Transpositions Available for Each Part in the ENSEMBLE CONCERT BOOKS SERIES

This chart describes each transposition available for each voice in the Ensemble Concert Books Series, along with a list of most of the instruments that can be appropriate for playing that part. This will give you a good idea of which books to order, based on which instruments you have. The preferred instruments for each part are highlighted in red.

SOPRANO 1:

In C. This part includes both the high octave, suitable for flute, piccolo, and violin, and the low octave, suitable for oboe or brass instruments in C.
In Bb. This part is suitable for trumpets, (soprano) clarinets, and soprano saxophones.
In Eb. This part is suitable for and voiced for the Eb soprano clarinet. It can also be played by an Eb sopranino saxophone. If necessary, it can be played by an alto saxophone, but it will not be in the right register, and it would be good if the alto sax player could play it an octave above the written notes.
In F. This part will be available only on request. Please allow six weeks for us to produce it. It is available in the event that a French horn or F trumpet is the only instrument you have to play this voice, and it will require a horn player with a good high range to play it.

SOPRANO 2:

In C. This part is voiced for oboe and violin. It is possible for a flute to play it as well, but this part will frequently be in the lower range for a flute and therefore might lose some power.
In Bb. This is the part to get for (soprano) clarinets, trumpets, and soprano saxophones.
In Eb. This part is voiced for alto saxophones and alto clarinets. It can also be played by an Eb soprano clarinet, but should be played an octave below the written notes.
In F. For French Horns.
In Alto Clef. For violas. This part is only available on request. Please allow six weeks for production.

ALTO:

In C. For violin, viola, or any other C-pitched instrument playing treble clef n the alto range.
In Bb. For soprano clarinets. It can also be played by a trumpet, as it has higher-octave cue notes for those notes that go below the range of a trumpet. It can also be played by tenor saxophones and treble clef baritone horn, but that player should play an octave above the written notes.
In Eb. For alto saxophones, and alto clarinets.
In F. For French Horns.
In Alto Clef. For violas, and those rare (and strange) trombone players who prefer to read alto clef. This part is only available on request. Please allow six weeks to produce it.
In Bass Clef. For trombones and baritone B.C. players. This part will usually be in the higher end of the range of these players, but not uncomfortably so.

TENOR:

In Bb. This is for tenor saxophones and baritone horns who play treble clef.
In Eb. This can be played by alto saxophones, although it will be somewhat low in their register.
In F. For French Horns. This is not the preferred instrument for this part, but they CAN play it.
In Tenor Clef. For violas, and others who prefer tenor clef. This part is only available on request. Please allow six weeks to produce it.
In Bass Clef. For trombones, baritone horns, and cellos. It can also be played by bassoons when needed.

BASS:

In Bb. For Bass clarinet and contra-bass clarinet. Also for Bass Saxophone and brass band type tuba/bass players who read Bb treble clef bass parts.
In Eb. For baritone saxophones and Eb Contra-alto Clarinets.
In F. For experienced horn players only. This part is only available on request. Please allow six weeks to produce it.
In Bass Clef - High. For string bass players.
In Bass Clef - Low - for tubas and bassoons.

MISCELLANEOUS PARTS:

Piano. If you cannot fill in all five other parts, adding a piano player may give you all the extra harmony notes you need.
Drum Set. While not required, adding a drum set to your performances, especially when you are using ten or more players, will definitely enhance the presentation.

After about a week of resting up after completing the Large Ensemble arrangement of “Celebrate America,” I finally began work on the Big Band arrangement of the song.

The GOALS

My vision for this project include ALL ensembles being able to preform the work together. This means

A concert Band can perform it
A Symphony Orchestra can perform it
A Praise (Church) orchestra can perform it
A Big Band can perform it
An Outreach Ensemble can perform it
All these can perform it on their own, or with any of the other groups
And all of these can perform it alone, or with a choir or with a solo voice. (Of course, it’s much better with voices, because the lyrics are an important part of the song)
Also, Voices can perform it, either a choir (vocal ensemble) or a solo voice, with just a piano, or with an entire rhythm section (piano, bass, guitar, drum set).

… and all of these arrangements will be compatible with each other, such that no matter who or how many musicians you get together to perform it – even if you have 500 assorted instrumentalists and 500 singers – it will all work together. No one will clash with anyone else.

The CHALLENGES

As I began to dig into the Big Band arrangement of the tune, I found of course that it’s a lot more work than I expected, or rather, hoped.

First, the Lare Ensemble arrangement has lots of instruments a big band doesn’t have. A typical 17-piece big band has

5 Saxes (AATTB)
4 Trumpets
4 Trombones
Rhythm section (Piano, guitar, bass, drum set)

The large ensemble has many instruments the Big Band does not have, and many times they carry the melody or essential parts that you won’t hear if you just give Large Ensemble parts to a Big Band. Missing are:

Flutes & Piccolos
Clarinets (Soprano and Bass)
Oboes and Bassoons
French Horns
Baritone Horns
Timpani and other (non drum set) percussion

All this means I have to rewrite pretty much the entire arrangement so it will sound good when played by a big band.

One More Challenge

To top it all off, I want the big band arrangement to sound at least somewhat like a big band, rather than a concert band or symphony orchestra transcribed for Big Band instrumentation.

This means I need to put in some Big Band-type chords.

While most tonal music in convert ensembles is based on 3-note chords, with some dominant 7th chords and a few other “flavor” chords tossed in, most Big Band Music is comprised of chords of 4 or more notes, as reflected in the instrumentation (an extra tenor, trumpet, and trombone).

So my final challenge in writing the Big Band arrangement of Celebrate America is how to add enough of these “jazz sounding” chords to make it sound like a true big band chart while still keeping it compatible with the other arrangements.

So far, I’ve found a few places to do that, and I think they’ll work well, but I need more places.

Sadly, because it’s a song with lyrics and we must remain compatible with the other arrangements, I am unable to add in some jazz rhythms, so the jazz chords will have to do.

Another One?

Do I have yet another challenge? Yep.

I’m still learning Dorico.

This morning, I spent maybe 15 minutes writing music, and a couple of hours figuring thigs out in Dorico, and annotating my “Dorico Operational Notes” document so I can quickly look up what I did the next time I need it.

But hey, that’s par for the course, right?

And it helps to keep in mind: Nothing worthwhile is ever easy.

“Easy” this project certainly is not.

Transpositions Available for Each Part in the ENSEMBLE CONCERT BOOKS SERIES

What is a VIRTUAL CONCERT?

And how do we make one?

New Challenges with the Big Band Arrangement

The GOALS

The CHALLENGES

One More Challenge

Another One?

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