A long Overdue

Hello again, thanks for tuning in. I know it has been quite awhile since I've written and I apologize. It is the holidays and is causing chaos as expected.

First of all, the big stresser is out of the way, with the Holiday Brass Quintet gig at the library being over with. We were well received, and the quintet sounded strong. Some issues surfaced in my arrangements, such as Carol of the Bells being a nightmare to count. We had about 70 show up, and this made me really happy. The research I did so I could talk between the pieces was extremely well received as well. I sense that the library will definitely be willing to hire us again.

This weekend is the Baltimore Tubachristmas, to which I'm looking forward to. On the 1st, I played the first Bel Air Tubachristmas, which was fun. It was cool being in a group of only 27, instead of the 250 that show up to the Baltimore one. The conductor of the Bel Air one was a bit of a jerk. He conducted us like we were the "Philadelphia Symphony" playing "Mahler's 5th". He said this but he never made any actual musical statements or used musical terms. It was very frustrating. Not to mention constant insults of expecting bad players to show up, and not thinking we could handle certain arrangements. Combine that with the 2 hour rehearsal, we got a little punchy and luckily found an Irish pub to drink and eat during the hour break. The concert did result in fun. Though a horrible thing happened, a trombone...A TROMBONE, as in non valved, cylindrical bore instrument showed up and was allowed to play. This made me sick to my stomach. I may be a trumpet player, but I make sure to bring a member of the tuba family to this. A trombone is not a member of the tuba family, and should not have been allowed. I had no say though and thus they were permitted. I don't think I could do the Bel Air one again after that.

I leave you tonight with a crappy video of the quintet playing at the library. I will probably not have another entry before Christmas, so have a merry one!

Amazing Multimedia

So today I found myself home from work due to back issues and a lovely panic attack. So I took an afternoon solace in some arranging. Todays targets were Frosty the Snowman and Silent Night. I have to admit that I love Christmas music so arranging these songs brings me comfort. Some people find peace in a special place, a special food, favorite tv show. For me, its music, especially Christmas music. It reminds me of Tubachristmas, friendly people, crowded malls, and get-togethers with friends.

Anyways, I know for most of you its too early to talk Christmas and its meanings for you, so its cool. I understand. Its just been a hard year and I find my peace in that season, and its music. Like I said last entry, musicians start now and sometimes I have had to start back on July5th.

But back to the topic I started with, Frosty the Snowman and Silent Night. Frosty the Snowman is not very tricky of a carol, which is what makes it hard. I know thats hard to follow, but really think of the song we all know and love about the rotund snow person. Its either a march or an extremely cheesy swing tune. I have to admit I'm not a fan of swinging, jazzy chamber music, it doesn't sound natural, since theres no rhythm section. But I remembered back on some of my fond Christmas memories, which always included a trip to Hershey Park a week or so before Christmas. Cold, sometimes snowy, and running from store to store. Every dash outside though, the main sound you could hear was the orchestron on the historic Hershey Park carousel. My favorite song the out of tune automatronic (yes I made the word up, it sounds so...Vaudevillian...) orchestra would play was Frosty the Snowman. I would stand out in the 10 degree weather and start singing along and doing a jolly little fat dance. Sometimes people would join in singing, but most were bah-humbug and would laugh. Anyways, back tot he brass arrangement. So for this arrangement, I put the trumpets in almost non-stop thirds with the main melody. The tuba is of course...oom-pa'ing away. The horn has the awkward harmonic after beats to sound like that calliope on the carousel painfully a tad sharp from the bitter cold. Trombone is on every down beat with awkward harmony with the tuba. It should be interesting to hear on the actual instruments. I'm excited about it. All its missing the fire bell ringing to let you know the ride is starting/ending.

Silent night is difficult. No if, ands, or buts about it. The melody stretches across an octave and a half causing some serious voicing issues. It forces melody to stay on trumpet, because on french horn, where it sounds the prettiest, it goes either too high or into trombone range and gets muddy. This arrangement I wanted to make it sound not so straight forward, wanted a little modern, while preserving its old, peaceful feeling. So it opens stretching its basic chord progression to the limit with appoggiature, and moving over stationary chords. I then stripped it down, to just single trumpet, trombone, and tuba. No counterpoint, just straight harmony, while still stretching the harmonies a little. The second verse, I put it into 4 part harmonies with full counterpoint, then at the appropriate time, bring tuba back in for a 5 part harmony, and a full, 3 octave spread, and settle it back in on a calm I chord.

This weekend, I sat down and watched the Dream Theater live from Radio City Music Hall DVD. 3 hours of just kicking ass. Amazing group, amazing concert. It confirmed for me though, their keyboardist, Jordan Rudess actually reads sheet music during their shows. That blows my mind, with how intricate their playing is that hes reading notation for it. Wow. I plan to watch the DVD on the Killers I bought at the same time. I don't think it will be as interesting but I love The Killers and it will be neat to know their backgrounds.

I leave you this week with a tubachristmas warm up