My interest in music arranging began a long time ago with the 6th Hove Scout Drum & Bugle Corps. As stated in my previous Blog, I was pretty much thrown in the deep end.
Throughout my childhood, I loved playing my baritone most weekends and just being member of the band, but this all changed when I reached the age of 18, as the band began to get better year after year and the staff changes began to occur more often. Several members of the band & band staff left because they did not like the direction the band was taking.
Then the BIG change in my life happened. At one staff meeting, I was 18yrs, the question was thrown at me...... “Becky you can play the piano and you have musical background?.... My reply was “er.....yes (I was very shy). He then said “Good!, as our last music arranger has left so please can you write the music for the brass line and pit percussion, Oh & also teach the brass!!!!!!!!! My shaken reply was.......”I cannot do this I do not know where to start I have never done this before!!!!!!!". His reply was..... “treat it like one big piano”! Oh my! I was so worried and nervous, but I was excited as well as thrilled.
My parents purchased a music program for me called Cakewalk as well as a small midi keyboard so that I could play the keyboard directly into the music program that generated written notes for me. The show writers provided me with extracts and I had to convert the music from Orchestra instruments into trumpets, Mellophones, Baritones, Tuba, Xylophones, Glockenspiels, tubular bells, Timpani Drums and cymbals.
As you can imagine, I had never played these instruments before and was not sure where to place the melodies or other elements, I.E fast musical passages for Marimbas and Xylophones and also fast exciting music for the brass. I was familiar with harmonies as I grew up in a music environment, but it is not the same. I was nervous as our music was judged and we were in competition with other bands, and I pretty much learned on the job!
In the end, I was able to complete the 12-14mins musical show score within one month of having the section of music given to me. My parents brought me a new music program called Sibelius.
After a few years, I was getting the hang of music arranging. I was making friends in the marching band industry with people who have been arranging marching band music for years, and learning from them and listening to judges feedback was a great help.
In this period, I taught the brass line and the band frequently won trophies at competitions for excellence in the music book, overall music effect, and best horn line. As a band we consistently achieved excellent results in Holland, throughout the UK, and we were rising the ladder and winning and placing at the top of our class. After climbing through the divisions, we won several times and were the top in the UK.
After a few years, I was considered a highly valued member of the staff, as other bands became aware of my music and how talented Rebecca Clegg was from 6th Hove, and who was she!. As the band continued to improve, we attracted talented staff and new members joined as everyone wanted to be in 6th Hove. The new staff were able to take us to the next level and I was able to learn even more from arranging music.
In response to this experience, I began arranging music for lower class marching bands, which I loved. There were very few women marching band arrangers in the United Kingdom at the time. I had to fight to gain recognition for my skills. I thrived in that area and was widely recognised as one of the most proficient marching band music arrangers in the country. It was difficult for me to gain recognition at first, but I flourished every year throughout that time.
Every year there was an annual band camp gathering at Pointins for 4 days, where all bands from the UK got together to produce big brass lines and everyone played their instruments in large classes. As a brass line member, I enjoyed playing music with 150-200 brass musicians as opposed to 15-20 in our band at the beginning. However, as I was getting recognition and we (the band) were getting noticed, one year I was asked to arrange a piece of music for the 200 strong brass line. OH MY!, this was epic & rewarding and the following year I was pointed out to everyone that I had arranged the piece. The following year I was asked to be on the staff of the Big Event, and help teach and before I knew it I was conducting the BIG brass line and teaching the brass players. A significant achievement.
As I approached 33 years of age, I was really enjoying the music arranging, which led me on to new adventures as my time with the band was coming to an end. It was during my time in Hove that I began arranging songs for my "Old Band” sit down ensemble. (We performed at a few rock choir parties), and I thoroughly enjoyed having fun playing for events etc...., and that was the starting point for my new musical arrangements, where I had vocals to consider with the brass.
As a result of my job change from Private Banking Assistant to Rock Choir, travelling became an issue for my small ensemble band. This resulted in us meeting less and less as I lived in Thornton Heath not Brighton.
The marching band activity today is sadly diminishing as times change, but without this hobby being such a significant part of my life, I would not be where I am now. Because I was so used to arranging in short turnaround times, I got used to working under pressure, as I often got together with the staff after a competition to discuss what worked and what did not, which often resulted in music score revisions ready by the following Friday, so the Pit percussion staff could have these ready for members by Sunday.
Often, I can produce a song today for my choirs and turn it into a choir arrangement in about three to four hours, then I publish it and go through it.
In some cases, I write the music and then go to record vocals to determine whether it is easy to sing, and whether the parts flow well together. Or I record the harmony first, and then transcribe it into notation. Despite the fact that most music programs today are excellent, I am still an old school music fan and prefer Sibelius and Logic.
Several videos of the 6th Hove Scout Drum and Bugle Corps are available on YouTube. I was a member of the group from 12 to my last year of service. That's how my passion for arranging began, and I continue to be passionate about it even now.
Stayed tuned for my next blog>>>>>>