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Michael Allen
Nov 3
Centennial Fanfares
In 1970, The Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York City) was celebrating its centennial and the Director of the Museum, Thomas Hoving,...
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Michael Allen
Nov 3
423.11 vs. 243.11
At the risk of stating the obvious, I've been meaning to briefly address the mildly curious numbering paradigm. I have always used the...
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Michael Allen
Apr 6
Writing better parts - note distribution
I recently spent 90 minutes editing a 40 measure section of a score. I did not add a single articulation, or dynamic mark. I did not...
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Michael Allen
Jan 12, 2023
When the well is dry
I've always have several arranging projects in my "work in progress" folder, but I've hit a dry spell. After some furious activity during...
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Michael Allen
Nov 24, 2020
Inspiration and Innovation
I just received a request from the New York Philharmonic to perform/record for digital distribution my double quintet arrangement of the...
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Michael Allen
Nov 24, 2020
PJBE Pictures
Classics for Brass (1972) comprises several great, iconic brass masterpieces (Schuller, Jolivet, Bozza, Strauss, Grieg, Dukas, and...
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Michael Allen
Nov 26, 2019
K.I.S.S.
I'm on a week away from my day gig, chipping away at some BIG arranging projects. The music on my desktop right now is about 700 measures...
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Michael Allen
Aug 29, 2019
Compromises
I'm about to publish yet another version of Debussy's Girl with the Flaxen Hair. I've arranged this piece for tuba quartet, brass quintet...
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Michael Allen
Aug 10, 2019
Wheat or chaff?
A great brass ensemble can make (just about) any arrangement sound good to great. This is a false positive result - when great musicians...
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Michael Allen
Aug 10, 2019
Palette
I'll admit that I'm a movie music nerd and a fan of the usual suspects (Williams, Horner, Howard, Zimmer, etc.). Some others on the less...
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