Many composers shy away from writing music for young players, thinking that this is a “dumbing down” of their talents or time unwisely spent on musicians who have little interest in their work. Well, nothing could be further from the truth.

Say you’re a composer with an opportunity to have a professional recording made of your music. You’ve been told you’ll be working with a record producer, but what does a producer do, anyway?

There are two important reasons for a composer to acquire a DBA (“Doing Business As”): one has to do with money, the other with privacy. And if you are doing business under any name other than your own, it’s required by law.

Setting out to establish one’s music in another country can feel overwhelming; it’s often problematic enough getting your music played in your own town! But overseas performances don’t have to remain a distant fantasy.

Just as each commissioned piece will be unique, so will the agreement that helps bring it to life.

The future for multi-media art—creating a fluid interchange between music, image, story, performers, and ever-evolving technology—opens up all sorts of new territory. What follows are a few notes from my own explorations into these new possibilities.

A step-by-step guide to planning and executing your campaign.

A composer residency can be an amazing opportunity to grow as an artist and connect with the music community outside the studio door. And with a bit of planning, the headaches and frustrations that can accompany such a venture can be avoided.

Making sense of microtuning, with illustrations of performer-friendly notation models.

A crash course on turning your PowerBook into your favorite instrument.