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Arrangement!

In my time in Iowa City, I've joined the brass funk/pops group Brass Tower. The group plays arrangements of tunes by Too Many Zooz, Lucky Chops, the Youngblood Brass Band, and many others in this style. Over the course of my time with the group, I've introduced my own arrangement of the piece Underground Cocek, the first track on the album above. The arrangement is linked here, and I'll describe my arranging process!
The melody itself was fairly simple to transcribe, and once I had that and the bassline down, I figured out the inner chords and their rhythm and voiced them appropriately. The one thing I would like to change from this arrangement and moving forward is that the horn and trombone parts are relatively boring compared to trumpets 1 and 2, considering the inner voices are entirely accompanimental. The tuba part should also include changes to give the tubist more freedom, but I wrote a bassline that I thought would be in the style, as it is almost a direct transcription of the audio.
I used repeats, but could have used a DS to indicate the repeated section at the end, after the second repeat of the melody.
The thing with Balkan arrangements is that it is difficult to arrange the style into the part without describing it it text - sure, you can put in as many slurs as you want, but that will never communicate the contrast between legato and staccato that you want in this music. The best thing to do, as with all music, is to listen to and imitate it, then make it your own.
When Brass Tower performs this arrangement, we also add a number of repetitions on the second time through the melody to create a solo section for various members of the ensemble, based on time requirements of the gig.

I have loads of fun playing this piece, and audiences have been fairly receptive to the unique energy that Balkan Brass style brings, so I plan on continuing to arrange these tunes into the future!

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