MATTHEW SCHOENDORFF musician • composer

I, like many others during the Coronavirus Pandemic of 2020, have not been able to manage much…

Wed, 22 Apr 2020 20:01:33 -0400

I, like many others during the Coronavirus Pandemic of 2020, have not been able to manage much...

Community engagement was never this much fun!

Mon, 04 Jun 2018 22:24:59 -0400

Community engagement was never this much fun!: My brother Ed, his 6th grade band, and I did a thing!...

Photo

Tue, 21 Mar 2017 18:34:00 -0400

WARNING: The following is post is rated tl;dr and contains...

Thu, 24 Nov 2016 20:57:26 -0500

WARNING: The following is post is rated tl;dr and contains unsolicited advice, soapbox-delivered opinions, and images of Ghostbusters proton packs. (Oh, wait. That last bit you already saw. Too late!) Skepticism and an attention span are advised.

*****

Advice to young composers: Develop a hobby that has nothing to do with music. Don’t get me wrong, a hobby that is also one’s job is pretty great. But it does have a drawback. It can be easy to get so wrapped up in your work, that the hobby aspect takes a back burner. Do this too much, and you *will* burn out. It’s a very real danger. When it inevitably does happen, you need something entirely different to do, or you will Netflix-and-nap your way into an existential crisis and depression.

One of my favorite non musical hobbies is collecting costumes, models, and props from my favorite movies and tv shows. (Yes, I am FULLY aware that I’m basically a child collecting toys, and how much potential damage admitting that may do to future chances at reproductive opportunities. But on the plus side, any future Matt, Jr. will win at Halloween every single year! ….Ladies. *creepy 😏*) This can be an expensive hobby, though, unless you get really creative. Lately, I’ve been resorting to building props and pieces of costumes from scratch using found objects, old junk, and a minimal budget for parts I that are beyond my current capabilities to construct myself.

My latest project? A screen accurate and fully-propped costume from the original Ghostbusters (1984). I found a cheap 20-year-old fixer upper on eBay (left) that I plan to restore with full lights and sound fX packages, working trap pedal with lighting and smoke FX, and if I can engineer a decent and practical simulation effect, an actual “proton stream” the neutrona wand can shoot. I’ll start by swapping out the old wood and styrofoam mother board with a modern pre-formed light weight plastic one (right). Yeah, it’s ambitious. But also a lot of fun and satisfying to see how close I can get the final product to match up with my originally-envisioned intention.

So, I guess it has that in common with composition. But the change in medium and materials can be refreshing, even cathartic. There’s still that feeling of “I made that!” (or at least “I assembled that!”). In fact, the tactile and immediate feedback that working with physical objects instead of abstract “notes on a page” allows can be a great morale booster when you’re waiting for a composition to be premiered, when you’re in between projects, when you’ve hit a wall on a piece — the dreaded writer’s block, or worse, the crippling “This is shit. All my ideas are shit. I’m a fraud. I am shit.” burnout. Besides, it’s really difficult to feel like a complete failure while wearing a whip and fedora with all the trimmings or working out a way to get your Star Trek: TNG phaser to shoot some kind of lighting effect. Besides, with all the dedicated fan sites and forums filled with documented builds by other fans, screen-accurate dimensions, schematics, instructions, links to kits and parts available online, it’s easy to research, plan, and even improve on what others have done. After all, except for the handful of really talented professional prop makers out there with dedicated workshops, access to materials, and budgets for their equipment and materials, most of the fan sites and forums are filled with regular guys who amateur it in their garages on weekends and can dedicate only so much time and money to their hobby before pissing off a significant other.

On the other hand, I have a terminal degree in composition, am familiar with aesthetic theory, have extensive experience in completing projects started from scratch, and no S.O. to piss off. I also have nothing to prove and no agenda beyond pure craft. As long as I have the time, money, and energy for it, I suspect that a non musical hobby will pay musics dividends in unexpected ways and make me a better composer and artist.

Also? Guys, I *really* want to go to a Comic Con one of these days. And I want to go with friends. And I want us all to pwn with our costumes. All I want to know is…
Who’s coming with me??

*****

Matt’s super nerdy hobby will return in the future project currently known as “You call *that* a 1:1 scale TARDIS?! I can do better than THAT! …I wonder if there’s a way to simulate a “bigger on the inside” effect?“

Photo

Mon, 08 Aug 2016 04:19:43 -0400

Patch In 24: Phenomenally Different Scales

Mon, 07 Dec 2015 23:47:46 -0500

So, remember when the Michigan State University Facility for Rare Isotope Beams (MSU FRIB)...

studying music theory like

Fri, 27 Nov 2015 00:49:02 -0500

ximahler-hammer-of-fate: free-the-arts: Every music major ever I have strong opinions on this....

Yup. This totally happened. I already own a TARDIS and the...

Mon, 02 Nov 2015 18:48:58 -0500

Yup. This totally happened. I already own a TARDIS and the U.S.S. Enterprise, so it was just a matter of time.

MSU FRIB Project

Tue, 27 Oct 2015 08:58:28 -0400

In 1965, Michigan State University installs its first particle accelerator, the Cyclotron, to study...

‘Concerto for Tuba and Wind Ensemble’ premiere

Tue, 27 Oct 2015 08:56:27 -0400

The Michigan State University Symphony Band is premiering my Concerto for Tuba and Wind...

Why?

Tue, 25 Aug 2015 21:21:36 -0400

Because.

when you get calls to come to a rehearsal thats almost over

Sat, 22 Aug 2015 00:11:43 -0400

whatshouldwecallconservatory:

PROCRASTINATIONa) a constructive freeform creative strategyb) a...

Fri, 24 Jul 2015 14:03:53 -0400

PROCRASTINATION

a) a constructive freeform creative strategy
b) a destructive bad habit that allows vices to fill the void of idle time
c) both/neither, depending on one’s mindful approach to the pros and cons

The point is that procrastination can be an extraordinarily useful creative tool, right up until the point the artist becomes so enamored with and distracted by a single tree of procrastination, the whole rest of the forest goes unnoticed. This is a difficult tightrope for an artist (composer, in my case) to walk consistently. Consequently, a procrastination project that begins innocently enough as a puzzle and formatting exercise descends into the madness of a labor of love, an unhealthy obsession, a well-disguised trap door giving way beneath your feet to a pit of poisonous quicksand lava snakes.

Enter this particular dragon above.

on criticism

Thu, 04 Jun 2015 00:52:15 -0400

About a year ago, my good friend, colleague, Assistant Professor of Theory and Saxophone at Oklahoma...

UNA Composition Studio Class Masterclass

Wed, 03 Jun 2015 02:24:12 -0400

Back in April of this year, I was invited to give a masterclass to the composition studio at the...

Current and latest projects

Wed, 03 Jun 2015 02:02:16 -0400

Sometimes I get so caught up with work activities, I forget to document them here on my blog. (Ok,...

...on life and living (meditation)

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 02:43:34 -0400

Life never works out the way we want or expect it to. It cannot. Because that is not how life works....

Finding your voice as an artist

Tue, 07 May 2013 03:45:16 -0400

Ultimately, it is a direct expression of your point of view, your philosophy on the medium. How and...

Fear as motivator

Tue, 12 Feb 2013 13:28:10 -0500

Fear is both a dreaded cursed state, and a useful motivator. It keeps one on one’s toes. When...

New publication 'Fugue State' now available

Wed, 01 Aug 2012 07:17:05 -0400

Are you a band director looking for a great new piece for your band? Have I got a piece for you! In...