May 20, 200916 yr Hello hello. I'm arranging my first big band piece, and I was wondering whether you all think I need to keep my instrument sections all together doing the same thing - I mean like, all the saxes playing the same thing in their various ranges etc.. or can I have one playing rhythm, one incorporating the bass part, one harmonizing the melody etc, or maybe that gets too muddy sounding... ? Are there any rules for this or is it personal preference? :w00t:
May 20, 200916 yr No rules. You can keep the sections together (See: Basie/Sammy Nestico/Thad Jones) Or don't (See: Duke/Bob Brookmeyer/Maria Schneider) Write what you hear...write what you can...
May 23, 200916 yr Hello hello.I'm arranging my first big band piece, and I was wondering whether you all think I need to keep my instrument sections all together doing the same thing - I mean like, all the saxes playing the same thing in their various ranges etc.. or can I have one playing rhythm, one incorporating the bass part, one harmonizing the melody etc, or maybe that gets too muddy sounding... ? Are there any rules for this or is it personal preference? :w00t: My 2 cents: you can write a melody for a sax which could be doubled from another sax at the lower octave; sometimes, if you write for 5 saxes you can harmonize them from the highest note following the chord notes (with 9th that replaces the fundamental), for ex. you have a F7 chord and an Eb on the melody, the five saxes will play Eb-C-A-G-Eb. And, if you want, you can drop down an octave the second or the third or the second and the fourth (in this case, C or A or C and G). If before your Eb in the melody there's a D, you can harmonize the whole saxes section a semitone lower (for ex. D-B-Ab-Gb-D). Where to harmonized the whole section... it's your choice, it strongly depends on what you have written for the rhythmic section, et cetera. This is, broadly speaking, the way I arrange a saxes section for a big band arrangement. I hope my english is understandable. :)
May 24, 200916 yr Awesome! Two guys describing the same thing (Supersax!!) while ignoring the original question... :thumbsup:
May 24, 200916 yr Awesome! Two guys describing the same thing (Supersax!!) while ignoring the original question... :thumbsup: I think you pretty much answered the original question. I find it interesting to see how other people think about some of these things.
May 24, 200916 yr Awesome! Two guys describing the same thing (Supersax!!) while ignoring the original question... :thumbsup: I read, in the "original question", that he wanted to be explained how saxes should sound. In fact: "all the saxes playing the same thing in their various ranges etc.. or can I have one playing rhythm, one incorporating the bass part, one harmonizing the melody etc, or maybe that gets too muddy sounding... ?" If I understood incorrectly, I kindly apologize. :blush:
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