All about that bass
The notes are all entered into your score template - now what? Of course, the possibilities are nearly endless and there is no one right...
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Michael Allen
Jul 28, 2017
Getting started
As I wrote in Arrangement, Orchestration or Transcription, when scoring for brass I prefer to work from keyboard music. Even when doing a...
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Michael Allen
Jul 27, 2017
First impressions
Musicians spend years in solitude learning to perfect their craft, and are rightfully protective of what comes out of the horn. Musicians...
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Michael Allen
Jul 26, 2017
Choosing a project
Never being one to shy away from difficult projects, in 1978 I set out to make a version of Toccata and Fugue for my brass playing...
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Michael Allen
Jul 24, 2017
Why the piccolo trumpet is second fiddle
The way I think about writing for brass has evolved a lot over the years, especially for the instruments with which I'm not intimately...
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Michael Allen
Jul 22, 2017
E flat linchpin
The liner notes for the Philip Jones Brass Ensemble recording of Pictures at an Exhibition contain a brief account of Elgar Howarth's...
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Michael Allen
Jul 20, 2017
Less is more
I had the great fortune to play bass trombone in Dave Caffey's excellent jazz band at the University of Denver. We played a lot of...
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Michael Allen
Jul 18, 2017
One on a part
A friend just sent me a note on an earlier post, and he mentioned that he is writing a lot for brass band. I love the sound of a brass...
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Michael Allen
Jul 17, 2017
Why just 2 horns?
I only wrote about 5 charts using 4 horns early on for the Denver Brass. In 1988, at my urging Denver Brass went from 4 (or sometimes 3)...
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Michael Allen
Jul 16, 2017
Regarding instrumentation - Why 423.11?
I started writing brass arrangements while still in high school (late 70's) after first hearing the Philip Jones Brass Ensemble and...
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