Lesson with Foxhull (Orchestration and Percussion)

Hello,

In this lesson, I will be working with Foxhull to help him through a personal project of his, which basically involves writing his piece "Sound and Silence" for full concert band instead of just mallet quartet as it appears now:

Sound and Silence - Mallet Quartet

In addition, we will explore the wonders of complex percussion orchestration and ways to make it work well within the confines of a concert band setting without overpowering the rest of the instruments.

This particular piece lends itself well to a lesson like this because it plays like an exercise. The way it's structured and developed will make it ideal for learning some basics of creative orchestration in an incidental style using basic classical orchestration roots.

The first thing that I need you to do is post the details that you have about the ensemble that you'd be writing this for. We'll need to know what instruments are available, how many of each, and preferably a general idea of the performers' skill levels. We'll move on from there once that's posted.

This lesson can be open for public participation on the condition that Foxhull approves the right for other forum members to arrange his piece according to the structure of the lesson.

So Foxhull, with your post please let us know whether everyone else has permission to participate or whether you'd prefer this to remain a private lesson.

Public lesson.

OK, my high school band has approximately:
15 Flutes(+Piccolo if needed)
15-20 Bb Clarinets
3 Bass Clarinets
10-15 Alto Saxes(+ soprano sax if needed)
2 Tenor Saxes
2 Baritone Saxes
Possible a Bassoon
20 Bb Trumpets
5-6 French Horns
10 Trombones
2-3 Baritones/Euphoniums
2-3 Tubas
15 Percussionists (including a few mallet players, and one can play piano)

That is the Symphonic Band, which is everyone, and most of them fairly talented, and some are downright amazing players (the percussion section leader, and flute section leaders, for example). If there are any others that I missed, I will post them.

Wow, that's a fantastic ensemble. 20 trumpets is going to be pretty fun to work with...

What made me smile though was the 15 percussionists - we're going to make sure they have the time of their life playing this arrangement of yours.

So here's what I'd like to do from here on in. Because you've already got yourself an arrangement of this piece for mallets, I'd like you to start by creating a score which will encompass your entire concert band, and then keep it handy. More importantly, I want you to look over your piece and get a firm idea in your mind of how you want to orchestrate (I'll use the term since "concert-bandistrate" sounds a bit tacky) it and whether or not you want it to be structured the same way as the mallets version.

When you know how you'd like it to end up, post a brief written summary detailing how you want it to be structured, how you'd like it to develop and what you're intending with the piece in terms of mood, energy level, etc.

Use any terms, words or formatting that you need to express yourself best. The reason I ask you to do this is because having a written outline helps keep a sense of direction - otherwise with such a large ensemble it's tempting to just sort of "go nuts".

Also, thank you for allowing this lesson to be public. Anyone else who is following the thread and is interested in participating, please either post to say so or Pager/PM me about it and we'll see about tailoring the exercise to help you as well.

No set deadline, but try to have it posted within a week if circumstances allow; this isn't a major thing.

Good luck

My written outline is notes on the mallet score, saved as finale file, so if you think I'm skimping, that's just how my mind works

here is the score with the notes
Sas - Notes on Orch.MUS

Hey, I'm gonna be at camp from 3 PM Sat to next Friday. So if you can get me something for me to do during that week, it would be appreciated. And beware, I'm learning to play the bugle during that week, it's a merit badge

Hey Foxhull,

I took some time to look over your notes and try sketching some things out myself to get an idea of how this could work out, and I think your notes are good as they are.

I'm going to be away from the first of July to perhaps mid-August, so I want to give you a next step that can give you something to work on until then.

Having seen your outline, I'm confident in your abilities so what I'm going to ask of you is that you work on producing a full arrangement of this piece for the ensemble that you detailed above. It doesn't have to be final and it can (and should be) full of notes. As you work on it, if there's any section that has you unsure or that you have a question about or anything like that, put a little note in and move on and we'll address it when I take a look at it.

Essentially, you're putting together a draft of the arrangement. I want it to be as complete as you can have it given your schedule between now and when I get back. Try to think of how much time you'll have and then work on this version accordingly; if you have lots of time then go into more detail with the complexity of your parts and the length of the piece (if you're going to be adding parts). If you won't have too much time, then just focus on getting those notes translated into actual written form with a sketchy version of the final product.

You basically have until I get back. I probably won't have internet access while I'm gone, so that's why I suggested that you just sketch in any questions as notes on the score for when I get return to look at them.

Good luck and ask me any questions now before July 1st

Sorry, don't have it yet, but I will soon, I had a REALLY hectic summer. School just started, and my independent study class came through, so I can work on it there, with some help from my teacher as well. So I should have soon. Again, sorry.

No worries, I know all about hectic summers. This is your learning, so you take it at whatever pace you need - I'm just here to guide and help!

Well, the good thing is I now have a car, my driver's license, and a job.

http://www.freewebs.com/foxhull/SaS%20%2D%20Orch.mus
That is what I got done in class today, it will updated more tomorrow.