A word on Music Composition...

Ah yea, thanks to most of u fer coming fer the NAFA band concert!

Btw, here's a word by the master of Band composition and orchestration, James Barnes, about music composition...here's to all u aspiring composers...(wonder how many there are anyway...)...

"When composing (and, thus, orchestrating) for wind band, I think of all the instruments (and more importantly, the players) like a large gathering of good friends on a stage. All these old friends have their strengths and weaknesses, and I know them well. (If I don’t, then I’m not much of an orchestrator.) All the idiosyncrasies that make these different instruments so delightful are why I so much love composing for wind band. This motley concoction of instruments are to me like permanent characters performing in a very complex drama. I try to empasise their strengths, and avoid situations in which they might be less well suited. To be a good orchestrator, it is essential that one never composes music for instruments; rather, one should strive to always compose music for the people who play these instruments.

I prefer to think of my score as a long, detailed letter to each of these old friends, in which I say, “Dear First Flutes, would you be so kind as to play and eight note D3 for me on the first beat of measure 10? Not too loud…mezzo forte will do, and please tongue the note very lightly (staccato).” Or, “Dear Timpanist, would you please play a roll on A for the eight beats of measures 7 and 8, then taper your note on the first eight note of measure nine? Also, please start the roll forte, then diminuendo to mezzo piano at the end of the roll. P.S. Please use medium mallets.”

Treat instruments and their players like any of your other old friends: with reverence and respect. Love them all for what they are, not what you think they should be. Try to never put them in a situation that might embarrass them or make them sound awkward or stupid. In that way, you’ll seldom make an enemy in a rehearsal room."

Really Really well said...