Loop D Loop, for Adaptable Band

Loop D Loop, for Adaptable Band

Original version for trombone and loop pedal

Duration 4’30 or 6’30

This new version of Loop – D – Loop focuses on several things for adaptable band:

First, while the title remained the same, I did change the key from D to F, a more user-friendly key. The piece can be played by a minimum of 5 players, up to as many as desired. Percussion can be optional.
The opening melodic line is cross-cued in many other parts, in case the director opts to feature a single soloist, instead of using the flute/oboe and clarinet sections.
For balance issues, and in the effort to enhance the color, many parts are marked tacet in certain spots, to be adhered to if the other instruments in their “part” are present. They are subsequently marked “PLAY”, to indicate when the tacet should stop.
There are two options for individual soloists (letter L through N) to stand and be featured, if desired. While the score indicates a “C”  instrument, parts are available for Bb, C, or Eb instruments, in both clefs, to allow for ultimate flexibility.
Although I would prefer the entire piece be played, if endurance proves an issue, 2 minutes can be removed by cutting from rehearsal I to N. [Note: this would remove the option for individual solos].

Original program notes – for solo trombone and looping station:

In the spring of 2017, I was invited to Vanderbilt University for a premiere of my recently composed “CrossFit” – for trombone quartet and percussion quartet. It was there that I met the trombone professor at the Blair School of Music, Jeremy Wilson, and where we subsequently began to talk about a new piece for solo trombone and loop station. Full disclosure: I did not know what a “Loop Station” was when he first proposed the idea, but as a composer always up for new challenges, I reviewed his examples and decided it would be a fun project to do.

The result: Loop – D – Loop.

Loop – D – Loop is, of course, a play on words, but does refer to the fact that the entire piece revolves mostly around a D. My main goal in this piece was to create something that would be a “piece of music”, and not just a technological experiment. I wanted Jeremy to get a chance to show his personality, phrasing, and to make music, and feel like it is something worth playing at a musical level. The looping material is all built around that idea, to hopefully create something with form, shape, novelty, but also with worth.