High Ground

kristyjo

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Description

This is written for small concert band. Here, of course, its being played by the software instruments available for GarageBand. As I usually do with this style of music, I wrote it all out in Finale, first, then I transferred the midi file to GarageBand to do some tweaking. There are still a few dynamic markings, and style things I'm adding for human players in the Finale version of this, and I find writing for the percussion section kind of hard, because it's slightly different in the two software programs and then I have to write it out differently to get it easily readable for humans. (I'm sure there's a better way - I just have to find it.)
I'm not solid on the title, really. It was originally 'High Clouds', but 'High Ground' seems to fit better as the song developed some fanfare motives. (High Ground is the name of a large War Memorial about ten miles from here.) Any suggestions?

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Song Stats

Hits: 1832
Comments: 14
Fans: 9
Plays: 82
Downloads: 105
Votes: 2
Uploaded: Oct 04, 2008 - 11:23:52 AM
Last Updated: Oct 04, 2008 - 11:23:52 AM Last Played: Mar 15, 2013 - 08:27:11 PM

Song License

Creative Commons License:
Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike

Song Actions

Keywords:

band (136), concert band (6), fanfare (8), short (118), bright (16), happy (153)

Hardware:

PowerBook G4,

Software:

Finale, GarageBand, Pencil, Staff paper, humming & muttering to myself

Comments

Feter

Feter said 1689 days ago (October 4th, 2008)

High Ground
YourMusic certainly has a sweet light heart ..the soul
forto sit and relax and enjoy it ..its a fan fare ..but
then its a sweet angelic fan fare ...so much renaissance
just cos its highly emotional with simple elements of
life ..I feel connected to this cos its so close...
very well structured even with the fiff drums ..thank you
so very much for sharing such gem !!!!

Check out my latest song called Roll with it

kristyjo	kristyjo said 1689 days ago (October 4th, 2008)
	Feter- Gosh- you responded before I even knew it was posted:) Thanks for listening. The renaissance idea you mention is a unique way of listening to this piece. Thank you for your ever-gracious comments! Check out my latest song called The Black Cat

saymme	saymme said 1689 days ago (October 4th, 2008)
	( : Lovely as always what comes from You !! TX so much ...exactly what I needed now...been frustrated with internetproblems...Nice soothing sounds!! Always such Harmony in Your Music !! Great for all the kids & us here to get part of ... ( : Would LOVE to hear it in real ...!! I love the name "High Clouds" to me it feels like it : ) : ) tx my pleasure as always!!

saymme	saymme said 1689 days ago (October 4th, 2008)
	..High Ground Been listening over & over now & The "High Clouds" are turning into *High Grounds" .. LOL Like a rainbow . . ( : lena

kristyjo	kristyjo said 1688 days ago (October 5th, 2008)
	Hi, Lena - I'm glad you hear both the clouds and the fanfare. This really did start off very differently while I was puttering around, with arpeggios instead of fanfare riffs, and then, because of instrumentation, it ended up as it is here. A little more energy and movement than the original concept. Thanks for your comments! Check out my latest song called The Black Cat

drakonis

drakonis said 1688 days ago (October 4th, 2008)

sweetness in a fanfare
What an intriguing piece. It is like a fanfare-ette... it is beautifully written and thought out, I really like it. It is as if it knows it is a fanfare, but doesn't want to show off like one, because it is a little shy. Which makes it really adorable... in a good way. I enjoyed the way you sequenced up to some odd chord, then resolved right where it should go, very satisfying. Boy have I been there pushing my scoring through MIDI and into GB and fiddling for hours to get things right. After a while you learn some tricks to make it work on paper AND in GB, sometimes there are no tricks though, and you wind up hacking up or splitting up instruments just to make them sound good. Anyway, the only thing that I might suggest, is that at the end, you are playing a two-note motif, one (1/8) note and another (1/2?) down a fourth(?), and you play a few of these in succession as the coda... but the very last note you go UP to, and hold... and for some reason, my brain wanted the shoe to DROP, as before, that is, to play one MORE note, possibly down an octave from that last note. Dunno if that makes any sense. It's pretty nit-picky-minor. Overall, love it!
ttfn,
Drakonis

Check out my latest song called Belle Aire (for Mandolin Orchestra)

kristyjo

kristyjo said 1687 days ago (October 5th, 2008)

Yeah -
I was looking for the 'fanfare-ette' category to post this under, and couldn't find it. Can you believe that! ;)
Thanks for all of the comments - I can always count on you to listen critically (a good thing). I have this thing for ending in a new key - my husband wants to know what that's all about on a couple of other songs. I guess it introduces a bit of ambiguity that makes people listen right through to the end. (and then they aren't sure if they should clap, or if something else is coming.) I may fiddle around with that lower octave idea you brought up. I still have work to do on it. I'm hoping to get the local 8th grade band to play it this year - we'll see.

Check out my latest song called The Black Cat

Henke	Henke said 1687 days ago (October 5th, 2008)
	Very sweet! All the keywords here - angelic, fanfare, war memorial etc - made me think of "fallen angels" but I guess that would be something quite different ;-) Actually Feter and Eduard (although I didn't quite get his nit-picky-minor thing) said it for me. All in all - good to hear from you again! /Henke Check out my latest song called Spring

kristyjo	kristyjo said 1687 days ago (October 6th, 2008)
	It's nice to be posting again. I'm off of work for surgery, so I have time - that's what I've been missing for the past year or so. Thanks for listening and commenting! Check out my latest song called The Black Cat

davisamerica	davisamerica said 1687 days ago (October 5th, 2008)
	i have listened to what the others have said about the tech side of this ... all i can offer is that my ears are smiling .... does that count? Check out my latest song called 12

kristyjo	kristyjo said 1687 days ago (October 6th, 2008)
	Smiling ears- count for a lot! Thanks for visiting, listening and commenting! Check out my latest song called The Black Cat

Enrique Gil	Enrique Gil said 1687 days ago (October 5th, 2008)
	Hi Kristy! Praise Him? That seems to be what the instruments are saying (at least to me). High Ground is good too. I really like it, you just need to make it a little longer and make sure the end is not as abrupt. It should end on a high note? Check out my latest song called Simple Feelings

kristyjo

kristyjo said 1687 days ago (October 5th, 2008)

Thanks for your comments
Actually, the words that I used to sing this through were "high clouds, high white clouds", just to get the rhythms I wanted. You know, just to have syllables to sing to it. I had a friend who used 'Poor old Mozart is locked in a closet', to remember the theme from Symphony #40. It doesn't always mean anything important - it's just to help remember things. I like your words for this piece, too. It would take it in a new direction, I think .. hm....

Check out my latest song called The Black Cat

paul f. page

paul f. page said 1687 days ago (October 5th, 2008)

There is...
...a certain "fullness" to your orchestration of this, Kristyjo and it makes for a very pleasant listen. From a compositional standpoint, there are a couple of spots where you resolve into a tonic chord in a new key and the music is really elevated at those spots. Just perfect resolutions that come unexpectedly and that are so perfectly realized. The inner voices are not as clear as you might have them be, esp. woodwinds. They seem to get lost in the shuffle of lower brass. Bring them out and let them sing as they should... I thought the length was just about right, but would have enjoyed a solid, higher, chord that was HELD at the end. ... Very beautiful number.
Peace.
Paul

Check out my latest song called I Speak Of Love

kristyjo

kristyjo said 1687 days ago (October 6th, 2008)

Paul-
I'm always glad to get your take on my pieces. This is written out for jr high band instrumentation, so there's quite a bit of doubling of parts like French Horns, Baritone horns and double reeds. I'll take a look at clearing out the bass fuzz here, so the mid range instruments can be more easily heard. I've already made some changes in bringing a couple of the instruments into a more comfortable range for young players. It really sounds different in Finale, where I have about half of the instruments using GPO sounds, and the others using the QuickTime sounds (I think). Thanks for your listening ear and your comments!

Check out my latest song called The Black Cat

michael2	michael2 said 1686 days ago (October 6th, 2008)
	beautiful really liking this piece Kristy Jo. i wish that you had an arsenal of classically trained musicians at your disposal. your pieces are always so lovely and it makes me curious what they would sound like with real players. although i must say, you do an outstanding job with the GB instruments. very impressive. Check out my latest song called yes you told me (that you're cynical)

kristyjo	kristyjo said 1686 days ago (October 6th, 2008)
	(blush) Thanks, Michael! I'm hoping to have this piece played by either some 8th grade students, or by our civic band as a 'quick & easy to learn' piece.(Although that's not what happened with the last one I wrote - some folks have a hard time reading syncopations, I guess :)) I appreciate that you took the time to listen & comment! Check out my latest song called The Black Cat

michael2	michael2 said 1686 days ago (October 6th, 2008)
	oooh way into the idea of the kids playing it. great idea. Check out my latest song called yes you told me (that you're cynical)

Roxylee	Roxylee said 1686 days ago (October 7th, 2008)
	Oooh... Kristy Are your students going to learn this to play at a school concert? I think that would be quite cool. I know next to nothing about orchestra composing, but I know what my ears like, and they like hearing this pretty piece. Check out my latest song called Emma, by davisamerica

kristyjo	kristyjo said 1686 days ago (October 7th, 2008)
	Hi, Roxy Actually, it is my daughter's class, and I'm asking her band director to look it over, make suggestions as to range of instruments, ease of reading for percussion parts, and any other suggestions. I'm hoping they'll get to try it in January, and possibly play it for their Spring concert. I'm hoping it will be a successful venture. Check out my latest song called The Black Cat

bud	bud said 1684 days ago (October 8th, 2008)
	Wonderful piece Kristyjo like Michael - I long to hear the humans performing your work. I'm very impressed that you're able to move from platform to platform the way you do. Brought a smile to my face and lifted my heart. Thanks. Check out my latest song called ditto

kristyjo	kristyjo said 1681 days ago (October 11th, 2008)
	Ah- another smiling face! I'm hoping that we get some of the bugs worked out of it for the students, soon. It should be a lot of fun. I may have to submit it under a nom de plume, though, because my daughter might get embarrassed if kids know I wrote it. I'll tell ya, 13 is a rough age... Thanks for your listening ear and your comments. Check out my latest song called The Black Cat

guitapick	guitapick said 1684 days ago (October 8th, 2008)
	I like the... ...fanfare motif. Definitely comes through with the flutes (fife) and drums. How about: "Fanfare for the Uncommon Woman"? ;) Nice piece. Love to hear it with an orchestra...but this does the trick just fine... Check out my latest song called 'Cuz I Can

davisamerica	davisamerica said 1683 days ago (October 10th, 2008)
	Kristy!! How did I forget to Fav this when I commented?? DUH .... :-[ Check out my latest song called 12

pablatone	pablatone said 1675 days ago (October 17th, 2008)
	nice one kj this is sweet. do you teach these to your class? That must be a hoot to hear them play your tunes. Check out my latest song called King Kong

kristyjo

kristyjo said 1674 days ago (October 18th, 2008)

I write these -
Then I get them to be played by local bands. Civic Band, Middle School Band, High School Band. Actually, I had to do a total rewrite on this, because the trumpet line - the main melody of the piece - was just too high for middle school trumpet players. I finally got it written out with phrase markings, articulations, dynamics, etc. in Finale. On the week after their winter concert, they try out new things, and this is one of the ways I 'test ' out a piece. If it sounds like I think it should, I'm hoping to publish it. Maybe, if it gets to concert performance, I'll post the live version.

Check out my latest song called The Black Cat

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Artist Info

Name: Kristine Johanek
Location: Marshfield WI United States

I've been performing, composing and teaching music for many years. I enjoy arranging traditional and classic pieces, and also enjoy composing original music. I'll write for whomever will perform my music, so I've written for children's choirs, co... [see more]

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