Welcome to our podcast, Band BFFs.
The podcast where we make your music selection less complicated.
On today's episode, we're going to be discussing Action Scene by Brian Balmages.
Cheers to starting the conversation!
Alright, Action Scene, this is such a fun, great programmatic piece to put together.
It's about two minutes in length.
It's in the key of F or D minor, three, four throughout.
So, Texas PML grade one.
Yes, split clarinet parts, two clarinet, two trumpet parts.
The low-grass, low-read part is doubled throughout.
Percussion, timpani, marimba, you need minimum six percussionists.
You could do it with more because you can split some parts up, but minimum six percussionists.
And I do think a lot of the accessory percussion stuff on the percussion two part is all really
important to getting the flavor of the piece of music.
So minimum six percussionists.
Laura and I have both played this piece with region bands when we have been invited to
be clinicians, which I think is super appropriate because it's such a fun piece to put together.
It is not super difficult in rhythms, but the kids all like, there's a cool low-brass
part.
The percussion gets to play all the time.
So this is a great piece if you're just looking to let everybody be happy and to have a fun
part.
And just have a good time.
It's a really fun piece.
Now, I'll say that what I think is deceptive on the piece is the articulation.
The rhythms are not difficult, but it is two minutes of articulation.
One and two and three and lots of articulation.
So the tendency can be for it to get real heavy and the percussion as well.
Yeah, it can get real heavy with articulation and heavy, loud percussion and want to slow
down a little bit.
So keeping the energy up while maintaining kind of the lightness so it doesn't bog down.
The whole piece starts off with like, and it's at 156 tempo, so it's fast.
Starts off with a big hit and then it's kind of like just the marimba keeping the beat
underneath the pulse.
You want to like, you know, like, like mission, mission impossible type.
Yeah.
It's feel.
So everybody plays on one, two, two and one and one, two and the whole band has that
rhythm at the beginning.
So you got to make sure everybody counts.
Everybody articulates firmly all together.
Watch your rest.
Yes.
And it, but it's like got like that little like action scene type of feel to it.
Like what's going to happen?
The trumpet has the melody along with clarinet one and alto sax at the beginning.
So you would want to layer everybody else down at that moment.
In fact, right in everybody's parts, piano at this moment so that we don't have all
those big hits constantly, like at your, at your face, you want to bring, you want to
level it down.
Right.
So you can hear those couple of different melodic parts.
That's not very many people on the melody.
Yeah.
And then they, they keep going on the melody until nine, nine, the low brass get the melody.
So that's really fun for them.
I know when I've played this with region bands for some reason, this rhythm catches children
off guard sometimes one, two and one, two and one, two and one and two, three.
And you're like, well, that's not hard, but I, you know, it could be, I guess for low
brass sometimes.
So just making sure the kids like feel that and know what it feels like.
It's got lots of A flats written in.
So you got to be careful on the third position.
Yeah.
So you're doing E naturals and A flats.
And so like melodically, they need to kind of get in their ear what this sounds like.
It's not something you see on the page and you go, oh, this is, I can sing this in my
head.
Right.
So they, it's more of a minor feel.
Yes.
So they need to, they need to get that in their ear to help that tuning be really solid
in the trombones.
It's also doubled in bass clarinet and berry sax, which is nice.
So they're, you know, tubas have it too.
So everybody in the lows get their moment of glory.
Then you get a little punctuation in the trumpet at 13 with one, two and three in, two and
three in.
And it doesn't have a crescendo on it, but I added that in.
Yeah, absolutely.
Yeah.
Like start softer and like come out of nowhere just to give it that little excitement feel.
Make it more musically interesting.
There's stuff going on in the percussion.
We're playing on the rim.
We're doing some hi-hat.
So there's all of these different kinds of sounds and textures coming from the percussion
section that I think the trumpets are kind of like fitting in.
Functionally.
Yeah.
Fitting into all of that.
At 17, the lows are going to come down a volume and then the clarinets come in with
the melody line.
And now it's like, it does sound like Mission Impossible to me.
They're playing dotted half notes on each beat, every measure it's a new note and it's
kind of like a drawn out melody line and you can add shaping to that too.
Get stronger on each measure.
Alto sax adds in.
And so they're adding to the fun feel like Laura said we've got closed hi-hat going on
with open hi-hat too.
So it's like a fun little percussion part here for sure.
Lows are continuing to just kind of now have the background melody at 25.
The trumpets come in and take over.
Riffs and horns come in and so they have that they're taking over this dotted half
note melody and now we're getting the low voices are still keeping with that one, two
and one, two and and now we have the upper woodwinds that are coming in but changing
notes instead of saying on one note.
So their part is now going to be just slightly more important than what's happening.
Two and three.
Yeah.
Than what's happening in the motor still while the melody is in this dotted half note section
that's now going on in trumpet horn and in tenor sax.
So we're kind of building this anticipation.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
We're kind of building up a little the dynamic level dropped off and now we're kind of building
and re-intensifying to get us all the way up to to the next big moment was coming up
at measure 33.
I think it's really important at measures like this, especially with younger bands to
write in on their part like number one, trumpet horn number two, flute oboe clarinet or whatever
or like I just call it like mids highs and lows usually in my band.
But like writing in on their part or like taking your pencil like everybody's marked
mezzo forte here, right?
But that's not accurate.
So like taking it and when you're marking your parts like change the dynamic level forte
for horn and trumpet, mezzo forte for upper woodwinds, piano for low bass, you know, and
we you know, in my band hall, we call that ear mapping.
Yeah.
So we're constantly writing like, okay, our ear map on here's where your ear needs to
go. So, you know, ear map that out on their parts as much as you can ahead of time.
Yeah, that'll help.
Yeah, for sure. And if not, at least the kids can have some ownership in that process when
when you're rehearsing it.
Yep.
At Laura mentioned at 33, we have a big hit right before that at 31.
Everybody has a forte piano.
So we're going to come down and the low brass and low reeds start on beat one and then on
beat two is like the highs in the mids, one, two, and then we all joined together two and
three and one. And that's a big fall at 33. So that's fun because everybody gets to move
their little fingers and it kind of sounds jazzy kind of like an action scene. Then the
lows keep going with the fun part, but this time with a new style.
So they're doing they have marcato accents and they're doing one into and rest one into
and this is the part where I really feel like it can get heavy if the style is not executed
correctly. Obviously, a marcato is going to be really firm. It's going to be short. It
needs to be defined. But you know, I use this example when I'm talking articulation with
my band all the time we talk about the difference between a sumo wrestler and a sprinter and
a sumo wrestler is not built for sprinting. That's not what his body is made for. Right.
So that when you're talking about articulating rhythms like this, where you're having to
be this same fast rhythm over and over making their tongue like a sprinter, no sumo wrestler
tongues. So sprinter tongues so that the articulation does not slow down. Yeah, like a fat guy in
his underwear. There's a there's a cool part here too with China symbol on beat three,
which I think is fun. It adds to that like flavor of the piece. Kids always like China
symbol because it's got that real distinct sound, but it's a really neat little like effect
here for percussion. They're going to continue doing this and then horn and clarinet come
in with one, three, and it's like a forte, like a crescendo to forte and then a day crescendo,
then the lows keep going but now not the same articulation. They have this melody like what
they had at the beginning. So more of these e natural and a flat back to that same little
melodic line that statement, timpani, hi hat snare drum on rim are adding to the anticipation
underneath clarinet and horn now get this new part with tenor sax at 43. They're like
the new melody and it's the same thing the lows had before just a different tessitura
and color lows are now not important at all. They're just playing color chords. Trumpets
have a secondary part where they're doing like little chromatic II things. Be natural
be flat, be natural, be natural C sharp. It's kind of a weird little inner interlude with
saxophone. So just making sure that the kids can hear like those half steps and when it
changes, right? Because it changes it's not always sometimes it's on beat one, sometimes
it's on three. And then like sax is going from like F to F sharp, making sure you mark
in their part ahead of time to use the chromatic fingering for F sharp. There's a lot of different
like chromatic type things and considerations in the clarinet part to. So just going through
your part ahead of time to make sure that kids are like you have to go from be flat
to be natural and clarinet one. So making sure that they understand they can't they
can't switch their finger. They have to use the chromatic fingering, especially that speed.
Yeah. So going through your parts in advance to make sure you've thought about all of that
I think is really important. The marimba part here it changes a little bit instead of just
being kind of on this one note, keep the motor going. Now it's changing one and two and one
and two. And so it's kind of mixing some of these other parts. And I think this marimba
part here is something that can come out of the texture a little and there's a cool new
congas mark too. And if you don't have congas, you can use toms. But that's pretty cool because
like how often do you get to hear that flavor? Yeah, right? So it's like, I think the percussion
parts are really fun and adds to the color. We kind of continue this little like chromatic
key thing and then little bursts of flutin oboe as they converse back and forth with
the melody and the horn clarinet and tenor sax that keeps going to 51. Now that part
that the trumpets and saxes had before continues in sax. But the trumpets get this like they
get the melody part one, two and one, two and and it's up a little bit higher for those
trumpet ones. Particularly if you're playing this with like a non varsity band goes up
to like C sharp and D. The partials are a little bit weird here. So I remember like
whenever I've played this, I kind of have to spend a little time here with the with the
trumpets making sure that they get it. It's like be natural C sharp D, then C sharp D
be flat, then be natural. Just lots of finger combinations. Yeah, and the pitches are just
a little bit different. It's chromatic sometimes, but not other times. Now in that motor part
now we still have some people that are still going one and two and rest one and two and
but now in the low voices we have one and three. So the effect is that we get one and
two and three, one and two and three, one and two and three and all of those parts just
wanting to make sure stylistically that that is how you you know how you want it to sound
making sure that there be the people quarter note on beat three that we're making that
note not super short that needs to lead into the next measure. At 55 we're back to those
Markado accents we had before with the little china symbol in our spurs in on beat threes.
So everybody has it now and we have to keep everything very firm moving forward like Laura
mentioned and it's everybody one and two and one and two and and then lows, lows, lows
and they have like a little moment there and I remember whenever I've played this sometimes
they're too heavy like Laura mentioned. So just trying to keep that really light and
then everybody again having the same rhythm big timpani moment. Big timpani solo with
like a little snare drum buildup and then at 61 we're back to the quiet style like before
like the mission impossible type sound with horn and clarinet to tenor sax kind of chilling
underneath with long notes but the clarinet one with the melody alone. That's right. Yep.
Marimba has gone back to kind of its like that little ostinato along with some of the
lower parts and then clarinets are continuing to have the melody and then at 69 the trumpets
this part's cool. We get chords but with accents at the beginning like a little belt
tones. Yeah, little belt tones and have them play them like their little forte piano.
Yeah, every one of them. And we mark it in the part like that for them so that they get
out of the way. So it starts with trumpet two and then trumpet one and horn and then
trumpet two again and then horn and so it's like the horns and the trumpets keep doing
it. Then the flutes in the alto and clarinet one and oboe come in with the one two and
the part that trumpets had before. So everybody else you got to really layer this down so
it's not too much like it's very toody but there is like you know there's the important
parts so you have to make sure that they can prioritize who's the melody. We get here to
measure 77 and we're back to that unison rhythm one into and rest with percussion happening
and they're one into and rest one two three one into and so again just lots of lots of
articulation and counting since this is more unison rhythm in this section here. Then we're
back to the beginning like where everybody played on one two two and one except this
time not everybody has it just the brass have it and then the upper woodwinds have the melody.
Yep and then 86 trumpets take over the melody we continue with some of that interspersement
it's just like the beginning the lows get there same one two and one two and from before
with the a flats and e naturals and then at 94 we all drop down in dynamic to like build
it up to the end everybody's got one two and or two three and so it's like playing on you
know everybody plays on different beats but it's building up building up building up crescendoing
getting more firm and articulation to the very end and then a big timpani moment one and
everybody has a big hit on two and dampen everything and it's very exciting it's like
the robber got caught or whatever in the action scene. The exciting finish. Yeah so this piece
is a little shy of a hundred measures it's very fun very playable very playable but lots
of little details to work out to make it be a hundred percent perfect right but honestly
I mean you could play this in so many realms yes a region band you could play it with a
non varsity at UIL or a non varsity at your spring concert as ending showstopper you know
any but like literally anybody could read this down and it's fun sounding yes not it's not
the most challenging sounds harder than it is yeah but it's super fun so the kids love
it because it's exactly like movie music which we love yes well we hope that you will consider
programming action scene in one of your future concerts coming up thanks for joining us today
on this episode of Band BFFs