Tag: Open Mic Adventures

Open Mic Adventures CLVI: “March of the Goliath Beetles”

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I have a lot of great bass guitarists in my Music Ensemble classes, and I have always wanted to experiment with an electric bass ensemble—a small chamber group consisting entirely of electric basses.  I think it can be done (and probably has been done, if I took three seconds to Google it).

The challenge with basses is that those low tones can get awfully muddy, so composing for multiples of the instrument requires exploring the full breadth of the fret board.

Today’s piece, which I deem to be incomplete (although it does have a satisfying conclusion), is one such attempt at blending three basses into one.  I have yet to try this piece with my three High School Music Ensemble bassists, but I have worked individual parts with them with me playing one of the other parts.  I’m excited to see how and if the three will blend in Reality as well as they do in digital form.

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Open Mic Adventures CXLIX: “All Hail the Power of Jesus’ Name”

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Following the assassination of Charlie Kirk, I was not sure how to process the tragedy.  I sat down at piano and decided to play some hymns.

As I flipped through my Cokesbury Worship Hymnal, I came upon “All Hail the Power of Jesus’ Name” and decided to play it.  The horrible assassination had already awoken thousands to Christ, and social media was abuzz with posts noting that individuals and/or their family members had a.) planned to attend to church on Sunday; b.) had purchased or planned to purchase and read Bibles; and c.) accepted Christ.  It was clear that a powerful national revival was breaking out.

It was also a powerful reminder of how Christ Uses even the most wicked events to His Good.  There is power in Jesus’ Name!

As such, I decided to add my voice to the outpouring of prayers for peace and salvation, and shared this brief piano performance of the piece.

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Open Mic Adventures CXLVIII: “Funky Sax II”

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Pickup my newest releases, Säx and Electrock III: Euroclydon!  Get 50% off with promo code storm.  That’s 50% off ANYTHING and EVERYTHING on my Bandcamp page, including the album, full discography purchases, merch, etc.!

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With even more apologies to Ponty—don’t worry, mate, I’ll have more shorts of me playing piano and hamming it up for the camera next week (I think)—I’m sharing an old original composition this week, “Funky Sax II” from Electrock III: Euroclydon (50% off with promo code “storm”).  Like last week’s piece, I think this one dates back to Fall 2004, when I was in a saxophone sextet at the University of South Carolina.

I don’t have access to score for this piece anymore, but it’s either a saxophone quintet or sextet.

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Open Mic Adventures CXLVII: “Funky Sax I”

The Portly PoliticoLeave a comment

Pickup my newest releases, Säx and Electrock III: Euroclydon!  Get 50% off with promo code storm.  That’s 50% off ANYTHING and EVERYTHING on my Bandcamp page, including the album, full discography purchases, merch, etc.!

Want to play the sax?  Read my ultimate guide to getting started for under $350.

With apologies to Ponty—don’t worry, mate, I’ll have more shorts of me playing piano and hamming it up for the camera soon—I’m sharing an old original composition this week, “Funky Sax I” from Electrock III: Euroclydon (50% off with promo code “storm”).  I think this piece dates back to Fall 2004, when I was in a saxophone sextet at the University of South Carolina.

I don’t have access to score for this piece anymore, just the MIDI file, and I can’t remember if I wrote this for six saxes (soprano, two altos, two tenors, and baritone) or fewer, so I’m not exactly sure, but it has the hallmark of my college era material for saxes:  funk, blues scales, countermelodies, etc.  As far as I know, my college saxophone sextet never played this piece, but it would be fun for a sax ensemble to try.

Regardless, I slapped together a video for the piece late Sunday night (I actually uploaded it to YouTube while drifting off to sleep) and here is the glorious result:

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