Charles Coleman's Page

Of the many problems composers have to deal with when it comes to their creative endeavors, one of the more interesting issues is whether or not they have a "distinctive sound" in their compositions. Is this "distinctiveness" achieved through the style or genre that a composer purposely chooses? Or maybe, it could be some kind of innate sound that happens completely by accident through the composer's rhythmic and harmonic habits that he or she has worked with for years, sub-consciously?

There a… Continue

I recently had an intriguing conversation with my friend Sam Baker, an enthusiastic drummer who resides in Brooklyn. Our musical backgrounds are distinctly different: Mine, a classical tapestry with a subtle design and a paced structure. His, an "in your face" attitude filtered with percussive strokes made of thunderous rage.

Despite these seemingly polar opposites of expression, we nonetheless saw in our conversation that we both had the same common goal in our risky endeavors in this obscure… Continue

Since the beginning of my compositional career, I've always had an unusual
problem with the word "accessible". For me, this word seems to be nothing
more than an opinion which is "masked" as fact, and can be manipulated by
certain agenda driven people to thrust their own cause and attempt to
damage other expressions of thought at the same time. This kind of tactic, I
feel, is an absolute detriment to any free thinking society.

I recently read a review of a recording containing the Violin Concer… Continue