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- Reference section to accompany AtariPhile Cubase Scoring on p54/55
- ===========================================================================
-
- French Horn
- -----------
- French horn is normally in F so writing a C on the score will result in an
- F being sounded seven semitones below (perfect fifth). It is written on
- the treble clef but can go to the bass clef if a section would otherwise
- have many leger lines. Uniquely French horn players do not have key
- signatures, everything is written in C. How they cope with music written
- in B major (F sharp major for them) just plastered in accidentals, I'll
- never know, sigh! There are other problems to bear in mind. One concerns
- mute or hand stopping, frequently used for quiet passages (write 'stopped'
- on the score), where the player stuffs their hand into the bell of the
- horn. This raises the pitch a semitone so you need to make allowances for
- this in the score. Always remember the horn is very powerful, and high
- notes have to be blown harder. Four French horns playing 'fff' can drown
- out an entire orchestra. Play it safe with the dynamics.
-
- Trumpet
- -------
- The trumpet in normal use is the B flat trumpet. It is written a whole
- tone above the actual sound, so if you write a C, a Bb is played. There is
- a D and E flat trumpet which are both smaller and produce higher notes.
- The D trumpet is written a tone below that which it sounds and the E flat
- trumpet is written a tone and a half, or three semitones (minor third)
- below the actual sound.
-
- Trombone
- --------
- Trombones come in the tenor or B flat, and sometimes the bass or G. They
- sound as written and both on the bass clef - jump to the treble clef to
- avoid masses of leger lines if necessary. The trombone is quite agile but
- if you want very fast lines you must remember the purpose of the slide.
- Although it can occasionally be used for a slithery sort of glissando, the
- slide has seven positions. The notes in the first position (slide fully
- in) are (going up) Bb, F, D, F, Ab, Bb and each position gives the same
- series of notes but a semitone lower. Though some notes do occur in
- several positions it is best to avoid the player having to move very
- quickly from the seventh position (slide full out) to the first position
- (slide fully in) very rapidly.
-
- Tuba
- ----
- The tuba is normally in F, though there are also bigger C tubas. They
- sound as written and on the bass clef with key signatures. The tuba is
- pretty agile and can get up quite high and still sounds good. Its main
- problem is it doesn't combine well with trombones and trumpets, being a
- 'wide bore' brass its sound is more akin to the 'Brass Band'. However,
- it's great to add power to the overall sound of the ensemble, but if it's
- mainly a 'brass section' the double bass trombone blends better.
-
- Drums
- -----
- Drums have their own set of rules and it is worth using drum notation
- which many drummers can read to some extent. Set the Staff Settings to 'No
- Overlap' and just put in the first few bars of the drum pattern. Below are
- the main notes used by modern drummers. Cubase allows you to set up
- separate drum maps to re-map the midi notes to the correct score notes and
- types of note heads.