Chihiro Kashiwakura MUS 344 September 7th, 2011 Instrumentation PART 1.

1 1) Introduction a) American Bandmasters Association i) History of the lack of standardization in band instrumentation. ii) How ABA standards became global 2) Ideal instrumentation vs. practical considerations a) Ideal instrumentation i) List based off of ABA reference ii) Thinking of vertical sonority (1) Dynamic and harmony b) Practical considerations i) What you get is what you will take. 3) Limitations and challenges that can adversely affect proper instrumentation a) School budget i) Cost of the instruments ii) What kind of literature can we buy with the money and instrumentation we have? b) Students family financial situation i) Private lesson fees ii) Books/reeds/cork grease/valve oil costs c) Recruitment challenges i) Who should play which instrument (1) Go by what students want to play or what instruments are needed for the ensemble? (2) What we can do for junior high students to make them want to do band in HS. (a) Visit their school with the HS band to show them the quality of music

(b) Invite junior high students to HS football games (c) Have combined concerts with junior high school occasionally 4) Procedures and issues concerning switching students to other instruments in high school a) Procedure i) Switch amongst similar instruments ii) Switch as early as possible iii) Private lessons b) Concerns with switching i) Students may fall behind; feel frustrated ii) Difficult to adjust to new instrument iii) Takes dedication and desire to learn from students 5) Conclusion PART 1.2 Instrumentation Paper Before the American Bandmasters Association created the first standard instrumentation for wind bands in 1932, there was no consistency between which instruments were in any band. In contrast to this situation, orchestras around the world had a standard for centuries starting from as early as when Mozart and Haydn were composing their symphonies. This lack of universal instrumentation set back the band literature since composers did not know how to write for a wind ensemble. How can anyone compose a piece without knowing what instruments will be available? As Richard Lasko articulated, the primary reasons for the lack of the bands artistic growth can be attributed first to the fact that it hasfailed to achieve a fixed instrumentation (1971). In order to move forward beyond this stagnant position, ABA created some specifications on universal instrumentation which ultimately impacted the band community around the world. An ideal instrumentation for a full symphonic band based off of what ABA advocates is here as followed: Flute(s), Oboe(s), Bassoon(s), 1st/2nd/3rd Bb Clarinets, Bb Bass Clarinet, Eb Alto Saxophone(s), Bb Tenor Saxophone, Eb Baritone Saxophone, 1st/2nd/3rd Bb Cornets,

1st/2nd Bb Trumpets, 1st/2nd/3rd/4th F Horns, 1st/2nd/3rd Trombones and bass, Euphonium(s), Tuba(s), and Percussion. Some auxiliary instruments that may be in scores are piccolo, English Horn, Eb Clarinet, Eb Alto Clarinet, Eb and/or Bb Contra Bass Clarinet, Contrabassoon, and String Bass (2004). This list only shows the physical part of an ideal instrumentation, but in order for a band to be ideal in a musical way, band directors must think about vertical sonority. According to Mark S. Kelly, vertical sonority consists of dynamic and harmonic progression. The band director must be able to hear the balance of harmonies and tone quality between different sections; therefore, using a Bach chorale would be a perfect example of creating good vertical sonority. Chorales would help students learn how to listen to how their parts with other instruments and lines. If every band was perfect with ABAs instrumentation and had great vertical sonority, high school bands would probably sound phenomenal, but that is not the case for most bands. In most high school bands, practical considerations beat ideal instrumentation. For example, it would be great for a band to have two or three bassoons, but in reality some schools do not even own the instrument. Band directors often have to work with what they get which makes their job a challenge. Along with thinking of practicality, there are many limitations and challenges that affect proper instrumentation. School budget is one of the problems that challenges high school wind ensemble from having proper instrumentation. Some schools do not have enough money to buy new instruments, or buy instruments that they do not own. Others may be borrowing instruments at times from neighboring schools, or just holding onto their old broken instruments. Repairing instruments also costs money that band directors must consider to use from the school budget. Along with this issue, there is also another challenge of the students financial statuses. Band directors must acknowledge the simple fact that being in band will cost money. Students must ask their parents to buy them reeds, cork grease, valve oil, method books, and numerous other items. Because of these financial conflicts, some students may pick an instrument that is rather cheap compared to a bassoon where each reed costs roughly $15 to $17. Another form of finance that the parents may need to provide might be paying for their childs private lesson teachers. Lastly, proper instrumentation is limited by recruitment issues. Can the junior high school or middle school band director motivate his students to continue on with band in high school? I

remember when I moved up from 8th grade to 9th grade, almost half that people I knew from my band program in junior high quit. In order to encourage these students who might quit band going in to high school, it is important for high school bands to do more recruitment activities. For example, if the high school band play at the junior high more often, that will inspire the junior high students to pursue music furthermore. Also, having a joint concert between high school and junior high can help with recruitment. One of the biggest encouragements I remember getting when I was in junior high was when my band visited the high school marching band. We saw their rehearsal and stayed for their halftime show. This definitely encouraged me to join band because I thought it was the coolest experience ever. If high school bands can recruit affectively, there will be enough instruments for a proper instrumentation. In some cases where recruitment was a success, there may be an overflow of certain instruments such as saxophones or the flutes. In these cases where there are too many of one instrument, some students may need to switch to another instrument to create a more balanced sonority. In order for the students to be successful at their instruments, it is crucial to have them switch at the beginning of their high school career. It is better to switch sooner because then the student will have four years to master their new instrument. Also, as a band director, these students who switch must be looked after with proper care. They must learn their instruments correctly by taking private lessons with a professional which will help students overcome some of the difficulties in their new instruments. Another key element of switching students to a different instrument is that it is better to switch them to a similar instrument family that they were playing on. For instance, it would be wise to switch a trumpet player to French horn because they are both brass instruments with a relatively firm embouchure. Although having students switch instruments is ideal for proper instrumentation, there are some concerns to doing so. By switching to a new instrument, students may feel like they cannot keep up with the rest of the group and feel frustrated. Another issue that may come up is that the student may have difficulty learning the instrument itself. In these cases, the band director must take extra attention and support the student in their new endeavor. Making proper instrumentation is essential to a high school band program; however, there are difficulties in getting the perfect ensemble in reality. Band directors must learn how to

deal with the instrumentation at hand and make changes by switching students if possible. In any case, creating a great band program takes hard work and dedication. PART 2.1 Overall, this instrumentation chart for Concert Band shows an excellent number of students who signed up for the band program. Having sixty-six members is great because the band has the potential to create beautiful sonority; however, there are several problems to instrumentation in this setting. Although there is an abundance of high registered instruments such as flutes, there are not enough low registered instruments in this band like tubas, bass clarinets, bassoons, and baritone saxophone. This setting creates a major balance issue where the overall quality of the sound will seem unsupported without the bass instruments. Building the sonority from bottom up is crucial for any band; having this strong foundation can also help with intonation and tuning amongst the group. In addition, if the instrumentation stays top heavy the timbre of the band will seem high and shrill because the only lines the audience will hear are from the upper register. In order to balance out this instrumentation, it would be ideal if two of flutes switch to oboe because having three oboes will suffice the different parts that they usually have (ob1, ob2, English horn occasionally). Also, these flute players will not have to change clefs which will be helpful for their switch. In order to take off additional soprano instruments, two trumpet players should switch to French Horn because having four horns will also cover the usual horn part assignments. Having a strong horn and oboe section will add beautiful color to the mix. These changes will give greater strength to the middle register sounds of this band. In contrast to the French Horn section, there are too many students playing alto saxophones. If three alto players could each switch to tenor sax, bari sax, and bassoon, this creates a nice balance of four altos, two tenor sax, and one bari. Moreover, adding a bassoon from the saxophones will be easier for the students because they are both woodwind instruments. The same issue with balance occurs in the clarinet section; therefore, two clarinet players should switch to bass clarinet, and one should switch to bassoon. Lastly, since ten percussionists in just one band are just too many, three players should switch to tuba and euphonium (two on tuba; one on euphonium). The percussionists will

probably have a better time playing these brass instruments rather than just sitting around waiting for their turn to play the snare drum. PART 2.2 Sample letter to parents. Dear Mr. and Mrs. Kirk, I am delighted to have your son, Larry, in my band program this year. He is a very bright student, and I can see that he comes to band everyday with great work ethic and dedication to our program. Just by watching him interact with others and be a leader in this band gives me great hope in his future and in this ensemble. Because of his natural leadership abilities and excellent musicianship, he is one of the several students who I asked to consider making a switch from alto saxophone to bassoon. We currently have no bassoon players in our ensemble and too many saxophones. Bassoon is an essential part of band literature, and although it is a difficult instrument, your son is more than capable of learning this instrument. The reason why I am asking for your permission to allow your child to switch instruments is because balance between different registers is crucial to creating a full resonant sound. Also, a balanced instrumentation is very important because there are many excellent band literatures that require certain instrumentation including the bassoon. Your child will acquire the opportunity to play quality music with this ensemble if some changes were made in instrumentation. If it happens that Larry switches to bassoon, I will personally help him adjust and learn his new instruments by giving him private lessons once a week during his study hall period. Also, we will provide the fees for the first five lessons that Larry can take with a private teacher who comes to our school weekly. Taking these lessons will help him learn and overcome some of the difficulties of his new instrument quickly and correctly from a professional. Lastly, Larry will be able to obtain a bassoon from our instrument storage locker. The only items he will need to buy are the method books and reeds from the music shop. I feel strongly that our Concert Band will be a fantastic experience for everyone this year. We are all enthusiastic about some of the changes that have been going around because we are striving for the best for this program. I look forward to working with Larry this year and getting

to know him better every day. If you have any questions or concerns, feel free to contact me at kashiwa1@illinois.edu or call the band office at (xxx) xxx-xxxx. Thank you for your time and support. Sincerely, Chihiro Kashiwakura