Personal Info
Hello.
My name is Vic Sagerquist. Music is my life.
Ever since I was five years old, and I was watching the Lawrence Welk show with my parents and told them I wanted to "…play the one with the music in the stick…", I have oriented myself toward music. I began Violin lessons at age nine, somehow withstanding the ribbing I received from my schoolmates. I continued studying Violin through High School, becoming quite adept and falling in love with music notation. My parents supported me by buying me study scores of the great symphonies and concertos, and then engaging me with my brother’s piano teacher, who also taught music theory at the local Community College. I began composing at this point.
I entered college as a performance major on the violin. My first semester jury was a horrible experience for me; I failed miserably. One of my new friends who knew about my fledgling skills as a composer suggested I take a composition jury, as there was still time before the semester ended. The composition staff was highly impressed, and outlined a change in curriculum for me. I graduated in 1981 with a degree in music composition.
The big question everyone asked me next was, "OK. What are you going to do with it?" I thought long and hard over the summer months, and decided to continue my schooling by entering the Masters program. But I was still perplexed as to where I was headed. A few months later I got a phone call from the same friend who had suggested I take the composition jury. In the years before, I had worked with him scribbling out instrumental parts from scores by other composition majors – essentially working as a copyist. It turned out that presently he was working in Hollywood as an orchestrator for Television scores, and had heard about a job opportunity in the Music Library at Paramount Pictures, as assistant to the Supervising Copyist. I called the Supervisor, and landed the position. I am still working there today.
I’ve never stopped composing, though, and it is my dream to one day be a film composer. My duties at work include proofreading instrumental parts and fixing errors, transcribing music from tapes (or in midi format), and basically setting up orchestra books for TV and Motion Picture scoring sessions. But when I go home at night, after having dinner with my lovely family, I sit down at my computer and compose. How many of you can say that your job is also your hobby? (I’d love to hear about it!)
When composing, I use a program called Sibelius. It is a notation program that creates printable scores and extracts instrumental parts. It also creates playable MIDI files. I do the principle composition of my music with Sibelius using step entry for notes - ie. indicating which type of note, then playing its pitch on a MIDI keyboard hooked up to my computer. When finished, I save it as a MIDI file, and open it with Cakewalk to do the final mixdown and apply effects, dynamics, reverb, etc. Sometimes when I feel lucky, I try to do a few overdubs by recording live tracks with my keyboard. I am a really poor keyboard player, so this is a chancy undertaking.
My MIDI compositions are here for you to download and enjoy free of charge. However, if you wish to use them in any other way, such as attracting attention to your web page or any other type of performance, my permission is necessary. You can reach me at:
A few of my classical compositions are now available for sale as sheet music. Please visit the VICMAN MUSIC PUBLISHING page for details.
Thanks for visiting my page. If you like my music, please visit the page of my good friend Kerem Koseoglu. As we say in Hollywood, "YO!"
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