micro/Maker by Loose Leaf Transmissions

Shruthi Rajasekar looks back at her earliest compositions—letter names scribbled on loose sheets, drifting between Carnatic training and an intimidating Western notation system that never felt built for her. She and Tyler talk about gatekeeping in classical music, the shame that can shadow beginners, and how she learned to decode theory through a hybrid vocabulary of her own making. What begins as a conversation about notation becomes something broader: a reflection on who gets welcomed into classical spaces, who gets left behind, and how genuine encouragement can change the trajectory of a young artist.micro/Maker episodes release every Tuesday and Friday!Listen to music/Maker with Tyler Kline wherever you get podcasts, or at musicmakerpodcast.com.Support Loose Leaf Transmissions on Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/LooseLeafTransmissions.Follow us on social media @LooseLeafTransmissions.micro/Maker is a production of Loose Leaf Transmissions: Made for All Ears.

In this episode, Baljinder Sekhon describes his conscious decision to stop composing percussion music — despite being a percussionist — in order to break creative habits and push his own boundaries. He also explains how that mindset now informs his teaching: encouraging students to write outside their comfort zones, take risks, and explore unfamiliar musical terrain.micro/Maker episodes release every Tuesday and Friday!Listen to music/Maker with Tyler Kline wherever you get podcasts, or at musicmakerpodcast.com.Support Loose Leaf Transmissions on Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/LooseLeafTransmissions.Follow us on social media @LooseLeafTransmissions.micro/Maker is a production of Loose Leaf Transmissions: Made for All Ears.

Returning to the University of Northern Iowa as a faculty member, Brett Copeland describes the strange cognitive dissonance of inhabiting both student and professor roles at once—still attending everything, still assigning himself weekly goals, still operating with a learner’s mindset. Teaching in Iowa has sharpened his awareness of how limited many students’ career models are, shaped largely by the visibility of band directors as the primary professional endpoint. Rather than rejecting that path, Brett works to widen the frame, introducing students to alternative models rooted in performance, electronics, entrepreneurship, and hybrid careers that don’t fit traditional academic narratives. His approach is grounded less in disruption than in exposure: showing what’s possible by example. The conversation culminates in a broader philosophy of work and life, illustrated through a parable about unknowingly building the house you’ll one day live in. For Brett, the lesson is simple but uncompromising—love the daily process, because the career you’re constructing isn’t abstract. It’s the structure you’ll inhabit every day.micro/Maker episodes release every Tuesday 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.transmissionsmicro/Maker is a production of Loose Leaf Transmissions: Made for All Ears.

Sinclaire Marie describes atmospheric firing as a collaboration rather than a technique—one that requires attention, patience, and a willingness to relinquish control. Drawn to fire as both an ancestral element and a living force, she frames wood firing as a communal, physically demanding process that demands full presence: listening to the crackle of the flames, responding to their rhythm, and accepting that the kiln will not always do what you want it to do. She reflects on how this uncertainty becomes a teacher, revealing growth through small, unexpected victories—a cup whose surface finally shows looseness and history, or a teapot that playfully subverts its own form. Rather than chasing efficiency or perfection, the process becomes about attention, endurance, and learning how to play seriously—to let labor, tradition, and experimentation coexist in the work.micro/Maker episodes release every Tuesday and Friday!Listen to music/Maker with Tyler Kline wherever you get podcasts, or at musicmakerpodcast.com.Support Loose Leaf Transmissions on Patreon.Follow us on Instagram: @loose.leaf.transmissionsmicro/Maker is a production of Loose Leaf Transmissions: Made for All Ears.

Ania Vu reflects on the interplay between language, identity, and musical composition. Drawing from her multilingual upbringing, she shares how text influences her creative process — not just through semantics, but also through the sound and feel of words.micro/Maker episodes release every Tuesday and Friday!Listen to music/Maker with Tyler Kline wherever you get podcasts, or at musicmakerpodcast.com.Support Loose Leaf Transmissions on Patreon at patreon.com/LooseLeafTransmissions. Follow us on social media @LooseLeafTransmissions.micro/Maker is a production of Loose Leaf Transmissions: Made for All Ears.

Hannah Selin talks with Tyler about GADADU, the cross-genre songwriting project she co-leads with her husband, composer/pianist Nikki Adams. The duo’s kaleidoscopic mix of jazz, pop, and experimental textures has deeply shaped Hannah’s work as a composer, challenging her to rethink form, rhythm, and collaboration. She and Tyler reflect on what happens when concert music and songwriting meet—and why embracing both can make each more alive.micro/Maker episodes release every Tuesday and Friday!Listen to music/Maker with Tyler Kline wherever you get podcasts, or at musicmakerpodcast.com.Support Loose Leaf Transmissions on Patreon. Follow us on social media @LooseLeafTransmissions.micro/Maker is a production of Loose Leaf Transmissions: Made for All Ears.