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

Previous blog post: Why EVERY Musician Should Join A Chamber Ensemble

Why EVERY Musician Should Join A Chamber Ensemble

I for-shadowed this blog post in my blog about the Fredericksburg Brass Institute. It's something I believe very strongly in speaking about. Music for the majority of musicians in this world is a fantastic catalyst for the promotion and enrichment of communities everywhere, but whether musicians engage themselves as a band/orchestra/choir member or as a featured soloist, their development as a musician and experience of music's positive effects is greatly stunted by a lack of exposure to all elements of being a fully trained musician.

Playing in a large ensemble helps develop a musician's musicality with others, but it helps in many ways to solidify bad habits on the instrument. As a brass or woodwind player in a band or string player in an orchestra, a young and growing musician can learn how to play with others but is often times severely under-challenged with music that only explores a small section of that instrument's range and almost always includes a great deal of counting rests rather than performing music. In some cases, since most composers are not experts on every single instrument in a large ensemble such as these two, one particular instrument might get a part completely atypical of music that this particular instrument is able to practically perform with quality or precision. In a rehearsal, a clarinet player might sit unoccupied for quite a long time while the director refines the low brass sound, and the focus of that clarinetist has dropped from the band and has to be regained when it is time to perform.

Playing as a soloist is greatly conducive to the mastery of an instrument, but it doesn't teach a student how to cooperate musically with others. Sure, it alleviates many of the issues of playing in a band or orchestra; the soloist is generally not counting rests and cannot hide behind other players, and the composer generally knows much more about the instrument and can really show off the instrument's range, style, and other artistic features specific to that instrument. A soloist can never lose focus of what he or she is doing. However, the all-too-important task of learning how to cooperate with others musically speaking, and listening and adjusting to the actions of those around oneself becomes lost. Music is referred to as the universal language, yet speaking to oneself is generally not nearly as riveting as engaging in conversation with a good friend, and let's face it: we learn a LOT opening ourselves to other people's experiences than we do simply going about life on our own island.

Undoubtedly, a member of a large ensemble or a soloist is deprived of many of the essential elements of enhancing one's musicianship. But we can't have the best of both worlds, can we?

Yes, we absolutely can.

In a CHAMBER ENSEMBLE, one can enjoy exploring the fantastic challenges that come with a solo piece while engaging musically in a conversation with those around oneself. Chamber musicians don't have to worry about not being engaged in rehearsal, and they have to stay focused and committed throughout the entire experience - they can't hide behind another player or sit out on the job because it has a huge impact on the musicians around them. The balance between personal mastery of the instrument and perfecting the art of being an effective team player forces the chamber ensemble musician to master both the art of playing the instrument as well as the art of playing musically with others.

One of music's greatest aspects is that it forces people to be reflective and cooperative with one another. Chamber ensembles greatly enhance these aspects in an intimate setting that those not familiar with performing in one could greatly benefit from. Where I grew up, chamber ensembles in the public school setting are almost completely nonexistent, which means tens of thousands of students are never challenged to apply both technical mastery and musical sensitivity to their craft as one. What a shame. If you're a student or teacher reading this, I greatly encourage the exploration of chamber ensembles and their fantastic benefits to both young and seasoned musicians.

If you need a perfect example of the fantastic advantages to placing a focus on chamber ensemble skills, check out anything from the Baylor School Of Music - anything.

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

Previous blog post: Winning Is Not As Glamorous As You Think

Winning is Not as Glamorous as You Think

This has been on my mind, and it needs to be shared. I will brief this blog post by saying that evidence and examples are 100% based on BOA and DCI. However, non-advocates of the marching arts can still relate to the over-arching content and concept being explained in this topic:

There are a number of people in any given competitive activity who make it their life goal to win; it seems to be a common thought that if one could just win at something, that life would be a complete joy and endless success story. For those who actually succeed in this purely on the motivation to win, the realization that "winning" is not what we all perceive it to be can be a catastrophic culture shock. Be careful out there: It's the personal growth as a human being or with which ever organization you are a part of that lasts, not the prizes or the accolades or the trophies or the recognition.

Because it's often the center of my focus during the summer and fall, I'm going to use marching band and drum corps examples here, but these examples are certainly transferable to ANY competitive situation. At the time I'm writing this, Carolina Crown Drum and Bugle Corps scored 2nd place in brass at two of their most recent drum corps competitions. A group of fans are shocked and even offended by this, as the corps has been known in recent years for their incredible brass performers and teachers, and the show they are performing this year is arguably the most demanding of any show in the history of drum corps. The expectation is that they win, and as a result, the celebration when they DO win is greatly lessened, and the resentment when they DON'T win is exponentially increased. Sad.

In 2011, DCI fans almost unanimously agreed that the Blue Devils were having a rough and "off" season, and were experiencing lots of trouble. The Blue Devils placed 2nd place in the WORLD in 2011, but since the expectation is that they spend most of their season undefeated and come out with a championship title at the end of the year, it was perceived that the corps was "out of it" that year. Amazing.

Perhaps we should think twice about the importance of winning a competition, yes? It's a moving target, with different judges with different perspectives, different venues with different acoustics, and different competitors. The result will inevitably be different every time in ways that you could never predict.

Be very careful about the importance you place on competition. If you allow competitive success to define the assessment of your experiences, not only are you empowering other people (judges, fans, and fellow competitors) with the ability to make or break all that you've aspired to be, but even if you manage to find that success, it's only for a brief amount of time, and now you've such an expectation that cannot be satisfied any way except by the pressure to win again, and again, and again, because all of a sudden, if you place second.....

Intrinsic motivation to be a better person, on the other hand, will always give you the opportunity to experience success on your own terms, no matter what happens around you. No judge, competition, or score can take that away from you. Try it sometime?

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

Previous blog post: Why You Should Attend The Next Fredericksburg Brass Institute

Why You Should Attend The Next Fredericksburg Brass Institute

"[E]veryone deserves the experience of being surrounded by world-class, inspirational music making." - Austin Boyer (read more)

It's no surprise that the 2nd Annual Fredericksburg Brass Institute - founded by directors Austin Boyer and Buddy Deshler - had a 100% retention rate from the 1st year to the 2nd year (that's right, every participant from the first year returned for the second year), or that the number of participating members nearly tripled in that single year's time. I had the pleasure of devoting a week of my summer to this Institute, and I highly recommend it to any and all brass students - from middle school through college - who are looking for a high-energy experience saturated with great music and the possibility to build lifelong friends and connections in the business.

About the Fredericksburg Brass Institute
All over the world, summer brass institutes, festivals, conferences, and competitions are held where passionate musicians gather together and share unforgettable experiences with each other and create lifelong memories while learning valuable lessons about music and about themselves. In order for someone in Virginia to attend one of these events - most of which last anywhere from 3 to 7 days - this musician would likely pay an excess of $1,000 between tuition, plane tickets or other travel expenses, and many other hidden expenses to travel out of state for this experience.

As veteran participants of many of these events, Austin and Buddy thought there should be a viable alternative for brass musicians in and around Fredericksburg who deserve to share the same experiences. As a result, they have managed to produce much (if not all) of the same high-quality experiences at a dramatically reduced price. This summer, the 6-day experience - complete with 7 faculty members, 5 world-class guest artists and ensembles, and the valuable opportunity of meeting and working with peers who share the same passions - was shared with participants for the tuition price of only $300, with early registration bringing the price to as low as $250!

I've certainly been to some of these other brass-related seminars and conferences, but I have tremendous respect for the careful attention to detail and high level of commitment the directors of Fredericksburg Brass put into making this the best experience it could be. Many of these other events have taken place for many, many years, and needed quite some time to develop into the wonderful experiences they are today. The Fredericksburg Brass Institute, on the other hand, has just finished its second year, and the experiences are already world-class and rapidly growing. In addition, Fredericksburg Brass focuses on what I quite strongly believe to be the most musically enriching type of ensemble: the small ensemble, also known as the chamber ensemble (come back to my blog later this summer, and I'll explain in detail why I have felt this way for years).

Keep the Fredericksburg Brass Institute on your radar. Follow them on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram to follow their updates and prepare for next year. If you're a college student, your collegiate chamber brass ensemble may be able to attend the Institute free of tuition as the "ensemble in residence". If you're a high school or middle school student, you can dramatically enhance your experience by preparing a high quality recording of your playing and sending it to them with an early registration discount and possibly some other incentives as the Institute continues to grow rapidly. Know what that means? Start preparing for next year NOW. You'll have a blast.

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

Previous blog post: Making the World A Better Place: Why Music Education?

Making the World a Better Place: Why Music Education?

I want to be clear about something before going any further: this is not a post defending my profession, as you will often see around social media these days. I believe that music is such a strong integral part of our lives that it doesn't need to be justified; it's simply a way of life. This is simply a post about why I LOVE what I do, and how - even though I am headed to graduate school for another 2 years before I settle into a band program to call my own - I already know that there's nowhere else in the world that I'd rather be and nothing else I'd rather do than dedicate my life to the fulfillment of those in the younger generation who - as composer Aaron Copland once pointed out - are also the future of our nation.

From a 5th grader at my Elementary School Student Teaching

I was one of the lucky ones to realize fairly early in my life that my main purpose and greatest desire in this world is to do the best I can to make a difference in the lives of others. Wherever we are and whatever we do, every human being should be able to leave the world better than he or she found it by chasing after their dreams while helping others along the way. It may be true - perhaps a simple act of kindness for one person can’t change the entire world - but I’m a firm believer that a simple act of kindness can change the entire world for one person. That gesture could be the very gesture that serves as inspiration or motivation to catalyze a turning point in that person’s life, that he or she may be put in a position further down the road to do the same for others.

Now - look at the job of a high school band director, for example: the band director has the unique privilege and luxury of being a part of the life of hundreds of adolescents every year during perhaps the most critical point in those adolescents' lives: the often-times awkward, rough, and jagged journey from childhood to adulthood where their identities are changing every minute, and it can be difficult to find comfort in who they are, or to even understand WHAT they are. In music, they can find an uplifting and supporting community that sadly doesn't exist in many places in this world anymore. Thus, a high school band director has as many as 4 years to not only change the world for one person, but to change the world for thousands of people in that director's career at a time where those people probably need it most. Now how cool is that?

From the students at my High School Student Teaching Placement

Music educators have a selfless job of endless spiritual fulfillment. Conductor Benjamin Zander of the Boston Philharmonic said it best when he underlined the fact that the conductor of a band or orchestra doesn't make a sound. Rather, a conductor's power depends solely on the ability to make other people powerful. That's a music educator's purpose: to awaken possibility in other people. Tell me: why would anyone NOT want to be a part of that?

http://www.msgrantmusic.org

International Trumpet Guild Conference 2013

Story time, folks! It's time for a freestyle informal blog post. I'm not even going to spell check or edit this one, or make any attempt to sound "professional"... I'm going to speak from the heart because it represents my incredible heartwarming first-ever ITG experience. Care to read on? :) GO! Just kidding. Stop for a moment... because the ITG experience for VCU doesn't actually start at ITG...

Before the Conference...

So we're headed to the Richmond Airport, right? My alarm went off at 4:25am on Tuesday the 11th... early flight to prepare for, and I know I'm going to be exhausted by the time we perform at 9pm in Michigan. But it's cool because VCU's entire trumpet ensemble got funding to attend the ITG conference. The vast majority of our expenses and logistical organizing were taken care of by our Professor Rex Richardson and the college of VCU. What happened when we got there, though, was an unprecedented experience for us -- 5 minutes before boarding our plane, the guards and police evacuate the ENTIRE airport and - over the course of maybe 30 minutes - push us all completely off site towards the parking lot area. Hundreds of people stand around frustrated, trying to figure out what happened and why we're all out here... Turns out the airport received a bomb threat by phone serious enough for them to kick us all outside for about 3 hours. Guess we're not making our flight...

Photo Credit: Caitlin Costello

But the experience ended up putting VCU's Trumpet Ensemble on the news! After an hour or so, ensemble members got restless and decided to warm up in their practice mutes. Meanwhile, WRIC 8 and NBC 12 news stations show up on site to get live coverage of the bomb threat situation, they see the trumpets out, and they decide to come talk to us. They asked us if we had anything to play for them, that they might put us up on live television... So we did. "Marcus wrote this piece!!" the ensemble members said, pointing at me after we played a movement from the Grant Suite for Six Trumpets. Haha, thanks guys :) before we left the airport, we got some great coverage on the news as an ensemble, and a couple of us were interviewed individually to be included on the news story. Very cool.

Meanwhile, VCU's Music Office gets our flights get re-routed to split the ensemble onto two different flights... and then RE-re-routed because one of the flights was scheduled to take us to a connection at the Atlanta Airport, where we learned the power was out, and we'd have to find a different flight. (Good grief!) Between it all, we arrive at the Grand Rapids Airport in Michigan for the ITG Conference at 4:28pm... after originally planning to arrive at 10:57am!

At the Conference!

Once we got there, it was quite an amazing experience! VCU performed before two big audiences, and probably the most intelligent audiences our trumpet ensemble could ever perform for. On Tuesday at 9pm, we premiered our trumpet ensemble arrangement of Beethoven's 5th Symphony, Mvt. I (audio recording above).On Wednesday at 4pm, we performed the Grant Suite for Six Trumpets. Both our performances were received well! So well that an anonymous spectator who saw our performance on Wednesday saw us at a restaurant eating together and paid for all of our drinks "because [we] played so well", our waiter said. How incredibly nice!

I got to speak with a few of my heroes at the conference. Allen Vizzutti gave me a hug, Vince DiMartino complimented our ensemble on our performance, Adam Rapa gave me great composing advice, even Natalie Dungey talked for a little while, and so many others shared their time with me. I learned a long time ago that "famous" people are people just like us, and most of them are as kind and as humble as can be. But if there's anything I learned by going to this conference, it's that this fact goes even a step further: internationally known musicians - trumpet players, in particular - treat each other like family, and the trumpet community functions as a brotherhood of extremely intelligent, caring, talented, and supportive musicians who love what they do and love to share it with each other. I can't wait to return to the conference next year!


http://msgrantmusic.com

Summer 2013 Update

As summer continues to unfold, my website has been updated, my career continues to expand, and a blog update is necessary! Here's what I've been up to lately!


2013 International Trumpet Guild (ITG) Conference (June 11th-15th):

Those of you who have been following closely are already aware of the unfortunate occurrence regarding the intended premiere at the National Trumpet Competition this past March. Virginia Commonwealth University's Trumpet Ensemble was accepted into NTC Semifinals to perform my arrangement of "Beethoven's 5th Symphony for 8 trumpets, Mvt. I"; however, an unavoidable schedule conflict forced the ensemble to cancel their plans to compete in the competition, and the arrangement remains un-premiered outside of VCU's campus. After a change in personnel and the re-visiting of the arrangement, Beethoven's 5th is now scheduled for an ITG premiere THIS TUESDAY NIGHT, JUNE 11TH  as a prelude to Rex Richardson's 9pm concert with the Grand Rapids Symphonic Band and the Grand Rapids Jazz Orchestra.

The following evening, Wednesday, June 12th, VCU's Trumpet Ensemble will also perform the ITG premiere of my original composition "Suite for Six Trumpets" as a prelude to the 4pm Crossover Concert featuring Vincent DiMartino, Jens Lindemann, Bill Lucas, Adam Rapa, Rex Richardson, and Allen Vizzutti. Suite For Six Trumpets as been performed in various parts of the world by various ensembles - including the United States Army Band "Pershing's Own" Celebratory Trumpet Ensemble - but this marks the first ITG performance of the colorful composition.

The 2013 ITG Conference will be held at Grand Valley State University in Grand Rapids, Michigan.


Some Marching-Arts-Related Updates:

1) For the past three seasons, I have assisted on staff with my alma mater's marching band, the Thomas Dale High School Marching Knights in Chester, VA. For this upcoming season, I was named the winds arranger for the marching band. This is a very exciting experience that I'm very much looking forward to, and I will try my best to get some pictures and videos of the band during band camp and throughout the season for those interested in watching the band's progress through the season.

2) To anyone who missed the big announcement and transition, my organization's Facebook page "Enlightened Productions: Youth Marching Arts Composers" NO LONGER EXISTS! We have replaced that page with "Enlightened Productions" <---- Click to head to the page and support us with a "like". Click here to hear about why we made the change.

3) Part of the marching band show that Jesse Stevens and I co-composed entitled "A Love Story: Featuring Selections by Gustav Mahler" was purchased this summer by a marching band on the East Coast. This serves as the first show music that has been purchased directly through Enlightened Productions and brings great excitement to the organization as we continue to grow and develop.

4) The final marching arts related news involves a step into the drum corps world but shall be left off the table for now. If you're clever, you can figure it out as it continues to unfold, and a future announcement is highly likely once the details have been ironed out.

"I LOVE PEOPLE, I LOVE SERVICE, AND I LOVE MUSIC, SO SERVICE TO PEOPLE THROUGH MUSIC? IT'S A DREAM COME TRUE!!"