Music Composers Unite!
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Steve O Sample
- Male
- Bellingham, WA
- United States
Music
Steve O Sample's Groups
Steve O Sample's Page
Latest Activity
Doug Henry left a comment for Steve O Sample"Well, it's been a long time. I am glad to see that you are still composing and fishing. I am teaching and playing in Charlotte still. We have a good quartet here and our second CD is coming out at the end of this month. Jim Stack and friends on…"
Space Alone Movie (Music by Ron Ferguson)
"Great! Very professional work. Fits the video beautifully.
Steve"
"Ron:
It's good to hear from you. I have been so busy writing for various groups that I don't get to "play" with you guys. I am still hoping to learn enough about Cubase that I can start posting again.
Thanks for the kind words…"
Profile Information
- What have you composed for? Or what medium do you work around?
- Choir, Orchestra, Small Ensemble, Big Ensemble, Other
- What is your favorite genre or style of music?
- Contemporary Big Band Jazz, 14th-16th century vocal polyphony, Stravinsky and friends
- Is music your main income source?
- No - Not at all.
- Where do you live?
- Bellingham, WA 98229
- About Me (MUST be more than 10 words to be approved):
- Retired professor of music, 35 years on University of Alabama music faculty. I taught theory and composition as well as arranged for marching band 1955-1973, started Jazz Ensemble 1967/68. Established arranging degree program offering Bachelor and Masters degrees in Arranging. I still have my 747 tackle box full of music pens, inks, etc. but haven't written by hand since 1989. I am now quite proficient with FINALE on my Mac.
Steve O Sample's Photos
Comment Wall (37 comments)
- At 11:33am on September 9, 2009, Doug Henry said…
- Well, it's been a long time. I am glad to see that you are still composing and fishing. I am teaching and playing in Charlotte still. We have a good quartet here and our second CD is coming out at the end of this month. Jim Stack and friends on Artist's house records. Send me your address and I will send you one. Let me hear from you. Doug Henry
- At 6:55pm on July 20, 2009,
Tim Clemmons said… - Hey Steve,
It's been awhile since we last spoke. I thought I would update you on a few of my new tunes. If you get a chance, go over to my page and listen to a few of them. See what you think. Of course, I don't have the talent in my whole body that you have in your little pinky, but enjoy.
Take care!
- At 12:00am on June 28, 2009,
Ronald (rolifer) Ferguson said… - Steve
I was just looking around while a piece was uploading and saw you. Miss you on the other site. You always gave me such great encouragement and I miss that. Nice to see a picture of you as well. I remember some of these pieces you have here. Cool.
Ron
- At 1:42pm on February 25, 2008,
Steve O Sample said…
- Didier EUZET:
This looks and sounds quite professional, however due to my age and training, it is not a genre' that I am into. Thanks for the invite but I fail to see that we would have any mutual interests, so please accept my "no thanks."
Good writing and continued success.
Steve Sample
- At 1:17am on August 5, 2007,
Jeff DeMond said…
- Haven't seen Birch or Tommy in several years. Last spoke with Ricky Reed and Alison Prestwood a few years ago - both in Nashville at the time. (I always have to go find THEM). Haven't heard from Bethany in a bunch of years. I'm married 20 years this year, and have 14 and 17 yr old sons, so that's kept me off the streets for a while! My older guy is looking to play college baseball, so we've been traveling all summer with a tournament team showcasing him to college scouts. I'm off tomorrow to a week of jazz guitar 'camp' - 8 to 10 hours of classes and playing each day. My annual tune-up. Would love to hear what Steve and Marty have been doing. I'm also reachable at jdemond@bresnan.com if you'd rather not share all the personal catch-up with the whole group here. Do you know what the other NY folks are up to?
- At 11:06pm on August 2, 2007,
- Not enough space here for the first "Hey Steve" in nearly 30 years! As your former student I should say that I still dutifully play every day (even if it's at 2 am after the family goes to sleep!). Glad I found your hiding spot here - hope to catch up with you directly some time soon (and the other guys here, too).
- At 1:21pm on July 11, 2007,
chris gordon said…
- read the blog about them - i just wanted you guys to know that i had ventured out and had some projects for albums and releases - that genre and process is where the money is made and history is made in the industry - through popular songs. I did not choose the arrangements or productions sounds. that was left to the studios - except for like children, which has a live rhythm section recorded in a live setting and i played piano on that track, all others i wrote only the copyrightable elements - lyrics, melody, form, and harmonic lead sheet. Everything else is done by somon else for their stylistic and markting purposes. As far as the songs themselves are concerned - i wanted the melody etc to work in any style, as I believe good compositions can stand up to that standard. Thus the melody and harmony and form could work as a op song with larged production, as a piano melody alone, with singer and guitar, as a string quartet , etc. I think these tunes have some of that quality in them, in that they are "hookey" and melodically memorable, and have a form that is allowing of "arranging techniques" being applied to it - thus giving the tune a life beyond its original setting. atthe university we studied arranging and orchestration techniques. highly useful stuff, but dick and I found out that the industry moves in compositions which means experience with lyric writing, harmony, rhythmic style mastery, and hooks, as these can apply to songs, jingles, advertising and film. Dick and I leasrned these on our own and we are struggling to tame our own dragons for our own uses. Alas, academic "Jazz" degrees still do not train musicians in these reality based skills, thye now have fatr much less arranging techniques than we had and more improv i suppose with some history, whjich makes the students aware of the greats who did well at what dick and I are trying to do in composition - to add to the american popular song literature. But we only get to do it through the demands of others - how sad. Any way - just sharing may attempts.
- At 8:33pm on July 10, 2007,
- Steve,
I just posted 6 new songs I wrote because I just got Mp-3's of them to put up here. Give a listen and tell me what you think. I enjoy songwriting but don't get to do it often - here is the best of my work in this genre! ENJOY -
- At 9:08am on June 17, 2007,
Ken Watters said…
- Hey Steve!
GREAT to hear from you! Ya know, I've been meaning to aoplogize for acting like such a little shit during that unforgettable two weeks at U of A years ago. You were too kind not to kick me out...
How have you been? Where are you living these days? Looks like you're extremely active in the music world!
My wife & I are living in the Atlanta area & have no complaints at all. Lots of work there & a great & healthy live music scene (all styles). Plus, I'm in a NYC-based Caribbean band that travels to the French speaking world every few months, so I do 't go stir-crazy...
Fill me in on your happenings when you get a minute! Again, it was great to hear from you!
Ken
kenwatt@aol.com
http://www.wattersbrothers.com
(770)965-6464 (home)
(256)603-5059 (cell)
- At 3:15am on June 17, 2007,
Shane Porter said… - Well, my band at UTC is young. I'm entering my 3rd year and when I started, I literally had 3 saxes, 2 bones, 3 trumpets a drummer and bass player (from the orchestra). I did wonders with them because they worked hard. Now, I have a full ensemble with rhythm section players to spare. They are a young group, doing to be many freshman next year which is fine, they'll be smokin' in 4 years.
I drive them hard - so - whatever you hear in the recordings, will be the best that they have - I wont accept anything less.
No need for a father's prejudice - Stevie is an amazing musician - if you haven't heard him in a while, his solos are as musical as anyone with a horn. It's always great to be on the same stage with him - he plays the set the way I play my horn. I'm not sure if you knew this interesting bit of trivia - I am the last person to graduate from U of A with the arranging degree, after me that degree was retired & a Jazz Studies degree was put in place.
This has been great for Chris and I - discovering this and him being able to communicate with you has given us much more to talk about & has seemingly put a fresh gleem in his eye. We've been talkin' about some great things - he has a HUGE idea that he's putting together. Let's just say it's going to be groundbreaking when it's all finished. I'll leave it at that. I don't want to give away too much.
Talk soon.
Shane.
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