micro/Maker by Loose Leaf Transmissions

Brett Copeland dismantles the narrow expectations around “tuba and electronics,” laying out a clear hierarchy that moves from fixed-media “karaoke” works, to flexible broken-tape structures, and finally to fully integrated systems involving live processing, multi-channel sound, and video. For him, electronics aren’t an accompaniment but an extension of performance—something that must breathe, respond, and place real agency in the performer’s hands. That philosophy carries directly into his composing, where he’s actively working to escape what he sees as a decade of writing music that simply “sounds like a tuba piece.” Influenced by mentors and peers who pushed back against instrumental habits, Brett now approaches each new work as a stylistic challenge—asking what it would mean for a low-brass ensemble to think symphonically, or for electroacoustic music to function as art rather than a technical checklist. The conversation ultimately widens into a critique of contemporary low-brass culture itself: a commissioning-rich ecosystem that too often prizes correctness over conviction. For Brett, the goal isn’t just to add to the repertoire—it’s to help write the next piece that actually matters.micro/Maker episodes release every Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday!Listen to music/Maker with Tyler Kline wherever you get podcasts.Support Loose Leaf Transmissions on Patreon.Follow us on Instagram: @loose.leaf.transmissionsmicro/Maker is a production of Loose Leaf Transmissions: Made for All Ears. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A nine-hour car ride with Steve Reich rewired Marc Mellits’s plan: skip the safe teaching job, move to New York, and start an ensemble. After years of mailing tapes to Bang on a Can with no reply, a surprise call from Michael Gordon led to a commission and Five Machines—a piece the All-Stars toured widely. Those performances sparked more invitations (Kronos among them) and a lesson Mellits passes on: rejection isn’t always the last word when performers champion the music.micro/Maker episodes release every Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday!Listen to music/Maker with Tyler Kline wherever you get podcasts, or at musicmakerpodcast.com.Support Loose Leaf Transmissions on Patreon at patreon.com/LooseLeafTransmissions.Follow us on Instagram: @loose.leaf.transmissionsmicro/Maker is a production of Loose Leaf Transmissions: Made for All Ears. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Daijana Wallace walks through the evolving pillars of her creative process: intentionality, working without boundaries, and daily repetition. She and host Tyler Kline explore how she begins each piece with a character sketch rather than staff paper, how she avoids locking herself into a fixed compositional voice, and why every project is treated as its own distinct world.micro/Maker episodes release every Tuesday and Friday!Listen to music/Maker with Tyler Kline wherever you get podcasts, or at musicmakerpodcast.com.Support Loose Leaf Transmissions on Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/LooseLeafTransmissions. Follow us on Instagram and Facebook @loose.leaf.transmissions.micro/Maker is a production of Loose Leaf Transmissions: Made for All Ears. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Shruthi Rajasekar talks with Tyler about the three touchstones she returns to again and again: identity, community, and joy. She reflects on how understanding identity—both self-defined and externally perceived—helps her shed fear, claim space, and recognize the privileges and complexities within South Asian artistic lineages. She also unpacks how her understanding of community has shifted: from being raised within a tight immigrant network to realizing that real community includes disagreement, multiplicity, and the difficult work of holding many viewpoints at once. Finally, she speaks to joy as the constant in her creative life—not as surface optimism, but as a commitment to imagining possibility even within serious or painful stories. Together, these three frameworks shape not only her music but the experiences she hopes to cultivate around it.micro/Maker episodes release every Tuesday and Friday!Listen to music/Maker with Tyler Kline wherever you get podcasts or at musicmakerpodcast.com.Support Loose Leaf Transmissions on Patreon at patreon.com/LooseLeafTransmissions.Follow us on social media @LooseLeafTransmissions.micro/Maker is a production of Loose Leaf Transmissions: Made for All Ears. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Sean Hamilton shares how his relationship with composer Stuart Saunders Smith has shaped his artistic identity — not just through mentorship, but through the challenge of performing Smith’s 50-minute vibraphone solo Queen Anne’s Lace. In this excerpt, Sean reflects on the rigor of memory, the discipline of presence, and how the piece prepared him for the large-scale improvisational work that now defines his creative practice.micro/Maker episodes release every Tuesday and Friday!Listen to music/Maker with Tyler Kline wherever you get podcasts, or at musicmakerpodcast.com.Support Loose Leaf Transmissions on Patreon at patreon.com/LooseLeafTransmissions.Follow us on Instagram and Facebook @LooseLeafTransmissions.micro/Maker is a production of Loose Leaf Transmissions: Made for All Ears. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Dorm-room sketches, oversized George Crumb scores, and a business minor no one thought he needed—Tyler Kline recounts how an unlikely mix of research fellowships and mentoring moments set him on the composer’s path. From discovering The Artist’s Way to a pivotal lesson with James Grant that rewired his sense of musical punctuation, Tyler traces the do-it-yourself mindset that still drives his work today.micro/Maker episodes release every Tuesday and Friday!Listen to music/Maker with Tyler Kline wherever you get podcasts, or at musicmakerpodcast.com.Support Loose Leaf Transmissions on Patreon at patreon.com/LooseLeafTransmissions.Follow us on Instagram: @loose.leaf.transmissionsmicro/Maker is a production of Loose Leaf Transmissions: Made for All Ears. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Gabriel Bolaños co-founded Proyecto Eco, Nicaragua's first new music ensemble, during a Fulbright stay while finishing his dissertation. Working with conservatory faculty and collaborator Guillermo Norori—a musician trained at the Royal Academy but rooted in Nicaragua's pop scene—they presented experimental chamber music at bars, cultural centers, and conservatories. Audiences proved remarkably open, even to hyper-experimental pieces that might alienate US listeners, perhaps because expectations about classical concerts were less rigid. Bolaños and his wife also launched Palenque Vivo, a home concert series funded by ticket sales from wealthy attendees, with free follow-up shows open to the public. The projects were flourishing when political crisis shut everything down. But Bolaños learned to conduct by necessity, and watching Norori pitch contemporary orchestra music to beer companies taught him how to frame the work's value from the ground up.micro/Maker episodes release every Tuesday and Friday!Listen to music/Maker with Tyler Kline wherever you get podcasts, or at musicmakerpodcast.com.Support Loose Leaf Transmissions on Patreon at patreon.com/LooseLeafTransmissions.Follow us on Instagram: @loose.leaf.transmissionsmicro/Maker is a production of Loose Leaf Transmissions: Made for All Ears. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hannah Selin traces the origins of her Pieces of Place project—a cycle of works that weave together memory, geology, and ecology. She and Tyler talk about composing during the pandemic, the ache of distance from nature, and the challenge of translating vast natural processes into human-scale sound. Through landscapes like the Chesapeake Bay and the Catskills, Hannah’s music becomes a way to listen for what’s shifting—within the Earth, and within herself.micro/Maker episodes release every Tuesday and Friday!Listen to music/Maker with Tyler Kline wherever you get podcasts, or at musicmakerpodcast.com.Support Loose Leaf Transmissions on Patreon. Follow us on social media @LooseLeafTransmissions.micro/Maker is a production of Loose Leaf Transmissions: Made for All Ears. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Austin Hammonds shares a lesson from composer John Powell that reshaped his thinking: you don’t have to know what you’re doing — you just have to be in control of what you’re doing. He and Tyler talk about the gap between confidence and uncertainty, and how learning from mentors (and tackling new creative challenges) helps keep the process alive, curious, and deeply human.micro/Maker episodes release every Tuesday and Friday!Listen to music/Maker with Tyler Kline wherever you get podcasts, or at musicmakerpodcast.com.Support Loose Leaf Transmissions on Patreon at patreon.com/LooseLeafTransmissions.Follow us on Instagram @loose.leaf.transmissions.micro/Maker is a production of Loose Leaf Transmissions: Made for All Ears. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Michael Frazier reflects on how birdsong entered his music not as a technical exercise, but as an extension of a long-standing, personal relationship with birds themselves. What began as visual fascination gradually expanded into sonic exploration, shaped by listening, whistling, and close attention rather than transcription alone. Drawing inspiration from Messiaen while diverging from his methods, Frazier describes how access, travel, and the internet have changed the possibilities of birdsong today—and why he now prioritizes sounds he has encountered firsthand. By grounding his work in local environments and lived moments, birdsong becomes less a historical reference and more a living record of place, time, and identity.micro/Maker episodes release every Tuesday and Friday!Listen to music/Maker with Tyler Kline wherever you get podcasts, or at musicmakerpodcast.com.Support Loose Leaf Transmissions on Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/LooseLeafTransmissions.Follow us on social media @LooseLeafTransmissions.micro/Maker is a production of Loose Leaf Transmissions: Made for All Ears. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Vanessa Ague talks about her creative rituals — daily listening, long walks, and the rhythm of language — and how each plays a role in shaping her work as a writer. She discusses the subtle tensions between repetition and variation, and how her process combines deep thought with lived experience and stylistic precision.micro/Maker episodes release every Tuesday and Friday!Listen to music/Maker with Tyler Kline wherever you get podcasts, or at musicmakerpodcast.com.Support Loose Leaf Transmissions on Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/LooseLeafTransmissions.Follow us on social media @LooseLeafTransmissions.micro/Maker is a production of Loose Leaf Transmissions: Made for All Ears. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Mahdis Golzar Kashani opens up about the profound challenges women face in Iran—and how those obstacles have shaped her life and work as a composer. In this excerpt, she reflects on restrictions placed on women performers, the societal pressures she’s navigated, and the courage of a new generation rising to create change. Through it all, Kashani’s music carries both anger and hope, serving as a powerful outlet for self-expression in a system that often seeks to silence women’s voices.micro/Maker episodes release every Tuesday and Friday!Listen to music/Maker with Tyler Kline wherever you get podcasts, or at musicmakerpodcast.com.Support Loose Leaf Transmissions on Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/LooseLeafTransmissions. Follow us on social media @loose.leaf.transmissions.micro/Maker is a production of Loose Leaf Transmissions: Made for All Ears. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What if high schoolers were given permission to make noise—messy, weird, beautiful noise—and call it music? After finishing his PhD in 2019, Nathan Hudson launched a virtual project teaching families to perform non-traditional notation. That experiment grew into the Forage and Flourish Contemporary Music Festival, a weeklong celebration of graphic scores, unconventional sounds, and creative ownership. From libraries and breweries to arts centers, Hudson and his faculty invited Atlanta-area students to discover the joy of making choices, not just following directions. The result: a ripple effect of schools programming non-traditional works and student composers taking the leap.micro/Maker episodes release every Tuesday and Friday!Listen to music/Maker with Tyler Kline wherever you get podcasts, or at musicmakerpodcast.com.Support Loose Leaf Transmissions on Patreon at patreon.com/LooseLeafTransmissions.Follow us on Instagram: @loose.leaf.transmissionsmicro/Maker is a production of Loose Leaf Transmissions: Made for All Ears. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Beyza Yazgan describes how the idea of Anatolia—rather than Türkiye as a modern nation—quietly surfaces in her music through instinct rather than intention. Layered histories, blended cultures, and inherited musical language emerge only after the music is written, often revealing themselves as something familiar yet untraceable, like a half-remembered dream. Her process begins with improvisation as an emotional, almost therapeutic act, followed by careful listening, notation, and refinement. Meaning, geography, and identity arrive later—never planned, never imposed. What results is music shaped less by concept than by trust: allowing sound to lead, and understanding to follow.micro/Maker episodes release every Tuesday and Friday!Listen to music/Maker with Tyler Kline wherever you get podcasts.Support Loose Leaf Transmissions on Patreon.Follow us on Instagram: @loose.leaf.transmissionsmicro/Maker is a production of Loose Leaf Transmissions: Made for All Ears. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Chris Opperman believes music can—and should—be funny. From his tongue-in-cheek album Chamber Music from Hell to a set of 12-tone Cribbage Variations, he shows how humor and playfulness can open doors to deeper engagement with music. He shares how embracing wit, audience connection, and even chance operations has pushed him to expand his creative voice while making contemporary music feel more alive and inviting.micro/Maker episodes release every Tuesday and Friday!Listen to music/Maker with Tyler Kline wherever you get podcasts, or at musicmakerpodcast.com.Support Loose Leaf Transmissions on Patreon at patreon.com/LooseLeafTransmissions.Follow us on Instagram: @loose.leaf.transmissionsmicro/Maker is a production of Loose Leaf Transmissions: Made for All Ears. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Shruthi Rajasekar looks back at her earliest compositions—letter names scribbled on loose sheets, drifting between Carnatic training and an intimidating Western notation system that never felt built for her. She and Tyler talk about gatekeeping in classical music, the shame that can shadow beginners, and how she learned to decode theory through a hybrid vocabulary of her own making. What begins as a conversation about notation becomes something broader: a reflection on who gets welcomed into classical spaces, who gets left behind, and how genuine encouragement can change the trajectory of a young artist.micro/Maker episodes release every Tuesday and Friday!Listen to music/Maker with Tyler Kline wherever you get podcasts, or at musicmakerpodcast.com.Support Loose Leaf Transmissions on Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/LooseLeafTransmissions.Follow us on social media @LooseLeafTransmissions.micro/Maker is a production of Loose Leaf Transmissions: Made for All Ears. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode, Baljinder Sekhon describes his conscious decision to stop composing percussion music — despite being a percussionist — in order to break creative habits and push his own boundaries. He also explains how that mindset now informs his teaching: encouraging students to write outside their comfort zones, take risks, and explore unfamiliar musical terrain.micro/Maker episodes release every Tuesday and Friday!Listen to music/Maker with Tyler Kline wherever you get podcasts, or at musicmakerpodcast.com.Support Loose Leaf Transmissions on Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/LooseLeafTransmissions.Follow us on social media @LooseLeafTransmissions.micro/Maker is a production of Loose Leaf Transmissions: Made for All Ears. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Returning to the University of Northern Iowa as a faculty member, Brett Copeland describes the strange cognitive dissonance of inhabiting both student and professor roles at once—still attending everything, still assigning himself weekly goals, still operating with a learner’s mindset. Teaching in Iowa has sharpened his awareness of how limited many students’ career models are, shaped largely by the visibility of band directors as the primary professional endpoint. Rather than rejecting that path, Brett works to widen the frame, introducing students to alternative models rooted in performance, electronics, entrepreneurship, and hybrid careers that don’t fit traditional academic narratives. His approach is grounded less in disruption than in exposure: showing what’s possible by example. The conversation culminates in a broader philosophy of work and life, illustrated through a parable about unknowingly building the house you’ll one day live in. For Brett, the lesson is simple but uncompromising—love the daily process, because the career you’re constructing isn’t abstract. It’s the structure you’ll inhabit every day.micro/Maker episodes release every Tuesday and Friday!Listen to music/Maker with Tyler Kline wherever you get podcasts.Support Loose Leaf Transmissions on Patreon.Follow us on Instagram: @loose.leaf.transmissionsmicro/Maker is a production of Loose Leaf Transmissions: Made for All Ears. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Sinclaire Marie describes atmospheric firing as a collaboration rather than a technique—one that requires attention, patience, and a willingness to relinquish control. Drawn to fire as both an ancestral element and a living force, she frames wood firing as a communal, physically demanding process that demands full presence: listening to the crackle of the flames, responding to their rhythm, and accepting that the kiln will not always do what you want it to do. She reflects on how this uncertainty becomes a teacher, revealing growth through small, unexpected victories—a cup whose surface finally shows looseness and history, or a teapot that playfully subverts its own form. Rather than chasing efficiency or perfection, the process becomes about attention, endurance, and learning how to play seriously—to let labor, tradition, and experimentation coexist in the work.micro/Maker episodes release every Tuesday and Friday!Listen to music/Maker with Tyler Kline wherever you get podcasts, or at musicmakerpodcast.com.Support Loose Leaf Transmissions on Patreon.Follow us on Instagram: @loose.leaf.transmissionsmicro/Maker is a production of Loose Leaf Transmissions: Made for All Ears. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Ania Vu reflects on the interplay between language, identity, and musical composition. Drawing from her multilingual upbringing, she shares how text influences her creative process — not just through semantics, but also through the sound and feel of words.micro/Maker episodes release every Tuesday and Friday!Listen to music/Maker with Tyler Kline wherever you get podcasts, or at musicmakerpodcast.com.Support Loose Leaf Transmissions on Patreon at patreon.com/LooseLeafTransmissions. Follow us on social media @LooseLeafTransmissions.micro/Maker is a production of Loose Leaf Transmissions: Made for All Ears. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.