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Just Add Music (with Minna) — Music
Just Add Music (with Minna)

Hi! Welcome to Just Add Music, a podcast for the music curious, aspiring music makers and anyone in need of a creative companion on a lonely day.

My name is Minna. I’m a professional composer living in the Bay Area. 15 years ago I started an orchestra called The Magik*Magik Orchestra and have composed music for hundreds of bands, filmmakers, artists on creative projects of all kinds.

The one thing I wish someone had told me when I was younger was that you don’t need to be a star to make a good living doing what you love. It took me 30 years to finally trust my intuitive musical voice. I hope that by listening to this podcast, I can help speed up that process for you and help remove unnecessary roadblocks to your own creative intuitions.

If you have ever been curious to explore making music for fun or as a career but wondered what the day to day was like, I invite you to take a listen. The format is casual and unscripted. Just a lunch between two friends talking music, craft and business.

Welcome!

Credits:
Minna Choi – host, composer, music/audio editor
Nicole Wong – producer, story editor

Copyright: © 2023 Just Add Music (with Minna)

Latest Episodes:

17. Just Add...Memories of Mariah (Overture Series) May 27, 2024

At last, the final episode of the Overture Series is here!
It's been 3 months since that first call and finally I get to hear the final reveal on tour, loud and proud!
Welcome to the Season Finale of Just Add Music Season 2, the Overture series!

16. Just Add...The Layer Cake (Overture Series) May 27, 2024

The big day is here! Time to go to the studio and finally record the final versions of these two short pieces. It's August 2023 and we are in Oakland at 25th Street Studios with a 13 piece string section, a trumpet player, a french horn player and a flutist. I am conducting and producing the session.
Listen to how we build each piece layer by layer. Thank you to Gabe Shephard at 25th Street for tracking the orchestra and to Adam Muñoz for mixing our tracks!
Welcome to Just Add Music, S2, Episode 8!

15. Just Add...Notation (Overture Series) May 27, 2024

Don't have the CALM app yet? Fear not! My love letter to Notation episode is here to help you rest that weary body and heavy eyelids.
Cozy up with your favorite blanket and hear me wax poetic about my love for the art of notation (the art of creating sheet music). While some composers view notation time as drudgery, I find it soothing and a constant reminder of how the human body moves to make music. Notation is creating a choreography manual for a musician to read and react to. In an ever increasing computerized, AI-ized, automated world, the act of drawing musical notes on a page for a human to read and move their body to match feels like a quiet, subversive act. I will never tire of watching humans play music together. Notation is one way to keep those muscles moving.
Welcome to Just Add Music, Season 2, Ep 7!

14. Just Add..Music Shout Outs (Overture Series) May 21, 2024

Today we move onto writing the overture for Death Cab for Cutie. My relationship with DCFC goes back to 2011 when I wrote my first string arrangements for their Codes and Keys album. Shortly thereafter, we toured an orchestral collab set in 2012 with the Magik*Magik Orchestra. Because of this history, the writing process for DCFC felt so different from what it was like writing for The Postal Service. If writing for the Postal Service felt like being at a party with a bunch of people you don't know, writing for DCFC felt like grabbing tacos with an old friend.
Welcome to Just Add Music, Season 2, Episode 6!
Production Credits:
Host, Composer, Music/Audio Editing: Minna Choi
Producer, Story Editor: Nicole Wong
Music Credits:
1) Luna 006 - Ghost Girl
2) Amelia 007 - Ghost Girl
3) Ana 005 - Ghost Girl
4) Amelia 008 - Ghost Girl
5) Amelia 009 - Ghost Girl
6) Transatlanticism - Death Cab for Cutie
7) Camille 001 - Ghost Girl
8) Luna 003 - Ghost Girl
9) A Lack of Color - Death Cab for Cutie

13. Just Add...Dad's Vacation (Overture Series) May 21, 2024

We've all felt it, but no one (to my knowledge) has ever named it. You know that feeling when you send your first draft of a fresh new idea, your baby, your precious to someone for their feedback? But you haven't heard anything back yet?
What emotions do you feel? I feel relief. I feel like I've earned the right to rest and it feels incredible. Here's an episode dedicated to that special feeling.
Welcome to Just Add Music, Season 2, Episode 5!
Production Credits:
Host, Composer, Music/Audio Editing: Minna Choi
Producer, Story Editor: Nicole Wong
Music Credits:
1) Amani 007 - Ghost Girl
2) Amelia 007 - Ghost Girl
3) Ana 005 - Ghost Girl
4) Amelia 008 - Ghost Girl

12. Just Add...Better Second Drafts (Overture Series) May 21, 2024

It's been about a week since I fiddled around with the first draft of the Postal Service Overture. During that week of waiting, I felt overwhelmed with the amount of fixing I was going to have to do. The memory of the draft in my head turned out to be way worse than the reality of what was sitting on my hard drive so when I actually sat down to work on the piece, it wasn't as hard as I thought it would be. It happens to the best of us!
Welcome to Just Add Music, Season 2, Episode 4!
Production Credits:
Host, Composer, Music/Audio Editing: Minna Choi
Producer, Story Editor: Nicole Wong
Music Credits:
1) Sleeping In - The Postal Service
2) Kat 001 - Ghost Girl
3) Shaya 006 - Ghost Girl
4) Clark Gable - The Postal Service

11. Just Add...Bad First Drafts (Overture Series) May 13, 2024

Welcome to the 2nd Season of Just Add Music!
For this series, we are delving into the behind the scenes of the composing process by tracking the lifecycle of 2 short music commissions from start to finish. The pieces in question? Two 1-minute orchestra overtures for the bands Death Cab for Cutie and The Postal Service to open their 20th Anniversary Tour in 2023 and 2024.
Join Minna as she walks through the ups and downs of the composing process and works through ideation, brainstorming, sketching, editing and execution for these two short pieces.
Thank you to Ben Gibbard for bringing in me for this writing assignment, I had a blast! And to anyone who's ever been curious to try writing music themselves, I hope this series makes the process more approachable!
Please enjoy the 2nd season of Just Add Music (with Minna)!
Production Credits:
Host, Composer, Music/Audio Editing: Minna Choi
Producer, Story Editor: Nicole Wong
Music Credits:
1) The District Sleeps Alone Tonight - The Postal Service
2) Such Great Heights - The Postal Service
3) Sleeping In - The Postal Service
4) Nothing Better - The Postal Service
5) Recycled Air - The Postal Service
6) Clark Gable - The Postal Service
7) At Last - Etta James
8) Gilraen's Memorial - Howard Shore
9) Olympics Fanfare - John Williams
10) National Anthem - The Postal Service
11) Clarinet Concerto in A Major, K. 622: II. Adagio - W.A. Mozart, Jaime Martin, Andrew Marriner, London Symphony Orchestra
12) The Marriage of Figaro Overture - W.A. Mozart, London Philharmonic, Alfred Scholz

10. Just Add...The First Brainstorm (Overture Series) May 13, 2024

Welcome to the 2nd Season of Just Add Music!
For this series, we are delving into the behind the scenes of the composing process by tracking the lifecycle of 2 short music commissions from start to finish. The pieces in question? Two 1-minute orchestra overtures for the bands Death Cab for Cutie and The Postal Service to open their 20th Anniversary Tour in 2023 and 2024.
Join Minna as she walks through the ups and downs of the composing process and works through ideation, brainstorming, sketching, editing and execution for these two short pieces.
Thank you to Ben Gibbard for bringing in me for this writing assignment, I had a blast! And to anyone who's ever been curious to try writing music themselves, I hope this series makes the process more approachable!
Please enjoy the 2nd season of Just Add Music (with Minna)!
Production Credits:
Host, Composer, Music/Audio Editing: Minna Choi
Producer, Story Editor: Nicole Wong
Music Credits:
1) Shaya 006 - Ghost Girl
2) Gone with the Wind Main Title - Max Steiner
3) West Side Story Prologue - Leonard Bernstein
4) Kat 005 - Ghost Girl
5) Transatlanticism - Death Cab for Cutie
6) Such Great Heights - The Postal Service
7) Camille 001 - Ghost Girl
8) Such Great Heights - The Postal Service

9. Just Add...The Assignment (Overture Series) May 13, 2024

Welcome to the 2nd Season of Just Add Music!
For this series, we are delving into the behind the scenes of the composing process by tracking the lifecycle of 2 short music commissions from start to finish. The pieces in question? Two 1-minute orchestra overtures for the bands Death Cab for Cutie and The Postal Service to open their 20th Anniversary Tour in 2023 and 2024.
Join me as I walk through the ups and downs of the composing process and works through ideation, brainstorming, sketching, editing and execution for these two short pieces.
Thank you to Ben Gibbard for bringing in me for this writing assignment, I had a blast! And to anyone who's ever been curious to try writing music themselves, I hope this series makes the process more approachable!
Please enjoy the 2nd season of Just Add Music (with Minna)!
Production Credits:
Host, Composer, Music/Audio Editing: Minna Choi
Producer, Story Editor: Nicole Wong
Music Credits:
1) Magik Overture - Death Cab For Cutie with The Magik*Magik Orchestra (live)
2) Kat 004 - Ghost Girl
3) Tamara 004 - Ghost Girl
4) Shaya 001 - Ghost Girl
5) Different Names for the Same Thing - Death Cab For Cutie with The Magik*Magik Orchestra (live)

8. Just Add...Real Chords (Bonus Episode and 2023 Sign Off) Dec 25, 2023

After listening back to the Charlie Brown Episode I recorded 5 months ago, both my producer and I thought it left things a bit unresolved.
I've always taken a bit of pride in my ability to play most things by ear, but here and there I come across a piece where I have to admit defeat and buy the sheet music online. This was one of those times!
To all who took the time to listen to this podcast over the holidays, thank you! Recording these got me through some tough dry spells over the Spring and Summer this year when I thought perhaps my music career was over. Being able to talk about the things I love refreshed my soul and I hope to pass along a bit of that refreshment to you.
Happy New Year and catch you in 2024!

7. Just Add...Sad Little Christmas Trees (A Charlie Brown Christmas) Dec 25, 2023

Merry Christmas to all who celebrate! I'd love to say I saved this episode for last to match with the Christmas holidays but in fact I saved this episode for last because I was feeling very unconfident about my ability to play jazz or even talk about it. I debated not recording this one because the music is so outside my wheelhouse but it brought up some topics I felt were relevant to a freelancer's creative life. How do you know when to work on a skill to improve, and how do you know when to leave well enough alone and stay in your own lane? Here's the final episode of the VHS Tapes Series: A Charlie Brown Christmas!

6. Just Add...Yenta (The Fiddler on the Roof) Dec 25, 2023

Oh Yenta, Yenta, Yenta. This episode is dedicated to my dear friend Agii, who has always been there for me in good times and bad. Your podcast inspired me to make my own and our daily chats are life giving. The spirit of Fiddler on the Roof reminds me of you and of your family's path to the states. I'm so grateful for our friendship, Happy Hanukkah my friend. Here's to the new year!

5. Just Add...High Cs (Amadeus) Dec 24, 2023

Welcome to the 4th VHS tape of our series: Amadeus!
This is the first of the tapes that isn't really a kids movie. There are depictions of suicide attempts, blood, sex, etc. But, there are also many more depictions of sublime music, so make the call yourself on who in your house gets to watch this movie and who doesn't. The way Salieri talks about Mozart's music is some of the most enticing, appetizing, soul affirming descriptions of classical music you'll find in cinema. Please enjoy this Oscar winner for Best Picture, Director, Actor, Screenplay, Sound, Makeup, Costume Design and Art Direction from 1984. It's a masterpiece.

4. Just Add...Broomsticks (Fantasia) Dec 24, 2023

It's hard to overstate how impactful this film was to me as a young watcher and listener.
Before I understood the Korean or English words being spoken at me as a baby, I was able to understand the musical gestures I was seeing and hearing on the screen with this film. Being able to understand a story with just visuals and music and no speaking was impactful beyond my comprehension and I'm so grateful for this film that transcends all language in any country as a universally understandable piece of art. Welcome to the 3rd VHS tape of this series: Fantasia!

3. Just Add...Solfège (The Sound of Music) Dec 24, 2023

Can't afford music lessons for your kid in this economy? Just buy the Sound of Music and play on repeat. Maria was my first music teacher and she taught me so much about how music is constructed, complete with puppet shows and rolling hills. It'll be the best $14.99 you'll spend this year. Julie Andrews: baby's first music teacher.

2. Just Add...Mermaids (The Little Mermaid) Dec 23, 2023

The first episode of the VHS Tapes Series.
Join me as I explore the VHS Tapes of my childhood that were my first music teachers. First up: The Little Mermaid!
This was recorded in early May 2023 before the new version came out. I had seen the trailer online but the movie hadn't dropped yet. I loved Halle's version of the song as well, including her ascent to that high note on "aboooooooove". This music is truly timeless, thank you to Howard Ashman and Alan Menken for composing this heart bursting ballad. Bravo!

1. Hi...Welcome to Just Add Music Dec 23, 2023

Hi! Welcome to Just Add Music, a podcast for the music curious, aspiring music makers and anyone in need of a creative companion on a lonely day.
My name is Minna. I'm a professional composer living in the Bay Area. 15 years ago I started an orchestra called The Magik*Magik Orchestra and have composed music for hundreds of bands, filmmakers, artists on creative projects of all kinds.
The one thing I wish someone had told me when I was younger was that you don't need to be a star to make a good living doing what you love. It took me 30 long years to finally trust my intuitive creative voice. I hope that by listening to this podcast, I can help speed up that process for you and help remove unnecessary roadblocks to releasing your own creative intuitions.
If you have ever been curious about making music for fun or as a career but wondered what the day to day was like, I invite you to take a listen. The format is casual and unscripted. Think of it like a lunch between two friends talking music, craft and business. Welcome!
Credits:
Minna Choi - host, composer, music/audio editor
Nicole Wong - producer, story editor

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