5 Helpful Steps To Transcribing Drum Corps Music

Since I often get the “How Did You Do This!?” question whenever I post a new transcription, I thought some fun tips for your own transcriptions would be worth putting together. You might notice that every single one of these tips can be applied to practicing an instrument and generally becoming a better musician. You have to be musically sensitive and driven in your craft if you hope to dig deep into a major work such as a drum corps show and pull out the individual pieces by ear. Before deciding to become a transcriber, you may also want to commit to tightening up your skills as a musician, no matter where you are in terms of talent or experience.

Click here for the playlist leading to my behind the scenes videos for my new transcription: Crown’s 2014 6-part antiphonal high brass feature. It will take a while for all of them to upload, but you’ll see them all in that playlist when they get there. 

1) Pay close attention to detail in everything you do as a musician. Consistency is an important part of musicianship, and it helps to listen in the same ways every day, not just when you want to transcribe a piece of music. If you’re one of those people who sits in an orchestra or band and listens attentively every day to hear parts you haven’t heard before in a rehearsal, it will help you immensely when completing a transcription because you’ve already made a habit of picking individual parts out of the texture.

2) It’s all about the sound. I mentioned this a number of times in the video, but to me, it’s more important that you get the sound you want than it is that you get the “correct” notes. Transcribing involves taking live, organic, acoustical sounds and digitizing them into electronic MIDI sounds. As a composer, we’re always trying to do the opposite… MIDI NEVER gives the sound you’re looking for, so you might need to play around a bit to get as close as you can to the sound you want. I often times use dynamics and articulation to emulate the musical phrasing in the live recording, even if I’m sure those specific dynamics and articulation were not actually used in the original score. Please note that this is also true as a PERFORMER: it’s more important that you get the sound you want for your instrument than it is that you play every single note without any cracks or mistakes.

3) Use all your resources. In one of the reference videos I used, Carolina Crown’s Drum Major can very clearly be seen conducting. You should never have any question of where the beat is because you can see it. Generally speaking when transcribing a drum corps show, if you’re having trouble hearing the parts in full ensemble, you can almost always find rehearsal videos isolating specific instruments, or – in the case of Crown and many other world class finalist corps – you can find a “head cam” or “boob cam” or “go pro” camera highlighting a specific performer. If you have a friend who marched, you can always check his or her specific part with what you have if you desire. You more than enough resources to transcribe any drum corps show.

4) Start simple! If you’re an extremely talented clarinetist who’s never played trumpet before, you’re not going to enter the National Trumpet Competition with a brilliant triple tonguing solo as your first milestone for learning the trumpet. That’s crazy, right? You’ll probably want to start off with long tones in the mid/low range of the instrument and FIND THE SOUND YOU WANT before going any further (see tip #2). It’s the same concept here: If you’ve never done a transcription before in your life, or you’re not familiar with a music notation system such as finale, you’re not going to want to transcribe the entire Carolina Crown 2014 Brass Book. It will be a painful and grueling process, and you probably won’t get the results you’re looking for. If you’re sold on Crown 2014, for example, perhaps start by transcribing the first half of the ballad (starting at the high brass solos) or the final minute of the show (after the 16^th note runs).

5) Be patient!! In both the short term and long term, developing any set of skills takes patience. I transcribed the high brass feature this blog is linked to in about two hours. For someone with little transcribing experience, something like this may easily have taken all week. Again, if you’ve played clarinet for over a decade, you can’t expect to have a decade’s worth of experience under your belt playing trumpet. Developing the skills to transcribe are very similar to playing an instrument. You already have a musical background, so it won’t take you a decade to get good at it, but it might take you a year or more to really get to where you can do an entire transcription in one sitting.

And hopefully, that should get you on the right track! One last thing before I sign out… Be aware that drum corps are separate organizations – they are not owned by DCI or DCA – and just because one drum corps doesn’t mind seeing transcriptions of their music online, doesn’t mean that all corps will be okay with it. If you’re asked to take a video down, respond politely and cordially and take the video down. Also be aware of highly copyrighted music (or music that seems as though it may be highly protected) that drum corps have played on the field. Those organizations had to go through major copyrights licensing and permissions to play that music on the field, and it may not be okay for you to take that piece and do a transcription of it. For example: When the Madison Scouts played Empire State of Mind, was it one of the most glorious moments in the history of drum corps? Absolutely. Should I transcribe Empire State of Mind and throw it up on my YouTube channel? Probably not. You may be able to make a case for fair use, or that you’re making a “cover” of the song the way any up and coming artist would sing a famous song and share it, but it gets pretty dicey here, and I tend to assume that those excuses won’t fly. In most cases, your video could be taken down from youtube and your account – if subject to multiple offenses – may be disabled. But do realize that it is also possible that you may be subject to HUGE fines (especially dealing with a major company) because you’re dealing with copyright infringement, which is a federal offense. Make your life easier – just don’t do it.

As you transcribe drum corps music, you’ll realize how much more amazing these designers and students get every single year. Cherish and admire every moment!

Marcus Grant
Teacher, Composer, Trumpeter
http://www.msgrantmusic.org
http://www.facebook.com/msgrantmusic
http://www.soundcloud.com/msgrantmusic

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