“Where None Would Go” (Gettysburg Memorial Song) is a piece I wrote to commemorate the Battle of Gettysburg, July 1-3, 1863. This song released July 4, 2016. Words and Music by Conrad Askland. Vocalist: Leisha Skinner. To a variation of the melody “Shenandoah”.

I was inspired to write this song after spending many hours of discussion on the Civil War with my friend, Joe Bowen. He is a scholar of American History where he studied the Civil War at Harvard College. He will setup battle tactics and battle strategies on tables using napkins, playing cards, cups – whatever is around – to really immerse me in details of the Civil War. The conversations usually start with prose, then get into historical details and facts of the battles and politics of the time, then end with philosophical musings, anecdotes and quotes from soldier’s letters.

I don’t have the academic study of the Civil War under my belt, but I do have the artist’s yearning to wonder what it felt like at the time to be immersed in that world, and to wonder how I could express that feeling. In the end, what seemed most appropriate was to create a song as a commemoration of that time. I know there is a lot of controversy over the Confederate flag and I understand that. I included a verse each to highlight the military leaders of both the Union and Confederate armies. I thought it was appropriate to give each equal time. At the end of the video you will see two Civil War veterans shaking hands. You will also notice several cutaways to Abraham Lincoln and to the Lincoln Memorial. I hope what gets across in those images is the high resolve the mankind is capable of to do great good, the immeasurable pain that mankind is also capable of inflicting, and that in the end it is only mercy, grace, and reconciliation that will matter. Maybe I’m reading too much into such a short piece, but those were my intents.

LYRICS

WHERE NONE WOULD GO (Gettysburg Memorial Song)

We went on where none would go
We went on where none would go
And we saw what none had seen
For we went on where none would go

We saw light when all was dark
We saw light when all was dark
And we saw what none had seen
For we saw light when all was dark

We did roam where none would go
We did roam where none would go
And someday we will be home
For we did roam where none would go

We went on when all was lost
We went on when all was lost
And our place was all our own
For we went on when all was lost

We lived on when all did not
We lived on when all did not
And now our path is ours alone
For lived when all did not

We went on where none would go
We went on where none would go
And we saw what none had seen
For we went on where none would go

ORCHESTRATION

The orchestration is very simple: three string parts, piano and synth pad. The double bass string section sticks to root notes the entire piece, the cello section takes the fifth of the chord (except where the 5th happens to double the vocal note), and the viola section takes whatever the third note of each chord was left over. I experiment with adding soaring violin parts but I felt it distracted from the vocal. I also tried adding in timpani and military snare parts, but I felt it was starting to sound too much like a “production” piece. For this song, I wanted a steady drone in the background with a steady vocal. The idea being that the focus should be on the vocal and whatever media accompanies the piece. In this case, I put in photos of Gettysburg. Alternate media could include photos of a modern military group or photos of a more religious nature. In any case, the purpose of this song is to accompany a secondary media for a multi-disciplinary art format.

The piano part was actually my scratch piano part just for the vocalist to get timing and pitch. I originally never intended it to stay on the final, but I liked the simplicity of the part. The synth pad is from Omnisphere and is similar to the old TX802 or Roland D-50 patch called “heaven”, kind of a chiffy string pad. I did eq out some of the “chiff” because to my ears it was distracting with the strings.

RECORDING NOTES

I ran hi pass filters on most of the sends and returns along with sidechain compression triggered by the vocals. This allowed the vocal to stay clean and upfront, while having the reverb trails come in just at the ends of phrases. For this particular song, I wanted the vocals to be very present and upfront. I have been to military funerals where the vocalist sings a capella graveside and I wanted a similar feel. I was very intentional on having the vocalist (Leisha Skinner) hold back and keep a somber and reserved approach to the vocal, so there was never a “belt” moment. Vocals recorded with a Neumann U87 and final mix with many UAD plugins including Studer, Ampex, SSL and Neve 1073 preamp.

On the sends and returns I used standard Lexicon halls and plates. I also used Ocean Way “re-record” setups which gave the vocal a little more ambience and live space.

Two mistakes I made in the recording: On one of the last verses there is a little “click” sound. I couldn’t find a replacement vocal take for that note and it wasn’t working well to edit it out and crossfade, so I just left it in. My biggest blunder was using Melodyne and using an automatic setting to process the entire track. My inner voice kept saying “don’t EVER use automated vocal correction!” but I didn’t listen and paid the pride. On the other side, I really had a burning compulsion to get this released before July 4th was over and I finally got the video submitted to YouTube at 11:50pm on July 4, 2016. I guess I could have spent a few hours extra to learn Melodyne better, but now it’s forward and on to the next project. On the SMART side, I did save unaltered original comp vocal tracks so it could be used down the road and remixed for a new version.

For the vocal track, my instructions to the vocalist was “I wanted it to sound like you have a foreign accent, like you are an immigrant, but I don’t want anyone to be able to tell what the accent is.” So, as an example, we experimented with Irish and Scottish accents and then had her pull back the accent to it was subtle. You’ll notice a peculiar enunciation on words like “go” on the line “where none would go”. That sound was very intentional and part of concept to create a “timeless” sound. Another visual I gave is “imagine that the Statue of Liberty is singing this.”

Information on the Battle of Gettysburg:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Gettysburg

This is the original full length overture from the premiere of my theatre work “Romeo and Juliet the musical” which premiered February 2015 at the Historic Lincoln Theatre in Mount Vernon, WA.

My Romeo and Juliet score uses only the original Shakespeare text in English; set to a musical theatre score.

Originally for the first opening night we played a shorter version which starts a few minutes into this (around 2:30 in this video) – the section where the brass comes in at a faster tempo. I thought this was a good snappy way to open the musical in a kind of traditional musical theatre style.

But the musicians, and myself, kind of missed the long extended “mystic” beginning of the original overture. To me, the longer intro is a way of conjuring the Bard; of paying homage to the works of William Shakespeare that have been performed in the past, and those to come.

I really milk the beginning as you will hear in this clip. A simple C major chord. When this was recorded at a live show on February 14, 2015 (Valentine’s Day!), it was a time for the couples to settle down and get ready for a new interpretation of the Bard’s work.

When I wrote it, I image mist or low lying fog slowly clearing. Or I image the spirits of the characters in the houses Montagues and Capulets slowly returning; at least their memories to be relived once again on the stage.

In general I keep to the rule to always be as succinct as possible in musical theatre. But this was an occasion where I missed the indulgence of a longer and sparse orchestral beginning.

The overture uses themes from Juliet drinking the poison, the Nurse’s song where she sings “Wilt thou not Julie”, the main Romeo and Juliet theme which uses the words “Give me my Romeo”, and also part of Juliet’s solo in Act Two “Come Gentle Night”.

So was the overture written after the musical was finished, as is normally the case? Half and half. The second half of the overture uses sections from the musical after orchestration was finalized. The first half of the overture was actually written while I was writing the rest of the music score.

I started writing Romeo and Juliet the musical in November 2013 and had a first draft finished in January 2014. Then I worked on it furiously from June through September 2014 and the premiere was January 30, 2015 at the Historic Lincoln Theatre in Mount Vernon, WA for a three week run.

I hope you can imagine being with us on that opening night and also that you enjoy the music.

So where will Romeo and Juliet the musical go from here? Time will tell…

(Score sample of Keyboard Two part from Conrad Askland’s “Romeo and Juliet – the musical”, July 2014)

As I’m working on orchestrations for my third full length musical, “Romeo and Juliet” (http://www.RJmusical.com), I realize the need for a particular scoring approach for the Keyboard Two part. Here is the solution I came up with to incorporate Apple’s MainStage with Sibelius for use in orchestrations and creating the final Keyboard Two patch setup.

I have a 10 piece chamber ensemble. Keyboard One/Conductor will only play piano so the conductor can focus on the intricate entrances for the vocalists, changing meters and performing what some conductors refer to as “traffic cop” (i.e.: making sure everything doesn’t fall apart!)

So Keyboard Two is responsible for the musical colors and textures the chamber ensemble cannot provide, which in my classic styled score is Strings (arco, tremolo, pizzicato and maracato), glockenspiel, sparse timpani hits, harp, sparse recorder, lute to accompany guitar, etc. In other words, Keyboard Two is my jack of all trades.

I want the Keyboard Two part of be fool proof, where a player who knows the notes can just sit down and play. Because of the intricate orchestration I won’t have time in rehearsal to fix technical surprises or glitches. So, I want to set up the patch banks for Keyboard Two in Apple’s MainStage software and here the actual patches they will be playing while I am composing and orchestrating, but I also need to be able to output the full orchestration audio quickly to create audio files for practice tracks and subsequent revisions.

Here is the solution I’ve come up with for all of the that. Once setup, I think it’s fairly simple and doesn’t get in the way of my orchestration and composing process.

Now, I do adhere to the rule that while scoring in a notation program (like Sibelius or Finale), you should NOT waste time on perfecting the audio output. Otherwise, you will waste countless hours making your score audio output sound good, when your time is better spent focusing on making the live playing of your score sound good. I spend a lot of money on sound libraries. I have a dozen libraries from East West, most of the Garritan libraries, Native Instruments and many others with legal licenses. I find that when I’m scoring for live instruments, the Garritan libraries work great, have an easy computer load and let me focus on scoring.

The exception is Keyboard Two. I want to hear exactly what Keyboard Two will be playing. If I program my Keyboard Two parts with expensive libraries from East West or Native Instruments, the reality is that when a keyboard two player sets up their patches in an amateur or even semi-pro environment, they are not going to have those libraries. So, I want to program all the Keyboard Two parts in MainStage so that any keyboard player can setup similar patches to what I am scoring for (MainStage 3 is around thirty dollars).

STEP ONE – SETUP IAC

To get Sibelius to play through MainStage, setup your IAC. (Mac: Applications > Utilities  > Audio Midi Setup). I named my IAC “Sibelius to MainStage” which is pretty fool-proof. In Sibelius > Play > Playback Devices, add your new IAC to your set. For those unfamiliar with IAC, think of it as an external midi cable that is virtual within your computer. MainStage acts as an external tone module and the IAC is a midi cable to that module. You can use the same approach for any virtual instrument such as Kontakt, or players like PLAY, ARIA, etc.

STEP TWO – PROGRAM CHANGES

Now your Keyboard Two part is playing through Sibelius, but you need to make automated program changes. For my setup, I am keeping my Keyboard Two part limited to a maximum of 16 patches (many programmed with splits within those patches on a full 88 key keyboard). In Sibelius, as an example to change to patch four, use this: ~p4

Make the “~p4” text hidden, it’s only needed for the software patch change automation. Then in visible text use a boxed text for you keyboard player, like “4 Tremolo Strings”. Now the software will change to the correct patch, and hopefully your keyboard two player does the same with your visible, manual patch change instruction for live play.

Now, the problem with all of this is when you want to output audio quickly from Sibelius. Sibelius will only do a quick virtual output of your virtual instruments, it will NOT include the MainStage sounds. One option is to output all audio to a third party software and record the input real-time, but this is time consuming and I don’t want to mess around with that. When I am in rehearsals and doing countless updates for the cast and musicians I need to work quickly and output audio on the fly.

STEP THREE – INCLUDE PROPRIETARY INSTRUMENT CHANGES

The solution I came up with is to simply also include the Sibelius patch change commands for internal virtual use, in addition to the patch changes for MainStage. In other words, I include patch changes for Garritan internal virtual instruments like I normally would as if I was not using MainStage. Then, make that text invisible. The text I keep VISIBLE is text that would be useful to the Keyboard Two player like string performance styles (tremolo, marcato, arco) and when part of a split patch is playing (Glockenspiel, Timpani, Hand Drum, etc.)

I hope the graphic at the top of the page can show you that although the setup may seem a little tedious, once it is in place I don’t find it much of a distraction while I am working on orchestrations. And in the end, that is most important.

And with this setup I get a Keyboard Two part where I can hear exactly how their patches will work with the score, and I can also output audio quickly with a reasonable duplication of the orchestration for musicians and cast to rehearse with.

If you have other ideas or solutions about using MainStage with notation software, please leave a comment and let me know about it.

I’ve just had the very frustrating experience of scoring the drum part for half of an entire musical theater score, and doing it wrong. Arghh! I got some bad advice so I’m posting some clarification here for other arrangers that are new to scoring drum parts. Hopefully this will save you some headaches.

First of all, it’s true, follow this advice: Drum parts played with sticks are stems up and drum parts played with the feet are stems down. The helpful reason for an arranger is that you can clearly see what is impractical to play. A drummer has two sticks so they can only hit two hand items at a time. If they are doing a cymbal swell or snare roll, it will be very clear that their hands are taken up for that notation. The stems down parts for the feet will normally be either kick drum or the hi-hat pedal triggered with the other foot.

Here is an example from one of my scores that has been properly fixed with kick and hi-hat pedal stems down. The elements played with the hands and sticks (snare and cymbal) are stems up.

Here is a drum sample from a Broadway score that shows kick drum and hit hat pedal stems down, with snare and cymbals stems up.

And here is a sample from a Broadway drum score showing kick pedal stems down with rim click as an “x” notation along with cymbals.

There is an excellent and quick drum tutorial by Tom Rudolph for Sibelius located here:

http://www.tomrudolph.com/presentations/Drum%20Set%20notation%20Sibelius.pdf

I had the pleasure of taking a Sibelius course with him several years ago at Berklee School of Music online. Take a look at his quick tutorial, remember from drum notation that “feet are stems down” and “hands are stems up” and you’re on your way. I’ve also found it invaluable to reference some Broadway scores on the drum parts. So the big lesson here is to reference the work of the top pros for your notation practices.

One more Sibelius tip (and probably works for Finale also) – if you want repeated measures. I made the mistake of copying drum parts to a measure, hiding the notation and then pasting a repeat sign over it. The problem is that if you make a change to the initial measure before the repeat, then you have to change all the subsequent repeated measures to match it. In Sibelius, under tab 5 (In Sibelius 6) of the keypad navigator there is the option for one or two measure repeats. In other words, it will automatically repeat a one or two measure phrase. Very handy for the drum part – then if you change the initial measure, all the repeats will also reflect that change.

If this helped you please let me know. And if you have other drum tips or insights please leave a message and let me know about that too!

Orchestrations of Stephen Sondheim’s Broadway Musicals

• Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum – Total 26
  Reed One – fl/cl/a. sax. Reed Two cl/ a sax. Reed Three cl/t xas. Reed Four b b./bar sax. 3 trumpet. 3 trombone. 2 percussion. 1 keyboard. 1 harp. 6 violin. 2 viola. 2 cello. 1 bass.
• Anyone Can Whistle – Total 22
  Reed One – fl/pic/a fl. Reed Two – ob/eng hn/cl. Reed Three – cl/Eb cl/pic/a fl/bari sax. Reed Four – cl/b cl/fl. Reed Five – bn/cl/b sax. 2 horns. 3 trumpets. 1 trombone. 1 trombone/tuba. 2 percussion. 1 keyboard. 5 cellos. 1 bass. 1 accordion.
• Company – Total 26.
  Reed One – a sax/fl/pic/a fl/cl/Eb cl. Reed Two –  t sax/fl/pic/a fl/cl/b cl. Reed Three – t sax/fl/cl/b cl. Reed Four – bari sax/ob/eng hn/cl/Eb cl. Reed Five – bari sax/bn/cl. 2 horn. 2 trumpets. 1 trumpet/flugel horn. 2 trombone. 2 percussion. 1 keyboard. 2 acoustic/electric guitar/bass. 6 violin. 2 cello. 1 double bass. 4 female voices in pit.
• Follies – 1987 – Total 22.
  Reed One – a sax/fl/cl. Reed Two – a sax/fl/cl. Reed Three – t sax/cl. Reed Four – bar sax/cl/b cl. Reed Five – ob/eng hn. 1 horn. 3 trumpet. 3 trombone. 1 percussion. 1 keyboard. 1 harp. 4 violin. 2 viola. 2 cello. 1 double bass. Onstage percussion.
• A Little Night Music – Total 25
  Reed One – fl/pic/a fl. Reed Two – cl. Reed Three – cl/b cl. Reed Four – ob/eng hn. Reed Five – bn/cl. 3 horn. 2 trumpet. 1 trombone. 1 percussion. 1 keyboard. 1 harp. 6 violin. 2 viola. 2 cello. 1 double bass.
• Pacific Overtures – Total 26.
  Reed One – fl/pic/a fl/rec. Reed Two – fl/pic/cl/Eb cl. Reed Three – cl/b cl/fl. Reed Four – ob/eng hn. Reed Five – bn/cl. 2 horn. 2 trumpet. 1 trombone. 2 percussion. 1 keyboard. 1 harp. 4 violin. 2 viola. 2 cello. 1 double bass. Onstage shamisen/shakuhachi/perc.
• Sweeney Todd – Total 26
  Reed One – fl/pic/a fl/a sax/cl. Reed Two – cl/Eb cl/fl/pic. Reed Three – cl/b cl/fl. Reed Four – ob/eng hn/cl. Reed Five – bn/cl. 1 horn. 2 trumpet. 3 trombone. 2 percussion. 1 keyboard. 1 harp. 6 violin. 2 viola. 2 cello. 1 double bass.
• Merrily We Roll Along – Total 20
  Reed One – fl/pic/a fl/a sax/cl. Reed Two – ob/eng hn. Reed Three – fl/pic/cl/a sax. Reed Four – cl/Eb cl/b cl/t sax. Reed Five – bn/cl/bari sax. 1 horn. 2 trumpet. 1 trombone. 1 tuba. 2 percussion. 2 keyboard. 1 guitar. 3 cello. 1 electric bass.
• Sunday In The Park With George – Total 11
  Reed One – fl/cl/b cl/eng hn/pic/s sax. Reed Two – fl/ob/cl/eng hn/pic/a sax. 1 horn. 2 percussion. 2 keyboard. 1 harp. 2 violin. 1 viola. 1 cello. 1 double bass.
• Into The Woods – Total 15
  Reed One – fl/pic. Reed Two – cl. Reed Three – bn. 2 horn. 1 trumpet/pic tpt. 2 percussion. 2 keyboard. 1 harp. 2 violin. 2 viola. 1 cello. 1 double bass.

Range of the Bb Clarinet and characteristics of different registers. Low register called the Chalumeau octave.

More information on Clarinet construction and use in the orchestra available at:

http://www.mti.dmu.ac.uk/%7Eahugill/manual/clarinet/construction.html

I had not realized before how flexible and nimble the oboe is. Here is an excerpt of the oboe score from Mozart’s Sinfonia Concertante, K. 297, third movement. So this is just a note to myself to remember to score more interesting and diverse parts when I write for oboe. We want to keep the oboe players happy.

“The oboist gives a good representation of staccato articulation and the wide leaps that it can play.” (Norton, The Study of Orchestration.)

For several months I am studying woodwinds and strings with an online music school to get more tricks and creativity into my scoring. (Yes, it’s very fun!)

Also this information on notation and performance for Concert Band Percussion Instruments:

by Staff Sergeant Bill Elliott
and Staff Sergeant Steven Hearn

CONTENTS: Triangles; Tambourine; Concert Bass Drum; Cymbals

From: http://bands.army.mil/masterclass/tusafb/mar2001/perc.htm

Download PDF: Percussion

Playing techniques and notation examples for music orchestration.

Triangles

Description and Selection

• Average triangles measure 6-8 inches.
• For a brighter sound, a smaller triangle may be a better choice (not necessarily for playing soft).
• For a darker sound, a larger triangle may be a better choice (not necessarily for playing loud).
• A selection of triangle beaters that vary in size (diameter) should be available.
• Small triangle beaters are used for a brighter sound and for a better articulation of certain rhythmic passages (not necessarily for the playing of soft passages).
• Triangle clips should easily clip to a music stand.
• Clips should be strung with a thin cord, preferably made of nylon.
• Two loops should be made so one can act as a backup if the other breaks.

Triangle Technique

• The thumb and first finger of the hand should form the shape of the letter “C.” The clip should then drop into the “C” so that it rests on top.
• Use this technique for slow to moderate rhythmic passages and long note values.
  
• For a thin texture and less resonance, play the triangle on the outside near the top (A) or on the inside of the base near the closed end (B). Play on the outside near the bottom for a full texture and resonance (C).
  

Fast Rhythmic Passages (legato)

• Place the beater inside the triangle and move back and forth between the two sides for a thin sound (D). Play between the base and the closed side of the triangle for a full sound (E).
  

Fast Rhythmic Passages (articulate)

• Suspend the triangle from two clips with the closed side on top; play with a pair of matched beaters.
  
• The following technique may be used when playing triangle and another instrument at the same time. (H=hand K=knee L=left R=right)

Grace Notes

The most reliable method for playing grace notes is to use two matched beaters. Play on the base of the triangle if suspended from one clip. Play on the closed side if suspended from two clips. Use single strokes on all grace note figures.

Rolls

Hold the triangle as if playing single notes. Place the beater between the two sides at the top or between the base and the closed side. Move the beater back and forth to create a smooth, sustained sound.

Suspend the triangle from two clips. Play on the closed side using a single stoke roll to create a smooth, sustained sound.

Dampening

A general rule for dampening the triangle is to let everything ring unless there are obvious unison staccato notes. Listen and emulate the musical interpretation of the ensemble.

The triangle is dampened by squeezing the remaining three fingers of the holding hand into the heel of the hand.

Practice the following groove patterns using dampening:

TAMBOURINE

Description and Selection

The tambourine is a hand drum with two different sounding parts: the head and the jingles.

The head is of medium thickness and is stretched over the shell and stays tight under all weather conditions.

Standard tambourine size is about ten inches in diameter with a double row of jingles (preferably staggered).

The shell should be lightweight to allow easy movement and to permit an acceptable vibration.

Grip the tambourine with either hand. Place the thumb on the top rim and let the fingers curl around the shell under the head (like a baseball grip). A muffled timbre is produced by placing the thumb on the head.

Tambourine Techniques

Since speed and volume are restricted when playing with one hand, another technique must be devised. Tambourine techniques are affected greatly by different dynamics and tempos.

• Loud and slow–hold the tambourine about shoulder level and play with the tips of the fingers near the edge (bunch the fingers together and form a flat surface).

• Soft and slow–rest the heel of the palm on the head of the tambourine (less head sound, thin texture). Extend the fingers to the edge and strike.

• Fast and loud–hold the tambourine with the head facing down. Alternate back and forth between the knee and the group of fingers playing on the inside (see the musical example on page 12-2).
• Fast and soft–lay the tambourine on the knee or a padded trap table with the rim facing up; Play with the fingers of both hands.
• Use more fingers for louder passages.
• Use fewer fingers for softer passages.

Grace Notes

• Fast and soft–lay the tambourine on the leg and single stroke the grace notes.

• Fast and loud–use the hand-knee technique to play the grace notes.

Rolls

• Common practice–start and stop the roll with a head tap according to ensemble articulation. Occasionally no head tap is necessary.
• Shake roll–hold the tambourine in either hand, rotating the wrist in the same manner as the left hand traditional grip for snare drum. Simultaneously, add a slight forward/backward wrist motion in the same manner as matched grip to create a fluid circular motion.

• Soft roll–hold the tambourine alongside the leg. Jingles should be light, bright, and delicate for extremely long rolls.
• Loud roll–hold the tambourine in front at about eye level.
• Extremely loud rolls–use two tambourines.
• Thumb and finger rolls–move the thumb (or finger) along the edge of the tambourine. The rapid bouncing causes the jingles to vibrate. To get friction between the head and thumb (or finger) a player can either dampen the finger or rub bass rosin or bee’s wax on the head of the tambourine to create a sticky surface to facilitate the bouncing effect. This technique is used primarily for soft rolls that are of short duration.

• When playing rolls that are part of a rhythmic passage, the player can drop the heel or the thumb of the hand to play the release. For longer thumb rolls, a larger (12″) tambourine can be played.

CONCERT BASS DRUM

Heads and Tuning

• A standard size for concert bass drums is
• 36 x 16 inches.
• The best types of material for heads are “Fiber Skyn” (man-made) or calfskin (natural).
• Tune the playing head a fourth or fifth above, below, or at the same pitch as the resonating head. Ensure that the playing head is not floppy, so that it is articulate and resonant.

Mallets

• General beater–medium to large headed felt mallets; these produce a well-rounded, resonant tone.
• Rolling beaters (pair)–smaller than general beaters and are easier to control.
• Staccato beaters–similar to rollers, but having less felt and a harder core; used for articulating rhythmic figures.

Effects Mallets

• Wood beaters are used for extremely articulate playing (usually in a soft dynamic range).
• A hard felt beater is used for extremely articulate playing (usually for loud dynamic ranges).

Playing Area and Strokes

General Playing Areas

• The edge is used for soft rolls and special effects (thin sound and higher overtones).
• The next area is 1/3 of the distance from the rim and is used for all general playing and loud rolls.
• The center is used for loud strokes and extremely articulate passages.

Proper Strokes

• The general playing stroke is produced by the forearm and the wrist. Soft strokes are produced mostly by the wrist. Loud strokes are produced by adding the upper arm to the general stroke.
• A direct stroke goes directly into the head with a “flicking” of the wrist to terminate the stroke. This produces maximum vibration and overtones from the drum.
• For rolls, use two matched rolling beaters. Hold the beaters with the traditional snare drum grip and use single strokes to execute the roll.

Dampening and Muffling

• To dampen is to stop the vibration of the head by exerting pressure with the left hand or right knee. The most significant problem to address is not how to dampen, but when to dampen.
• Composers and arrangers are not always familiar with proper techniques and notation of the bass drum.
• Note values are not consistent with the band or orchestra.
• Players must listen and re-interpret the written part. Check the full score for the proper note values, as shown below:

To muffle is to partially mute the head to lessen the vibrations. Reasons for muffling are:

• Type of notation (fast).
• Character of music (secco).
• Small instrumentation or softer passages.
• Acoustics of the hall (live).

CYMBALS

Crash Cymbals

Types of Crash Cymbals

• A standard pair of cymbals is usually 18 inches in size and has a quick response to vibrations. These are generally used when a cymbal part has a combination of loud and soft strokes and rhythmic passages.
• The French type or sound of cymbals has a quick response and a fast decay. These cymbals are thin and have lower overtones present.
• The German type or sound of cymbals has a slower response and slower decay. These cymbals are thicker and have a more brilliant sound.
• A smaller pair of cymbals should be on hand in order to have better control during softer, more delicate passages. However, smaller symbals create a thinner texture than larger ones.

The Grip

• The index finger and thumb curl around the strap nearest to the bell of the cymbal. The strap lays in the palm and the other three fingers wrap around the strap just like a snare drum grip. Another option is to lay the middle and ring fingers in the strap with the pinky on the outside.

The Crash Cymbal Stroke

• The top cymbal should hang down like a suspended cymbal, but at a slight angle.
• The bottom cymbal should face upward at a slight angle, resting on the knuckle of the hand.
• The two cymbals should set naturally at a slight angle to each other.
• The top cymbal is then dropped down onto the bottom cymbal. Both cymbals should be in motion for the best timbre. The impact causes the cymbals to pull apart from each other. To avoid air pockets (no sound), remember to drop the top cymbal straight down and not at a glance .

Loud and Fast Note Values

• Use a general crash stroke, but reduce the angle to about 45 degrees.
• The cymbals should be kept close together to be ready for the next crash.

Soft Cymbals Strokes

• The cymbals should be held about 5 degrees to the left of straight up and down.
• Separate the cymbals with the edge of the bottom cymbal above the edge of the top cymbal.
• Drop the top cymbal by pushing downward with the thumb and forefinger, then pull apart after impact.

Dampening

• Bring the cymbals into the upper part of the body and arms.

• A forte-piano effect can be accomplished by dampening only one cymbal.
• The dampening rules for inconsistent note values on bass drum also apply to cymbals. Some parts indicate a need to dampen, although the tempo and note values may not allow for this.

Suspended Cymbals

Selection

• Suspended cymbals are usually smaller and thinner than crash cymbals. The standard size, which respond very quickly when struck with a mallet, is usually 16″ to 18″ in diameter.

Smaller Cymbals

• Used for very soft and delicate passages.
• Quickly respond for crescendos and diminuendos.

Larger Cymbals

• Used for a more sustained sound.
• Suspend the cymbal by its strap from a boom stand. This allows the cymbal to vibrate freely.
• The cymbal may also be placed on a regular cymbal stand, which allows for the most control.

Mallet Selection

• Soft wound yarn or cord mallets allow the cymbal to respond quickly and bring out all the overtones. When a composition calls for a timpani mallet, always substitute these instead.
• Other implements include snare drum sticks, triangle beaters, brushes, etc.
• Rolls with snare sticks should be played as a buzz roll on the edge of the cymbal.

Playing Techniques

• Strokes are always made on the edge of the cymbal, unless otherwise specified in the score.
• A roll can easily be controlled by placing the mallets on the edge at approximately 4 and 8 o’clock.
• Additional effects call for different areas of the cymbal to be struck, scraped, or rubbed by triangle beaters, coins, a bass bow, etc. A sizzle effect can be obtained by holding a thin triangle beater on the cymbal and then striking the cymbal with another mallet.
• Muffling is used to articulate rhythmic figures.
• For slow tempos, use one hand to muffle and one hand to play.
• For fast tempos, when both hands are needed to play, use your midriff to muffle.

Bass Drum and Cymbal Attachment

Cymbal Grip and Selection

• Hold the cymbal with the thumb and index finger. Let the fingers wrap around the strap and push the top cymbal into the attached cymbal.
• For loud playing, use a larger cymbal on top.
• For softer playing, use a smaller cymbal on top.

Dampening

• Bring the top cymbal into the chest.
• Grab the attached cymbal with the right hand.
• Dampen or muffle the bass drum with the right knee.

*Added 06/2016 – Suspended Cymbal Notation

I did not like this piece on first listen – then I read about it’s background: the description of Janacek’s unrequited love and pining. And now the piece is very powerful to me.

Janacek once wrote: “I maintain that a pure musical note means nothing unless it is pinned down in life, blood and locale; otherwise, it is a worthless toy.”

And that is exactly true for this piece, the “Intimate Letters”. How many songs do we each have in our personal lives that are tied to a certain event or emotion that triggers our memory when we hear it? Or to have a piece like this framed with new information so the performance takes on a deeper perceived meaning.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=He-c3K18sb4

The following from:
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=94294582

At age 63, Czech composer Leos Janacek began his most unusual writing project — a constant stream of more than 700 love letters written to a married woman 37 years his junior. It’s remarkable, considering that the young woman, named Kamila, expressed little feeling for Janacek or his music.

Even so, Janacek filled his letters with passion. At an age when most people slow down, Janacek, fueled by his own unrequited love, went into high gear. He composed some of his best music, including the String Quartet No. 2 — called, appropriately, Intimate Letters.

Commentator Rob Kapilow pinpoints a section from the third movement of the quartet which he says reveals much about Janacek’s unique sound-world. The passage is actually a musical portrait of Kamila, one that Janacek described to her in a letter: “It will be very cheerful, and then dissolve into a vision of your image, transparent, as if in the mist.”

Power-Packed Emotional Nuggets

“As obsessed as he was with Kamila,” Kapilow says, “Janacek was obsessed with short musical ideas that could convey maximum emotional impact in the fewest possible notes.”

Janacek’s portrait begins with simple-sounding repeated notes for the viola. The music speeds up, Kapilow says, but not in the usual way.

“It’s not just a note speeding up,” he says. “It’s actually the blood quickening at the thought of Kamila, and it runs through the whole passage.”

Janacek tells us all he feels for Kamila in a compact, rhythmically clear set of notes: short-short, long-long, and a repeated note, Kapilow says. The same pattern is heard over and over, but every time it’s a little different, more complicated, with anguish at every step.

“Each time, it’s taking us deeper into his feelings for Kamila,” Kapilow says. “All these note changes are in the favor of emotion, and they are constantly surprising and shifting, just like the letters he would write — every mood would shift at an incredibly fast pace.”

Janacek once wrote: “I maintain that a pure musical note means nothing unless it is pinned down in life, blood and locale; otherwise, it is a worthless toy.”

Reading through Janacek’s letters, Kapilow says there are hints that the composer was aware of his own fictionalized love affair. Yet the fiction must have been incredibly real, driving him to compose piece after piece.

“Maybe in the areas of inspiration, the distinction between fiction and reality is unimportant,” Kapilow says. “In any case, we should all be as lucky and creative with our fictions as Janacek was with his.”

Adam Guettel is the composer and lyricist for “The Light In The Piazza” – a musical, but really worthy of the title “opera”. I’ll tell you first why Piazza and Guettel interest me, and then following will be more biographical info and article links.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ikqeG4ab3Q

I had the chance to see “Piazza” performed live in Seattle in 2006 with seats up front by the conductor. I remember the person at the time whispering in my ear “You’ll be conducting here someday” and that made me feel good in the sort of pompous way that viewers of live performance sit back and say “I could do that” (ok – not as bad as guitar players watching other guitar players in bar bands).

The curtain opened and I was expecting a real snoozer. I don’t like romantic crap and all the posters of “Light in the Piazza” had a guy and girl smiling and in love – barforama. But once the curtain opened and the music started I was once again in for a paradigm shift.

The music was complex and flowing – the lyrics so engaging and the melody lines so flowing and beautiful. I was really floored. I had no idea a composer was still writing this kind of music – deep and thoughtful yet still engaging. This was not the typical I-IV Broadway progressions that everyone is milling out like the old Tin Pan Alley songdays. This was art.

And I was humbled in the hearing of  this performance. As it turns out the person that took me to the performance was friends with one of the lead singers and we talked with them afterwards. They were exhausted from the demands of the score and wanting to head right back to the hotel room. This was their “gig”. To call this a “gig” would be calling Lady Liberty a “statue”. To me they had pulled off a tremendous feat.

I really cannot properly convey how powerful the Light In The Piazza is to me – you’ll just have to see it performed well live. If you like Italian opera and Sondheim – then this is the show for you.

Then I forgot about it. Now fast forward four years later as I am consumed and possessed with orchestration and Broadway musicals. I’m studying Sondheim for lyrics and form, Rimsky Korsakov and Samuel Adler for orchestration, Rodgers and Hammerstein for the golden years of Broadway, etc. It has overtaken me – becoming a Daemon of a taskmaster that takes no pity on me.

And as I go through this process I am reminded of Piazza and the feelings it gave me seeing it for the first time. I go back and watch videos of live performance of the piece and study the conductor score. And once again I am humbled by Guettel’s work. It is just so marvelous – but now to study the notes – it’s like looking under the hood of a luxury car that you covet. It’s like translating the Bible from the original text – ok, maybe not – but you get the idea.

Then I find out that Guettel comes from a long line of Broadway musical writers. He rebelled against it and finally went back home to his roots. And that is the part of the story I can relate to. I am not on his level, not even in the same ballpark – but I can relate to the strong pull that classic art had on us as child performers (I was also a boy soprano working in opera) and the subsequent revolt against that as puberty hit and we lost our star status. Thinking that rock and pop would satisfy the longing within us that opera and “high art” had satisfied for so long.

And then we realize it’s time to go back home. It’s not fashionable – but it’s the small voice within that calls us and we cannot deny it. And that is what really fascinates me about Guettel – he took the Hero’s Journey of art and won. At least in my book he won – with a creation like Piazza the journey is a bullseye.

And that’s all I have to say about that. For now…

Adam Guettel Facebook fan page:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Adam-Guettel/

November 12, 2009 article from JewishExponent.com:
http://www.jewishexponent.com/article/20015/

Excerpt:

One day, his “Princess” will come? For now, she’s already here: On the day we speak, Guettel and his wife Amanda are moving into new quarters, and he muses on the music he may have produced differently had he been smitten at the time he wrote “Piazza.”

“I was looking for love when I wrote it,” he recalls of the story based on a novella by Elizabeth Spencer, which follows a young American caught up in the passion plays that are Italy’s distinctive playground, and the mother who tries to protect her from getting hurt.

And had he had Amanda by his side at that time? The “Light” may have been less electric; after all, the “energy [of pursuit] is there if the problem is not solved.”

He likes the way things have turned out: Leave “Piazza” to the players, he says; he is light-years happier with the love of his life as they settle in.

Adam Guettel Wikipedia

Adam Guettel (pronounced /ˈɡɛtəl/, born December 16, 1964) is an American musical theater composer and lyricist. He is best known for the musical The Light in the Piazza, for which he won two Tony Awards and the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Orchestrations.

Early years
Guettel was born and raised in the Upper West Side of New York City. He performed as a boy soprano in operas including Pelléas et Mélisande at the Metropolitan Opera and The Magic Flute at the New York City Opera. He later claimed that he ended his career as a boy soprano at age 13, by faking that his voice was changing; he turned to music composition soon afterward. He attended Phillips Exeter Academy, Interlochen Center for the Arts and graduated from Yale University in 1987.

Career
His early works include 1996’s Floyd Collins, Love’s Fire, and Saturn Returns (which was recorded as Myths and Hymns). Guettel’s music was almost immediately characterized by its complexity and use of various strings. He is perhaps one of the modern musical theater composers most heavily influenced by the work of Stephen Sondheim (for his part, Sondheim has referred to Guettel’s work as “dazzling”.)

Guettel’s songs have been recorded by such artists as Audra McDonald and Brian d’Arcy James.

In 2004, Guettel contributed vocals to Jessica Molaskey’s P.S. Classics album Make Believe, dueting with Molaskey on the song “Glad To Be Unhappy.” After six years working on the project,[1] Guettel’s musical The Light in the Piazza opened on Broadway in 2005. The show, which starred Victoria Clark and Kelli O’Hara, met with mixed critical notices, but on June 5, 2005, Adam Guettel won the Tony Award for Best Original Score and the Tony Award for Best Orchestrations.

In 2003, one of Guettel’s future projects was said to be “a shockingly ambitious concert piece for Audra McDonald.” He also spent much of 2006 working on a musical adaptation of The Princess Bride with original screenwriter William Goldman. As of January 2007, Guettel had completed several songs for the project. An orchestral suite from the score was performed at the Hollywood Bowl in November 2006, and Lincoln Center conducted a workshop of Bride in January 2007. The project was abandoned when Goldman reportedly demanded 75 percent of the author’s share, even though Guettel was writing both the music and the lyrics.
In summer 2007, Guettel composed background music for a production of Anton Chekhov’s play Uncle Vanya at the Intiman Playhouse in Seattle, Washington.[4]
In July 2009, the Signature Theatre of Arlington, Virginia commissioned Guettel to write a new musical for their 2011-2012 season, under the auspices of their American Musical Voices Project.
Personal life
In a 2003 profile in The New York Times, Guettel revealed that he has struggled with addiction and drug problems since the age of seven, when he began smoking cigarettes. He attributed part of his interest in drugs (he called the first time he got high “the happiest moment of my life”) to family expectations, saying:

“ Because it’s not just a disease; it’s me, it’s knowing how much I could do if I kept it together, if I had the courage and stamina and willpower! I wish I could just have fun and relax and not have the responsibility of that potential to be some kind of great man! In my family, to be good is to fail. To be very good is to fail. To only do three really good things is to fail. The only thing not a failure is to be great. And that….is tiring. ”

Family

Guettel is the son of composer, author and Juilliard School chairman Mary Rodgers and grandson of Pulitzer Prize-winning musical theater composer Richard Rodgers. His father Henry Guettel was a film executive and ran the Theater Development Fund.
When Guettel took up music composition in his mid-teens, he was encouraged by his family. His mother said that she offered him advice for around a year, “After that, he was so far beyond anything I could ever have dreamed of, I just backed off.” Richard Rodgers, who died when Guettel was 15, overheard an early composition, said he liked it and asked him to play it louder. Guettel has qualified the compliment, noting that “He was literally on his deathbed on the other side of the living-room wall.”

Guettel later rebelled against his family’s musical theater heritage, working in rock and jazz (singing and playing bass) as well as aspiring to be an actor, before realizing “that writing for character and telling stories through music was something that I really loved to do, and that allowed me to express love.”

UPDATE: Just an update on this post. I’m working on learning Sibelius notation software and I did just a quick 16 bar lead sheet here of the beginning of “Light in the Piazza”. The chords I wrote are a bit off, just a sketch of the actual movement. But this was very fun to do. If you click on it for a larger view you’ll get a little sense of how much Adam does with interesting time signature changes. I just can’t say enough how much of a treasure trove this work is and how compelling Guettel is.

You can also see him in rehearsal in this video here:
http://www.conradaskland.com/blog/2010/04/where-do-musicals-come-from/