Ok, so I'm on this quintet kick recently.

How far down the "pop" rabbit hole can you take a brass quintet without a rhythm section or just a drummer? I don't want to be Bones West or Jeffersons Bones or Capitol Bones. I'd like to play thoughtful arrangements of quality modern pop music. For example, I've always thought Ozzie Osbourne's Mamma I'm Coming Home is a highly arrangeable tune for brass. I don't want to go the whole "switched on Bach" route. I just want to play music that your average redneck might recognize, but in a way that re-introduces him to some instruments he hasn't seen since the last high school football game he went to.

I've looked around, and I'm not finding great examples for inspiration. Maybe toned down or tamed rock or pop music is what I'm looking for. Maybe the arrangements of Queen's Bohemian Rhapsody would be the closest thing. Or think Maniacal 4 when they were just bones.

Do you have arrangements or recordings or examples of what is possible with brass groups and pop/rock?

I once played an entire concert (I think it was 2 hours?) of brass quintet arrangements of pop and rock music. Under Pressure, Black Dog, Stairway to Heaven, Kashmir, and yes...Bohemian Rhapsody. (I've heard and played that song enough for ten lifetimes...can we please stop?)

Granted, this brass quintet was 2 trumpets, 2 trombones, and bass trombone, but you could easily play the same arrangements with the typical 2 trumpets/horn/trombone/tuba. The arrangements didn't change the song at all, really. Just direct transcription/orchestration of the original material. I think classic rock/metal tunes generally work better for brass than modern pop tunes, unless you flip them.

Funnily enough, I'm currently working on a comission of an arrangement of Kelly Clarkson's "Since U Been Gone" for brass quintet+drum set. That song would be pretty boring for everyone but the melody if it was just a transcription, but I was asked to flip it like I flipped Girls Just Wanna Have Fun. As long as you can still hum along to the melody, you can do pretty much whatever you want (tastefully) and people will recognize and enjoy it.

Kashmir! I've always kind of dreamed of that as a brass tune. You wouldn't happen to have recordings? or sheet music available for sale? I'd like to have a crack at arranging some of these things like this, but I need an example and confidence it will work out.

Thanks for responding, I was hoping I'd hear from you!

It's horn quartet rather than brass quintet, but you might want to give a listen to some of Genghis Barbie's stuff for some inspiration.

[quote="JohnL"]It's horn quartet rather than brass quintet, but you might want to give a listen to some of Genghis Barbie's stuff for some inspiration.[/quote]

Interesting. They picked some of the same tunes I picked. The horn doesn't do much for the music, though , in my view. Anyway, very interesting to see. Thanks for that.

I have a friend who made some brass quintet arrangements of some popular tunes for his quintet (called Lancaster Brass). One I liked playing was the Beatles' "When I'm Sixty-Four". If you are interested I can try to connect you. I don't remember if he is selling his arrangements right now.

[quote="BGuttman"]I have a friend who made some brass quintet arrangements of some popular tunes for his quintet (called Lancaster Brass). One I liked playing was the Beatles' "When I'm Sixty-Four". If you are interested I can try to connect you. I don't remember if he is selling his arrangements right now.[/quote]

I did an arrangement of that for my tbone quartet. Have not yet started arranging for quintet. Yeah, if you could connect me that would be nice, thanks!

Our quintet found an arrangement of Forget You that I thought was really cool. But you really have to know the song well to play it. Our horn player just didn't get it.

Not us, but found this performance:

<YOUTUBE id="bF2MfDkcQQo">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bF2MfDkcQQo</YOUTUBE>

[quote="hyperbolica"]Kashmir! I've always kind of dreamed of that as a brass tune. You wouldn't happen to have recordings? or sheet music available for sale? I'd like to have a crack at arranging some of these things like this, but I need an example and confidence it will work out.

Thanks for responding, I was hoping I'd hear from you![/quote]

I am 100% for converting rock songs into brass quintet arrangements. I have done many for my brass quintet over the years. I consider Kashmir a “not so good” candidate for a brass quintet transcription for one primary reason.

The uniqueness of Kashmir is the repetitive rhythm patterns in 3/4 juxtaposed to a drum set pattern in 4/4 time. Without a drum set, this cannot be achieved. Back in April I heard a string chamber ensemble play Kashmir without a drum set and the performance fell flat…..the piece needs that 3/4 versus 4/4 to have its unique groove. Of course this is my opinion and I am sure that many would disagree.

Seb Skelly has some good arrangement of pop tunes for quintet that don't need a drummer. You can look him up on YT. Also, there is a nice set of arrangements of Chicago tunes done by Greg Danner that are on SMP. This is our group doing Make Me Smile (which made the trumpets frown).

https://fb.watch/ecqHCe8d1f/

[quote="Crazy4Tbone86"]

I am 100% for converting rock songs into brass quintet arrangements. I have done many for my brass quintet over the years. I consider Kashmir a “not so good” candidate for a brass quintet transcription for one primary reason.

The uniqueness of Kashmir is the repetitive rhythm patterns in 3/4 juxtaposed to a drum set pattern in 4/4 time. Without a drum set, this cannot be achieved. Back in April I heard a string chamber ensemble play Kashmir without a drum set and the performance fell flat…..the piece needs that 3/4 versus 4/4 to have its unique groove. Of course this is my opinion and I am sure that many would disagree.[/quote]

Yeah, it's becoming clear that execution can make or break a tune, and that some tunes just resist making the jump. The rhythm section or drum set at least is kind of a limiting factor. You can get a bass line easy enough, but replicating the drums is harder. Part of the trick I think is to combine the bass line with the necessary rhythm to keep the tune moving.

Kashmir with synthesized quintet (couldn't find anyone willing to record it?) Even the virtual band needs drums, and somehow it still doesn't capture the tune...

<YOUTUBE id="co0fC4YquSo">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=co0fC4YquSo</YOUTUBE>

Maniacal 4 did a lot to make this viable, but they used a full rhythm section.

<YOUTUBE id="mJaX4ZpfULM">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mJaX4ZpfULM</YOUTUBE>

You almost can't talk about this topic without mentioning Christopher Bill (although I've tried). Some of his arrangements are successful, some aren't. some are completely unrealistic, and some are saved by guest artists. And hey, just goes to show that with enough editing, even you can sound good!

<YOUTUBE id="kn2TnCmEZ7w">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kn2TnCmEZ7w</YOUTUBE>

And who knew that this Maroon 5 tune was based on Pachelbel's Canon?!?!?! So of course reverting it from pop to classical will work.

<YOUTUBE id="kC6ne7aodMI" list="PLbs3yPb-aeVeL13URGWpZwZ-rrmphDzAP"><LINK_TEXT text="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kC6ne7a ... P&index=21">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kC6ne7aodMI&list=PLbs3yPb-aeVeL13URGWpZwZ-rrmphDzAP&index=21</LINK_TEXT></YOUTUBE>

And some are great tunes, but seem to really need the drums...

<YOUTUBE id="Pjk-gi67M-M" list="PLbs3yPb-aeVfDoSKTi7_yRhqStYYxHmDj"><LINK_TEXT text="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pjk-gi6 ... Dj&index=9">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pjk-gi67M-M&list=PLbs3yPb-aeVfDoSKTi7_yRhqStYYxHmDj&index=9</LINK_TEXT></YOUTUBE>

Or maybe you just need a cool horn customized from BAC to pull it off...

<YOUTUBE id="E4hnbgAOje0" list="PLbs3yPb-aeVfDoSKTi7_yRhqStYYxHmDj"><LINK_TEXT text="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E4hnbgA ... Dj&index=8">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E4hnbgAOje0&list=PLbs3yPb-aeVfDoSKTi7_yRhqStYYxHmDj&index=8</LINK_TEXT></YOUTUBE>

Or maybe the music is cool, but the video is obnoxious...

<YOUTUBE id="0dXnkRu6C6Y" list="PLbs3yPb-aeVfDoSKTi7_yRhqStYYxHmDj"><LINK_TEXT text="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0dXnkRu ... j&index=13">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0dXnkRu6C6Y&list=PLbs3yPb-aeVfDoSKTi7_yRhqStYYxHmDj&index=13</LINK_TEXT></YOUTUBE>

And then there's Maeve. Software that drops your pitch an octave and transposes F to Bb lets you do a lot of stuff.

<YOUTUBE id="KQ1NHE2k7xE">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KQ1NHE2k7xE</YOUTUBE>

<YOUTUBE id="DkPWGcw-Vyg">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DkPWGcw-Vyg</YOUTUBE>

Or you can square it up pretty hard...

<YOUTUBE id="IeUKAEexXu8">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IeUKAEexXu8</YOUTUBE>

[quote="hyperbolica"]Kashmir! I've always kind of dreamed of that as a brass tune. You wouldn't happen to have recordings? or sheet music available for sale? I'd like to have a crack at arranging some of these things like this, but I need an example and confidence it will work out.[/quote]

Sadly not, it wasn't my group and I just subbed on 2nd trombone for one gig. Don't even remember the name! We played in a gigantic convention hall (for a not-gigantic crowd) somewhere in rural Indiana. Good arrangements though.