Brass Piece (under 2 min.) - What are you reactions to it?

[John Elliott]

I would like to get your reactions to this brass piece.

http://www.2lsand2ts.com/s/2010brassfragment.mp3

What I'm looking for at this moment is things like this:

- What does this make you think of?
- Does this remind you of any composer (~s)?
- Does this sound like a particular era or genre?

Thank you for listening!

--John Elliott
Albany, Oregon

[John Elliott]

Excellent points, Adrian.

I have not ever felt comfortable when thinking of orchestrating for brass. So I am doing a little experiment. I have chosen to write for brass octet () and create a piece in multiple sections separated by fanfares. The interspersed sections are all in a different character from each other.

This experiment gives me a chance to play around, experiment with timbre, try to achieve certain effects, etc., learn what works and doesn't, what's playable and isn't, and generally (hopefully) eradicate my discomfort with brass scoring.

The particular section in question in this thread was only sketched out yesterday. I wasn't even sure I could get the sound or feel I wanted. I think I'm half way there. But it may take days or weeks to achieve -- and I may scrap the piece in the end and just glean what I can from the experience and go on to use that new knowledge in another piece.

So here I am: the student. Those of whom I am asking advice or questions: the teachers.

The score is in PDF form and can be found here: http://www.2lsand2ts.com/s/2010brassfragment.pdf

[Adrian Allan]

It would be a great help to see the score or even the midi file. I'm not sure what the answers to your questions would be at this stage. Some of the samples sound a bit weird, especially the "trilling" (?) trumpets, and it's this and the lack of score that limits my ability to comment.