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For those that do arrangements for quintets:

Do you have any tips for arranging a 4-part piece for 5 instruments? Do you usually just fill in with chord members in rhythm, or do you try to split the parts up so that while there are still only 4 parts, 5 people are playing them at varying times, or do you write a contrapuntal part? Or does it just depend on the particular piece of music, your mood, etc.?

What do you find works best for you?

My $0.02:

Unless the piece is really short, you probably want to schedule some rests for the players (the trumpets usually whine the most about that! ). Also, having everyone play all the time is boring for the audience.

You have to investigate the different timbres that are possible with 4 different brass instruments. Remembering that the instruments have different tone colors in their different ranges, adds to the color palette.

Octaves between the lower two voices are often effective, for louder sections.

Have fun, and experiment!

Your ultimate decision should be heavily influenced by the style of the piece that you are writing out.

In some music (church hymns for example), "filling out" the chord with the fifth voice has a tendency to yield some bizarre (though not necessarily unpleasant) results. This kind of thing works better when you are arranging from a lead sheet and can pick and choose chord tones.

Your idea of using the voices contrapuntally may work so long as you spread out the rests and ensure that the breaks in the line make musical sense.

Doubling voices: don't do it. It's easy to do (it requires the least amount of thinking), but the end results never work out the way you want them to. Save yourself the time and experimentation.

In my experience, trying to rearrange an existing composition and move it from 4 voices to 5 really doesn't work very well as a general proposition, particularly in quintet settings. It never sounds right to my ears--even when done by people who are generally regarded as masters of the art.

Kyle

Z-Tuba Dude wrote:My $0.02:

Unless the piece is really short, you probably want to schedule some rests for the players (the trumpets usually whine the most about that! ). Also, having everyone play all the time is boring for the audience.

You have to investigate the different timbres that are possible with 4 different brass instruments. Remembering that the instruments have different tone colors in their different ranges, adds to the color palette.

Octaves between the lower two voices are often effective, for louder sections.

Have fun, and experiment!

I have done a ton of arranging for my brass quintet, and find that everything Z-Tuba Dude said is right on. You can very effectively arrange a 4-voice piece for 5-voices, and these suggestions (particularly experimenting with the colors produced by different combinations of the four brass instruments playing at a time) are a great guide.

Just have one person (ideally the most disliked) act as a conductor, and tell the players to ignore them!

windshieldbug wrote:Just have one person (ideally the most disliked) act as a conductor, and tell the players to ignore them!

This approach works best if you choose a drummer. They are accustomed to having a stick in their hand. They also are more likely to need to be ignored.

a2ba4u wrote:
Doubling voices: don't do it. It's easy to do (it requires the least amount of thinking), but the end results never work out the way you want them to. Save yourself the time and experimentation.

I would not rule out doubling in certain places. For example, if you have a march have the trumpet play the melody the first time through and then double with the horn during the second pass. It adds a nice little timbre change.

I would write out a chart and bring it into rehearsal and see what you hear. I can be an eye (ear) opening experience.

If you have the time, pick up a bunch of albums and listen to what others do. Also pick up a bunch of scores and do the same.

If you are looking for albums, I would highly recommend the albums from the Presidio Brass (see above). If you have not heard the group or Scott's arrangements, both are quite excellent!!

Do something different. Experiment. Change the style...invert the original voicing. Showcase the strengths of your quintet...(write something nice for yourself to play!)

I would guess you're using modern notation software. With a bit of inventive pointing and clicking and a bit of transposing, you can get a good idea of how it will balance in real life.

Best pice of advice ever given about arranging...if it sounds good, do it!