Composer
Good news, everyone! Ensemble Françaix are set to perform my latest composition – Trio for Piano, Oboe and Bassoon in a concert hosted by Zinia Chan, K. Travers Eira, and your humble-blogging-host, Sam McLean. The concert will feature the recent works of Zinia, Travers and Myself on Wednesday, May 8, 2019 in the Hanson Dyer […]
I had the pleasure of attending PAX in Melbourne, Australia, the only PAX event held outside of the US that showcases games from around the world, as well as games made right here in Australia. The event took place at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre, a building located in Melbourne’s CBD and ran from the […]
I have been experimenting with modal counterpoint lately and have found that it lends itself to game music brilliantly. For a demonstration, I have prepared a new track that uses modal counterpoint in an orchestral setting and will explain the use of the two modes that were used in its creation. In my previous blog […]
Everyone loves a good chiptune these days and with the retro resurgence in games, it is hard not to see games that have a pixel-art-driven, 8bit aesthetic. When the original games that employed this ‘aesthetic’ were made, it wasn’t a stylistic consideration, it was game-dev’s using the technology of the day to its full potential. In terms of sound, […]
In my last blog post, I mentioned that I was hosting a series of workshops at some Gold Coast High Schools. The events were a complete success and a few students even picked up a free copy of Dyadic, for being attentive and studious while the workshop took place. The workshops started with myself conducting […]
Hi everybody! Today I would like to share my Random Inspiration Generator with you, a simple program I have written in the C# programming language to help give some inspiration for composing. We all know that with composing, getting started is one of the main hurdles and without direction, writing music and finding inspiration can […]
Soar like an Eagle a moth! Today I have a special treat for my loyal blog followers, the Australian Premiere of Viet Cuong’s “Moth”. If you have been following this blog than you may remember the post back in June, where I described the process of recording the Queensland Wind Orchestra performing in the Old Museum […]
Well the Erhu recording went to plan and was the most fun I’ve had in ages! Today, Alexander Nasteski and I recorded amazingly talented Nicholas Ng playing the Erhu in the Audient studio of SAE-QANTM Brisbane, to use in the upcoming game, Dyadic. I have three songs that I have written for Dyadic and in this […]
It’s safe to say that 99% of the time distortion is an unwanted part of our audio signals and could be classed as noise that degrades our product. Distortion can originate from broken or faulty equipment (mics, cables, mixing desks, monitors etc.) and can be really frustrating if you can’t find its origin so learning […]
Good news, everyone! Ensemble Françaix are set to perform my latest composition – Trio for Piano, Oboe and Bassoon in a concert hosted by Zinia Chan, K. Travers Eira, and your humble-blogging-host, Sam McLean. The concert will feature the recent works of Zinia, Travers and Myself on Wednesday, May 8, 2019 in the Hanson Dyer […]
Finding inspiration when composing can seem tricky. Most of us will have techniques that expedite the creative process, especially when a deadline looms and there is no time to waste. One very helpful technique I have stumbled upon is the archaic musical device known as mensuration canon. Also known as prolation canon or canon by […]
On Thursday the 30th of August, I had the pleasure of attending the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra performing the world premiere of Carl Vine’s 8th Symphony, The Enchanted Loom. As well as playing Vine’s latest musical offering, the MSO also performed Holst’s The Planets Suite. Vine is the current composer in residence for the MSO and his […]
An exciting event that the Flinders Quartet hold annually is the Composer Development Program, a concert dedicated to playing the works of upcoming Australian composers. The concert featured the work of five Australian composers, all of which were written specifically for the event. The pieces were then workshopped with the quartet and composer Stuart Greenbaum […]
The very act of composing music requires an artist to notate their ideas so that others can perform it. Whilst this statement is a generalisation, it is safe to say that the majority of the time notation is the foremost way for composers to communicate their ideas. A pitfall that I believe can be an […]
When composing music, the majority of us will either use MIDI sequences or musical notation to convey our ideas and the question must be asked; which is more effective? Is traditional notation here to stay or will MIDI programming become a new standard of notation. I believe the answer to this question is essentially both. […]
Connect Four. I loved that game as a kid. My first day back at school and I didn’t play connect four, instead, I had a meeting with Dr Christine McCombe, a composer and mentor at the Melbourne Conservatorium of Music. A work of Christine’s that I am fond of is Epic – performed by the […]
One giant leap for samkind 😉 After recently having a meeting with Prof Stuart Greenbaum (Head of Composition at Melbourne Conservatorium) I was inspired and excited to commence studies in the coming semester. Stuart will be one of my lecturers/mentors during my studies at Melbourne Uni. I also met the other students who are involved […]
It can happen to you, if you’re young at heart… Thanks, Frank 🙂 Big news today guys, I have been accepted into The University of Melbourne, studying a graduate diploma in composition! To say that this fairy tale has come true is an understatement and now, my life-long dream of studying composition at one of […]
The recent addition of another movement to the Suite for Piano and Orchestra has been met with a fantastic reception and to celebrate, I have converted the MIDI to score using Sibelius. I have made this score for two reasons; the first is that I need to start converting my catalogue into playable pieces and […]
