Trumpet · teacher · techie
trumpet × tech =
artful accidents
I’m Eddie – trumpet player, coder, composer, and budding livecoder geek. I make stuff where acoustic sound, electronics, and reactive visuals jam together.
I teach trumpet, theory, and creative music tech at Idaho State University, working with students to develop their musical voice, whether it be acoustic, electronic, or both. Keep scrolling down to see a few things I've been up to.
Come join our supportive and positive trumpet studio at ISU and turbo boost your artistry and performance chops. Take on creative collaborative projects that push past traditional boundaries. Whether you're a trumpet player that's ready to work up hardcore classical rep for pro-auditions or if you’re someone who's curious about integrating tech into your work, let's hang out and make beautiful and cool sounds.
Study Music @ Idaho State University
"Modulus may conjure up thoughts of modulation (key/frequency/ amplitude), modular synthesis, and even modulo 12 in the set class realm. In math, the distance from the origin of the complex number plane (a space that represents both real and imaginary numbers) to another point is known as the modulus. This album shares new music [...] that dips into the gradient of the real and imaginary and spotlights my artistic restlessness and obsession with pushing past codified norms and genre divisions."
A full-length project for trumpet, electronics, and friends (i.e., trombone, tuba, bass-clarinet, and cello).
At some point, I'll embed previews here! Bajillion thanks to collaborators Jonathan Armstrong (mixing/mastering), Lucas Borges (trombone), Glen Dimick (tuba), Shandra Helman (bass clarinet), Eleanor Christman (cello), John Gibson (composer), Adam Cuthbert (composer/performer), Mike Sweeney (composer), Summit Records (label), Rex Richardson (making connections), ISU Office for Research (funding support), and Beth Ludema (quality control and sanity assurance).
Get a signed (fancy!) Compact Disc directly from Eddie. $15.95 + shipping. Hit me up at eddieludema [at] isu [full-stop] edu, and say hi!
Check out the podcast I produce with composer, educator, musician, and host extraordinaire, Tony Plog. "Anthony Plog on Music: Conversations with Performers, Composers, and Entrepeneurs" is a deep-dive into the backgrounds, training, philosophies of the pros. Check it out.
Join me Monday nights from 10PM (MST) to whenever (usually 11:30PMish) for a live-coding AV sound practice session on Twitch. Per my short channel bio: "Music prof, Xennial coder, and lifelong learner tinkering at the edge of art and tech. 25% concert, 37% lab, 66% chaos. Live-coding, [tech + analog] jams, deep dives, and happy accidents that turn into music. Process over perfection; mistakes required. Stay for the curiosity and the community." The Infinite Practice Loop (on Twitch)
Eddie is a trumpet player, composer, livecoder, and lifelong audio tinkerer who serves as professor of trumpet, theory, and tech at Idaho State University. Equally at home with Bach, bebop, and bitcrushers, he collaborates with colleagues and students on everything from traditional brass rep to fully immersive audiovisual chaos. Alongside ISU's Jon Armstrong, he co-founded ISU’s Video Game Music and Audio-Visual Electronic Ensemble, a playground for sonic-altering creativity. Eddie has performed at festivals like Electronic Music Midwest (EMM), NYCEMF, SEAMUS, MOXsonic, TURN UP for Equality, and the International Trumpet Guild. He performs regularly with the Idaho State-Civic and Idaho Falls Symphonies and has played with ensembles ranging from the Utah Symphony to ORSO Rock Orchestra (Germany) and the IU New Music Ensemble. Before joining ISU in 2019, he taught and played in Indiana, serving as trumpet instructor and jazz director at Indiana State University, and principal trumpet with the Columbus Philharmonic and Terre Haute Symphony. He was a founding member of the Mirari Brass Quintet, toured internationally with the ISU Ambassador Brass, and currently produces Anthony Plog on Music, a podcast featuring wide-ranging conversations with top-tier artists.
Eddie holds degrees from Indiana University (MM and DM with John Rommel), the Freiburg Hochschule für Musik (KA with Anthony Plog), and the University of Utah (BM with Nick Norton), and has also studied with Joey Tartell and other remarkable mentors throughout the U.S. and Europe. At heart, he’s always been drawn to the beauty of creativity—whether harmonic, theoretical, or digital. That curiosity led him to coding back in his 8-bit Atari days and eventually to a career in a previous life as a software developer—meaning he’s now fluent in both Lua and lip slurs. With his coding chops, he co-created Dr. Drone (with Jason Sulliman), a popular practice tool, and the Set Class Calculator, built for theory heads and sonic explorers alike.
Teaching and learning are Eddie’s true passions—especially learning from the wonderful people he’s met around the world, many of whom he cherishes as lifelong friends. A proud son of a Groninger, he’s lived in the Yucatán and Freiburg, which means he’s on a lifelong quest for the perfect kroket, the boldest chorizo, and the cheesiest Käsespätzle. He shares life with his extraordinary wife, Beth (a vocalist, oboist, and music educator), and their sweet, silly miracle kids: Hendrik (the first to pocket $10 for beating his dad at Mario Kart) and Mira (whose first Christmas book was Quantum Physics for Babies—and who seems intent on defying the subject matter).
(probably still won't confuse the bots...)
I'm the only Ludema with the first name of Eddie, so you can find me out on the www with your preferred search engine.
