With over 80 arrangements for brass ensemble, 40 for big band and 45 for horn section, I thought it might be nice to share a little 'behind the songs' information for the actual hymns/songs we have chosen to create arrangements for instrumental folks literally 'around the world.' Today, I'll begin with the hymn "It Is Well" which is a powerful hymn of faith that has connected with our family personally [...]
I’ve got a free brass quintet for you (link down below to download it) but I would love to tell you about how and why I created it. I’ve played trumpet now for 40 years (started in 7th grade). I have played in all sorts of brass ensembles. I have played in wind ensembles, concert bands, marching bands, symphonies, pit orchestras, big bands, horn sections, church orchestras and, of course…brass ensembles. Over [...]
I'm thrilled to introduce the just add...Horns series to our catalog! These are 'Modular Horn Arrangements for Modern Worship'. Written to fit in a modern worship setting, these modular arrangements allow the horn section to 'go with the flow'. This way the worship leader and rhythm section can do the arrangement however they would like to do road map wise, and with Lyric Cues, Indented Sections and Hand Signals all available, [...]
Where are we? Where did we repeat back to? Is that the bridge? Is this the last time? I'll admit it. It is 'possible' that I have A.D.D. Squirrel! So sometimes when we're in the middle of a song that repeats a decent amount, I find myself trying to make sure I remember where we are. One of the great features of our new series 'just add...Horns' is that it is modular [...]
I have been waiting to introduce this series for a LONG TIME and the day has finally come! I am thrilled to introduce you to: just add...Horns Modular Horn Arrangements for Modern Worship If you are looking to spice up your worship service... just add horns! If you feel like Sundays may have a similar sound (modern rhythm driven worship)... just add horns! And my favorite idea...if you are [...]
Roger Breland has said for years that the horns were the icing on the cake. I gotta be honest...I LOVE ICING! My creative process for a song in Retro Hymns 2: I've picked the song. I've figured a 'general groove' idea. I went to my drummer friend Tom's studio and he created some drum grooves for me to mess around with at home. I sat at the piano and created [...]
So I've got my songs picked out. I've got arrangements figured out. I have a road map created. It gets really, really fun at this point. If you read this blog much, you'll see that I reference Lari Goss quite a bunch. I've said it before a bunch, but if you're new here...I moved to Nashville in January 1996 to intern with Lari Goss. I spent many, many days in the studio [...]
Clinton Roemer, Staedtler Mars Plastic Eraser, Judy Green Sheet Music That's my 'upbringing'. For a pretty large collection of folks, those words probably don't mean anything. But, for a good number of folks (maybe age 40 and older), this is how you began. A yellow legal pad. This idea represents so many things to me musically. For many of my friends here in Nashville, this represents my hero, my mentor [...]
After <many> months of planning, writing, recording, mixing, editing and uploading, I am thrilled to announce that Retro Hymns 2 is now HERE! The last 6 months have been a fun journey of me playing my horn (trumpet) a whole lot. What began as me doing an arrangement of God Bless the USA for Lee Greenwood to sing with RamCorps morphed into me going on the K-Love Cruise in January and playing [...]
Contemporary...Blended...Traditional If you are looking for rhythm-driven worship arrangements BUT that utilize more than just the rhythm section, then our Horns and Rhythm - Worship project is for you! If your church has an orchestra, and you are being encouraged to move towards more of a 'contemporary' worship feel, then this is a great project to help you do that BUT still utilize your instrumentalists. This project features some of the most [...]
