By Minna Choi
Hi! Welcome to Just Add Music, a podcast for the music curious, aspiring music makers and anyone in need of a creative companion on a lonely day.
My name is Minna. I'm a professi
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The podcast currently has 17 episodes available.
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At last, the final episode of the Overture Series is here!Send us a text
The big day is here! Time to go to the studio and finally record the final versions of these two short pieces. It's August 2023 and we are in Oakland at 25th Street Studios with a 13 piece string section, a trumpet player, a french horn player and a flutist. I am conducting and producing the session.Send us a text
Don't have the CALM app yet? Fear not! My love letter to Notation episode is here to help you rest that weary body and heavy eyelids.Send us a text
Today we move onto writing the overture for Death Cab for Cutie. My relationship with DCFC goes back to 2011 when I wrote my first string arrangements for their Codes and Keys album. Shortly thereafter, we toured an orchestral collab set in 2012 with the Magik*Magik Orchestra. Because of this history, the writing process for DCFC felt so different from what it was like writing for The Postal Service. If writing for the Postal Service felt like being at a party with a bunch of people you don't know, writing for DCFC felt like grabbing tacos with an old friend.Send us a text
We've all felt it, but no one (to my knowledge) has ever named it. You know that feeling when you send your first draft of a fresh new idea, your baby, your precious to someone for their feedback? But you haven't heard anything back yet?Send us a text
It's been about a week since I fiddled around with the first draft of the Postal Service Overture. During that week of waiting, I felt overwhelmed with the amount of fixing I was going to have to do. The memory of the draft in my head turned out to be way worse than the reality of what was sitting on my hard drive so when I actually sat down to work on the piece, it wasn't as hard as I thought it would be. It happens to the best of us!Send us a text
Welcome to the 2nd Season of Just Add Music!
For this series, we are delving into the behind the scenes of the composing process by tracking the lifecycle of 2 short music commissions from start to finish. The pieces in question? Two 1-minute orchestra overtures for the bands Death Cab for Cutie and The Postal Service to open their 20th Anniversary Tour in 2023 and 2024.
Join Minna as she walks through the ups and downs of the composing process and works through ideation, brainstorming, sketching, editing and execution for these two short pieces.
Thank you to Ben Gibbard for bringing in me for this writing assignment, I had a blast! And to anyone who's ever been curious to try writing music themselves, I hope this series makes the process more approachable!
Please enjoy the 2nd season of Just Add Music (with Minna)!
Production Credits:
Host, Composer, Music/Audio Editing: Minna Choi
Producer, Story Editor: Nicole Wong
Music Credits:
1) The District Sleeps Alone Tonight - The Postal Service
2) Such Great Heights - The Postal Service
3) Sleeping In - The Postal Service
4) Nothing Better - The Postal Service
5) Recycled Air - The Postal Service
6) Clark Gable - The Postal Service
7) At Last - Etta James
8) Gilraen's Memorial - Howard Shore
9) Olympics Fanfare - John Williams
10) National Anthem - The Postal Service
11) Clarinet Concerto in A Major, K. 622: II. Adagio - W.A. Mozart, Jaime Martin, Andrew Marriner, London Symphony Orchestra
12) The Marriage of Figaro Overture - W.A. Mozart, London Philharmonic, Alfred Scholz
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Welcome to the 2nd Season of Just Add Music!
For this series, we are delving into the behind the scenes of the composing process by tracking the lifecycle of 2 short music commissions from start to finish. The pieces in question? Two 1-minute orchestra overtures for the bands Death Cab for Cutie and The Postal Service to open their 20th Anniversary Tour in 2023 and 2024.
Join Minna as she walks through the ups and downs of the composing process and works through ideation, brainstorming, sketching, editing and execution for these two short pieces.
Thank you to Ben Gibbard for bringing in me for this writing assignment, I had a blast! And to anyone who's ever been curious to try writing music themselves, I hope this series makes the process more approachable!
Please enjoy the 2nd season of Just Add Music (with Minna)!
Production Credits:
Host, Composer, Music/Audio Editing: Minna Choi
Producer, Story Editor: Nicole Wong
Music Credits:
1) Shaya 006 - Ghost Girl
2) Gone with the Wind Main Title - Max Steiner
3) West Side Story Prologue - Leonard Bernstein
4) Kat 005 - Ghost Girl
5) Transatlanticism - Death Cab for Cutie
6) Such Great Heights - The Postal Service
7) Camille 001 - Ghost Girl
8) Such Great Heights - The Postal Service
Send us a text
Welcome to the 2nd Season of Just Add Music!
For this series, we are delving into the behind the scenes of the composing process by tracking the lifecycle of 2 short music commissions from start to finish. The pieces in question? Two 1-minute orchestra overtures for the bands Death Cab for Cutie and The Postal Service to open their 20th Anniversary Tour in 2023 and 2024.
Join me as I walk through the ups and downs of the composing process and works through ideation, brainstorming, sketching, editing and execution for these two short pieces.
Thank you to Ben Gibbard for bringing in me for this writing assignment, I had a blast! And to anyone who's ever been curious to try writing music themselves, I hope this series makes the process more approachable!
Please enjoy the 2nd season of Just Add Music (with Minna)!
Production Credits:
Host, Composer, Music/Audio Editing: Minna Choi
Producer, Story Editor: Nicole Wong
Music Credits:
1) Magik Overture - Death Cab For Cutie with The Magik*Magik Orchestra (live)
2) Kat 004 - Ghost Girl
3) Tamara 004 - Ghost Girl
4) Shaya 001 - Ghost Girl
5) Different Names for the Same Thing - Death Cab For Cutie with The Magik*Magik Orchestra (live)
Send us a text
After listening back to the Charlie Brown Episode I recorded 5 months ago, both my producer and I thought it left things a bit unresolved.
I've always taken a bit of pride in my ability to play most things by ear, but here and there I come across a piece where I have to admit defeat and buy the sheet music online. This was one of those times!
To all who took the time to listen to this podcast over the holidays, thank you! Recording these got me through some tough dry spells over the Spring and Summer this year when I thought perhaps my music career was over. Being able to talk about the things I love refreshed my soul and I hope to pass along a bit of that refreshment to you.
Happy New Year and catch you in 2024!
The podcast currently has 17 episodes available.
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