EuphoniumBC

Yeah, I will work on making it a bit easier for handbell choirs of smaller number. The Westminster Choir could do it, but then again they play on an eight octave set! Might also modify the ending and transitional areas somewhat.

Take a gander on over at this score I have just completed. It is a written for handbells (obviously), which I find to be quite interesting. In any event, I may have gone a bit overboard with some of the chords, and if this was performed live it would probably require something to the amount of 4 to 5 octaves of bells. In any event, ebjoy and critique please. Handbells.MID Handbells.MUS

I will get around to it eventually. I am working on an arrangement of some traditional scottish bagpipe tunes for orchestra, which is why I have just realized that the above piece is quite bad. Then again I did compose it in about 10 minutes, so I didn't have much time to flesh it out.

Muchas gracias senor.

I am using Finale 2004 at the moment, but I figure the commands should largely be the same. 1. How do I add an instrument to a score I already have started? 2. How do I add a roll for snare drum?

This isn't really an issue that only you have noticed. Certainly, the Star Trek themes sound quite similar to some of Copland's works among others. I assume you are speaking of the Voyager theme song, although the Next Generation theme is still somewhat similar. For my part, I would think that Copland may have influenced the themes, but I wouldn't go so far as saying plagiarism. The problem is, in my opinion, that it is quite difficult to determine who has influenced what. "Influence" is such a general word in the first place.

I would have to say Jupiter, Bringer of Jollity from the Planets. Yanni is also nice,although he has only produced one song that I really liked. I don't remember the name but it features a soprano or alto female singing a part above the symphony.

Holst's First Military Suite in E-Flat. Oddly enough, it was the very first piece I ever played in a concert band. Although, I must also agree that Copland has some of the most heroic American pieces. Fanfare for the Common Man is certainly heroic, but I don't think I can put Rodeo up there. After all, they are really meant as dance episodes. Don't get me wrong, Rodeo is a wonderful suite: one of the best. However, it just isn't terribly heroic. I do enjoy Hoe Down though.

Before we get to the actual piece, let me just say a little bit about myself. I am just finishing my high school career, and I am certainly enjoying concert band and marching band. The thing is, I didn't play an instrument until sophomore year. I never played an instrument in middle school, and in the middle of my freshman year I decided to try out for winter percussion. (I figured this would give me the skills to get into marching band, since most of my friends were in the band anyways.) I played bass drum my freshman year in the indoor percussion ensemble, and then my sophomore year I marched bass drum. During the summer between sophomore and junior year, I essentially learned how to play the baritone/euphonium by stealing one of the instruments from school and teaching myself with the Accent on Achievement Book 1. Junior and senior years I played baritone in the marching band and concert bands. (Our director was incredibly lax and didn't mind me switching as we only had 1 other baritone.) Right now, I can play a grade 2 piece with relative ease, but on the upper grade 3's and grade 4's, I tend to start getting into trouble with sight reading. So, I am probably playing on a ninth grade level rhythmically. Tonally and technically I am fine. It seems that I was able to master the art of playing the instrument quite easily, I just haven't been able to master the art of reading music. In any event, I hope to do some work in music in college, but I realize that I will have to rapidly accelerate my understanding in order to keep up with the worst music majors at the university. (I mean, it isn't a conservatory or anything, but I don't think there will be too many horrible players.) So, I decided to read a theory book on my own and compose this little piece. It is a chamber piece I suppose for trumpet in B-Flat and Baritone Horn. (Although I have only composed the baritone bass portion for the first third of the song. ) It sounds rather scottish to me for some odd reason. In any event, listen, look, and tell me what you think. The runs sound to me like I could tweak them somewhat, but I am really concerned about whether or not my bass line is alright. Most of it is just a third up from the melody, so it wasn't terribly hard to devise. The file is a Finale 2004 file. Song_1.MUS Song_1.MID