FMFK Thanks MuseScore

• Dec 22, 2011 - 23:28

FMFK's would like to thank the Developers and all Contributors to the MuseScore project.

Much of the work on the FMFK's site has been created using MuseScore and all Soundfiles with the exception of those created by Andrew Norman and Lee Morris have been rendered by MuseScore either natively or from midi files submitted my other music apps.

All Work by myself (John Kirk) on the site is MuseScore.

The site is young but very successful.
https://sites.google.com/site/freemusicforkids/home

The site is 100% Free but also raises awareness of various good causes.

If anyone would be kind enough to donate some work to the site (mainly brass band scores) we offer star treatment for all contributors. You can't put a price on time, all contributions however small have equal respect and an addition to the about us page/links and so on.

Anyway ... A very merry Xmas from us at FMFK..

Kind Regards
John Kirk

Comments

• Dec 23, 2011 - 19:19

Thanks you for the feedback :)

No.. I did not think it would be suitable for this particular site.
I wanted a level playing field for all contributors to the site.
So, I am actively avoiding hosting equivalent visual playback formats from contrasting score applications.
Plus... it takes up so much of a page.

I ask for a PDF Score/PDF parts in Zip and a Midi or MP3 from contributors.

Reply

• Dec 29, 2011 - 05:30

Hi

As you propably know, the brass band as it's known today, hails from England, that is the country where it is most common, but it can be found throughout the rest of Europe and the former colonies.

The instrumentation (usually) consists of (from the top)

1 soprano cornet in Eb
4 solo cornets
1 repiano cornet
2 second cornets
2 third cornets
1 flugelhorn
1 solo (or first) Eb horn
1 first (or second) Eb horn
1 second (or third) Eb horn
1 first baritone
1 second baritone
2 euphoniums,
1 first trombone
1 second trombone
1 bass trombone
2 or 3 tubas in Eb
2 tubas in Bb
Percussion limited only by the composer and the economy of the band (often timpani, glockenspiel, xylophone, marimba, drumkit, and lots of other stuff)

All wind instruments except for the bass trombone are written in treble cleff and are transposed.

The ranges for the treble cleff instruments should be limited to between written C below the staff and written G above the staff to keep it simple, but the solo cornets, the solo horn, the first baritone, the euphs and the first trombone should all be able to reach the written C above the staff. The soprano cornet should be able to reach a written Bb above the staff, but seldom any higher. Also, the basses (tubas) can usually go so low as to the written G below the staff. I'll attach a chart over the written ranges I found on the net, but as you can see, I quite disagree with it in some places!

Hope this helps,
Martin

Attachment Size
brass_ranges.pdf 17.24 KB

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• Dec 29, 2011 - 09:16

Thanks Michael and Martin.

We welcome all contributions to the site.
Just use our Contact page to send stuff in.

Additional to Martins excellent breakdown of how a Brass Band is set up you could also take a look at the MuseScore Templates on the FMFK website specifically for Brass Band here https://sites.google.com/site/freemusicforkids/free-tools
Its a great head start.
Martins explanation of range is spot on... personally I try to keep everything within the stave as going above the stave for most a majority of amateur players can take some effort so it is usually limited in use to key players (and often a place to aim for at the end of a run or accent rather than a area of range to play within) such as principal cornets, solo horns, 1st baritone, 1st euphonium, 1st trombone, flugal, soprano or in other words the section leaders.
Chords are also split between the section.... Or can be split throughout the range of instruments for richer chording.

Cornets... my biggest gripe. Many cornet players think they are playing mini trumpets. And many composers write for a cornet section as such. The truth is that you are more likely to mimic the impact of trumpets from the baritones and trombones with greater success. Drive a cornet too hard and it breaks up. (I myself am a cornet and trumpet player)
Try to think of the cornet section as either strings or better still a 'Choral' section.

Recently I have been changing the default voices linked to some of the instruments.
For Cornets I am using the 'Tuba' voice (its trumpet like in the cornet range but softer)
For Flugal I use French Horn
Horns I use English Horn
Baritones I also use the French Horn voice

A brass band is set out in a orchestral shoe horn so its worth noting where the instruments are when panning the mixer settings.

Soprano - hard left
Cornets 'solo' - left
Repiano - hard Left
Cornets 2/3 - left
Flugal - left to middle (sometimes hard left)
Horns - Middle
Bass - Middle
Baritone - right
Euphonium - hard right
Trombones - hard right
bass trombone - middle to right
Percussion - wherever

Look forward to anything... including the simplest of exercises.

Reply

• Dec 29, 2011 - 17:07

Sure... I can send a template with the panning

There are varieties of brass band throughout the world.
Originally the range of instruments came from Germany invented by Adolph Sax after the perfection of the piston valve in the late 1800's .. The range known as Saxhorns from cornet to BBb Bass.

I believe most people around the world would associate the modern brass band instruments and shoe horn setting as UK Brass Band... mainly due to the popularity of the brass band throughout Victorian times and the formulation of brass band contesting which is now world wide... The rules are strict about what instruments may be used to form a brass band... Instrument ranges are still produced worldwide from many manufacturers in accordance with what is allowed to be a brass band instrument...... again I believe this originated in the UK.

So.... I would call the Template:-

UK Brass Band (Saxhorn)

If a better template were to be created, the Brass Band community would REALLY welcome some more accurate voicing.
I try to achieve this by changing the voicing myself.... using Tuba for the cornets to mellow out the tone instead of the brash trumpet default etc etc..... But, I don't know how to tweak the voicing more accurately ??
can anyone help with this ? or how/where could I set this up in a template on behalf of musescore ?

Reply

• Dec 29, 2011 - 20:12

By voicing, you mean better instrument sound right? The sound in MuseScore is generated thanks to a Soundfont . The default soundfont in MuseScore is small, and then the quality can be better... You should be able to find a better soundfont for your purpose and you can change the soundfont used by MuseScore in Display -> Synthesizer.
The soundfont is independent from the instrument file or the template file.

Reply

• Dec 29, 2011 - 17:26

These are transposed pitch....

If you are entering from a keyboard... it may be best to hit the concert pitch button before you start then again to view the transposed results.

With the split between Eb and Bb instruments throughout the range what I do and many others is to send notes that are going too high to a nearby instrument in the other transposing key.
So often you will find a part creeping above the stave in Bb which sits nicely within the stave when copied over to Eb and vica versa.
The only concert pitch instrument is the Bass Trombone which is also in bass cleff..... The 1st and 2nd trombones are in Treble cleff as are all the other brass.
Bass trombone can act as one of the trombone trio however is is often used within Brass Bands to add 'punch' and 'rasp' to the bass section.
Never give trombones chromatics :) but the baritones can be seen as upright trombones with valves, the 1st trombone often receives parts which 'link' the top of the band with the bottom.

Soloists are

Solo Cornet '1' of the 4 solo cornets
Flugal
Solo Horn
1 st Baritone (usually in more challenging scores)
1st Euphonium
1st Trombone

However the safe option (when you have no idea what band will be playing your score) is to award solo's to the Solo Cornet or 1st Euphonium.

Percussion is usually drum kit, glockenspiel, timps and often tubular bells.. the reason being the ammount of test pieces over the decades in brass band contests that have required these items. however... as far as percussion goes...anything goes !

Reply

• Jan 9, 2012 - 20:58

You are right about short names... I have changed these now.

I send you back my altered version of your template with the mixer panned as the instruments are in standard seating position...

Also, the score has been transposed into the most common key for UK Brass Band

Also... some general midi voices have been changed.
Horns from {French Horn} to {English Horn}
Flugal Horn from {Trumpet} to {French Horn}

Volume has been tweaked for English Horn as although the voice is correct it is always too quiet at default.

I also include 3 more templates... I asked the UK banding community about the template and got a reply from someone in the Salvation Army movement... This is a Brass Band movement that exists in parallell to the contesting UK Brass Band movement. The SA have slight but very prowd differences in their scoring layout. SA Brass Bands are also worldwide.
Here is the forum thread where their requirements are discussed... http://www.themouthpiece.com/vb/showthread.php?46267-2012-fmfk
I assume the templated provided in this Zip file satisty the SA needs whilst also adhearing to the MuseScore layout standard.

When is MuseScore 1.2 expected to be released ?

Attachment Size
Brass Band Templates V1.zip 11.42 KB

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