feed back from those who don’t. I want to better myself as a composer, and one of the only ways I can do that is to get feedback from those who know about music and those who just enjoy listening to it.

Can a “freemium” (free content with an optional buy-in) business model work for a composer? I’m unsure if it really can. I think that I’d rather give my music away and find out where my fans are, and if they exist, rather than holding onto my music without anyone able to hear it. I think I have more to gain by giving it away, even if it comes down to just getting feedback. Yes, I’d love to make money off my music, but I don’t know if it is realistic to think that I ever will. One can always hope, but it isn’t something that I expect. I have invested a lot of time and money into my music education and experience and I hope that it translates in my final product, but I can’t make people decide that my music is ‘good’ or ‘respectable’. Ideally I’d give my music away, and then just give a way for people to donate to me if they wanted or felt my music was worth the money. That way it would be completely opt-in, and hopefully all parties would be happy.

I do have some larger goals that I still want to accomplish: Getting my music published, and getting a CD made (even if only digitally distributed). I feel they can both happen, it is just a matter of how. With everything digital now, it makes it much easier to distribute music (PDF, MP3s, etc) and I want to utilize it the way that ‘my audience’ wants. So I guess the best way for me to get my name out there will also still allow me the opportunities to accomplish those bigger goals. Realistically though, no matter what, I’d just be happy if people were playing my music and talking to me about it, outside of the small group of people that know about it.

I’m currently in the process of setting up my main domain, that will have samples of my music and information about my music and projects. I hope that this will become a good way for me to start interacting with people and to share my music with them. I plan on having samples, if not full piece downloads (PDF, MP3) for people to have and interact with. I just have to do some soul searching and decide how I want to peruse these goals while still keeping everything else going.

Any ideas or thoughts?? Please comment.

Thank you,

-Kyle


Posted in composition, experience, Flute, opinion, technology | Tagged | Leave a Comment »

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I’m writing music for a local documentary!

March 6, 2010

Yesterday was amazing! I am now officially writing music for a local documentary with some amazing people involved. This is my first “scoring” experience so it is going to be a great learning opportunity for me. I told myself that I will never turn down an opportunity that requires me to grow and move forward in my life. I will be creating music with a specific tone and that needs to invoke specific feelings. From a composition level that can be really difficult, but I know I’ll be able to do it. There will be some challenges, such as no budget and only a few months to compose, but I know I can work around it with what I have.

In many cases the music I write, writes itself. I do editing and I move things around. Once I got used to the process of composing it has become very natural to me. To write music for “someone else” is a different process. You cater to different needs and you have to try and be 100% objective and willing to make changes when the other people don’t like or agree with what you did. You have to be willing to change things you pour your heart into to make it work. A lot of give-and-take will be essential to a successful project. Fortunately I’m working with people who love what they do and are just happy to have me as part of the team.

Last night I gave the director/producer and music coordinator samples of my music and they listened to it as we spoke music. So much of last night was spent talking about the overall tone of the movie and the roles that the music needs to play in it. My biggest challenge will be taking music from the natives (in the movie) and using it as inspiration for some of the music I’ll be writing. I want to create music to honor them, not insult, so the way I write it will be done with as much research as I can beforehand to insure that tonally I’m where I need to be. This is a fun challenge in itself.

I’m nothing but excited for this project and I will be trying to document everything I can regarding my experience so that I can learn from
It more. I have software that I need to get comfortable with (outside of Sibelius) and it needs to become a tool and not an obstacle. On top of working on my Computer Certification I also have software I need to learn!!! Time to take my notes and start writing music.

-Kyle

Posted in composition, experience, Sibelius, technology | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments »

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My reaction to the iPad (finally!)

February 1, 2010

Image from Apple.com

When Apple announced the iPad, there were many disappointed people. Mainly because people who followed the technology blogs (me included) were expecting a lot more out of the hardware and software that was announced. That, and the fact that an Apple tablet has been rumored for about 7 years now, people had a lot of hope for the device. I know that it sounds like I’m disappointed, but the reality is that I’m very happy with the product announcement. There is a lot of room left for growth, and I think Apple wanted that so they could get people to reinvest in the product time after time (they have done this with the iPod, iPhone, and other products as well). I feel the iPad as it is, can directly compete with several markets, and because of that, it is something to watch out for. For those of you who have not read my twitter conversations regarding this, please continue reading!!

eBooks / Print Media turned Digital -
I feel right now the biggest competition in the eBooks world for the iPad is the Kindle DX. The Kindle DX is at a price point very close to the entry level iPad, and I think people who may be looking at the Kindle DX may stop and reconsider when they see what they can get with the iPad ($499 model). The features where Kindle DX wins over the iPad for eBook/ePub reading is the fact that is has an eInk display and has “whisper net” which is basically built in 3G at no extra cost to the consumer. The physical keyboard, in my opinion, is poorly designed and is an eye sore to the device itself. The eInk display (black + white) allows for very little battery usage on the device, and overall much less strain on the end user. I don’t personally feel that this technology is worth investing in on a standalone device that is only able to read books, but I do see why some would prefer it.

I think the interesting point will come when Kindle responds to the iPad. I think at this point they have to. Even if it is making the page refresh faster, adding color eInk options, or speeding up the processor of the device, something has to be done. The Kindle DX is a single use device, and that is its biggest downfall when compared to the iPad. I personally think that many people will be fine reading on the LCD screen of the iPad over the Kindle DX when people can also use the iPad for many other things.

iBooks, a new marketplace for books on the iPad is going to be Apple’s main way of getting books to the device. There are other eBook apps on the iPhone already, but because Apple has created their own, it will either dissolve the apps market for books, or at least radically change it.

The New York Times App, for the iPad is beautifully designed and I feel it will be a strong player on the iPad market for those who want to read The New York Times.

iPad Pricing -
Although the iPad seems pricy right now for what you get on a hardware level, I expect it to go down in time as it hits more consumers. Many people were expecting the iPad to be around $1,000 (entry level) and were pleasantly surprised when Steve Jobs announced that they would start at $499. Personally, I think it is still too expensive for people to buy it at a mass market level. If it is anything like the iPhone, it will go down in price and double in storage options within the next one or two years. Apple is known for doing yearly updates on mobile devices, and I don’t expect that to change with the iPad. In case you missed it, the iPad is going to be for sale at launch for the following prices:

Image from Apple.com

If you are only going to be using it at home, there is no need for the 3G version. However, if you are going to be traveling, you have the option of the 3G models where you have a month to month contract with 250MB for $19.99/mo or “Unlimited” (which is most likely 5GB/mo) for $29.99/mo through AT&T. You don’t have to sign a contact with AT&T, which is a plus to many people.
Apps I’d love to see ported to iPad with more functionality -
Evernote / AwesomeNote
Amazon Store (I’d rather use the app then go to the webpage)
WordPress
Engadget / Gizmodo / Gdgt (same as Amazon)
Music Apps (category)
I think there is A LOT of potential for really great Apps on the iPad. The larger screen size with faster processor are major factors to being able to create great apps, and I hope that application developers will take advantage of it. Yes, you can use most App store programs on the iPad with no problem, but I feel the iPad will really come into its own when people realize that they should create iPad specific versions. I can imagine really awesome music based apps that deal with both creation and modification. It also makes me wish that I had Objective-C / Touch Cocoa experience and knowledge so that I could create what I’m looking for.
Criticisms -

No Flash:
Although this is a major problem to many, I don’t consider it an issue. Flash is very buggy, and I even use ClickToFlash to turn off flash on OSX. I have sites whitelisted, but for the most part it is kept off. HTML5 is what is being pushed by Apple because of Safari. I’m hoping that more companies get rid of the buggy Flash and move to HTML5. Google Voice got around the App store by moving to HTML5 for the web app for the iPhone, and although it isn’t perfect it is a good example of what can be done with HTML5. WIth embedded video in HTML5, there is much less of a need for flash on mobile devices. On a gaming note, I don’t really do much online or mobile gaming. I use my computer for productivity a lot more than gaming, so I don’t really think about that. I have iPhone games, and those will be enough to keep me busy if I want to do gaming on the iPad.

No Camera:
This is the farthest thing from a deal breaker for me. I have an iPhone with a camera, an iMac with a camera, and a stand alone digital camera. I don’t expect to be taking the iPad out very often if I get it, so the need for a camera in the iPad is non-existent to me. I don’t think it is worth whining about either. People can import pictures from the computer, or the SD card adaptor that Apple will be selling. I do think that in time Apple will add this to the device, but personally, I don’t see the need for it. I’m sure there are plenty of others that will disagree with me though.

No Multitasking:
To me, this is the biggest flaw with the device. Because you can’t run multiple apps at the same time, it reduces itself to a beefed up phone. I think there are a lot of consumers that would like to be able to run apps like Pandora and twitter apps at the same time, or while web browsing. I don’t think Apple will implement this until they can create a clean and clear user interface that makes app management on their mobile devices easily. Sometimes I’d like to have multitasking on the iPhone, but I don’t see it as a big problem on a device so small. Once you get to the iPad with a much larger screen and better processor, it becomes something that is much more desirable.

Accessories -

Because the iPad has a 30-pin dock connector, it will be able to play nicely with iPod/iPhone/iPod Touch accessories. This will open up a lot of potential for App + accessory integration, and will help the iPad become a larger player in time. Apple has announced a keyboard connected to a dock connector for typing/charging, but it will also work with the Apple Bluetooth wireless keyboard. Other accessories that Apple announced are: 30-pin to SD card reader, cases, and a 10W USB Power Adaptor.

With everything that is being offered in the first version, I’m still unsure if I will invest in it myself. I think that I’m more likely to wait until version 2, so that the hardware and software improves and hopefully the storage increases. I will wait to make my final decision once I’m able to get the device in hand, and this seems to be the reaction that many people are giving it. I didn’t need to touch the iPhone before I bought it to know that I liked it, but with the iPad I may need to. I’m hoping that when they have them available to play with in the Apple store that they will be easily accessible and be loaded with tons of apps ranging from games to productivity, because each person in there will have a different potential use case for it, much like the iPhone/iPod Touch.


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An introduction….although a little late!

August 22, 2009

After some time with no blog entry, I started to think of something else that I could do to bring more content into the blog. I think that chronicling my journey to try to get into to the tech industry from a completely unrelated field is worth talking about. As many of you may know, my formal education experience was in Music. I was a Music Education and Music Composition student at a private college in Northern California for 3 semesters before I withdrew from the school and decided to start new and make some big changes in my life. My decisions up to this point, have gotten me to North Carolina, in an area that I would love to stay in and hopefully settle down in over time.

So…I believe it is important to start from the beginning: Read the rest of this entry ?

Posted in opinion, technology | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments »

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