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FLEX (Band OR Orchestra) Part 1: Piccolo/Flute, Oboe, B-flat Clarinet/B-flat Trumpet, Violin Part 2: B-flat Clarinet/B-flat Trumpet, Alto Saxophone, Violin Part 3: B-flat Clarinet/B-flat Trumpet, Alto Saxophone, Horn in F, Viola Part 4: Tenor Saxophone, Horn in F, Bassoon/Trombone/Euphonium, Violoncello Part 5: B-flat Bass Clarinet, Baritone Saxophone, Bassoon/Trombone/Euphonium, Tuba, Double Bass
Composers & Schools for the Rio American High School Honors Concert Band under the direction of Mitch Evett & Josh Murray
COMPOSER'S NOTE
I Zoomed with Mitch Evett and Josh Murphy, the Rio Americano High School’s band directors in Sacramento, California, in December 2020 to discuss writing a flex piece for their students. After nine months of COVID isolation, I admitted to them that I just wanted to create something bright and sparkly, something that would have a glossy Instagram glow. I also wanted to write something that the students would call a “bop.”
Because the school was located in Northern California (the birthplace of Buchla synthesizers), I wanted the students to work with a simulated analog synthesizer. When we all Zoomed together with the students the next month, I demonstrated the modular synthesizer and introduced them to a red-paneled 16-step sequencer. “You’re going to pick sixteen notes together as a class,” I instructed. “I’m going to include this in your piece.” They, in turn, requested that I make the piece “crazy,” just like their band room during pre- pandemic times. What you will hear is a piece that uses the students’ sixteen-note sequence as a bass ostinato, which I tweaked to make it sound more “jazzy” and “funky.”
This piece is part of the collective work Suite Treats, which is a multi-movement adaptable piece with each one-minute micro movement written by a different composer (Balmages, Jolley, Meechan, Shapiro and Ticheli). The whole set is available for purchase here.
TECHNICAL REQUIREMENTS
There is an optional (but highly suggested) FUNK TRACK that is downloadable here. If you use the accompanying track, you will need two high-frequency response stereo speakers positioned in the back of the ensemble far-left and far-right, and a two-channel playback device with stereo output for the track. Do NOT amplify the ensemble; the balance between the track and ensemble should be equal.
Grade 3–4 FLEX (Band OR Orchestra) 💪🏻
Part 1: Piccolo/Flute, Oboe, B-flat Clarinet/B-flat Trumpet, Violin
Part 2: B-flat Clarinet/B-flat Trumpet, Alto Saxophone, Violin
Part 3: B-flat Clarinet/B-flat Trumpet, Alto Saxophone, Horn in F, Viola
Part 4: Tenor Saxophone, Horn in F, Bassoon/Trombone/Euphonium, Violoncello
Part 5: B-flat Bass Clarinet, Baritone Saxophone, Bassoon/Trombone/Euphonium, Tuba, Double Bass
