Composer put line in short song: riff not requiring one (4,4)
I believe the answer is:
carl orff
'composer' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'line in short song riff not requiring one' is the wordplay.
'line in short song' becomes 'carlo' (I can't explain this - if you can you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'not requiring' indicates named letters should be taken away.
'one' becomes 'i' (roman numeral).
'riff' with 'i' taken away is 'rff'.
'carlo'+'rff'='CARL ORFF'
'put' is the link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Another definition for carl orff that I've seen is " German composer of "Carmina Burana"".)