Brass Band

[brianf]

Interesting that this appears this week. Here in the U.S. is the NABBA weekend where 25-30 bands do the competition thang. My Brass Band comerades will be there while I stay home, sober, playing the 1812. To me, music and sex should be non competitive sports.

As far as the music poll, there is a wide variety of Brass Band music that covers all these styles. Could you be refering to the test pieces that are used in these competions?

[NickJones]

Good Luck at the European Championships , I think your Soprano Cornet and Baritone player signed for a welsh band for a couple of jobs over here in the UK. having a solo Euph player of the calibre of Dave Welsh will help , a fantastic euph player.

[iiipopes]

I would dearly love to play in a REAL brass band. Having been to the UK several times, it has become my favourite ensemble.

In the meantime, I'll have to play with the local Shrine band that uses brass band literature since they don't have any flutes and only 1 or 2 clarinets (I stick them on sop cornet parts), with saxophones playing the tenor and baritone horn parts!! (Oh, yeah -- and I get to do the transcribing for the low brass that can't read treble clef!!)

[Dan Schultz]

.... In the meantime, I'll have to play with the local Shrine band ....

Hey! Drop me an email when you get a chance. I'm the president of the local Shrine Band this year and I have some questions about your group.

[Tom Mason]

Hey Dan and iiipopes,

E-mail me privately and tell me about your Shrine units. I have been asked to start a band for my temple in the past, and I'm always looking for information.

Tom Mason

[Chuck(G)]

Well, it's like a lot of other things. Brass band has its share of really good works and the mundane and the really awful.

It's a shame that so few of the major brass band works are known on this side of the pond, even by otherwise well-versed musicians.

Vaughan Williams wrote a couple of pretty good works for brass band (his overture to Henry V is one of my favorites), as did Arthur Bliss, John Ireland, Gustav Holst and a host of others.

Tuba parts tend to be more interesting in BB than in concert band, with the Eb part being quite distinct in character from the BBb part.

There are quite a number of very challenging solo works for BB as competitions recognize and reward not only ensemble performance, but outstanding solo performance.

But there are plenty of non-competing brass bands for those who simply enjoy playing the music. Salvation Army bands are a type of brass band, a bit different from the British style, but if you've ever heard the Staff Band perform, you'll readily acknowledge the high level of performance there.

A good place to begin exploring is Nigel Horne's http://www.bandsman.co.uk; news of the BB world can be found at http://ww.4barsrest.com and the BBC has a site where you can listen to their weekly "Listen to the Band" broadcast at:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio2/shows/listentotheband/

[sinfonian]

My issue with Brass Bands is why did American Brass Bands adopt the British custom of having the tuba parts in Treble Clef and transposing treble clef at that?

From what I have heard in some competitions you also must use the correct Tuba (BBb or Eb) not what you have or already know who to play.

[iiipopes]

Tuba Tinker & Tom Mason - check your PM's

[iiipopes]

My issue with Brass Bands is why did American Brass Bands adopt the British custom of having the tuba parts in Treble Clef and transposing treble clef at that?

From what I have heard in some competitions you also must use the correct Tuba (BBb or Eb) not what you have or already know who to play.

It's too bloody simple: all the published arrangements are written that way.

[Steve Marcus]

When BBCF entered the British Open, they were permitted to play CC and F tubas.

NABBA does not make the distinction, either.

[windshieldbug]

My issue with Brass Bands is why did American Brass Bands adopt the British custom of having the tuba parts in Treble Clef and transposing treble clef at that?

NBD. Learn to transpose. Geeze, you sound like a trumpet player! (And they still have to, anyway!)

[Chuck(G)]

When BBCF entered the British Open, they were permitted to play CC and F tubas.

NABBA does not make the distinction, either.

But wouldn't you agree that playing Eb bass parts on a 4/4 or larger BBb or CC is exactly the wrong thing to do?

[windshieldbug]

But wouldn't you agree that playing Eb bass parts on a 4/4 or larger BBb or CC is exactly the wrong thing to do?

Since when did THAT ever stop us?

[tubiker]

But there are plenty of non-competing brass bands for those who simply enjoy playing the music. Salvation Army bands are a type of brass band, a bit different from the British style, but if you've ever heard the Staff Band perform, you'll readily acknowledge the high level of performance there.

Variation on your theme.............

Salvation Army Brass Band take exactly the same format as a "standard" Brass Band in terms of instrumentation - the big "difference" between a Sally Army Band and Mainstream is the repertoire. In essence they write, publish and supply music to the mighty empire "in house". On a musical level they are supplying music to all levels of musical intellect (rank beginners to some very heavy stuff) - and all the stuff coming out these days is of the highest quality.

I run a "Junior" Brass Band in the UK and buy in my music from publishers all over Europe including the Salvation Army's Christmas stuff, a lot of which is absolutly brilliant. As for instrumentation, things get a bit picky when you end up on the contest bit - I won't contest, so if a kid turns up with a Trumpet I'm just grateful that the kid has turned up. If I was to get into contesting then instruments matter.

If anyone UK side wants Junior Band music, get in touch with Tony Cresswell who runs Mostyn Music and can be found at :- www.mostynmusic.com

Corking stuff for kids at reasonable prices

pip pip

Andrew Murray

[LoyalTubist]

My issue with Brass Bands is why did American Brass Bands adopt the British custom of having the tuba parts in Treble Clef and transposing treble clef at that?

NBD. Learn to transpose. Geeze, you sound like a trumpet player! (And they still have to, anyway!)

Shh... shh...

You can make a little bit of money for yourself by transposing the treble clef parts for those who do not have the inclination to transpose. I think thirty bucks a page is a good price.

[Chuck(G)]

Salvation Army Brass Band take exactly the same format as a "standard" Brass Band in terms of instrumentation...

I was under the impression that there was a difference in the cornets--the SA doesn't have a repiano part per se, but calls it "1st Cornet" and there are no 3rd cornets.

Is the practice in the UK SA bands different from this?

[imperialbari]

With electronic typesetting it no longer is a problem to issue any part in any transposition. It takes a bit of graphic cleaning up of some slurs due to the change of stem directions. But that is a small cost compared to opening up for a much larger US interest in brass band music.

The Dutch and the Swiss editions already do so, but then their stuff mostly is of very little musical interest.

Chuck is right about the great British works of the 20th century being of major musical interest. Henry V is great, but so is Variations for Brass and a lot other of the original oldies. I think it was John Ireland, who wrote two pieces, which are far too rarely played (the titles sadly escape me).

And then I must admit, that I have liked to play many of the transcriptions of the classical repertory. Not all equally well done, but many of them really worthwhile.

What I downright hated was the often horrid transcriptions of pop music and movie selections.

The Salvation Army has some great bands and some great repertory, but some of their bands mostly must be respected for the faith they attempt to express.

As for the usage of tubas in brass bands:

F tubas may work well on Eb tuba parts, but not if they are played German army style. Even worse is the usage of 5/4 or 6/4 CC tubas on the Eb tuba part.

The best Brit composers and bands know exactly what they do in regards of a smooth transition of sound and balance between the BBb tubas via the Eb tubas to the euphoniums. If the Eb tubas get too overwhelming that fine equilibrium is trashed.

As the very tolerant person I am, I will admit that an extremely well played CC tuba may approach the fine qualities inherent in BBb tubas.

Klaus Smedegaard Bjerre

[PolkaNoble]

I am sending private messages to the men involved in the Shrine bands. I have been in the Hella Shrine band for over twenty years, most of that time as conductor, but I am just playing Euph there now. We don't use brass band instrumentation, but we probably should think about that considering how few Shriners play woodwinds.

[LoyalTubist]

With electronic typesetting it no longer is a problem to issue any part in any transposition. It takes a bit of graphic cleaning up of some slurs due to the change of stem directions. But that is a small cost compared to opening up for a much larger US interest in brass band music.

The typing still takes time on intricate parts. I know what I am talking about in this because, in this, I practice what I preach!

But it is much faster than writing the parts out by hand!

[imperialbari]

With electronic typesetting it no longer is a problem to issue any part in any transposition. It takes a bit of graphic cleaning up of some slurs due to the change of stem directions. But that is a small cost compared to opening up for a much larger US interest in brass band music.

The typing still takes time on intricate parts. I know what I am talking about in this because, in this, I practice what I preach!

But it is much faster than writing the parts out by hand!

Yes the typing takes time, but when you have typed in tuba parts in Eb and BBb it doesn’t take too much time to issue additional bass clef concert parts also. I have done that with some of my brass band, 10-piece, and polka stuff made for friends in the US, but available for free for everybody.

While working on some brass stuff I realised, that I with issuing one or two more parts could make my stuff useable for either full clarinet choir or an ensemble of low clarinets.

Tuba quartets may crave for a bigger repertoire, but it is my impression, that the low clarinets are even worse off in regards of repertoire. So I have had quite a following from the single reeds. Saxophones also.

I see the mentioning of Shriner’s bands and polkas in the same posting. Take a look at my versions of 4 Læsø Dances. Not a normal 1.0.1 polka part for the tuba. Very flexible instrumentation with a lot of substitution parts.

Available via the link in my signature.

Klaus Smedegaard Bjerre