Hello people who look at this little blog I have! I told you I would be on again. Though I didn't spend as much time as I did yesterday so there will not be as much to report. I was thinking of the songs that I was going to do and well I think I might take some off my list. There is not enough happening for the drummers in some of the songs also I don't know if I will have time for all the songs sadly. I will probably get rid of Good Time, Too Close, and if I find it too hard to do Gangnam Style. They are ok songs but to put them into pep band music and have people get what songs they are will be a challenge that might be a bit too challenging. Some Nights will also be a challenge but I like the drums for it too much to let that one go, plus it is popular enough people will know it.
-Curtis
Sunday, September 30, 2012
Saturday, September 29, 2012
Some Home Work :'(
Ok. Today was the first day I actually did some work on the 20% project besides the last time I got on which was really just deciding what I was going to do. Today I decided what songs I was going to do and I came up with a little list:
I also think that Whistle will be a cool one because it is so well known now that when it gets to the actual whistling part, which is probably going to be the flutes and clarinets due to the fact that they can sound more like a whistle then any other pep band interment, the crowd will join in.
The reason I choose Forget You and Gangnam Style is because I have heard them played in a band and I think that it is pretty cool. Here are the links of the two that I heard:
Gangnam Style: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=to8rA9u7i2U
Forget You: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VNpF9_TRmeA
The rest I think it would be cool as a pep band arrangement even if it is going to be really hard because of the fact that music now has synthesized crap in it which is near impossible to transpose into a musical instrument. But it is a challenge I will accept.
I also found someone who did quite a bit of Whistle for a band arrangement so that will probably help me a little. Especially since they used Finale which is the program, or a program made by them that is similar to, I am going to use. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=61nwMtZkSkU
I also learned how to use Audio Editing software so that I can listen to the songs I want to use and take out the parts that I am going to skip when writing the music because you don't get 3-5 minutes between plays to do a full song. I tried one program which flat out sucked and refused to work, that's what you get from a free program, so I tried another one. This one works a thousand times better but sadly can only save the stuff I make in a ".wav" format so I might have to get a converter for that so I can listen to it on mp3 while trying to divvy up parts for the pep band. But the last program refused to let me cut any of the music and well just kinda sucked in general so having one that will cut stuff, change the speed, and grab the mp3 file of YouTube for me really helps.
Then I got the Finale NotePad that Mr. Matthys advised me to get in his comment on my first post but I found that I can only do a certain amount of parts which doesn't make up a full pep band so I devised a plan! I also downloaded the Free Trial of the Finale PrintMusic which gives me more parts that can play back to me. Now all I have to do is create it on that one and transpher it over to the Finale NotePad so I can still have it when the free trial runs out in a month. Also, once it runs out I can just use Finale SongWriter which is the same as Finale PrintMusic but it doesn't allow as many parts but still enough for the pep band. It is a brilliant plan and it will work. Or I could easily just make another account for Finale and do the free trial for PrintMusic again if it isn't smart enough to catch that all I did was use another account, because I don't really want to pay $$$ for a program I might not use in the future.
So yeah, I only go t to working on one song so far. That would be Forget You by Cee Lo Green. I haven't begun to make it into a band piece but I got it down to what I want the band to play of it. It has a cool part that I think the flutes and clarinets will like along with a cool part for trumpets and trombones. Though I think that the drums might be a bit bored of what I have planed for them with this song, but hey they will really like the We Will Rock You that I have planned out.
Well, that is all I have for now. I might put up another blog soon if I do anything more during the week end, which I probably will if not today. So yeah...that's it folks. Now go off and play on YouTube or Facebook. I know now easy it is to get lost in there and end up spending hours and hours on both.
-Curtis
- Forget You By Cee Lo Green
- We Will Rock You By Queen
- Whistle By Flo Rida
- Some Nights By Fun
- Payphone By Maroon 5
- Gangnam Style By PSY
- Too Close By Alex Clare
- 50 Ways to Say Goodbye By Train
- Good Time By Owl City & Carly Rae Jepsen
I also think that Whistle will be a cool one because it is so well known now that when it gets to the actual whistling part, which is probably going to be the flutes and clarinets due to the fact that they can sound more like a whistle then any other pep band interment, the crowd will join in.
The reason I choose Forget You and Gangnam Style is because I have heard them played in a band and I think that it is pretty cool. Here are the links of the two that I heard:
Gangnam Style: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=to8rA9u7i2U
Forget You: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VNpF9_TRmeA
The rest I think it would be cool as a pep band arrangement even if it is going to be really hard because of the fact that music now has synthesized crap in it which is near impossible to transpose into a musical instrument. But it is a challenge I will accept.
I also found someone who did quite a bit of Whistle for a band arrangement so that will probably help me a little. Especially since they used Finale which is the program, or a program made by them that is similar to, I am going to use. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=61nwMtZkSkU
I also learned how to use Audio Editing software so that I can listen to the songs I want to use and take out the parts that I am going to skip when writing the music because you don't get 3-5 minutes between plays to do a full song. I tried one program which flat out sucked and refused to work, that's what you get from a free program, so I tried another one. This one works a thousand times better but sadly can only save the stuff I make in a ".wav" format so I might have to get a converter for that so I can listen to it on mp3 while trying to divvy up parts for the pep band. But the last program refused to let me cut any of the music and well just kinda sucked in general so having one that will cut stuff, change the speed, and grab the mp3 file of YouTube for me really helps.
Then I got the Finale NotePad that Mr. Matthys advised me to get in his comment on my first post but I found that I can only do a certain amount of parts which doesn't make up a full pep band so I devised a plan! I also downloaded the Free Trial of the Finale PrintMusic which gives me more parts that can play back to me. Now all I have to do is create it on that one and transpher it over to the Finale NotePad so I can still have it when the free trial runs out in a month. Also, once it runs out I can just use Finale SongWriter which is the same as Finale PrintMusic but it doesn't allow as many parts but still enough for the pep band. It is a brilliant plan and it will work. Or I could easily just make another account for Finale and do the free trial for PrintMusic again if it isn't smart enough to catch that all I did was use another account, because I don't really want to pay $$$ for a program I might not use in the future.
So yeah, I only go t to working on one song so far. That would be Forget You by Cee Lo Green. I haven't begun to make it into a band piece but I got it down to what I want the band to play of it. It has a cool part that I think the flutes and clarinets will like along with a cool part for trumpets and trombones. Though I think that the drums might be a bit bored of what I have planed for them with this song, but hey they will really like the We Will Rock You that I have planned out.
Well, that is all I have for now. I might put up another blog soon if I do anything more during the week end, which I probably will if not today. So yeah...that's it folks. Now go off and play on YouTube or Facebook. I know now easy it is to get lost in there and end up spending hours and hours on both.
-Curtis
Wednesday, September 19, 2012
Hello There Viewers Nice To Meet You!
Hi everyone who is going to read this blog and follow me throughout my endevers in arranging music for my LOHS band. Today was the first google day and we had to decide what we where going to do for what our teacher, Mr. M, calls the Google Band Project or the 20% Project. Basically it is this, in band we use 20% of our time in band doing a project of our choosing that pertains to music in some way. I had a tough time choosing between doing something with singing, trying to learn the guitar again (I tried once...twice. Never really worked to well.), or doing pep band music. Since I already have a few ideas on a few songs that I want the band to do for pep band I thought that it was my best option, that and I would be too scared to go infront of the class and sing or play the guitar. So, I am doin pep band music. I will keep you updated on all the things I learned about how hard it is to get this stuff right and what songs I am doing well at making, hey I might even post a recording of them if ai can figure out how to. Anyways, there is nothing much else to say. So, hope to keep your interest in my blog for as long as I am working on it.
-Curtis
-Curtis
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