What music should we start playing?

[elimia]

You're going to have to recruit some trumpets and at least 1 horn if you're going to do brass band music. Trumpets a MUST with jazz music.

And how about euphoniums? Trombone isn't exactly the same voice. I think of trombone as carrying the tenor voice, with baritone horn or euphonium carrying the baritone voice. They too often are omitted and they add a very rich flavor to the sound.

[elimia]

Here are the setups for a couple of good brass bands, both from Pittsburgh. These are for larger sized brass bands. The instrumention they have is the most important thing, typical for a lot of brass bands.

http://www.rcbb.com/about_band.php

http://www.alleghenybrassband.com/members.htm

[Thomas Maurice Booth]

In terms of music selection, play a bunch of stuff for elementary school age kids... If they get down to your music selection then you'll be good anywhere, their attention span is most likely the smallest, so keeping them entertained I think should be your first step. Try some of the Canadian Brass arrangements as a start.

Thomas Maurice Booth

[JayW]

well aside from the "right on point" comments about your instrumentation which can really be crucial to having that well balanced sound might I suggest getting some recordings of current brass ensembles and see what type of stuff they are playing. The more popular ones tend to have their arrangements for sale either through their webistes or through a distributors web site. the first two that come to mind are :German Brass (an amazing group) and Philip Jones Brass Ensemble (another amazing group)

if you are indeed playing level 5&6 music i think these are the groups that showcase incredible playing with some really awesome music.

[elimia]

If you're concerned about quality, which it sounds like you are, it sounds like you will need to look outside of your own school for players. I would suggest getting the word out to band directors at other schools in your area, putting an ad in the paper, and using the internet where possible. If there are any music shops in the area, let the staff know and post flyers there. You'll surely be able to get enough people together in an area the size of Ft. Lauderdale.

I played several Can. Brass arrangements in high school; Toccata and Fugue in D minor is an awesome score. We were instrumented like CB: 2 trumpets, trombone, french horn, and me (a euphonium player) playing tuba. My band director ordered all of our music, so I don't know where he bought it. ...Use the net Luke...

Good luck, and make sure you post a few music clips for Tubenetters to hear!

[humphrey]

Sibeius.com have a LOT of brass music on their web site, quite a bit of which is free! There's a lot of arrangements of well known pieces that you can print out straight from the site. You'll need to load their scorch player to do this but that's free as well!! You can view & listen to the pieces before printing out parts (midi or in some cases mp3) & there is a useful review facility so you can see what other peoples experiences of the music has been. You have to be prepared to trawl through a lot of possibly unsuitable stuff, but all in all I've found it to be a really useful resource.

http://www.sibeliusmusic.com

Best of luck.

Russ

p.s. Theres loads of solo, duet & quartets for tuba there as well!

[humphrey]

Sibeius.com have a LOT of brass music on their web site, quite a bit of which is free! There's a lot of arrangements of well known pieces that you can print out straight from the site. You'll need to load their scorch player to do this but that's free as well!! You can view & listen to the pieces before printing out parts (midi or in some cases mp3) & there is a useful review facility so you can see what other peoples experiences of the music has been. You have to be prepared to trawl through a lot of possibly unsuitable stuff, but all in all I've found it to be a really useful resource.

http://www.sibeliusmusic.com

Best of luck.

Russ

p.s. Theres loads of solo, duet & quartets for tuba there as well!

[ken k]

check Roberty King Music Sales website (don't know the exact name, doa search) and hickeys.com

Search the sites under Euphonium/Tuba trios or trombone trios. You will be able to play either of those two kids of pieces with 2 trombones and tuba. There will no be a lot of stiff for that instrumentation, but you will find some to get you started.

Perhaps your school's music library has some trios for other band instruments like clarinet or flute or sax or wahever. You could look for other instrumental trios and write the parts down an octace or a 5th or so to get them into your range.

Note click on the "shops" link at the top of the tubenet page and you will see a list of musc shops. Robert King is on there as well as BVD press and TAP music. You may be able to find some things there.
good luck and have fun.

ken k

[Uncle Buck]

I know your question was about music, not instrumentation, but . . .

If you are dead set on using yourself plus the two trombone players, I think your best options are (1) getting the trombone players to play euphoniums and creating a tuba trio, or quartet if you can get another tuba player; or (2) as has been suggested, getting a couple of trumpet players.

You're going to have far, far more luck finding arrangements for either the typical brass quintet (two trumpets, french horn, trombone, tuba), or the tuba quartet (two tubas, two euphoniums).

Any other instrumentation, and you're going to have a much more difficult time finding arrangements. (Not to mention balance and blend problems.)

However, with some ingenuity (and a not-too-discerning audience), you might be able to make some of the brass quintet literature work with two trumptes, two trombones, and a tube.