May 2010

May 30, 2010

Addin’ Down for Big Band and Pros and Cons of Music Software

One of the reasons I’ve been quiet here lately is because I’ve been spending a lot of time composing a new big band chart, called Addin’ Down. Here is a MIDI realization of it. In case anyone is curious, I use Finale 2010 to do my arranging and copy work, and the playback is also… Continue reading

Composition/Theory, Gigs, Jazz

May 20, 2010

Lip Vibration of Trombone Embouchures by Lloyd Leno

Lip Vibration of Trombone Embouchures is a documentary film made by Dr. H. Lloyd Leno sometime in the late 1980s, I think. Leno was the trombone professor at Walla Walla College, in Walla Walla, Washington. I’m not certain exactly when he passed away, but his son, Michael Leno, gave me permission to post his father’s… Continue reading

Brass, Embouchure, Pedagogy, Trombone

May 18, 2010

Palmetto’s Blues for Trombone Choir

A while back someone emailed me to ask about my composition Palmetto’s Blues, a trombone choir piece I wrote for Palmetto Posaunen. Jim Martin, at PDF Jazz Music, has published it now and so it’s available for a downloadable purchase here. You can also listen to a demo recording I made of it with me… Continue reading

Composition/Theory, Trombone

May 17, 2010

The Upstream Brass Embouchure

I’ve got some projects currently underway that are keeping me from adding some new content, so today’s entry will be a repost, of sorts. The above two-part video was the “pilot” for my embouchure research. I had just bought the video camera and was testing it out to see how well it would perform for… Continue reading

Brass, Embouchure, Horn, Low Placement Type, Trombone, Trumpet, Tuba

May 15, 2010

A Tubist’s Embouchure: A Case Study

I put together the above video to show an unusual embouchure I happened to document for my embouchure research. This case is particularly interesting for a couple of features. First, since it’s more challenging to get clear video footage of embouchure characteristics on a smaller mouthpiece, the tuba embouchure makes i very easy to see… Continue reading

Embouchure, Low Placement Type, Pedagogy, Tuba

May 9, 2010

Armed Forces Medley for Big Band

Back in 2006 I was commissioned to write an arrangement of all the U.S. armed forces themes into a medley for the San Luis Valley Big Band. I always enjoy doing things like this, taking non-jazz tunes and putting them into a jazz context. I had also done this with the Adams State College alma… Continue reading

Composition/Theory, Jazz

May 6, 2010

Michael Brecker’s solo on Some Skunk Funk played on recorder by Benoît Sauvé

Benoît Sauvé is one bad recorder player! Watch that video to see and hear him play along with Michael Brecker’s solo improvisation on Some Skunk Funk note for note. I’m sure that was an extremely challenging solo to transcribe and to learn to play on recorder. Here’s what that Sauvé has to say about transcribing:… Continue reading

Ear Training, Jazz, Transcription

May 4, 2010

You See What You Look For

The above video by magician, author, and blogger Richard Wiseman demonstrates a principle of human nature that I try to keep in mind when teaching and practicing. Our expectations have a profound effect on our perceptions. We tend to see or hear what we expect (whether or not they are there) and often miss what… Continue reading

Pedagogy, Science/Technology