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  4. Grainger - Children's March

  • Grainger - Children's March

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    I've re-recorded this piece using the original score as authorized by the International Percy Grainger Society (many thanks to Barry Ould for his guidance and insights).  This recording uses the instrumentation and voices as originally scored by Grainger for military or concert band.

    Recorded here using all VSL instruments, with MirPro for instrument placement and Vienna Hybrid Reverb.  

    Enjoy, and feedback is always appreciated!

    Happy New Year all! 

    Michael

    https://soundcloud.com/tensivity/grainger-childrens-march-vsl-rogers-edition-t4
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    Was this done with one of the SE collections? Via notation software or a DAW? I'm hearing some thin sampling throughout the piece. Also there is some blurriness of notes especially with the horns as if the Release fader is too high or you're using sustain samples instead of perf. Legato. It sounds like a bassoon ensemble playing at the beginning of the piece? The performance seems a little wooden for my ears. Try to vary the tempo a bit by about 5 to 8 bpm. In fact, try to vary the tempo throughout the entire piece. If you're limited by velocity layers then you'll have to make due with the expression fader. On the bright side, I very much enjoyed the arrangement; lots of colors and variety. Also there were many twists and turns to keep the listener interested. However the piece might be a bit too ambitious for an SE collection, if in fact that's what you're using.
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    Jasensmith, thanks for listening.  Feedback is always helpful, and I rarely get responses from posting work here.

    I'll check out the release on the horns as suggested.  I change from sustain to legato under a slur, so you're hearing a combination of sustain and legato patches on the horns.  Some also use portamento and portato patches for variety.

    There were a total of 56 VSL Pro instruments used for this recording.  Instruments playing at the beginning are English Horn, Clarinet Ensemble 1 and 2, Bass Clarinet, Bassoon Ensemble 1, Alto Sax, and Tenor Sax.  The saxes are pushed way back in the mix.  If I bring them forward, they sound very harsh to my ears.

    Up until the first piano notes, there are two tempo changes, as well as two ritardando and accelerando for continuous tempo change.  I'll take a look at introducing additional tempo change as well in the beginning of the piece.

    I also apply humanization to all my instruments through the VIPro settings, and I usually set it to be responsive to note speed, my logic being that an instrumentalist is proabably going to be more challenged hitting tempo and pitch on faster notes than on slower.

    Again, thanks for listening and the helpful critique.
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    @jasensmith said:

    Was this done with one of the SE collections? Via notation software or a DAW?

    I'm hearing some thin sampling throughout the piece.

    Also there is some blurriness of notes especially with the horns as if the Release fader is too high or you're using sustain samples instead of perf. Legato.

    It sounds like a bassoon ensemble playing at the beginning of the piece? The performance seems a little wooden for my ears. Try to vary the tempo a bit by about 5 to 8 bpm. In fact, try to vary the tempo throughout the entire piece. If you're limited by velocity layers then you'll have to make due with the expression fader.

    On the bright side, I very much enjoyed the arrangement; lots of colors and variety. Also there were many twists and turns to keep the listener interested. However the piece might be a bit too ambitious for an SE collection, if in fact that's what you're using.

    I think the primary difficulty lies with the saxaphone family. I personally have always found the sax in an ensembe to be very difficult. However, despite that, I enjoyed listening to this rendition.
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    Paul, thanks.  I agree, my experience in the work I've done with VSL saxaphone sections in military/concert band arrangements tells me that you're spot on.  If they are brought out in the mix, they are very harsh.  I have had to push them back in the mix so far that they almost disappear in order to make them sound balanced with the rest of the ensemble.

    Perhaps they're meant for big band or jazz band work more than symphonic band arrangements?

    Thanks for listening and the positive comment!

    MIchael
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    @Tensivity said:

    Paul, thanks.  I agree, my experience in the work I've done with VSL saxaphone sections in military/concert band arrangements tells me that you're spot on.  If they are brought out in the mix, they are very harsh.  I have had to push them back in the mix so far that they almost disappear in order to make them sound balanced with the rest of the ensemble.

    Perhaps they're meant for big band or jazz band work more than symphonic band arrangements?

    Thanks for listening and the positive comment!

    MIchael

    I'm looking forward to hearing more of your work. Have you tried to do Brass Band yet?
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    @Paul McGraw said:

    I'm looking forward to hearing more of your work. Have you tried to do Brass Band yet?

    Paul, thanks, much, I have done very limited work with brass band.  I did record Beethoven's Egales with brass choir, but I never got around to polishing it up for sharing.  They're great pieces.

    If you're interested in another Grainger piece for concert band, check out Tuscan Serenade 16.2 on my website here:

    http://www.tensivity.com/works

    Michael
  • PaulP Paul moved this topic from Orchestration & Composition on