New Works from KJOS
Pride, Promise and Progress, by Timothy Mahr, was commissioned by St. Olaf College to celebrate the sesquicentennial of the City of Northfield, Minnesota, 1855-2005. The composition was premiered under the composer’s baton on November 10, 2005 by the Northfield High School Concert Band, Mary Williams, conductor. The work leans forward with drive in its attempt to capture the strength of character found within the citizenship, past and present, of this city of “Cows, Colleges and Contentment.”
Miniature Overture by Jack Stamp is ideal as a concert opener. This energetic piece features strong melodies and a chorale-like middle section.
Based on the harrowing adventures of shipwrecked mariners, Shipwrecked, by Ryan Nowlin, is a dramatic piece that puts you right in the middle of the action with evocative musical imagery, epic melodies, and stirring rhythms.
Frenzy, by Andrew Boysen, features quick tempi, double-tonguing brass, and cinematic moments of intensity. This selection is a non-stop adventure.
Contemporary Rhythm Drills for Band and Orchestra is designed to help players and conductors master many of the asymmetrical and mixed meter patterns found in contemporary music. By developing an increased awareness of the eighth note pulse that underlies many rhythmic patterns, complex rhythms will soon become easier to sight-read, play, and conduct. This book is a 97-page collection of 369 rhythm drills that methodically addresses 5/8, 6/8, 7/8, 8/8, and 9/8 meters. Major and minor (natural, harmonic, and melodic) scales and Dorian and Mixolydian modes are also included for all instruments and all keys to be used as note sets in combination with the rhythm drills. This book can be used as a progressive method, or as a tool for practice of rhythmic challenges found in specific literature. Suggested for high school, college, and university bands and orchestras; also an ideal supplemental text for college conducting classes.
New & Anniversary Titles from Alfred
Carpentier and Alfred Music Publishing have released The Music of the Lord of the Rings Films, a comprehensive account of Howard Shore’s scores from the popular trilogy, by musicologist Doug Adams.
The culmination of almost a decade of writing and research, The Music of the Lord of the Rings Films, is a journey into the heart of Howard Shore’s Academy Award-winning score, with extensive music examples, original manuscript scores, a rarities CD, and glimpses into the creative process from the composer himself.
The 416-page full-color book features a foreword by Howard Shore, introduction by Lord of the Rings writer and producer Fran Walsh, original sketches by John Howe and Alan Lee, and numerous images from the films. Also included in the book, courtesy of HOWE Records, is a CD titled “The Rarities,” which features 21 tracks of previously unreleased music created for the films, as well as an audio interview with Howard Shore.
Alfred’s Beginning Drumset Method reached its milestone 20th anniversary in 2010. Written by renowned authors and educators Dave Black and Sandy Feldstein, this classic method has been used by students and teachers at all levels. Originally released in 1990, the publication has expanded from its original book format to include a DVD and play-along CD. Lessons in the book are written with a practical approach, and start by immediately teaching students to play their first beat. Students will learn the hi-hat, ride cymbal, snare, and bass drum in the styles of rock and jazz.
Dixon Bass Drum Lift from Cappello Music
Cappello Music is now distributing the Dixon Bass Drum Lift. The Bass Drum Lift works with 16″ through 24″ bass drums. The list price is $66.
Theodore Presser’s Stepping Out
Theodore Presser’s Stepping Out is a solo work for contrabass and piano by American composer Peter Schickele. Commissioned by bassist Gary Karr and his accompanist Harmon Lewis, Stepping Out features two highly stylized dances (polka and tango) followed by a driven, jazz-tinged finale with virtuosic passages. It is best suited for advanced players.
Yamaha’s Tyros4
Yamaha’s Tyros4 Arranger Workstation keyboard features the new Vocal Harmony 2 engine and exclusive built-in vocal Style and Voice content, created with advanced sampling techniques. Additionally, the Super Articulation 2 Voice library has been upgraded for non-keyboard instruments like strings, guitars, brass, and woodwinds.
The expanded Super Articulation 2 Voices automatically switches to various attacks (note-on), main-bodies (sustain), and note releases (decay), based on how the player hits the keys.
Playing a Saxophone Voice with legato technique makes the passage sound like it is being delivered all in one breath by a horn player, for example, but playing staccato notes creates a sound where the notes seem like they are blown individually. Placing notes together or spaced far apart automatically determines how a note might bend up or down to arrive at the next note in a passage.
Tyros4’s new Flash Expansion Board stores custom sample data (instrument recordings) either purchased online or sampled by the end user, which stays in the keyboard even after the power is turned off. It also includes hard-disk recording that captures anything played or sung through a new XLR balanced microphone combo-jack. MP3 audio files can be stored as part of the registration set up for instant recall and playback.
Tyros4can reproduce instruments and arrangements from over 500 different styles of music from around the world with the press of a button. Studio-style DSP effects like reverb, chorus and EQ add an extra element of pro-level sound quality to the 2,153 dynamic instrument Voices, 30 organ flutes, and 44 drum sets. Multi-pads allow for special phrases, and even trigger selected samples in sync with a particular style in real time.
Kendor Music’s How to Play Drums in a Big Band
How to Play Drums in a Big Band, by Rich Thompson, focuses on improvisation, with emphasis on style precision. The book and accompanying CD offers tips, suggestions and examples to help put it all together.
PureSound Percussion’s Custom Pro Snare Wires
PureSound Percussion’s Custom Pro series of snare wires are designed with Anti-choke end plates that are said to reduce snare buzz and also allow the player to crank up their snare tension for a tight response without choking the drum. The Anti-choke end plates lift the coils away from the edge to reduce sympathetic buzz and increase the wire tension range.
The Speed Release straps allow the player to disengage the snare wires without releasing the straps from the strainer or butt clamps, enabling quick head or wire changes. In addition, the numbered alignment marks on the straps ensure straight and repeatable positioning in the clamp.
The Custom Pro series is available with either steel coil for a quick response, or brass coil for a bright and resonant response. Both alloys are available in either 20 or 24 strand configurations and in 13″ and 14″ lengths. All models retail for $34.99.
