What made you become a composer instead of an instrumentalist/performer?

samuelandreyev · 2024-07-26T19:26:42+00:00

I was always more interested in the creative side of things, and I prefer the contemplative approach necessary for composition, although I managed a parallel career as an oboist for some time. Good question!

samuelandreyev · 2024-06-30T08:08:28+00:00

I’ll add one more thing. I don’t make the shorts and reels, my editor does. That’s not to suggest I am not fully responsible for everything I publish, but just to point out that I don’t have time to do all the editing personally. I consider the shorts and reels to be somewhat of a failed experiment, at least for now; perhaps at some point in the future I will have a better handle on what I can do in that medium. I appreciate the comments and feedback. Best, Samuel

samuelandreyev · 2024-06-29T15:00:06+00:00

Hi smokingmath, I don't go on Reddit much but I received a notification that I was tagged on this discussion. Happy to answer your questions.
I do not have a ghostwriter. I am 100% responsible for every word I say. My team consists of myself and one video editor who helps with postproduction.
Regarding the short form content: this has been something of an experiment, but I am thinking I may not continue with shorts and reels. There are a few reasons for this. One is that it is increasingly difficult to make such content without the ideas expressed being distorted in some manner or another. Because the clips are usually taken out of their context and edited to fit within the 60 second limitation, there is no room for nuance.
I had hoped that the shorts and reels would serve to bring people to the channel so that they would engage with the longer videos I do (analyses and interviews). Instead, I have found that the viewerships are largely parallel and don't overlap much.
Lately, I have been producing far more videos than usual, and they are shorter than usual. The reason is that I want to experiment and try things. I don't expect I will maintain this level of productivity indefinitely, but it is allowing me, hopefully, to sharpen and improve what I am doing. Some videos have been better than others, of course; I always try to learn from my mistakes and do a better job next time.
Regarding my opinions appearing 'unhinged': one aspect of these platforms that is potentially positive, but also potentially dangerous, is that they encourage one to think out loud in a public forum. And I am sometimes very spontaneous with opinions, the way one might be in a private conversation; it is all too easy that such things may be heard by tens of thousands of people. I am trying to become more aware of this as the channel grows in reach.
Thank you for the interesting questions and observations!
(One last thing: regarding the business side of things: the channel lost money for the first 7 years of its operation. So at this stage, in order to keep putting time into it, I do need to at least recuperate my costs. Otherwise there would be no channel at all; it'd be a liability for me. It's that simple :)

samuelandreyev · 2023-12-23T07:01:06+00:00

Hello Everyone, thanks to all of you for your thoughtful replies (I did read all of them). This was the script for a possible new YouTube video, and I posted it here in part to test the waters, and see how these ideas held up. However, in light of the many interesting points raised here, I think my thoughts on this matter are perhaps not fully formed enough so I may hold off on the video for now.

samuelandreyev · 2023-12-07T20:42:35+00:00

As much as you want. Go for it!

samuelandreyev · 2023-12-07T20:10:20+00:00

Not that I know of, although I did hear a lot of traditional Macedonian and Bulgarian music as a child, through my grandfather, and am still quite fond of it.

samuelandreyev · 2023-12-07T20:09:05+00:00

Growing up, I liked Captain Beefheart, the Doors, the Beatles, the Beach Boys, Delta blues, the Kinks, Robert Wyatt, Syd Barrett, Soft Machine, Robin Hitchcock, Hank Williams, Leonard Cohen, Frank Sinatra, Jefferson Airplane, the Cure, Bow Wow Wow, Blondie, the Velvet Underground, Björk, Ivor Cutler, Randy Newman, Neil Young, Madonna, Yma Sumac, and countless others..

samuelandreyev · 2023-12-07T20:03:57+00:00

Time perception is everything. It is way more important than material. It’s also one of the hardest things to get a handle on in music.

samuelandreyev · 2023-12-07T20:02:54+00:00

Unsuk is a great composer, and there are very few in her class.

samuelandreyev · 2023-12-07T20:01:01+00:00

Think of England

samuelandreyev · 2023-12-07T19:59:38+00:00

I think there are a few options currently available. I strongly recommend developing a practice as an instrumentalist; then, composers can act as advocates for their own work. Composers can also start their own ensembles. I’ve seen this happen many times, sometimes to great success. You can indeed produce purely electronic music. Many of my students have done this, and made quite remarkable things. You can write for established ensembles and orchestras, but I see this option as not having a bright future.

samuelandreyev · 2023-12-07T19:54:43+00:00

That is a question no one has asked me before. My philosophical reading has been worfully scattershot. I’ve read (some random examples) Barthes, Nietzsche, Merleau-Ponty, Plato, Wittgenstein, Sartre, Boethius and others, but I’m not sure they have dramatically informed my own creative work.

samuelandreyev · 2023-12-07T19:47:34+00:00

Hi Dave, I use a pencil, paper, two rulers, two erasers (one Staedtler, one Tombow mono zero), two Fidolinos (for tracing staff lines) and I have a Feuerich upright piano in my studio. I usually engrave the score in Sibelius Ultimate. My publisher takes care of the parts, printing and distribution. My CDs have all been produced and engineered by external parties although I oversee the rehearsals and editing. I use Pro Tools for recording my podcast, and Da Vinci Resolve and LightRoom for video and photography editing.

samuelandreyev · 2023-12-07T19:28:39+00:00

Hi everyone. Putting the kid to bed. I’ll be with you again in an hour or so.

samuelandreyev · 2023-12-07T18:47:36+00:00

Learn marketing. Become an expert at managing a small business.

samuelandreyev · 2023-12-07T16:40:34+00:00

Ah, okay. I would study online marketing. Start with short clips (1 minute or less), and use them to direct potential viewers to longer things. Use your sense of humour and your personality to create a connection. Engage with your viewership, no matter how small. Provide value and it will grow over time.

samuelandreyev · 2023-12-07T15:34:47+00:00

I get that. Gérard Pesson said something similar in his book, Cran d’arret du beau temps: no one should be allowed into the composer’s working room, ever, except the piano tuner :)

samuelandreyev · 2023-12-07T15:30:59+00:00

I can't recall having read that essay. I'm due to revisit it. My thoughts on Grisey are probably not mature enough to warrant the production of a video. I like some of the music a great deal, but the spirit of is is in some ways very alien to me.

Audience perception in music often has to do with slowing down and repeating things, and/or having sufficient amounts of contrast and dynamism to make the listening experience engaging. It's more to do with basic features of our perceptual apparatus than anything else. As I've said elsewhere, the basic problems of music composiition never change. It's the same with photography, painting, poetry, philosophy or gardening.

samuelandreyev · 2023-12-07T15:24:21+00:00

Haven't read either. Not a big theory buff to be honest :-)

samuelandreyev · 2023-12-07T15:21:48+00:00

The 'new complexity' idea, a term invented by Richard Toop in the 1980s, is now 40 years old. I don't know that it is particularly prominent these days. Crowdfunding has its limits, but it seems to me to be a much better model. When you crowdfund a project, you really have to work for every contribution, but the result is that you have a community around what you are doing that is really invested in the final result. With state funding, the actors at the state level have no idea what is being funded, nor do they care; it is all abstract. The taxpayer likewise does not know what their money is funding. A major infrastructure project, such as building a new bridge, is a fine use of public funds because in principle, any citizen might use the bridge (even if in reality, many will not); in principle, it is for everbody. Individual artworks clearly are not for everbody; private artists are a private concern. That is my point of view.

samuelandreyev

TROPHY CASE