Sam Aluyon | Unleashing the Magic of Musical Improv
Welcome to Creator/Shift, where today we're diving deep into the world of musical improvisation with the multifaceted Sam Aluyon. A master of instruments ranging from guitar to keys to tuba, Sam brings a rich background in classical and R&B music to his current passion for musical improv. Hosted by Erika Christie, also a musician, this episode promises to unpack the intricate dance between technology, creativity, and the timeless human touch in the art of music making. Tune in for an enlightening discussion on the intersections of music, improvisation, and technology right here on Creator/Shift.
Some Questions I ask:
If someone needs music for any project, what questions do you ask yourself and what questions do you ask them to find out what they need?
Can you teach someone rhythm?
What is musical improvisation?
In this episode you will learn:
Choosing the Right Music for the Moment: "But if something's happening where it's exciting and it's like, the best day ever, then obviously I'm not going to go for that juxtaposition of, like, a different type of a different type of, like, sound. I want to go for something that's a little bit more happy."
Embracing Collective Growth in Leadership: "I don't think you have to be an absolute expert at something to run a class, because even when I'm directing, I've done directing longer than I've done anything else in my whole life. And even when I'm directing, I'm still asking for other people's opinions, bringing other people in. Like, I like learning and, you know, growing myself while I'm doing something. So I think you should do the class and get the best people that you can and make it a collective thing so that you're all kind of moving forward together. That's what I mean."
🔗 Listen and learn: hear about Sam’s role in various performance groups and how he looks at integrating music info broader projects, including film scoring.
Subscribe HERE on Apple Podcasts
OR on any major podcast player today!
Measure Island website: https://www.measureislandimprov.com
Connect with Sam and his groups on Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/sam.aluyon/
https://www.instagram.com/measureislandimprov/
https://www.instagram.com/albertonedgewood/
Erika Christie is the host of Creator/Shift and as a Filmmaker/Writer/Producer has worked professionally in many different fields. Erika will be interviewing all types of amazing art-folk and delving into the best ways that artists up skill themselves- meaning, what they do to better themselves and their artwork. We'll also be putting a special focus on transitioning your skills into new artistic mediums and how to best work and collaborate with artists who have very different skill sets from your own.
The Creator/Shift Podcast is both Video and Audio. The Audio portion can be found on Apple Podcasts and all major podcast platforms. Live Streamed interviews, workshops, and gear reviews can be found on YouTube and Twitch.
Some interviews that are highly visual are best seen in their video form and may not appear in the audio-only portion of the podcast.
To support our growing community, follow us on Patreon at IMAGINE ALLEY https://www.patreon.com/imaginealleyx
Patreon will have exclusive interviews, workshops, Q&A sessions, and resources not found anywhere else.
🔗 Follow Imagine Alley at — >
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ImagineAlleyX
Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/imaginealleydigital
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/imaginealleyx/
TRANSCRIPT
Erika Christie
Hello, everybody. I'm here with Sam Alouyan. He is a multi, multi talented person. We'll go with that. I mean, music, singing, performing, improv, I've seen you do a whole bunch of stuff, so thank you. First of all, thank you for being here, Sam. I really appreciate it.
Sam Aluyon
Thanks for having me.
Erika Christie
Of course, the first thing, we'll focus a little bit more on music today. We're definitely going to have you back on the show because you're so awesome. We want you to come back as much as possible. Possible. So we're going to focus a little bit more on your music just for today. And so my first question is, if someone needs music in any capacity and they come to you like, hey, Sam, I kind of need music. What are the first things that you ask them? Like, what is it? What questions do you ask yourself? And what questions do you ask them to figure out what it is that they actually need?
Sam Aluyon
Yeah. So with anybody that asks, like, what kind of music? Or, like, the music that they need, the first thing that I always ask is, like, what. What vibe are they going for? Because I. Immediately, when someone ever comes up to me and asks for music, it's normally for film for whatever reason. Yeah. Because people want underscoring and it costs money to get licensing for music that they may want. So a lot of times when they first, immediately asked me, I'm thinking in my mind, okay, first, what is the. What is the vibe that you are, like, wanting to go for? I normally ask them like, hey, can you send me, like, what? Like a.
Sam Aluyon
Like a clip or even the full thing if they have it already set so that I can watch it. Because immediately I want to, like, be able to sit, watch it with them and understand, okay, what are they wanting the audience to feel in that way? Because really, when it comes down to music, and this is like, really breaking it down in such a simple way, it's a lot more complicated than that. It's either faster, slow, or happy or sad is the way it goes.
Erika Christie
That's great.
Sam Aluyon
It's so true. It kind of is, you know, like, it's either. I mean, obviously there's so much more, like genre, right? You can go like, jazz or you can go like. And that's what I mean, too. It's like, what. What genre might also. You might be looking for, right. Because depending, if it's like a dark theme, then I might want to go more for something that is a little bit more like, in like a minor key and not to get so technical, but, yeah, something that sounds a little bit more like evil and, you know, that kind of vibe.
Sam Aluyon
But if something's happening where it's exciting and it's like, the best day ever, then obviously I'm not going to go for that juxtaposition of, like, a different type of a different type of, like, sound. I want to go for something that's a little bit more happy. So that is, like, the immediate thing that I'm, I'm thinking of in terms of, like, if they're asking, like, they're like, there's no, like, technical. I wouldn't necessarily say. The first thing I immediately think of is like, okay, what do you, what do you, what do you need in that sense? Because there's so many different ways. If it's film, another part is like, you know, I don't know if we want to get into this, but, like, with improv, it's a lot more, like, even complicated in that sense, because, so I was talking to somebody the other day, and they were, and I was talking about, like, there's, like, these two sides of the brain that comes with music in a way. One is the type that you learn, like, the basics of music, like beats and, and major and minor keys and different things like that. But the second part that is a lot difficult and harder to teach is actually understanding what is going on and reading what is happening and reading people's faces and all that.
Sam Aluyon
So that is such an integral part when it comes to, like, music and improv that I'm literally, like, watching what is happening, how my eye react and how my, I feel in those moments. And so it's a little bit more convoluted and complicated because you can't teach somebody how to read something. It's almost like you have to be so in tune with yourself that, like, you just kind of understand the vibe of what's happening, and then you adjust as necessary. So, so that's kind of like the ins and outs a little bit more of when it comes to music and improv, but, like, with film, it's a little bit more complicated. Yeah.
Erika Christie
I have so many questions, I don't know what order to put them in. All right. Yes, one of the questions, I was going to throw you a curveball, but you kind of jumped on a little bit where you said, it's a little hard to teach people how to read situations. I'm almost a musician. I'm also a musician, so I know what you're talking about when you say that. And a curveball. I was going to throw you is, can you teach someone rhythm? And you just a moment ago said, you can't really teach someone how to read. Like, I think you can certainly get better at it.
Erika Christie
But being a drummer, specifically, for me, it was always like, you can learn how to sort of stay on the tempo, but to me, it's a little bit different than really teaching someone to have rhythm in a way where they can read what's going on and kind of go with the flow.
Sam Aluyon
Yeah, yeah. It is definitely a lot harder to teach rhythm in that sense. Like, yes, like a beat. You know, you can be like, okay, everybody, let's all clap on time. And it's like, okay, yeah, that's not. That's not difficult, hard. But can you follow where things are going? Can you follow what's happening? And, like, that's not even. Just, like, I'm even going beyond where.
Sam Aluyon
Just like, yes. Can you follow musically, right. If someone's playing piano or someone's like, you have a bunch of jazz artists, right, the tempos, for the most part, staying the same, but, like, rhythm is, like, just also different in the sense of how does it feel? And you can't necessarily sometimes teach how to. How to feel it. It's why people who are, like, classically trained have a harder time improvising because they're taught to follow. Right. Like, those are following beats. Like, the piano is going to go like that.
Sam Aluyon
You're following a beat. You're not necessarily following. I don't know if this is technically right, a rhythm in that sense. And even when you're improvising, I'm following the rhythm of the scene. Like, where is it going? What's happening? It's something that I'm, like, looking forward. I want to, like, dig deeper, because here in Atlanta, there is no. There's no classes on how to play improvised piano for comedy. Really? I don't know any interesting.
Sam Aluyon
Dad's garage doesn't do it. Dynamic doesn't do it. Limelight doesn't do it. I don't know anywhere because I literally have asked in the community when I first started a little over a year ago, and I was like, where can I, like, learn? And there's no place to learn necessarily any of that. And it is complicated in the sense of, like, yes, you can have the basic knowledge of playing piano specifically, or. But following, like, people acting and what's happening in the scene and also learning the, like, give and take, because I. I'm not just following some. And in some moments, I might be leading and the actors follow me.
Sam Aluyon
So it's a little bit more complicated in that sense. So it's just not like it's harder to teach that. And I think, yeah, I'm curious of how to put that into, like, a class.
Erika Christie
Yeah, that's interesting because I like, as a drummer, I mean, it's kind of what you were saying. I mean, I started just in regular band, and then I moved up to marching band and did swing band and I did jazz band and did orchestras and all these other things. And for me, personally, I didn't like the jazz as much like, I could do it, but I wasn't an amazing jazz drummer. I also like listening to jazz, but I just don't like playing it as much because I didn't necessarily have that passion of, oh, I love playing jazz music. It just wasn't something that I followed into. However, I'm pretty good at writing music, even jazz music and conducting, that sort of thing. But for me, playing it, it's like I kind of liked the structure a little bit more. So I really held in the other things where there was a little bit more of a defined border and then I could play a with that.
Erika Christie
Whereas jazz sometimes can be a total free for all. And I enjoy listening to it, but for me, playing it, it was like, it's. I like it, but I don't, I don't have, like, a passion for it. So I'm just not going to chase it down because that's not. Not a thing that I want to do. But I think. I think you should start. If there's no one doing classes, I think you should start the classes.
Erika Christie
And I'm a big fan of. I don't think you necessarily have to be an expert at something because it sounds like you want to learn more yourself. I don't think you have to be an absolute expert at something to run a class, because even when I'm directing, I've done directing longer than I've done anything else in my whole life. And even when I'm directing, I'm still asking for other people's opinions, bringing other people in. Like, I like learning and, you know, growing myself while I'm doing something. So I think you should do the class and get the best people that you can and make it a collective thing so that you're all kind of moving forward together. That's what I mean.
Sam Aluyon
Yeah. Because there's really a few of us here in Atlanta that are, like, actual. And see, it's such a, even, there's not even necessarily a terminology for it in ways, because I say musical improviser, and people immediately think, oh, you're like a jazz piano player, or you go around with different bands, and you're, like, playing improvised, you know, like, cover songs is immediately what I think of. But as, like, I guess you'd be, like, an improv musician for. I don't know. You'd be like, yeah, I guess an improv musician is the closest I can think of to that, saying that, but it's like, yeah, it's just. Yeah, it's just not something that there's a very far into few of us here. And, like, it's.
Sam Aluyon
Some people have so many different ways. I think, like, even with, like, dad's garage, I think we're trying to figure out how we can all get even on the same exact page, because everyone even plays so differently and does different things. Or, like, oh, I'll play here. And then someone will be like, oh, no, I normally won't play there. Or someone will be like, oh, I'll just, like, emphasize things in there. It's also, like. It's like gut instinct, and that's something that you can't necessarily teach, because gut instinct is something that you have to feel within yourself. So it's almost like I have to teach you how to be in tune with yourself in order for you to understand.