Big Blue (for big band)

Hey, I'd just like to know what you think of my new song for big band, which is sort of bluesy, and hence big blue :)

It starts out very much as a 12-bar blues form but I've tried to add some harmonic and rhythmic variety to it here and there, so hopefully it won't fall into the trap of being monotonous which I find a lot of blues to do.

Anyway, looking forward to your comments :thumbsup:

big blue.sib

big blue.mid

yo, nice stuff, it has kinda dance like groove, boogie feel. but that will depends on the players, to my taste the intro is too long, i would a four bar of the last chorus for the intro for example, pretty long also for a blues, good ending! please leave PDF format for us beggars who dont have finale :)

yo, nice stuff, it has kinda dance like groove, boogie feel. but that will depends on the players, to my taste the intro is too long, i would a four bar of the last chorus for the intro for example, pretty long also for a blues, good ending! please leave PDF format for us beggars who dont have finale :)

Yeah definitely agree about the intro. I might see what I can do about that... it doesn't really do anything at the moment. Thanks for your comments & I'll get a pdf up soon.

In the hands of the right band, that intro can be a tasty opportunity for a piano solo, which is often done to warm the ensemble up.

The middle section is very pretty--did you try spicing up some of the long harmony notes? A bit of dissonance would be cool.

Still, I think you've done a lot of good work here. I was in a terrific big band in high school (on drums) and I could hear us playing this.

Doug

PDF Score please!

Great piece, nice arrangement. Really swings. A couple comments:

1) The saxophone triplets beginning around measure 26 (and repeating several times throughout the piece) seem to get lost. I think replacing them with eighth notes might help them have a little more impact.

2) The two-measure lead-up to the tenor sax solo (is it measure 86?) drops a lot in energy. I would try to build up the energy here, rather than bringing it down.

3) The trombones sound a little thin beginning at measure 135. Any particular reason why you dropped the bass trombone here?

4) Beginning around measure 190, I wonder if some staccato hits from the trombones might have more impact than the sustained notes.

These are all probably just a matter of taste. On the whole I really like the song. It's fun to listen to and gets my feet tapping.

Great piece, nice arrangement. Really swings. A couple comments:

1) The saxophone triplets beginning around measure 26 (and repeating several times throughout the piece) seem to get lost. I think replacing them with eighth notes might help them have a little more impact.

2) The two-measure lead-up to the tenor sax solo (is it measure 86?) drops a lot in energy. I would try to build up the energy here, rather than bringing it down.

3) The trombones sound a little thin beginning at measure 135. Any particular reason why you dropped the bass trombone here?

4) Beginning around measure 190, I wonder if some staccato hits from the trombones might have more impact than the sustained notes.

These are all probably just a matter of taste. On the whole I really like the song. It's fun to listen to and gets my feet tapping.

Hi Glenn, thanks for your thoughtful comments. I'll respond to each:

1. Ah, I haven't quite finished doing the saxomophone parts for this part of the piece, although I was planning on keeping them as triplets. I quite like the rhythm they play, but the notes aren't right yet. Hopefully when I've tweaked it it'll sound better. I'd be interested to know what you think.

2. I agree completely, but that's exactly what I was going for. I wanted to bring the energy right down for this section. I guess that's just a question of style & taste.

3. Well it may just be my MIDI sounds, but it sounded a bit muddy with the 4th trombone part in there. I'll think about putting it in.

4. I'll try that & see how it sounds.

"3. Well it may just be my MIDI sounds, but it sounded a bit muddy with the 4th trombone part in there. I'll think about putting it in."

If the bass trombone is too close to the others it can make it sound muddy. I try to keep my bass at least a m6 below the next lowest pitch. That usually means my first and, sometimes, second trombones are playing somewhere around middle C or higher.

By the way I seem to have trouble using the ghost printer thing to make a .pdf :( I followed all the instructions...

What program are you using to convert to .pdf? You tell Sibelius to print your document, then in the print dialog you select your .pdf coverter as your printer.

I am, but when I try to open the file, GSview won't recognise it

Can you open it in Adobe reader?

Nope... is there another way to make Sibelius files into PDFs? Alternatively I could just save the pages as jpegs and put it in a zip file.

Simple!

CutePDF - Create PDF for free, Free PDF Utilities, Save PDF Forms, Edit PDF easily.

The problem isn't with Sibelius, it's with whatever program you use to create the PDF. There are different freeware programs that will create PDFs for you. Google "PDF creator" to find one and download it. Just be aware that not all of them are completely free. Some will convert only one or two pages. Also, there are some that are online and that you don't need to download.

Nope... is there another way to make Sibelius files into PDFs? Alternatively I could just save the pages as jpegs and put it in a zip file.

Download doPDF. It creates a virtual printer on your pc and, when you click on "Print" in your productivity software (whatever... from Sibelius to MS Word) it generates a pdf of your document.

I usually use it on Finale.:)

OK I've managed to do it :D Hooray. Thanks for the help, everyone....