tsaokenny

My aspiration to study music came a little late in my high school career, and studying composition came even later. There is no music theory course at my school. Everything I know, I learned through independent study (my theory isn't actually that bad). When I read the audition requirements for colleges, and having to submit original compositions, and some that even ask for live recordings. So I don't really know what to do. My compositions aren't that great, and I don't think I'm good enough for a performance major. Am I at a disadvantage (discovering this late, never being able to afford a private teacher or formal training), or did many people also discover themselves in this position in their senior year in school?

This is a jazzy type of song I'm working on. I recorded all the parts the best I could, but I didn't have great equipment, nor can I play piano that well :whistling:. There's a bass line that fades out after the first A section. I will rerecord that, so just ignore it for now. I also plan to add a solo section, then end the song on the head again. Please give feedback. http://tsao.kenny.googlepages.com/Lonely.mp3

I wrote this with our marching band and drumline in mind. They tend to come up with our own beats, and they'll probably be able to come up with something better in a shorter time than I can. But I see what you're saying. I did rip the drumset pattern from the song just so the drumline has an idea of how the song should sound...I guess after they make up the beat, I'll write that in this song. Hehe. The harmoines where? Can you point out at what time in the song? I would post the pdf, but I'm using lilypond, and while trying to add instrument names to the score, it completely blew up, so I'm working on fixing that. Thanks for the input!

Rick Astley's "Never Gonna Give You Up" arranged for marching band. Haven't figured out what to do with the bridge (It might just be a drum and tuba break) and still need to end it somehow. I figured most drumlines would come up with their own beats, but this is the drum beat from the song anyways. What do you think? NeverGonnaGiveYouUp.midi

I think it depends on the band, but F would probably be a better key anyways. The one in F sounds kind of darker, but the audience probably wouldn't notice a difference.

Here We are the Champions.pdf

So after a few trial and errors, I came up with this. I had the tuba playing the root and trombones playing thirds and fifths (11ths and 13ths), which sounds better than when I had three alto parts. I'm guessing the notes need to be at least an octave away or they don't sound good. The trumpets, altos, flute and clarinet have the melody. Trombones have chords/harmony and tuba has bass line. Should I post the pdf file too? We are the Champions.midi

So our marching band is more of a show style band. We don't have a pit, we just have a battery and winds, totaling around 70 people. I'm arranging Queen's We are the Champions, but some things trouble me at the moment. I am not sure if it is my incompetency in using Lilypond or my incompetency in theory and arranging. 1) The piano/guitar chords are voiced in the saxophone section, but the chords don't really sound good with the other parts. Should I not be using thirds and just stick to fifths? Or just octaves? 2) Similarly, the vocals are harmonized quite extensively in this song, and it's hard to pick out what notes of the chord to play. Since we are a show style band, would it be appropriate to just stick with simpler chords? Or is there something obvious that I'm doing wrong that I just don't see?