126 - Rebuilding Autonomy in Music-Making

127 - Letting Go of the System

C. Jacqueline Wood reflects on art-making through the lens of loss, disillusionment, and resilience. Once embedded in the world of festivals and nonprofits, she has shifted toward creating on her own terms—outside the systems of grants, gatekeepers, and institutions. In this conversation, she speaks about why she no longer measures success by accolades, how her microcinema became a space for nurturing potential, and why sometimes the most important work emerges when artists stop waiting for permission. micro/Maker episodes release every Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday! Listen to music/Maker with Tyler Kline wherever you get podcasts, or at musicmakerpodcast.com [musicmakerpodcast.com]. Support Loose Leaf Transmissions on Patreon at patreon.com/LooseLeafTransmissions [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 [https://acast.com/privacy] for more information.

126 - Rebuilding Autonomy in Music-Making

Phong Tran reflects on how disillusionment with the classical commissioning system led him to create a more autonomous performance practice. He shares candid thoughts on the institutional structures that shape musical labor, and how writing an essay for I Care If You Listen helped clarify his position. micro/Maker episodes release every Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday! Listen to music/Maker with Tyler Kline wherever you get podcasts, or at musicmakerpodcast.com [musicmakerpodcast.com]. Support Loose Leaf Transmissions on Patreon at patreon.com/LooseLeafTransmissions [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 [https://acast.com/privacy] for more information.

125 - Turning Music into Art

Satisfaction is slippery. Tyler Kline and Marc Mellits trade notes on finishing a piece, cringing at what they’d change, and carrying those fixes into the next work. Mellits lays out his “three thirds” view—composer, performer, audience—arguing that interpretation by great players (and the listeners who complete the circuit) transforms notes on a page into art. Along the way they celebrate how performers can uncover things in a score the composer didn’t know were there. micro/Maker episodes release every Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday! Listen to music/Maker with Tyler Kline wherever you get podcasts, or at musicmakerpodcast.com [musicmakerpodcast.com]. Support Loose Leaf Transmissions on Patreon at patreon.com/LooseLeafTransmissions [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 [https://acast.com/privacy] for more information.

124 - Following Final Fantasy into Reality

Chris Opperman remembers the day Final Fantasy music struck him like lightning. What began as a teenage obsession with Nobuo Uematsu’s soundtracks turned into a surreal journey—meeting his hero, joining the Distant Worlds team, and eventually orchestrating music for Final Fantasy concerts across the globe. From Carnegie Hall to Japan, Opperman shares how a lifelong fandom became a career bringing joy to thousands of gamers and concertgoers alike. micro/Maker episodes release every Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday! Listen to music/Maker with Tyler Kline wherever you get podcasts, or at musicmakerpodcast.com [musicmakerpodcast.com]. Support Loose Leaf Transmissions on Patreon at patreon.com/LooseLeafTransmissions [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 [https://acast.com/privacy] for more information.

123 - Letting Improvisation Reshape the Path

Beyza Yazgan reflects on how limited her early exposure to living composers was while studying piano in Turkey, where the focus remained firmly on the classical canon. That began to shift only after moving to New York, where encounters with contemporary music, free jazz, and improvisation classes quietly rewired her listening and sense of possibility. An improvisation course—initially peripheral to her formal training—became a turning point, offering permission to imagine herself not just as an interpreter, but as a creator. Now composing daily without having formally studied composition, she navigates a hybrid creative life shaped by curiosity, self-teaching, and practical demands—from sound libraries to stylistic flexibility. Rather than a clean break from tradition, her path reflects a gradual widening: a willingness to let unfamiliar sounds, disciplines, and questions reshape what a musical career can look like. 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.transmissions micro/Maker is a production of Loose Leaf Transmissions: Made for All Ears. ---------------------------------------- Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy [https://acast.com/privacy] for more information.