It has been a productive week for me resulting in 15 finished phrases. I finished my pedal steel work, recording one phrase each for Rotate A300, 727, DC-10, DC-9, & 747. This allowed me to get a head start on trombone recordings. Ultimately I recorded two phrases each for TriStar, 737, DC-8, 707, & DC-9.
Recording trombone is quite a challenge for me, although it is a different challenge than playing the pedal steel. The latter instrument is very complicated, and not particularly intuitive. The last time I played trombone on a regular basis was over thirty years ago. I still have a very mental knowledge of how to play the instrument correctly. That being said, my embouchure just isn’t up to the job. It is very challenging for me to play even moderately high notes. I have equivalent problems playing pedal tones (extremely low notes) on the instrument as well.
It will be interested to see if after a couple of weeks of recording on the instrument if my embouchure shows any sign of improvement. For the time being though, I will simply write the trombone passages (mainly brass hits) in a range that fits my meager abilities. Furthermore, a lot of editing, a generous portion of pitch correction, and helping of plate reverb can do wonders to hide three decades of neglect.
It has been a couple of weeks since I presented one of my string arrangements. My arrangement for A300, featured below, features the second smallest pitch collection of the nine movements of Rotate. The B section of A300 features only five notes (B, C#, D, F#, G#), while the A section features four pitches (B, C#, F#, A#). These limited pitch groups yield some unique harmonies for the arrangement.
