July 6, 200719 yr 'K, So while browsing through my files today, I found this big sounding fanfare type thing. It's nothing serious, but I'm quite fond of it. It's for band, like usual.
July 8, 200719 yr Hello, I'm sorry to say this but I didn't really like it... Not only because of the quality but I also thought it was kind of annoying... Especially that repeating melody... I'm sorry but that's my opinion.
July 8, 200719 yr I think it could do with mixing up. Those repeated motifs get tired. Despite the piece's brevity, I'm sure even Philip Glass would have tried to make it go somewhere a little more than it does. Listen to John Adams' Short Ride in a Fast Machine if you're stuck for ideas.
July 8, 200719 yr arnevr, you were reffering to the broken chord? I would consider it a pattern rather than a repeating melody. About that pattern, Mitchell, the one that goes Bb ↓ F ↓ Eb ↓ Bb ↑ Eb ↑ F and repeats over, and over, and over, and over again, it needs some VARIATION. I think the whole thing would sound good if you just changed this harmony in a lot of places. Having this same broken chord repeated over and over is rather boring, musically redundant, and moreover, annoying. You can use the pattern over and over and over as long as you change the chords that it forms. Right now that pattern is a broken Bb sus.4th, just change that chord around as you go on to fit the rest of the parts better (notice that bass clarinet, bari sax, and low brass play the pattern in quarter notes, alter that accordingly), be sure to , excentuate (or however that's spelled) other harmonies by having the pattern conform to them. Measure 23 or 24 might be just one good place to make an adjustment in the pattern. Why do you have the aforementioned pattern played in such a wierd manner by flutes, oboe, and clarinet? The piccolo has the whole thing, but the others only have bits of it, which interlock to create one. But at this tempo, the fact and effect that the pattern is tossed between the instruments will be lost, not to mention that getting a band to play it right and in time would be a lot harder then just continuous eight notes. Maybe you could try having the pattern split into larger sections, just the flutes for one measure, oboes in the next, clarinets in the third, and piccolo playing it the whole time. In that way the sense that the pattern is 'tossed' between the different instruments will be more noticeable. Also be sure to indicate somehow in the score that there are to be more than one piccolo, as two could trade it every few measures, whereas one would have to stop playing altogther for a couple of beats to take a deep breath. Did you know that piccolo requires about the same amount of air to play as a tuba? Be wary! EDIT: Hmm, where's the battery percussion? What's a band composition without some battery here and there? EDIT AGAIN: ... Despite the piece's brevity, I'm sure even Philip Glass would have tried to make it go somewhere a little more than it does. ... I like Philip Glass, so I greatly appreciate that quote! But sadly, it's true.
July 8, 200719 yr Author Right. I get EVERYTHING you're saying. I actually never thought of changing the pattern, I just wanted a cute little fanfare. And that pattern seemed to work, and it didn't annoy me. I didn't really know how to write for percussion then, but I you'll surely find percussion in my more recent band works.
July 12, 200719 yr The main problem that I see in this is the actual "fanfare" will play for a couple of measures, than cut off, than come in several measures later and do the same thing. I think that the fanfare should be more connected, instead of being broken into pieces. This piece definitely has potential, it just needs some revising.
January 20, 200818 yr Sounds like the NBC theme seriously.. :laugh: That's very accurate! I support everything that has been said in this thread. It sounds like a bit of a mess. Also the fifths in the low brass are very hard on the ears, or it's just MIDI...
