showcase – Charts & Tracks
I’ve been really happy this week to get back to writing charts and prepping tracks again now that the production show is over. This past week I have spent the majority of my time with Finale finalising my charts before tomorrow’s band call.
Variation In Charts
I’ve been really pleased with the amount of variation that I’ve had to work with in terms of arranging. The nine arrangements I’ve been allocated range from sultry jazz through to country rock, with a nice array of more ‘freely’ performed numbers that will test the clarity of my scoring as well as my cueing chops.
In this country tune – the opening number from Steve Martin’s ‘Bright Star’ – I’ve tried to recreate a country feel by writing a busy picking pattern into the piano part in an attempt to recreate a combination of banjo and rhythm guitar. I’ve written plenty of double stops for cello in a high register to try and emulate the sound of a fiddle, and then I’ve thickened the harmony out with the clarinet. I trialled some voicings where I’ve placed the clarinet harmony in between the Cello’s double stop notes. This was to try to disguise the fact that it’s a clarinet, and just thicken the harmony as if he were another string player.
It’s hard to say how successful these strategies will turn out until I hear it all in the room. However I did put together a midi demo to help me find the sound I wanted, and also to send to the performer to practise with.
More Rep Sessions
In addition to writing the arrangements I’ve spent some time this week working with the singers to help us figure out exactly how each song will work in terms of tempos and timing etc. I’ve actually really enjoyed this process, which suggests I’ve grown in confidence since the first rep sessions we were required to do earlier in the year. I’m sure it helps that I know the charts this time so any sight-reading challenges have been eliminated. But still, that represents progress! The challenge now is to be able to implement the decisions we’ve made about tempos and timings when I have other musicians to lead.