Tag: trombone

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Sabbatical: Week 9 Update

Well, it looks like I’m a Trombone Champ! I managed to record 7 trombone phrases this week, which is not a lot of work, but it is just enough for me to have finished all of the trombone recording I had wanted to do. Thus, I can put the trombone back up in the attic until my next major recording project. My embouchure probably only improved marginally over the two and a half weeks of recording. I think if I plan on recording much again with the instrument, I should take it out a few weeks before I plan on starting the project, and get my lip in better shape.

Three of the phrases I recorded were for 727. The remaining four phrases were trombone recordings for the center sections of A300, DC-10, DC-9, and 747. While I’m ahead of where I thought I’d be last week, it doesn’t really change the schedule much. Tomorrow I will be recording a string quartet in Providence. These recordings will span the transition from the center section to the final section of each movement. I will likely be editing and mixing these recordings over the next couple of weeks. I’m expecting that time frame as the next couple of weeks will be busy for me. I’ll be taking Thursday and Friday off next week to go to an event in Boston. The following week I will be going into tech week for a production of A Wrinkle in Time in Andover. This means that much of next week will be spent finalizing my sound design work for the production, so I may get little to no work on Rotate done next week. Accordingly, the new schedule for the rest of the semester is . . .

Week 10: Edit / mix String recordings
Week 11: Edit / mix String recordings
Week 12: Cello
Week 13: Cello
Week 14: Taishogoto
Week 15: Taishogoto

I had mentioned last week that I may have some information to share regarding progress on a closely related project I have been working on. Since the next couple of weeks may also be light weeks I won’t share everything all at once, so I have things to share for first half of November. That being said, I’ve made significant progress on the plan for my next studio album as Darth Presley. I plan on taking three to four years to complete the next one.

While I’m proud of my work on both ME7ROPOL17AN 7RANSPOR7A71ON AU74OR17Y and Rotate, I feel like both albums are a bit too consistent. Every movement of each of the two projects is very similar, and vary mainly in tempo, pitch collection, and sometimes instrumentation. This is why I want to spend more time on the next studio album. I have some other material I can likely release in the next few years on the side: songs with lyrics, live recordings from Rotate, and other material. While I have more work to share about the next project, I’ll save it for the next couple of weeks.

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Sabbatical: Week 8 Update

Well, my sabbatical is about half over. I got a respectable amount of work done this week, all things considered. I got nine trombone phrases recorded. This included two A phrases each for A300, DC-10, and 747. I also recorded one B phrase each for 737, DC-8, & 707. Ultimately this isn’t much work for the week, but there has been a family emergency that has been keeping me busy since Tuesday. Thus, as I said it’s a respectable amount of work, all things considered.

It isn’t clear when this family emergency will be resolved. Furthermore next week my work load as a sound designer for an upcoming production of A Wrinkle in Time will be ramping up. Next weekend will be the recording session for the string parts, which means the following week will likely be focused on editing and mixing those recordings. All of this is a long winded way of saying that realistically speaking, I may not complete the trombone recordings for two to three weeks. Thus, my revised recording schedule for the remainder of the semester will likely be . . .

Week 9: Trombone
Week 10: Edit / mix String recordings
Week 11: Trombone
Week 12: Cello
Week 13: Cello
Week 14: Taishogoto
Week 15: Taishogoto

I’m still satisfied with this schedule, as cutting out many of the synth oriented tracks is fine since the backing tracks already have a significant amount of synthesizers. Even if I don’t complete much work next week, I’ll still be able to report next week, as I’ve been working on a related side project, and have been making enough progress on it that I may be ready to start releasing information on it next week.

In the interest of having some visual material, please find below the score for the string arrangement of 707. The B section of this movement is nominally in D minor, featuring the notes: D, E, F, F#, G, A, Bb, and C#. The A section in contrast only uses a single note, A.

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Sabbatical: Week 7 Update

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.