One Day Wonder #244

For 1 horn, 1 trumpet, 3 trombones and tuba.

I was trying to incorporate lots of disparate elements into this piece. First of all, I wanted it to be a twelve bar blues. Secondly, I wanted it to exhibit some canon-like elements. And lastly, I wanted the accompaniment to be minimal in order for the previous two elements to play out in the foreground. Well, check, check and check. So how come I don’t like this piece very much? I mean, everything goes down as planned. What’s the deal? I guess it might be the possibility that these “disparate elements” just don’t go together. Or maybe my treatment of the material isn’t quite top-notch. That’s possible; the A theme is, to my ears, incredibly facile. I had to craft it that way because of the blues changes and all that canonic fun following close behind. However, I do like the B theme quite a bit with its fake-waltz feel and all. It’s a shame that it doesn’t stay around longer. But we were trying to figure out the trouble with the rest of the piece, weren’t we? Perhaps some of the fault lies in the robo-performance. This tune has stark textures (except in the B section) and one thing that Finale doesn’t do well, it’s that. It simply doesn’t give individual voices much of a chance. I know that there’s that Garritan Personal Orchestra-thing out there. I’ve tried it out and recoiled in horror. It’s a far worse option. Its patches don’t really sound like the instruments they claim they are until they’re used in a very large ensemble. When they’re used in smaller groups, they simply sound like cheesy video game music. Anyhow, enough of that. So yes, I still don’t like this piece all that much, but I’m still ready to spread the blame around for it. For the record, it’s mostly my fault, but some of it is Finale’s. And that’s how it is.