I finally got around to finishing the second edition of my marching band arrangement of Brick House by the Commodores. I'll pass it along to the director of the Marching Virginians when I fly up and hope that it works better than the current version. I've put a MIDI file of the piece up on the Music page under Arrangements.

The problem you have to watch out for with arrangements like these is that the band isn't always composed of top-notch musicians. A lick that I, as the arranger, found simple and straightforward could just sound bad in the hands of three Animal Science majors with home-whittled clarinets. When the audience finally hears the arrangement, they usually don't separate the band from the writing, so the arranger's reputation could suffer as a result.

My counterpoint professor didn't notice that I used "Deck the Halls" as a cantus firmus in my last homework assignment, but I got a 99 nonetheless. I'm such a musical geek; if this composing thing doesn't pan out, I can always go on the road doing modal vocal arrangements of popular melodies. What the world really needs is a Phrygian version of "Surfer Girl".