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Aug 29, 2017

Orchestration Tips

There are several really good books on orchestration. Samuel Adler's book sits next to my workstation and I refer to it often as a reference. But for me, the best instruction comes from the study of how composers orchestrate their own music. Maurice Ravel, who is celebrated as an orchestrator, wrote several pieces first for piano before realizing them for orchestra. One can see how certain pianistic effects are translated into orchestral texture and can also learn how music w

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Musical thievery and 12 steps

Aug 28, 2017

Musical thievery and 12 steps

After Bach, the composer I’ve spent the most time with is Claude Debussy. In fact, the first two arrangements I made for large brass ensemble in the 80’s were Fugue in g minor (Bach) and Girl with the Flaxen Hair (Debussy). I’ve revisited the Debussy a number of times, partly to just tweak the instrumentation, but also because I used to be a chronic reviser (thanks, Finale). The first step to recovery is admitting you have a problem, right? Girl with the Flaxen Hair was low h

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Aug 27, 2017

Tuba, or not tuba

Tortured play on words - sorry. I've had the luxury of writing for some fantastic musicians who happened to play the euphonium. John Daley was principal trombone of the Denver / Colorado Symphony for close to 40 years, He was also one of my teachers for a brief, but glorious period in the mid 80's. After John, Gerard Morris played with us for a several years. Gerard, who is now the director of bands at the University of Puget Sound, is a former member of the United States Mar

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Willow, Willow

Aug 26, 2017

Willow, Willow

Many years ago, I was walking past Bill Stanley’s trombone studio at CU Boulder and heard a most remarkable thing. I stuck my head in the partially open door and discovered he was listening to a piece from Offroad, a new solo CD by then associate principal trombone of the New York Philharmonic, James Markey. If you have not heard this remarkable recording, it will be a worthwhile addition to your library. Click here (will take you to the Hickey’s Music Store site) The music w

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Huzzah! to the Queen's Chapel

Aug 25, 2017

Huzzah! to the Queen's Chapel

Renaissance keyboard music is really fun to arrange. The simplicity of the music (well, at least some of it) lends itself to crafty solutions to make the music, dare I say it, more interesting than its original form. I've orchestrated quite a few of these pieces now for our instrumentation - music by William Byrd, Giles Farnaby, and Sir John Bull. These composers all shared at least one thing in common; they were court composers to Queen Elizabeth. It was considered a great h

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My best chord

Aug 24, 2017

My best chord

There's nothing quite like a well voiced, well spaced, well balanced chord written for brass when played in tune. Great brass players produce a resonant sound that is full of fundamental and overtones. When all of that lines up, giddy audience satisfaction is guaranteed. This is the original organ introduction to Henry Purcell's choral anthem on "Rejoice in the Lord, Always" also known as the Bell Symphony: I used this as a contrasting movement in a suite of music by Purcell

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Euphonic Sounds

Aug 23, 2017

Euphonic Sounds

The temptation when making a brass arrangement of late 19th & early 20th century marches is to take the road more traveled - to "arrange" these musical gems from the original band parts by simply eliminating the woodwind voices. The result often still sounds 'band-like' and not in the good way. The arrangement will be too thick, too loud, too harsh, too many pointless doublings, and offer very little contrast; musical, tonal, dynamic, or otherwise. Likewise, ragtime seems pre

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Arranging with intent

Aug 16, 2017

Arranging with intent

Many years ago, my friend and colleague Bill Stanley (professor of trombone, University of Colorado at Boulder) pointed me towards an article that profoundly influenced my approach to playing, teaching, and even arranging. The Doctrine of Intent, written by Nashville Symphony principal trombonist Lawrence Borden, was a game changer for me. Arranging with intent is critical to the quality of your chart. When you commit notes to paper, there can (and will) be mistakes. But ther

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Writer's block

Aug 11, 2017

Writer's block

I wrote recently about starting with the bass line when beginning work on an arrangement. That is generally a true statement. However, there is another technique which can be useful when mapping out your arrangement. Work from the obvious. That is to say, once you have all the correct notes roughly entered into your arrangement, go through and place a few (or many) phrases into the obvious voices. You're not stuck with those choices - changes can be made later. However, a bas

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Thorny textures

Aug 8, 2017

Thorny textures

For those that aren't familiar, Grainger frequently reworked his own compositions for instrumentations other than the original. Handel in the Strand was originally composed in 1912 as a piano trio (piano, violin & cello with optional viola). It was later reworked in 1930 for piano solo, for orchestra and piano in 1932, and then again in 1947 for 2 pianos 4 hands. The military band version(s) with which many are most familiar was not made by Grainger, but rather either by Gold

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