[Fmpro] Big Band arranging & mixing?

[BVMedia-A d r i e l]

My one caveat to this amazing post by Mark H is it also depends on if you
are trying to have a period specific arrangement or not. my band plays
1900-1940s style which is quite different than later big band era stuff.
Especially 20s/ 30s hot jazz is going to be arranged differently than
40s/50s big band swing even if you may have the same amount of horns. so
authenticity can come into play if you are doing a score for a period film.

This can also dictate how complex your harmony may or may not be.

Coincidentally my band does a gypsy jazz version of Cantina Band :-D

_A

> From: Mark Holden <markholden at aol.com>
> Reply-To: "fmpro at nxport.com" <fmpro at nxport.com>
> Date: Sat, 01 Dec 2007 14:56:37 -0800
> To: <fmpro at nxport.com>
> Conversation: [Fmpro] Big Band arranging & mixing?
> Subject: [Fmpro]  Big Band arranging & mixing?
> 
> 
> On 12/1/07 4:00 AM, Todd Burns <tzilla at pacbell.net> wrote:
> 
>> Despite my years of playing 'bone in big bands, now that I'm trying
>> to create some convincing mock-ups, I realize how little I truly know
>> about  voicing/arranging for big band.  Is there a good get-up-to-
>> speed primer out there, for things like 2nd tenor normally is on the
>> third, 3rd trpt does this, blank does that, scoobity scat doo-wah.
> 
> 
> Hi Todd-- a primer without staves is a bit tedious. But lets give it a shot.
> 
> In jazz, you've got a lead line and changes. From there, one often
> harmonizes the line for instrumental sections. Here's how to get started
> with the most basic of voicings. We'll use 5 saxes for purposes of
> illustration.
> 
> Here's how it works. The chords in that first bar are D-7 going to G13 on
> beat 3 of the bar. The lead line starts on D, 4th line, treble clef, first
> beat. In 8th notes, the lead line (alto 1) ascends D-E-F-G, the G landing on
> the "and" of beat 2 and is tied to a half note to complete the bar. Write
> this out.
> 
> The most basic voicings you can select for the sax section are "5-way
> close," "drop 2," or "drop 2 & 4."
> 
> The simplest, tightest voicing is "5-way close." Starting from the first
> lead alto note, you spell a D-7 chord. Vertically, alto 1 plays a D. Alto 2
> plays the C immediately below, the 7th. Tenor 1 plays the A below, the
> fifth. Tenor 2 plays the F below, the third. Finally the bari pays the D
> below, tonic. You'll note that the lead alto and bari notes are in octaves.
> Write this out.
> 
> Okay, your destination is that upper G played by lead alto on the 'and' of
> 2. Working down from that destination note, alto 2 plays the E immediately
> below, the 13. Tenor 1 plays the B below, the 3rd. Tenor 2 plays the A
> below, the 9. Bari plays the F below, the 7th. No 5th? Forget it. Roots and
> 5ths are the first voices to discard in jazz voicings, unless one of them is
> a melody note. In fact, all you need to establish "chard sound" is a 3rd and
> a 7th.
> 
> Okay, you now have the first and forth notes of the melody harmonized. Next,
> fill in the F in the melody that precedes the destination. The chord is
> still a D-7 and that F is the 3rd. So, in 5-way close, alto 2 plays the D
> below, tonic. Tenor 1 plays the C below, the 7th. Tenor 2 plays the A below,
> the 5th. And finally, bari plays the F below, one octave under the lead
> alto.
> 
> Fine. You now have three of four melody notes harmonized. All that remains
> is that E occurring on the 'and' of beat 1. Treat this as a "passing" chord.
> Voice out an E-7, 5-way close for the section. Won't an E-7 chord clash with
> the D-7 played by the rhythm section? Hell no. It "passes" quickly and
> occurs on the "and" of a beat-- a weak point as time flows. This is the
> basic concept behind "chord scales."
> 
> Bingo! You now have an entire bar voiced for 5 saxes. Do an entire line just
> like that.
> 
> For your next trick, should you wish to have richer voicings, take the
> second note from the top of each voicing and DROP IT ONE OCTAVE DOWN. Do it
> for the entire line. This is known as "drop 2." It opens up the sound a bit.
> (Note, don't transpose the alto 2 part down an octave. Bad call. Instead,
> REDISTRIBUTE the five voices through the section, in order.
> 
> The final technique in the primer is "drop 2 & 4." Take the 2nd and the 4th
> voices in your 5-way close harmonization and drop them BOTH one octave down.
> This will give you the broadest, most spacious voicings in a jazz context.
> 
> This is some Berklee 101 stuff-- I hope it gets the ball rolling for you.
> You might want to look into some of Berklee's online courses as you build
> your technique. One final note: in jazz, you can ALWAYS anticipate a new
> chord in your melody voicings by an 8th note. So, as in the illustration
> above, you can harmonize that lead line to the G13 on the 'and' of two, even
> though the rhythm section won't get there until beat 3. It's all good.
> 
> Countless big band arrangements have been done using these voicings alone.
> And film music ranging from "Laura" to "The Pink Panther" shout chorus to
> the cantina scene in "Star Wars."
> 
> Very best,
> 
> Mark Holden
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
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