arranging
This Week's Tasks, Plus Some Tidbits About My Dad
19 Jul 2008 01:36 PM
1.) 37 Final Countdown plus 7 Showdown
numbers for Singing Bee - due on Monday, July 21
Been writing transcriptions for Singing Bee for 2+ months now. For some reason, the load got doubled this weekend. It's probably because my dad, who is the musical director of the show, is doing other shows this month. My dad is the type to farm out his work to other arrangers when he wants to focus on certain projects, to churn out quality arrangements. He is heavily involved in the planning, writing, and of course, music, for Dolphy's show. He's the perfect choice for that show because he's a natural comedian.
(Sometimes I regret that I didn't inherit his showmanship or sense of humor, or ability to command the attention of whatever room he is in, with the least amount of effort. I'm more of my mom in personality, and many of my strengths are different from his, I think.)
My dad, Mel Villena, the Singing Bee Maestro, with the Bandble Bee. Photo taken from http://bumbleaidz.multiply.com/photos/album/34/Singing_Bee#3
2.) 1 big band arrangement for The CompanY's album - due on Wednesday, July 23
This gives me two days to write it... Hope I do it well despite the time crunch! A big band arrangement is always a dream project for me - even if I do still struggle with the medium sometimes, what with me not being a wind player - but neither was Maria Schneider, Gil Evans, Angel Pena, Michael Giacchino, and a host of other arrangers I truly admire, who write for big band. In other words, no one should use that excuse to explain shortcomings in writing for wind instruments (that he/she isn't a wind player), he he.
The CompanY is coming out with an exciting album! I'll post more details as soon as the project is well under way (I don't want to post spoilers).
In the meantime, I'll leave you with a video of The CompanY performing an arrangement of mine - A Night in Tunisia for Big Band. (I wrote for the big band while The CompanY arranged all vocal parts)
3.) 2 medleys for Dolphy's upcoming show - due on Friday, July 25
I also have two days to do these numbers. Yeeee! Good luck to me.
Pressure is good, in some ways.
My dad will be musical director of this show. Do we smell some nepotism with regard to my current gigs? He he. Well, in defense of his choice of arrangers, I do believe I've earned a bit of experience to be considered his "colleague" (a newbie in comparison to him, maybe, but a colleague nevertheless). He did wait for me to get hired by other people as an arranger, before he decided to hire me in some of his projects, and before he started referring me to his contacts. I got lots of stories and funny incidents related to being the daughter of a well-known and accomplished musical director and arranger here in the Philippines. But I will save those for other posts.
The current onslaught of arranging gigs given to me by my dad - those that aren't related to Singing Bee - may be due in part to shared tastes in music. I grew up listening to his sounds around the house. We both love big band, jazz, world music, and any kind of pop which has some quirkiness to it - mixing genres, experimenting. He is particularly good at big band, soul, show tunes, and novelty or arrangements with a lot of character. His arrangements, more often than not, show an original and highly imaginative mind. He confesses to not being the most mainstream arranger, because his music often has more quirkiness to it to be really considered mainstream, but I'd say he's in a very good niche which not many people are in, and thus the jobs still flow freely. (But of course the real reason is God's providence, behind it all... )
Been writing transcriptions for Singing Bee for 2+ months now. For some reason, the load got doubled this weekend. It's probably because my dad, who is the musical director of the show, is doing other shows this month. My dad is the type to farm out his work to other arrangers when he wants to focus on certain projects, to churn out quality arrangements. He is heavily involved in the planning, writing, and of course, music, for Dolphy's show. He's the perfect choice for that show because he's a natural comedian.
(Sometimes I regret that I didn't inherit his showmanship or sense of humor, or ability to command the attention of whatever room he is in, with the least amount of effort. I'm more of my mom in personality, and many of my strengths are different from his, I think.)
My dad, Mel Villena, the Singing Bee Maestro, with the Bandble Bee. Photo taken from http://bumbleaidz.multiply.com/photos/album/34/Singing_Bee#3
2.) 1 big band arrangement for The CompanY's album - due on Wednesday, July 23
This gives me two days to write it... Hope I do it well despite the time crunch! A big band arrangement is always a dream project for me - even if I do still struggle with the medium sometimes, what with me not being a wind player - but neither was Maria Schneider, Gil Evans, Angel Pena, Michael Giacchino, and a host of other arrangers I truly admire, who write for big band. In other words, no one should use that excuse to explain shortcomings in writing for wind instruments (that he/she isn't a wind player), he he.
The CompanY is coming out with an exciting album! I'll post more details as soon as the project is well under way (I don't want to post spoilers).
In the meantime, I'll leave you with a video of The CompanY performing an arrangement of mine - A Night in Tunisia for Big Band. (I wrote for the big band while The CompanY arranged all vocal parts)
3.) 2 medleys for Dolphy's upcoming show - due on Friday, July 25
I also have two days to do these numbers. Yeeee! Good luck to me.
Pressure is good, in some ways.
My dad will be musical director of this show. Do we smell some nepotism with regard to my current gigs? He he. Well, in defense of his choice of arrangers, I do believe I've earned a bit of experience to be considered his "colleague" (a newbie in comparison to him, maybe, but a colleague nevertheless). He did wait for me to get hired by other people as an arranger, before he decided to hire me in some of his projects, and before he started referring me to his contacts. I got lots of stories and funny incidents related to being the daughter of a well-known and accomplished musical director and arranger here in the Philippines. But I will save those for other posts.
The current onslaught of arranging gigs given to me by my dad - those that aren't related to Singing Bee - may be due in part to shared tastes in music. I grew up listening to his sounds around the house. We both love big band, jazz, world music, and any kind of pop which has some quirkiness to it - mixing genres, experimenting. He is particularly good at big band, soul, show tunes, and novelty or arrangements with a lot of character. His arrangements, more often than not, show an original and highly imaginative mind. He confesses to not being the most mainstream arranger, because his music often has more quirkiness to it to be really considered mainstream, but I'd say he's in a very good niche which not many people are in, and thus the jobs still flow freely. (But of course the real reason is God's providence, behind it all... )
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What I've Been Doing This Week
04 Jul 2008 12:49 PM
This week, aside from my usual Singing Bee load, we've been editing material for Lea Salonga's performance at the Disney Concert Hall on Friday, July 11 2008. We've been tailoring the pieces to fit the instrumentation - a 6-piece rhythm section plus a string section - distributing assignments to the synths and percussion. Usually I don't like editing anything - be it music sheets or words on a paper. It might be because my strength is in painting with broad strokes, not in the little details. Or so I think. But of course, I know I ought to get better in that too.
But I find that I'm enjoying this particular task because I'm getting to peek at and analyze the scores. It's like getting arranging lessons for free.
That's it for now - thanks for dropping by.
Arranging Muscles
24 May 2008 01:20 PM
Whew! The past month was a total whirl. All in all
these were stuff I did (from mid-April till May 21):
- an arrangement for the Philippine Youth Symphonic Band (will post it here soon as I get a copy of the performance)
- approximately 20 songs for Singing Bee each week
- 6 orchestra arrangements for Lea’s My Life On Stage concert, some of which were original compositions/themes
- 2 string quartet arrangements for Aiza Seguerra’s album (Singapore release), which were started on a few hours before the recording
- a theme song for the Breast Cancer foundation, fully orchestrated
- the foreword for a friend’s upcoming book
- a recording of my vocals for a friend
- a theme song for a popular milk brand (don’t know yet if it’ll get approved)
- running to and from various rehearsals and recordings for the projects above
As I look at the list, I am wondering how it all fit in that span of time. But I do did learn something here... When the task list, or the project, seemed impossible within the given time, that's because it probably was. I knew my own pacing and capabilities, and I knew I've never done this before. So it was to my benefit that at those moments, I forgot about timetables, time management, and such. At that particular point, making timetables would only make the impossible seem more impossible. So I went into it with a "just finish it" kind of mentality. What I got out from it was I was pushed to do things I could not do before.
Am certainly not complaining, but I could use a break. The past weeks felt like a total workout for my arranging and songwriting muscles. It gave me a good high, but as with seasons, there is a time to go all out, and there is a time to lie back and savor the sweet summer air. (What? Summer's over? Hmm. Must've passed by while my nose was buried in the computer)
- - - -
My Life On Stage, Lea Salonga’s 30th anniversary concert, will be running on its last night tonight. Last night was a success. I’ve been enjoying playing the synth part to double the orchestra strings (since we only have 3 first violins and 3 second violins). The tricky part is to blend in with the real strings, using the expression pedal at the right times and making sure the attacks are smooth, and swelling at the right moments. Of course I also had a wayward note here and there – when I wasn’t too careful about my attacks, a note would stick out. Oops!
Lea is one of the most talented people on earth. Of course, I needn't say that here, most Pinoy musicians already know that. It's such a joy to witness it firsthand.
- an arrangement for the Philippine Youth Symphonic Band (will post it here soon as I get a copy of the performance)
- approximately 20 songs for Singing Bee each week
- 6 orchestra arrangements for Lea’s My Life On Stage concert, some of which were original compositions/themes
- 2 string quartet arrangements for Aiza Seguerra’s album (Singapore release), which were started on a few hours before the recording
- a theme song for the Breast Cancer foundation, fully orchestrated
- the foreword for a friend’s upcoming book
- a recording of my vocals for a friend
- a theme song for a popular milk brand (don’t know yet if it’ll get approved)
- running to and from various rehearsals and recordings for the projects above
As I look at the list, I am wondering how it all fit in that span of time. But I do did learn something here... When the task list, or the project, seemed impossible within the given time, that's because it probably was. I knew my own pacing and capabilities, and I knew I've never done this before. So it was to my benefit that at those moments, I forgot about timetables, time management, and such. At that particular point, making timetables would only make the impossible seem more impossible. So I went into it with a "just finish it" kind of mentality. What I got out from it was I was pushed to do things I could not do before.
Am certainly not complaining, but I could use a break. The past weeks felt like a total workout for my arranging and songwriting muscles. It gave me a good high, but as with seasons, there is a time to go all out, and there is a time to lie back and savor the sweet summer air. (What? Summer's over? Hmm. Must've passed by while my nose was buried in the computer)
- - - -
My Life On Stage, Lea Salonga’s 30th anniversary concert, will be running on its last night tonight. Last night was a success. I’ve been enjoying playing the synth part to double the orchestra strings (since we only have 3 first violins and 3 second violins). The tricky part is to blend in with the real strings, using the expression pedal at the right times and making sure the attacks are smooth, and swelling at the right moments. Of course I also had a wayward note here and there – when I wasn’t too careful about my attacks, a note would stick out. Oops!
Lea is one of the most talented people on earth. Of course, I needn't say that here, most Pinoy musicians already know that. It's such a joy to witness it firsthand.