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Listen "118 – The Art of Composing – with Composer Steven Lebetkin"
Episode Synopsis
Have you ever thought about composing? Have you already started your career? Are you interested in taking your composing game to the next level?
In this episode of The New Music Industry Podcast, I talk to composer Steven Lebetkin, who shares about his forthcoming release, Perpetuum Immobile, New Age Chamber Music and his specific way of approaching composition.
Download the PDF Transcription
Podcast Highlights:
00:14 – Introductions
00:23 – Who is Steven Lebetkin?
02:23 – Perpetuum Immobile
05:29 – What is New Age Chamber Music?
10:11 – Is it costlier to work with real instruments and musicians?
12:30 – Who are you influenced by?
17:33 – Is there a specific way you approach composition and making music?
22:24 – Is there a specific message you’re looking to share with your audience through your music?
27:32 – What are your plans moving forward?
29:23 – Is there anything else I should have asked?
Transcription:
David Andrew Wiebe: Today, I’m chatting with composer, speaker, and thought leader, Steven Lebetkin. How are you today, Steve?
Steven Lebetkin: I'm great. How are you today, David?
D.A.: Great. Thank you so much for asking. So, for those who don't know, why don't you paint us a picture of who you are and what you do?
Steven: Okay. Well, I'm a composer. I've been doing this for quite a long time. I started out in my young teenage years taking composition lessons and studying classical music, and going pretty much every weekend to Lincoln Center in New York at the Library of Performing Arts as a 13, 14-year-old young boy adolescent.
I just traveled to the library for years learning music, listening to vinyl -- yes, those were the days of vinyl -- and studying scores.
And then went on to college at City University of New York Queens College and had the very good privilege and distinction of studying with about five of the great giant composers of the 20th century. Unfortunately, no longer with us today as we are in the 21st century. Learned a very solid and rigorous background of traditional Great Western compositional techniques.
That forms the basis of all of my work for many decades since then in whatever style I choose to write. Whether it’s classical, symphonic, popular, or commercial, new age, as we're going to be talking about shortly in this interview medium than any other framework.
So, I have a solid foundation of compositional technique which gives me the ability to build and create in whatever language or style is called for at the time.
D.A.: That's great. Composing is definitely an art form. You have a new album on the way and I want to make sure I'm saying this right, although I'm not sure I am. Titled Perpetuum Immobile. What can you tell us about it?
Steven: Well, it's Perpetuum Immobile.
D.A.: Immobile.
Steven: Yes, correct. That’s the title track of the album and the title of that track seemed to get a good sense of what the sound is and who is on that track for the listener.
D.A.: So, what sort of mood were you trying to evoke with this music?
Steven: Well, it wasn't really such a mood. I was actually… I gave a considerable amount of thought and preparation prior to the composition and then ultimately the production of this album to music in the 21st century, particularly for a larger commercial audience as what's going on in the last 15, 20 years and how I could approach a commercial genre with a sense of compositional integrity at the same time but not losing the audience to something that was too deep or too deeply entrenched in the classical or you know avant garde 20th century type of sound.
The idea was consistent with my other works to approach and embrace a much wider audience than classical music generally is able to achieve, which is declining. The audience is declining, that's pretty well established.
The idea was to take a classical set of contemporary techniques, actually a classical set of techniques,
In this episode of The New Music Industry Podcast, I talk to composer Steven Lebetkin, who shares about his forthcoming release, Perpetuum Immobile, New Age Chamber Music and his specific way of approaching composition.
Download the PDF Transcription
Podcast Highlights:
00:14 – Introductions
00:23 – Who is Steven Lebetkin?
02:23 – Perpetuum Immobile
05:29 – What is New Age Chamber Music?
10:11 – Is it costlier to work with real instruments and musicians?
12:30 – Who are you influenced by?
17:33 – Is there a specific way you approach composition and making music?
22:24 – Is there a specific message you’re looking to share with your audience through your music?
27:32 – What are your plans moving forward?
29:23 – Is there anything else I should have asked?
Transcription:
David Andrew Wiebe: Today, I’m chatting with composer, speaker, and thought leader, Steven Lebetkin. How are you today, Steve?
Steven Lebetkin: I'm great. How are you today, David?
D.A.: Great. Thank you so much for asking. So, for those who don't know, why don't you paint us a picture of who you are and what you do?
Steven: Okay. Well, I'm a composer. I've been doing this for quite a long time. I started out in my young teenage years taking composition lessons and studying classical music, and going pretty much every weekend to Lincoln Center in New York at the Library of Performing Arts as a 13, 14-year-old young boy adolescent.
I just traveled to the library for years learning music, listening to vinyl -- yes, those were the days of vinyl -- and studying scores.
And then went on to college at City University of New York Queens College and had the very good privilege and distinction of studying with about five of the great giant composers of the 20th century. Unfortunately, no longer with us today as we are in the 21st century. Learned a very solid and rigorous background of traditional Great Western compositional techniques.
That forms the basis of all of my work for many decades since then in whatever style I choose to write. Whether it’s classical, symphonic, popular, or commercial, new age, as we're going to be talking about shortly in this interview medium than any other framework.
So, I have a solid foundation of compositional technique which gives me the ability to build and create in whatever language or style is called for at the time.
D.A.: That's great. Composing is definitely an art form. You have a new album on the way and I want to make sure I'm saying this right, although I'm not sure I am. Titled Perpetuum Immobile. What can you tell us about it?
Steven: Well, it's Perpetuum Immobile.
D.A.: Immobile.
Steven: Yes, correct. That’s the title track of the album and the title of that track seemed to get a good sense of what the sound is and who is on that track for the listener.
D.A.: So, what sort of mood were you trying to evoke with this music?
Steven: Well, it wasn't really such a mood. I was actually… I gave a considerable amount of thought and preparation prior to the composition and then ultimately the production of this album to music in the 21st century, particularly for a larger commercial audience as what's going on in the last 15, 20 years and how I could approach a commercial genre with a sense of compositional integrity at the same time but not losing the audience to something that was too deep or too deeply entrenched in the classical or you know avant garde 20th century type of sound.
The idea was consistent with my other works to approach and embrace a much wider audience than classical music generally is able to achieve, which is declining. The audience is declining, that's pretty well established.
The idea was to take a classical set of contemporary techniques, actually a classical set of techniques,
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