Finally, a Blog Update!
Hello all!
It’s certainly been a while since I’ve updated my blog, but better late than never!
I recently had a job change that fortunately is allowing me much more time (and mental energy) to devote towards composition and my career; my hope is to post career updates on a more regular basis, and maybe even do some musings or a deep dive on something I’ve composed. I doubt many people will bother reading these, but hopefully the 2 of you out there will enjoy these for what they are. :)
Project Updates
The Lonely Machine
I just met with one of my band director friends and got some great feedback on my draft of the piece, which will be incorporated in the next couple weeks or so. I’m also hoping to show this to a colleague who specializes in percussion for some feedback, as that’s still a weak area for me.
We’re tentatively planning on having the piece premiered in May at the final concert for a local school, but more details will be forthcoming.
Summary: Draft 2 finished, incorporating feedback for Draft 3
Spaceship Video Game*
This is a project I joined sometime last year after learning that one of my friends was working on a game in Unity with his brother and that they were looking for original music. There’s a long and convoluted story here, but here’s the short version:
We had conversations about the tone they wanted for the music, and I submitted a draft that they didn’t feel matched the game well. Unfortunately, due to my job circumstances at the time I was unable to put time into revising the draft and/or starting over, and put the project in “perpetual backburner” status. When my job changed in October, I decided that I wanted to try again and began doing a deep study of the reference tracks they provided while writing unorchestrated drafts of ideas I had. I recently finished a final mix of one of the tracks that I will be submitting soon, and I’m hoping that it’s closer to the tone they’re looking for; the nice part about this track I assembled is that there are a lot of ideas and textures packed into the 3-minute runtime, which can theoretically be further developed and spooled out if they like certain parts but not others. I should also say that I learned a great deal about working in a DAW through this track, and some considerations for assembling a polished product with good EQ and mixing.
I’m also hoping to further develop some of the drafts I’ve done, as they have some fun grooves and interesting textures that I want to explore further. We’ll see if they see the light of day or if I have to start from scratch again…
Summary: Finished mastering a new track, submitting to the developers for feedback.
* Out of respect for my friends who are working on this game, I’ve chosen a working title that is different from the title of the actual game.
Miscellaneous Projects
One of the main ways I get premieres is by participating in groups as a musician and then asking the director if they would be willing to program a piece for an upcoming concert. This has several benefits to it, the biggest of which is that I get performances and recordings by a live group. Someday I’ll write a post detailing why this method has worked so well for me, but suffice it to say that I’m currently working on getting a piece or 2 performed by groups I’m in for the Spring season.
Summary: No updates yet, but hopefully soon…
Final Musing
I’m just grateful for the situation I’m in currently. Leaving my job in October was a difficult and heart-wrenching decision, and one that I had to take on faith since I didn’t have other employment lined up. My plan was to get a full-time job in a recording studio or a performance venue while working on my composition career, but I understood that I needed an interim option as it might take a while for something to work out. Enter private lessons, my not-preferred backup option! I had noticed a need for trumpet lesson teachers in the area, and I figured it would be a good in-between option to help my savings not get depleted as quickly while allowing enough flexibility to research, apply, and interview for “real jobs.” What I didn’t realize is that teaching lessons was actually a great long-term option: getting enough students would pay my bills every month, I actually enjoyed teaching 1-on-1, and it left me 3 days per week to dedicate towards composition. This caught me by surprise, and was something I never would have done if I hadn’t taken that step of faith leaving my job. In a way, this real-life eucatastrophe (an unexpected positive turn of events that cannot be planned on or repeated) taught me that sometimes the things we want in life will come in unexpected ways and after a leap of faith.
So for the foreseeable future, I’m looking forward to having the time to develop my career and do what I love most – compose music.
Until next time,
-JM Whitchurch
