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Horn Arrangement for Ska band

7K views 3 replies 3 participants last post by  MrBlueNote 
#1 ·
So I just joined this ska punk band as a tenor sax player. They are pretty established and already have a ton of music. Before I came in it was just a trombone in the horn section (there have been trumpets and saxes in the past though). They mentioned to me that they want me to try to spice up the horn parts, as they are all pretty much what you would expect as ska musicians and don't have much knowledge of music theory, although they are pretty decent at what they do.

Some of their old recordings have more than just the trombone player on there (trumpet and alto sax usually) and it's 99% octaves and unison. And as I've been learning the songs, I've just been playing unison or octaves with the trombone player. And it sounds fine like that. But I've been trying to add some harmony, and I'm having a hard time with it sounding a little bit too "sweet." Their sound is pretty edgy (it's basically hardcore punk with horns, plus the occasional ska guitar parts) and I don't know if maybe I should just leave it alone and play octaves/unison with the trombone player. I would definitely like to do more than that though. Does anyone have any suggestions?
 
#2 ·
Unless they're open to completely re-writing the horn parts, your options are octaves/unison/harmonies. If you choose to go the harmony route, you could work on which horn is playing which note as that will change the timbre of the sound. Also try 5ths or 7ths instead of 3rds. I play in a ska/punk band myself, the first few years with a trombone (it's trumpet now), so I understand the dynamic.
 
#4 ·
If you choose to go the harmony route, you could work on which horn is playing which note as that will change the timbre of the sound. Also try 5ths or 7ths instead of 3rds.
+1.

Thirds, sixths, major sevenths and major seconds (ninths) will sound sweet, fifths will sound less sweet, minor sevenths will sound bluesy, octaves and unisons will sound thick.

I'm in a similar situation, except it's a reggae band. I play tenor and was the first horn to join, then we got a trombone and a trumpet, so we are in the process of arranging their lines to complement what I was already playing.
 
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