Share your GPO Exercises: Double Bass Melody

**Garritan** · 06-10-2006, 10:46 PM

In Lesson 3 and 5 there are some exercises designed to apply some of the concepts presented in the lessons.

It is my hope that you would share your work with the rest of us. You don't have to worry about your work being bashed. This is an encouraging and supportative learning community and we ask all participants to be courteous and polite. this fosters trust, openness and a postive learning environment.

Sharing your work will help you to become more proficient in the material covered. Professors and other learners can also provide constructive evaluation to help you along the way. This is the best way of you knowing that you understand the lessons. Each lesson builds upon each other so it is important to do the exercises and helpful to share them.

Let's try our first lesson:

In Lesson Three, there is an Exercise at the bottom: Melody in Strings Instruments: Double Basses Exercise.

Please take a few minutes to look at the score, work with the accompaniment file (mp3 backing track or midi file) and compose your own double bass melody along with the accompaniment.

Please feel free to post your double bass melody. Let's hear some of the various melodies you can come up with.

Here is a recap of the exercise:

GPO Exercise - Melody in Strings Instruments: Double Basses Exercise

In this exercise you will experiment with adding a double bass melody to a background track of winds and strings.

1. Click and refer to the background score here
2. Load the backgound track MP3 in your MP3 player or sequencer. For MP3 click here.
3. Load the Basses in Melody MIDI file and it's respective instruments.
For MIDI file click here.
4. Load the solo or section double bass instrument into GPO.
5. Play your own melody along with the background MP3 ir MIDI file.

Try doing your own melodies with the double bass instruments and post them here, or email them to me and I will post them.

Gary Garritan

**snorlax** · 06-11-2006, 04:13 PM

Gary,

There seems to be a discrepancy between the printed score for the bass melody exerciseand the MIDI/MP3--in the viola part (figures that the viola would be the source of a hose-up

)

Printed score has viola notes G|A|A,Bb|C in alto clef

MIDI has viola notes E|F|F,G|G--a direct double of 2nd clarinet.

I believe that the MIDI/MP3 is right--I can't hear an A in a viola rubbing against the B-flat in clarinet 1 at the start of maeasure 3, but I will defer to ears keener than mine.

Jim

**Garritan** · 06-11-2006, 07:14 PM

Originally Posted by snorlax

Gary,

There seems to be a discrepancy between the printed score for the bass melody exerciseand the MIDI/MP3--in the viola part (figures that the viola would be the source of a hose-up

)

Printed score has viola notes G|A|A,Bb|C in alto clef

MIDI has viola notes E|F|F,G|G--a direct double of 2nd clarinet.

I believe that the MIDI/MP3 is right--I can't hear an A in a viola rubbing against the B-flat in clarinet 1 at the start of maeasure 3, but I will defer to ears keener than mine.

Jim

Thanks Jim for pointing this out. I replaced the file with the correct one. Let me know if this is right.

Looking forward to hearing some contrabass melodies.

Gary Garritan

**snorlax** · 06-12-2006, 06:11 PM

OK...
Since I kvetched about the score, I figure I'll make the first post...

Here's my bass melody...

...an MP3

...the printed score

...a MIDI

...and an Overture 4/GPO file

Thanx to Gary for hosting these...

Please help me make it better musically...I'm pretty limited as to processing, so I'm not sure what I can do better in that area.

Please--post some more versions, people!!

Jim

**belkina** · 06-13-2006, 08:27 AM

Thanks for posting a first example! :-)

A few suggestions:

1) the accompaniment does not need all that doubling; just makes it heavy for nothing. And contradicts your "ppp" dynamic. And it will also muddy up the bass melody somewhat.

2) the bass melody (I assume you are writing for a bass SECTION?) is rather lively for such a large instrument. (I'm assuming a rather quick tempo. You should always specify tempo, btw; things which are OK when slow can be disastrous when quick, and vice versa.) Anyway, if you do want something this quick, this is a case where it would be better doubled with cellos at the 8ve: clearer, better defined.

3) on a non-orchestral note: I find the repetition of the motive at the end a bit over-done, given that the phrase is so short.

I hope that is of some use! :-)

Alan

Originally Posted by snorlax

OK...
Since I kvetched about the score, I figure I'll make the first post...

Here's my bass melody...

...an MP3

...the printed score

...a MIDI

...and an Overture 4/GPO file

Thanx to Gary for hosting these...

Please help me make it better musically...I'm pretty limited as to processing, so I'm not sure what I can do better in that area.

Please--post some more versions, people!!

Jim

**snorlax** · 06-13-2006, 10:50 AM

Originally Posted by belkina

Thanks for posting a first example! :-)

A few suggestions:

1) the accompaniment does not need all that doubling; just makes it heavy for nothing. And contradicts your "ppp" dynamic. And it will also muddy up the bass melody somewhat.

2) the bass melody (I assume you are writing for a bass SECTION?) is rather lively for such a large instrument. (I'm assuming a rather quick tempo. You should always specify tempo, btw; things which are OK when slow can be disastrous when quick, and vice versa.) Anyway, if you do want something this quick, this is a case where it would be better doubled with cellos at the 8ve: clearer, better defined.

3) on a non-orchestral note: I find the repetition of the motive at the end a bit over-done, given that the phrase is so short.

I hope that is of some use! :-)

Alan

Alan, THANKS!...

FYI...

I assumed that the accompaniment was a given--that the assignment was to write a melody to the given acc. I didn't want to take the liberty of changing it in any way, so I just went with it as it was after I asked to have the viola part fixed.

The tempo is not quick...it was quarter=38, which I forgot to mark

. My bad. That's why I made the statement at the bottom of the score PDF that I would have written the piece as q=76, with doubled tempo and doubled note values, hence 8 bars. At the given tempo of q=38, it's not that fast.

I'm an extremely crappy "Grab and Pray"* string bass player & I could almost get through it

at q=38. Does it sound that fast on the MP3?
(Yes, I indeed went to a local college where I frequently rehearse and tried it on the bass before brass ens. rehearsal

)

Yes, I agree with doubling at the octave in the cello. (Or perhaps tuba [loco] a la Meistersinger?? Can't recall if the tuba line is in the cello in add'n to the bass part.)

How much liberty can I take with these assignments to change parameters of the accompaniment such as doublings, tempo, voicings, etc??

I also agree about the repetition of the motive...let me see if I can rework that.

Alan, I'm not disputing any of your statements in the least; I just adhered too closely to the LETTER of the assignment, perhaps at the expense of the SPIRIT (or the MUSIC) of the assignment. THANK YOU for taking the time to listen and respond. We need people of your experience, skill, and caring to comment here!! I am setting about the process of improving it per your ideas.
Again, thanks and appreciation.
Jim

*Come to think of it, many of my previous relationships with girlfriends were that way as well.

**belkina** · 06-13-2006, 11:24 AM

Originally Posted by snorlax

Alan, THANKS!...

[...] I'm not disputing any of your statements in the least; I just adhered too closely to the LETTER of the assignment, perhaps at the expense of the SPIRIT (or the MUSIC) of the assignment. THANK YOU for taking the time to listen and respond. We need people of your experience, skill, and caring to comment here!! I am setting about the process of improving it per your ideas.
Again, thanks and appreciation.
Jim

Glad if it helped. I admit I neither looked at the assignment as given very closely (obviously, I did not make it up) nor listened to the MP3, just read your score.

As for the tuba in Meistersinger, I presume you mean in the overture. Yes the celli are present. It's very rare for the tuba to be used on the bass *IN A TUTTI*, without the celli also participating. Can happen, but not at all common.

I hope I was not overly critical, just trying to help ... :-)

**Garritan** · 06-13-2006, 12:18 PM

Originally Posted by snorlax

I assumed that the accompaniment was a given--that the assignment was to write a melody to the given acc. I didn't want to take the liberty of changing it in any way, so I just went with it as it was after I asked to have the viola part fixed.

Snorlax,

Excellent melody! I liked the tempo. It does remind me of what a few bass players I know would do.

You are right about the accompaniment being a given and to write a melody to it. And you did very well for the accompaniment provided.

It would be easiest to use the accompaniment as given but if people want to modify it they are welcome to do so. The important thing is to cover what is being taught - in this case melody in the double basses.

Thanks for being the first. Looking forward to hearing some more.

Gary Garritan

**Leaf** · 06-13-2006, 12:45 PM

Can anyone here tell me how to make a Finale .MUS into a PDF?

**Garritan** · 06-13-2006, 12:53 PM

Originally Posted by Leaf

Can anyone here tell me how to make a Finale .MUS into a PDF?

An easy way to convert Finale to PDF is to use a PDF printer driver so that Finale will print as a PDF file. You insatall the PDF printer driver and to create PDF files you simply select the "print" command from Finale. Here's a free driver you can download: http://www.pdf995.com/

Gary Garritan