balance | Boulder Brass

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One on a part follow up

I'm working on a large brass ensemble transcription (gasp) of highlights from a Puccini opera. I always immensely enjoyed playing...

Get your head out of the score

Conductors who can't lift their head out of the score are a pet peeve. It usually means they don't trust their own understanding of the...

Texture 1 - Writing for the whole ensemble

A while back, I wrote an entry called 4 Dimensional Texture where I identified 4 basic ways to group instruments in a large ensemble.

Texture 2 - Writing for families

However, in my brass ensemble writing, I'll write passages for a grouping of trumpets when the music calls for it, and/or as a contrast

Texture 4 - writing chamber music

Recently, I've undertaken some large engraving projects - I'm making clean versions of the Tchaikovsky ballets. This may seem a little...

Four Dimensional Texture

This blog is a way to collect my thoughts and 'ship em.' This is modeled after the blogging philosophy of Seth Godin (one of my daily...

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...