Michael Allen
Striving for balance with horns
Another curious Richard Strauss quote "If you can just barely hear the (French) horns on stage, the balance is perfect." Strauss clearly...
top of page
Our Recent Posts
Archive
Tags
Michael Allen
- Jul 30, 2017
Go ahead - look at the trombones
Richard Strauss famously quipped "Don't look at the trombones; it only encourages them." It is an ironic observation coming from a...
14 views0 comments
Michael Allen
- Jul 29, 2017
All about that bass
The notes are all entered into your score template - now what? Of course, the possibilities are nearly endless and there is no one right...
21 views0 comments
Michael Allen
- Jul 28, 2017
Getting started
As I wrote in Arrangement, Orchestration or Transcription, when scoring for brass I prefer to work from keyboard music. Even when doing a...
17 views0 comments
Michael Allen
- Jul 27, 2017
First impressions
Musicians spend years in solitude learning to perfect their craft, and are rightfully protective of what comes out of the horn. Musicians...
12 views0 comments
Michael Allen
- Jul 26, 2017
Choosing a project
Never being one to shy away from difficult projects, in 1978 I set out to make a version of Toccata and Fugue for my brass playing...
12 views0 comments
Michael Allen
- Jul 24, 2017
Why the piccolo trumpet is second fiddle
The way I think about writing for brass has evolved a lot over the years, especially for the instruments with which I'm not intimately...
6 views0 comments
Michael Allen
- Jul 22, 2017
E flat linchpin
The liner notes for the Philip Jones Brass Ensemble recording of Pictures at an Exhibition contain a brief account of Elgar Howarth's...
12 views0 comments
Michael Allen
- Jul 20, 2017
Less is more
I had the great fortune to play bass trombone in Dave Caffey's excellent jazz band at the University of Denver. We played a lot of...
15 views0 comments
Michael Allen
- Jul 18, 2017
One on a part
A friend just sent me a note on an earlier post, and he mentioned that he is writing a lot for brass band. I love the sound of a brass...
13 views0 comments
bottom of page