For Fire Ecologies, Christopher Stark spent months working with field recordings made near California wildfires, and just as much time deciding what not to include. A long recording of an actual forest fire originally closed the piece; he cut it less than a day before final production, leaving behind only indirect traces — water that sounds like fire, a Sierra Nevada power line slowed down until its buzz becomes something closer to marching boots. The same instinct shaped his choices in the field: standing in a town that had just burned, camera in hand, Stark found he couldn't bring himself to record people in front of what remained of their homes, even as a documentary-minded friend urged him to. The excerpt sits inside that tension — between bearing witness and observing from a respectful distance, and what it means for work like this to edge toward activism without losing the line between representing something and exploiting it.

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For Yue Song, confidence didn’t come first—it arrived after years of imitation, theory, and hesitation. Growing up in China, Yue learned piano alongside her sister, studying under traditional mentors who emphasized balance and restraint. But it wasn’t until she moved to Ireland, surrounded by experimental musicians and new collaborators, that she rediscovered her creative spark—and began composing every day.

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micro/Maker is a production of Loose Leaf Transmissions: Made for All Ears.

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Michael Frazier reflects on the importance of mentorship and advocacy as his musical identity sharpened during his time at Eastman. Encouraged by teachers who supported sincerity over conformity, he describes learning not only to follow his instincts but to articulate why certain influences—particularly hip-hop and loop-based music—held meaning for him. A pivotal realization came earlier at USF through studying with Bel Ginster, whose passion for teaching and deep belief in the value of music helped Frazier see composition not just as a practice, but as a lifelong vocation grounded in sharing curiosity, care, and creative possibility with others.

micro/Maker episodes release every Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday!

Listen to music/Maker with Tyler Kline wherever you get podcasts, or at musicmakerpodcast.com.

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micro/Maker is a production of Loose Leaf Transmissions: Made for All Ears.

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