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I am a fan of the mid-size ensemble and the creative possibilities it offers.
2008 was a transition time for me. I had become tired of conventional big bands. As I looked for something different, ideas came to me about a smaller and more flexible kind of band. I experimented first with a 10-piece ensemble (electric violin and tuba were featured). While this group had only a short life as a rehearsal band, hearing the scores I wrote for it gave me a confirmation of the direction I was taking.
As a next step, I began to use flexible instrumentation in my scores instead of specifying the instruments. The scores are concert pitch with the wind instruments labeled as line I, line II, etc. A set of transposed parts are provided for an assortment of instruments within the range of each line. This enables the music to be performed by many configurations of instruments. An ensemble can have a specific instrumentation, experiment with different instruments, or base the instrumentation on available players. Flexibility!
One of the ensemble configurations that I like is alto flute, oboe, clarinet, French horn, and bassoon. That is, a woodwind quintet with alto flute used in place of C flute. Rather than thinking of a mid-size ensemble as a smaller version of a big band, I envision a woodwind quintet – that is, with each instrument having a distinct tone color – as a role model. Another configuration that I like (this one with saxophones and brass) is trumpet, soprano sax, alto sax, trombone, and tuba. With flexible instrumentation and a creative spirit, the tone color possibilities for an ensemble can be almost endless.
For the rhythm section, piano and/or guitar, bass, and drums are the foundation. It can be expanded with additional instruments such as accordion, vibes, percussion, electronics, cello, etc.
Along with flexible instrumentation, I decided that it would be more practical to use 5 or 6 wind instruments than a larger number for a horn section. 5-horn jazz ensembles are fairly common. I have several scores for 5 horns; however, I think of 6 horns as being the optimal number for my writing. My 6-horn scores are written for a featured soloist, 5 wind instruments, and rhythm section. The soloist has both solo and ensemble roles.
As my concepts evolved for a mid-size ensemble I discovered that, from my perspective, I can be more creative in writing for 6 horns than for a conventional big band. Why? With one player on a line, each line can have an individual tone color. Then, the 6 lines are blended, juxtaposed, crossed, and voiced in creative ways horizontally and vertically. This creates an ensemble sound that is based upon an interplay of colors and an emphasis on the individuality -- bringing out the musical personality -- of each player.
As I envision it, this approach to an ensemble is fundamentally different from what I think of as the defining features of a conventional big band: harmonized saxophone, trumpet, and trombone sections with each player blending his individual sound into the collective sound of a section.
Additionally, with an ensemble of this size it can have a level of creative freedom that, most likely, would be problematic with a larger number of players. I like to extend a jazz soloist's freedom to the rest of the ensemble in various ways in my scores. This enables the music to change, evolve, and be a fresh experience for both the musicians and the audience each time it is performed.
While I have focused on 6 horns and one player on a line, it occurred to me that my scores can also be played by larger ensembles by having two (or more) musicians on each line . This option of having doubled parts -- with either same or different instruments on a part -- is an easy way for big bands to use my scores. (See A Big Band Misconception for more about this idea.)
Apologies about the down time everyone. This screw up was all me. I made a change to the site and it kind of set off a cascading error effect. In order to really correct it, we restored to a backup from Monday. This means you may be missing recent blogs, music etc. that was loaded after that day. Our apologies for that!
Our Easter video! Done as The Dead 20's, Scary Cherry & the Bang Bangs' alter ego.
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A Very Scary Bunny Rabbit - Scary Cherry and the Bang Bangs
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Shot & edited by Scary Cherry and Captain Canada (Aurelia).
How ya'll doing} thats right I'm back on the Mix Radio Monday Nights =8pm EST time or 7 PM central with lot of fun & great music from the Artist 's here at mixposure.com . So you just come on in the ChatRoom or just listen in to the show love to have you . Come to mixposure.com homepage .When you get in you'll see Chat click on it .Type in your username .Be sure & check( Guess) if you never been in & your there. We got the best Indie music & radio station here on the net .Oh & some great DJs to . Love to have you. YOU KNOW WHAT I'M A SAYING.
I finally got back onto Mixposure and updated it with some new music.
We had some issues with the other chatroom so we kicked it to the curb. You will need to re-register or use a guest account.
Thanks for dealing with the bugs after the site crash and changing to the more secure https:// protocol!
Just a heads up everyone. Today we will be forcing the site into SSL. We have always had SSL since it it mandatory to post music on Facebook however we never chaged the entire site over. Recently with our move to a new server we have had some issues with users receiving links back to Mixposure in an https format which was causing issues.
Most sites are using SSL now and we figured we might as well just configure the site to use the https protocol. You may see missing chat or radio station players that are not working. We will get them fixed as soon as possible. Right now, I would prefer to be on one url format so we all see the same thing.
Thanks for your patience!
Our lead singer has finished producing a live video of our 2015 concert selections. This is the first song posted on You Tube of Trans Siberian Orchestra's Sarajevo performed by Siberian Solstice. We hope you all enjoy. I'll be posting more as they are completed.
Thank you.