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Hrm...I know a couple of composers that have greatly influenced my music, and then I know tons more who have in some way or another changed my music for the better. I'll list them starting with the biggest influences.
Masashi Hamauzu - His light lyric style really changed my music about a year ago. He showed me the beauty of creatin light, crisp scores and shone new light on compound chords and light dissonance. I love his music and I really do think I'm a better composer for him.
Philip Glass - He made me really think about texture, and because of him I know how to create different textures, or at least I'm better at it now that I've listened to his music. John Adams belongs in here, as I have tons of minimal influences.
Danny Elfman - My music has been described like his numerous times, and I've found our music has some in common. Or I just delirious? He tends to write with a lot of things going on, and I have done such in numerous pieces of mine that are equally quirky and complex. Also, his stuff for Oingo Boingo helps motivate my inspiration for the more creative, as some of their songs are the most creative I've ever heard in my life!
Leonard Bernstein - I love how versatile this man is. I also love how he's not afraid to do something atonal once in a while, and he's also not afraid to put pop songs in the middle of his works! I'm talking mainly about his Mass. The opening, with the Kyrie, is atonal and chaotic, with four pre-recorded trios or quartets playing on top of each other, then suddenly in comes this very mellow and pop-y Simple Song. This is a man whos creativity kept flowing right to the end. I learned a lot from his Mass, like ways to add in colorful bits of atonal influences and how to reflect different moods, etc.
Giacomo Puccini - I'm not the biggest opera fan, but I did Madama Butterfly(I was Uncle Yakuside/Prince Yamadori), and I learned a lot about the relationship between the orchestra and the singer's voice from this man.
Some other influences - John Adams, Carl Orff, Thomas Newman, Charles Ives, Bartok, Debussy, and a slew of others.
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