Blog
Keeping Up
When I entered the music business in the very late 1970s, how was I to know the music industry of the 20th century was at a peak and on the verge of a cataclysmic shift? This shift would occur gradually,
New Music for Orchestra
A year ago, I launched a new line of orchestra arrangements – for the “Modern Orchestra,” separating these new charts from the more symphonic arrangements that had preceded them. It seemed time that I should add to that little line
WRITING. ABANDONING. (A Musical Tale)
In 1991, while still a newly-signed writer/arranger with Word Music, I took my first shot at the art and craft of musical theater. Or, to be more accurate – church musical theater. One needs to understand that “church” is a powerful modifier
Finale’s Finale
The End of an Era and What It Means to Music Geeks A bomb dropped on the music industry yesterday when it was announced that the venerated music notation program, Finale, the software users loved to hate, would cease to
Adventures in Rewriting – “Turning My Steps”
“Writing is rewriting.” I wasn’t the first to say it. I wouldn’t be surprised if that quip pre-dates Shakespeare. But it’s an important truth for writers to accept as a crucial part of their creative efforts. It’s a (sometimes brutal) reality
Life Its Own Self
I may have outdone myself this time… going a full seven months between blog posts. That may well be a new record for the World’s Laziest Blogger. Alert the folks at Guinness! It’s not like I’ve not written anything in
Zagging in a Zigging World
I think it’s safe to say that I can be something of a contrarian. (Duhh!) So – when I decided it was time to introduce a new line of orchestra arrangements (after considering it for years), it should come as
The Kindness of Strangers
This is embarrassing on two levels. First – I find myself once again trying conjure up an excuse for blogging soooo infrequently. But it always boils down to the same thing: I get so wrapped up in composing, or editing
News of the Day
Seeing as how I’m the world’s most inconsistent blogger, I thought I might oughta post a little update blog. So here are some truly Random Neural Firings that might be of passing interest. Thanks to all the sympathetic responses I
James Randolph Smith
Looking back on more than four decades of a career in music, there are people who made a crucial difference along the way. Yesterday, I lost one of those people, and too soon. James Randolph Smith, Randy to everyone who
Showing – the (Mostly) Finished Stage of Creativity
I recently I finished a new choral composition. When I say “finished,” I don’t mean “finished” finished. I mean more like “mostly” finished. In my catalogue, I’m not so sure anything is ever “finished” finished. But I digress. (Look! A
Changes
Wow. Has it really been some five months since I last posted??? Truly – I am the World’s Most Inconsistent Blogger. Where is my award for this great distinction? Somebody call the folks at Guinness! So – what have I