I’m a Band Director...

...and I’m here to answer your questions about writing music (especially for larger ensembles) from my experience as both a composer and a director.
 

I direct a community band that has existed since 1946 (it’s an honor to be only their 3rd band director since 1946, they have a rich history and very loyal audience in the community). We perform a broad difficulty level of music from grade 3 (Jr High level) to grade 6 (College level). It’s important to note that some states have different grade levels established by their associations, so some grading stops at grade 5 while other states go up to grade 6. Covid has been a challenge, but we’re fortunate to have very devoted members who have helped us all to press forward in our efforts to perform for our audience through video recording. 
 

I have published compositions that are sold across the United States (GPG music is my publisher) for Concert and Marching Band. I’ve been a composer since I was 14 years old, been where many of you are probably starting, and I have a wealth of information to share with you from over 25 years of experience in music. 
 

I’ve been commissioned four times so far in my composition career. I’m glad to share knowledge of how this works if this is something you’d like me to discuss. I’m a father of two preschool aged children. I’ll be in and out of the forum as they permit me to be here, so if I don’t respond right away, don’t fret. I’ll be sure to reply when I’m here. 
 

Thanks, everyone! 

What are the most important things a composer should learn to improve? Sorry if that's a vague question. 😅

Study scores of the music that interests you the most. Use theory to inform your score study. Even if your first pieces seem derivative, the lessons you’ll learn from doing this will make you more capable as you gravitate towards your own original ideas. 

What first inspired you the most when you were 14 years old to take up musical composition?

Interestingly enough, I started composition at 14 as well.  I've always wanted to be published when I was much younger, but was never successful.  I took a CD of my music (yes CDs back in the day) and handed them out to various music professors.  I called various music publishers and asked for advice on what to do.  And can you believe it, I even had the guts to walk up to pianist Emanuel Ax after one of his performances.  I had the CD and my sheet music all ready, and I handed it to him!  I never heard back, and this is not something I'd ever do today (I was 22 at the time maybe?).  But my question to you @AntiA, how did you successfully become published?

PaperComposer: I was in the car on my way home from watching Mr. Holland’s Opus in the theater and humming my own melodies to myself. That’s maybe when I first realized I wanted to compose.

Another moment as a percussionist, is the time I counted 30+ multimeasure rests to hit one triangle note, the director stopped one measure before it to fix something, and I swore to never give percussionists that many rests in my music over just one note. To this day, I have done my level best to never do that, but I can’t be 100% sure that I haven’t done that either. 

Chopin: So I’ve been teaching drum lessons since 2010 at a local school system when I become friends with the director in 2011-12. He’s a director who’s taken his 5th-6th grade band to Midwest in Chicago (very accomplished, knows LOTS of people), and so he comes out to my house to visit one weekend.

I sat him down at my computer to listen to a piece I’d written for high school band to get his opinion on if a high school band could play it or if we could get the local high school band to play it. That was my initial intent: Get it performed.

Instead, he calls a composer buddy who is trying to expand his publishing company into the Concert Band market and tells him about me. This composer is Gary Gilroy, and he programs my piece with his college band out in Fresno California.

So I fly out to CA for the premiere in 2012, and I meet Gary. They host me for a night, and then the performance is the next night, then I flew out the next day. I visited Yosemite while I was out there at Gary’s insistence. It was well worth the visit. 

By this point, Gary had already worked to get my first piece published. THEN, my band director buddy nominated Gary to conduct one of the All State high school bands. So we flew him out across the country in 2013. Gary brought my piece in its published form as one of the Clinic pieces, recognized me at the rehearsal and performance, and of course I stood and took a bow at the end of the performance.

And that’s the basic gist of everything that happened surrounding my first publication. From then on, I’ve been loyal to GPG Music. Gary has retired from it now and sold it to his business partner. The company is doing well, and I’m continuing to write music and sending it to them every year. 

That is a fantastic story and I think it is important for others to hear these types of stories, especially if you are looking to be performed/published.  I find that this is a bit of a "black box" for composers.  It is one of the reasons why I personally went a different direction even though I would have loved to stay in the music business.  But I realized that music for me must just remain a hobby for now.  I may come back to it in my older years because the passion is still there.

What are some criteria for a work to even be considered for publication?  What should composers look out for?

Some publishing companies hold competitions and select works from the finalists in these contests to publish, often awarding a cash prize up front for winning. Hal Leonard and Manhattan Beach (Alfred Reed's publishing company) are two of the largest publishing outfits in America, so you composers need to know who the big names are in the business.

Remember that publishers serve a similar role to agents, where they're collecting a lion's share of the profit for doing the lion's share of the work. IF you're reputable and well known across the country, you may never need a publisher. But if you're obscure, the benefits are real, and you must look at what your publisher is doing to promote you and your music.

Yes, you can and should promote yourself as well, but your publisher is probably collecting 90% of the sale while spending 70-80% in costs to promote it. It's a partnership. So composers should watch out for companies that aren't going to help you promote yourself. There's no sense in letting such a company keep 90% of every sale if they're not putting in at least 80% of the work in costs.

This isn't just in terms of printing costs, either. Printing probably takes up 25% of the sales price. So you're looking at maybe 55% of that going toward the cost of booths at state association meetings in CA, TX, FL, and more. You can offer to sit in the booth and help promote your music if you're going to be at one of these events so people can meet you face to face and talk about your music with you. 

Composers should also be prepared to collaborate with their publishers, especially on editorial recommendations. I have a very positive relationship with my editor at GPG because I listen to his advice and genuinely consider it. There have been times he's made suggestions to me on edits, and I've absolutely made them because it makes perfect sense to do so. Other times, he's not quite sure what the solution is, he just wants me to find a better way to do it. So I do, and then he doesn't complain about the issue to me anymore which is the only way I know that it's resolved.

My editor rarely makes suggestions that I refuse to address. I don't think I've ever been completely unwilling to change something if there's a concern about how attainable it will be, because I recognize that (unless you're composing strictly electronic music for yourself) performance music is a collaborative effort. Everyone involved wants the piece to succeed in sales, which means more performances of the piece and more enjoyment from the players performing it. That's the primary reason I compose these days. I want people to fall in love with and feel genuinely accomplished with their performances of my music. 

16 hours ago, AntiA said:

I have published compositions that are sold across the United States (GPG music is my publisher) for Concert and Marching Band.

Hi @AntiA, and thanks for making yourself available for questions!

Former marching / concert band member here, now an adult (also with young kids! 😃) with an unrelated job doing my best as a composer on the side. I have written two medium-length single-movement pieces for concert band (here and here) so far that I think would be feasible for performance. I'd be thrilled to get either of them published. The trouble is, 1) I don't know what grade level to put them that, and 2) I don't really know how to format the scores / package them / send them to publishers.

Also, should I approach community / college bands for performance on my own, outside of trying to get published? Or should I try to get published first to give myself a little more clout?

Do you have any advice for me to get started with?

Thanks again for offering up your help!

Hi Noah!

Thank you for the questions! 

Grade level is determined by state band associations. Each state’s band association will basically adopt a model based on one of the major states like Texas or California.

I would reach out to a local band director at a school and let them know you’re looking for information on music difficulty, and any documentation they can give you for your own use as a composer would be helpful. 

Joining a GOOD community band would be a great way to position yourself to get your music read, programmed, and maybe even performed. I recommend Note Performer for the best audio quality. That’s what we’re using for audio samples now at GPG, and it’s amazing! Works with Finale, Sibelius, and Dorico. 

Getting published isn’t the highest priority. Getting your music in front of players is. You’ll gain more from this than publishing. I’ll listen to your works and comment when I have more time. Thanks again for your questions!