YC Collaborative Indoor Percussion Ensemble

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I would like to keep posts in this thread restricted to only those currently working on the project or outside people ONLY if they are providing very reasonable suggestion or fairly decent critique, such things we are open to. If I feel a post does not fall under these guidelines/categories, I may have it removed.

The eight current participants (as of Jan. 3, 2008) are as follows:

• EnigmusJ4
• Spectrums
• pricewalden
• Virtualshock
• IHoldThePenHaHa
• Dev
• Jamie Whitmarsh
• Foxhull
  

We are not currently interested in new participants for this project.

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We have 6 interested people including myself, if you can commit to this, post in this thread. We will be doing all work and communication in here.

When you post, tell us what program and version you use. I for example, run Finale 2002, so I can't open newer files. I do have 2008 Demo, though. Most likely *sigh*, we'll be stuck with using MIDI files.

Again, don't commit unless you're sure you can contribute actively to this, it may go on for months, who knows?

Remember, the aim here is to have fun.... and hopefully something musical will result.

If it's okay with everyone, we can begin posting ideas for a main theme, and vote on it amongst ourselves. We've already had one from somebody earlier...

Hello,
I'm also in the project! I use Sibelius 4, and hopefully I can export my MIDI files correctly
Is there anything esle we need to know before we get started, like what IS an indoor percussion ensemble?!?

Okay, let me post all that here now...

"For those not familiar with this genre, think of marching band and drum corps. Indoor percussion ensembles feature a full batterie (drumline) and front ensemble (pit). The drumline actually marches, performing more intricate forms and motions then they normally would in marching band or drum corps, since here they are the main visual focus in place of marching wind instrumentalists.
Indoor percussion ensemble - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Here is an example of indoor percussion, sometimes called percussion theatre:
YouTube - Music City Mystique last rehearsal run before WGI Finals 07 (I know they're practicing outdoors
YouTube - Music City Mystique '06 (Actually indoors, this one is more interesting in my opinion)
Those are two shows by Music City Mysitique (Indoor Percussion Ensemble)

Even if you're familiar with the genre, listen to those, get this stuff in your mind. Is this what we want to do? This would add a snare line, tenor line, 5 tuned bass drums, and 4 to 6 tuned marching cymbals. We could come up with something really cool if we put our minds to it. Everybody up to it?"

This is everybody that has shown interest so far, post in this thread if you are sure you are willing to participate. If you cannot, just let us know here.

• EnigmusJ4 -> special in mallets
• Spectrums -> special in battery
• pricewalden -> experience in mallets (?)
• Virtualshock
  
• IHoldThePenHaHa
• Dev (?) -> experience in battery

I think our ensemble would look like this:

Glockenspiel (G below treble to C above staff)
Vibraphone (F below treble to F above staff)
Xylophone (F below treble to highest C on a piano)
Marimba (A, bottom of bass clef to C, octave above treble, 5 ledger lines)
Timpani (four drums)
Toms or timbales (with a cymbal or two within reach)
Auxilliary parts (triangle, sleighbells, gong, bongos, congas, anything)

Snare line (let's assume there are six)
Tenor line (4 quints)
Bass line (1, 2, 3, 4, and 5, where Bass 1 is the highest)
Cymbal line (can it be two sets of 3?)

Any suggestions? Would anybody like to change anything?

sounds interesting, I am in!

I use NWC so we will probably have to go with midi files

Question- is there any reason that we shouldn't get started?
Is anybody not responding that should? We can PM them if necessary...

I must be excited or something!

Yes sooooooooooo, what should we do?

I Paged those that haven't posted here yet, so we'll get the ball rollin' soon enough.

I believe IHoldThePenHaHa has already supplied a short theme in the Suggestions thread... if anybody else is interested, come up with your own little theme.... whose ever we like best we'll use as our main theme. Once we've decided on a theme, I'd like to begin by writing a short introduction (if that's okay with everyone else), maybe 8 - 16 measures or however long, and then from there we can continue in say, 4 - 24 measure phrases per person, on average, It'd be just a single, complete phrase. It may be a 'call', and the next person right the 'answer', or anything of that nature, just as long as we write complete phrases. If you want to write only battery or only mallet parts for your phrases, then the next person can fill those parts in if he or she wishes. If anybody has any ideas but can't seem to write them out right, just suggest them to us, somebody else may be able to make something of it. Let's try to not use the full ensemble the whole entire time, let's look for creative combinations of instruments rather than musical ideas in full tuttis.

Just as a suggestion, I'm looking forward to something a little fast paced for this first movement, we may have a form such as ABCBA, or something of the like, where A and B relate to each other, and C is a contrast. I'd hope we could stick to some type of form somewhat like that, so as to prevent complete random madness from taking over, we need order.

Also, I'll be looking for a lot of communication... let's talk about what we're doing as we do it, why don't we?

My name's James, by the way, for those of you who don't know.

Great! May I only be auxillary percussion, at least for now? I have always been good at writing rhythms, and not quite as good with the malleted instruments...

Alan

so, when you export a midi, does it normally turn into whistles, claps, steel drums, and other gobbledygook? Because...mine did.

Edit: Finale 2007

Originally Posted by Dev

so, when you export a midi, does it normally turn into whistles, claps, steel drums, and other gobbledygook? Because...mine did.

Edit: Finale 2007

I often get this on Sibelius as well. Do you have any kind of Audi playback switched on (Kontakt, GPO or EQW... whatever it is), and your MIDI playback components disabled? This would cause that. You need to have some kind of MIDI playback turned on so that you don't get random sounds.