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-   -   Mountain King Swing - in progress (http://www.notation.com/vb-forum/showthread.php?t=32314)

Sherry C 03-17-2014 04:42 PM

Mountain King Swing - in progress
 
3 Attachment(s)
Hi friends,

I decided to do something a little different. I did something like this with Fred Winterling some years back, and we had a blast. Fred is no longer with us (r.i.p.), but I thought I'd put this "work in progress" out there and see what comments and suggestions I get :)

I sometimes use the melody line from "In the Hall of the Mountain King" as a warm up exercise on my bass at band practice. I started "swinging" it a bit, and some of the guys would sort of doodle around it, so I thought "why not get a swing arrangement?"
I looked around on the internet, and believe it or not, I could only find a quartet, a quintet, and a couple of recordings of an old but never in print arrangement for swing band, but no big band arrangements (I did find one on a UK site, but no samples; I emailed them, but still no replies).
So I decided to do my own :)

I'll confess up front that this is one of the areas that made me fall in love with Notation Composer, because otherwise someone like me would never be able to produce this kind of arrangement.

  • I decided to write it in what amounts to "cut time" to make it read easier. So I took the original file I found and used the "Meter/Scale notes" feature to stretch it out.
  • I then created a new big band file (using the Big Band template, amended for our band) and first "sketched" out the the outline using Rehearsal Marks to mark out the repetition sections from the original classical piece (got it from Classical Archives) and free text for the initial ideas I had for "fleshing it out" (some of which has changed). Here are the "classical original" Attachment 1151and the first "outline sketch". Attachment 1150
  • After setting up the divisions, I copied over the melody line from the original to the big band file for reference.
  • I then used Composer's recording capability to bang in rhythms for the "swing" version I wanted into a "recording" staff with my keyboard (I don't play keys at all) and then adjust the pitches according to the original staff I had copied from the classical original.
  • I then banged in harmony rhythms, and adjusted those pitches (I use an "instrument range" sheet that Ralph Rayner posted on the forum), playing back the piece as I did to check how things sounded.
  • The drums are pretty rudimentary - we have a great drummer and I'll just put in annotations like "swing toms" or "cymbals" and such, and let him really fill out the drums.
  • The bass is also rudimentary - I just put in a repetitive line at this point to outline the chord structure to make sure the parts all "fit" together. I know the bass player can ad lib around chord changes ;)
  • For some of the solos, I'll add "solo: choose ad lib or as written" so that our older/better players can "expand" if they want, or any younger players will still have something to guide them.
  • I'll also re-transcribe the piece to "swing" notation to make for easier reading after I get all the notes right.
  • I'm consulting with our lead players to make sure the parts are playable - if they're difficult, then they're less likely to want to play the piece ;)
  • I still need to come up with a piano part. I honestly don't even really hear a piano part in my head for this, so I'm really struggling. Our pianist needs everything written out, so if anyone has suggestions, I'm all ears :)

If you hear or see places where "real live" musicians might struggle, please let me know. Any other comments/suggestions/tweaks are also welcome!

Please note that this file is not tweaked for performance either - this is the "rough cut" in the works. This is partly to encourage folks to see that getting a good arrangement does take some work, and to know that it can be pretty rough at first :)

Attachment 1149

ttfn,
Sherry

rrayner 03-18-2014 12:10 AM

Re: Mountain King Swing - in progress
 
Hi Sherry,

You are doing an excellent job! I like the variations in color, and you shouldn't demean your drum part -- it is quite infectious. I did you the honor of transporting your Composer file downstairs to listen with the best sound card in the house (Clavinova) and it was rocking! You also got a "standing O" from the kitchen upstairs, where Cynthia is baking, and well within earshot. Keep up the good work!

Ralph

Sherry C 03-26-2014 03:54 AM

Re: Mountain King Swing - in progress
 
2 Attachment(s)
Hi friends,

Ralph, thanks for the encouragement, and tell Cynthia that I appreciate the complimentary "O" :)

I consulted with various band members to make sure that various items were indeed playable, and "the boss" (aka Bill Denbrock, leader of the band) gives it a thumbs up, so here's the final version.

Attachment 1161

I created a "short sheet" for the drummer as well, rather than printing out the version that is with the main file, so I'm posting both of the "final" files.

Attachment 1162

The "DONE" one is to hear and see all the instruments. The "Drums" file is just for printing the "drum sketch" part that I'm printing off for our drummer (he's really good).
(If you try playing the "Drums" file, you won't hear much because there aren't any notes in it except the first two bars :) )

Enjoy :)
Sherry

dj 03-26-2014 11:37 AM

Re: Mountain King Swing - in progress
 
The Hall of the Swingin' King!

Nice.

Had a thought: how about a files section here where people can upload ORIGINAL compositions they wish to share (no copies of copyrighted material, of course) in .not format. We have this Share Your Music section the forum, but a files archive would be more permanent and easier to search.

rrayner 03-28-2014 02:09 AM

Re: Mountain King Swing - in progress
 
Hi Sherry,

You get a delayed response from me due to travel commitments, but I finally got a chance to listen tonight. First, I have to say, Clarice (my Clavinova) did not like the percussion parts, so in order to hear your piece properly, I had to listen on my GM PC. Clarice just doesn't like GM drums. I think I told you back in my early Composer days that my drum parts from the Clavinova sounded like a bad violin on General Midi.

You've done a good job. I would like to hear it played by the band, as I think they will convey your swing feel better. The interplay and the mixing of horn colors is very good throughout, but your chart really gets going after measure 145 -- a very nice change in momentum, even though there is no accelerando, it feels like there is.

I find your separate drums score very interesting. Thanks for planting the seeds of how to better handle repetitive percussion parts.

Thank you for sharing. David has a good idea. Would it be difficult to set aside an area original works?

Ralph

Sherry C 03-28-2014 02:58 AM

Re: Mountain King Swing - in progress
 
Hi Ralph,

Quote:

Originally Posted by rrayner (Post 65343)
You get a delayed response from me due to travel commitments, but I finally got a chance to listen tonight.

I hope it's been fun travel!

Quote:

First, I have to say, Clarice (my Clavinova) did not like the percussion parts, so in order to hear your piece properly, I had to listen on my GM PC. Clarice just doesn't like GM drums. I think I told you back in my early Composer days that my drum parts from the Clavinova sounded like a bad violin on General Midi.
Yeah, it actually doesn't sound in GM like I hear it either :) I use a soundfont for "roughing' my work, and sometimes GPO/JABB by Garritan. JABB (jazz and big band) has a "GM drumset", but it doesn't really work like GM, so I have to pick around for the drums. The GM "standard" isn't quite as standard as we'd like ;)

Quote:

I would like to hear it played by the band, as I think they will convey your swing feel better.
We'll be getting the chart out for practicing probably some time in the next few weeks. We have a gig coming up in two weeks that we'll probably stick with our more familiar tunes, but I'm hoping we can at least go through it soon. I want to hear it, too :) I'd like to get a recording, and if I do I'll post it.
Quote:

The interplay and the mixing of horn colors is very good throughout,
Thanks - the "colors" were inspired by your early comments :)
Quote:

but your chart really gets going after measure 145 -- a very nice change in momentum, even though there is no accelerando, it feels like there is.
I had sort of the "dixieland mayhem" style in mind for that part, as in the original work by Grieg the whole orchestra is going, and there is indeed an accelerando. I didn't necessarily want the extra speed, just the extra dynamic. However, I also have a feeling that where the momentum changes due to the increase in instrument participation (and the contrasting parts), there will probably be a concommitant increase in adrenalin, most likely leading to an unintended but not necessarily unwelcome accelerando of our performance :)

Quote:

I find your separate drums score very interesting. Thanks for planting the seeds of how to better handle repetitive percussion parts.
That was actually inspired by our drummer. He made a comment one night about a score he had, which was 3 pages long. He said it was about 2 pages too long - really all they needed to do was give him the basic rhythm, then tell him how many measures of what to do. So that's what I did. He approves :) That said, I also realize that this style of scoring wouldn't work for everyone, but since this is mainly a piece for our band to play (at least at this point), I'm not too worried about it.

Quote:

David has a good idea. Would it be difficult to set aside an area original works?
Well, that's actually what the "Share your music" section is supposed to be, but I do understand the desire to have the musical pieces in a grid of some format that would be more easily accessible. That sounds like work, though ;)

I'll give it some thought, and if anyone has any ideas about how to put something like that together (and keep it organized), I'm all ears!

Thanks for the feedback guys - I always appreciate constructive comments, whether it's confirming something already there or suggesting change :)

ttfn,
Sherry


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