brass ensemble | Boulder Brass

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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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Michael Allen

Apr 3, 2019

Atmosphere

In early 1914, Holst heard a performance of Schoenberg’s Five Pieces for Orchestra. This seminal experience along with a suggestion from...

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Michael Allen

Mar 14, 2019

Good writers write...always

I retired from a 30+ year professional playing career in May 2018. Retire is a funny word because I hardly feel retired. Since before...

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Michael Allen

Sep 23, 2018

Another possible approach

I might have tried to transcribe something as awesome as the first movement of Mahler's 5th Symphony decades ago - I might have even...

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Michael Allen

Jul 29, 2018

Color Separation

A single yellow bloom will really pop in a bush of red ones, even though they are all roses.

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Texture 1 - Writing for the whole ensemble

Michael Allen

Mar 18, 2018

Texture 1 - Writing for the whole ensemble

A while back, I wrote an entry called 4 Dimensional Texture where I identified 4 basic ways to group instruments in a large ensemble.

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Michael Allen

Mar 9, 2018

Breaking my own rules

I usually have three or four arranging projects on the front burners and many more unfinished projects in my "work in progress" file....

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Michael Allen

Dec 5, 2017

Texture 2 - Writing for families

However, in my brass ensemble writing, I'll write passages for a grouping of trumpets when the music calls for it, and/or as a contrast

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Michael Allen

Dec 3, 2017

Texture 4 - writing chamber music

Recently, I've undertaken some large engraving projects - I'm making clean versions of the Tchaikovsky ballets. This may seem a little...

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Michael Allen

Nov 9, 2017

Bass Doubling

I wrote something yesterday that was confusing even to me when I read it again today. Mea culpa. The offending sentence was: Wright notes...

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