Zoology

Hi all.

Just wanted to post a new piece I've started working on for wind band.

It's supposed to represent a dawn chorus in an African jungle, where the animals wake up one by one, each represented by a different instrument.

I've made the opening, and some rough ideas for the ending. Now I just need to link them together somehow. (This will involve accelerating the tempo from 40 to 110 bpm.)

The end section is using strings temporarily; but I plan to replace those with saxophones and woodwind.

I haven't made a score for the end section; but have included the audio file.

N.B. The maracas in the audio file for the opening section are definitely not maracas! This must be some kind of bug in Muse Sounds.

Be interested to know if any of you recognise the percussion instrument that's actually being played, as it's perfect for the piece!

Hi @Alex Weidmann!

I really like the concept of the piece!  The peaceful vibe at the beginning and how it slowly develops and flourishes is very interesting.  There's also some surprising lines and chromaticism that keep things interesting.

4 hours ago, Alex Weidmann said:

I've made the opening, and some rough ideas for the ending. Now I just need to link them together somehow. (This will involve accelerating the tempo from 40 to 110 bpm.)

I don't think that that will be as difficult as it sounds.  You really only need to bring the tempo up from 40 to 55.  Since 55 is half of 110 it will still sound smooth and this will basically just be a metric modulation.  All you'll have to do is to make the transition smooth in orchestration, harmony, melody and any of the other elements of the music (not to understate the challenge that this might still pose for you - but you have my vote of confidence!)

4 hours ago, Alex Weidmann said:

N.B. The maracas in the audio file for the opening section are definitely not maracas! This must be some kind of bug in Muse Sounds.

Be interested to know if any of you recognise the percussion instrument that's actually being played, as it's perfect for the piece!

I went on a bit of a rabbit-hole search through the internet looking for drums that can do a gliss when I finally found this video:

(How to do a Moose Call on Conga Drums) - Glissando Lesson

I wonder if that is the sound that is being synthesized here?

Thanks for sharing!

Many thanks Peter for your review.
You could be right about the moose drum! 
I've asked on the MuseScore forum what this instrument is; but no one seems to know.

I've done a bit more work on the piece now; though it's still far from finished.

Not quite sure about some of my transitions, especially in Bar 100.