“Air from Water Music Suite in F”
Download instructions and examples here- Midi Arranging Advanced-Pt 1
1. Original
Open Finale Song Writer.
Use wizard to set score for four trombone lines.
Change first three lines to treble clef and keep the fourth line in bass clef.
Save as “Water Music- Trumpet Score”.
Open another window and paste the following Url into the “open” window. Change file type to “Midi”
http://www.amclassical.com/midi/handel_waterair.mid
Save this score as “Original Midi Score”.
2. Remove Horn Parts
Select “Staff Tool” (second line, second button from the left, top of page).
Click on box just to the left of the treble clef sign on the Horn 1 part.
Hit “Delete” key on keyboard to remove horn 1.
Repeat with horn 2.
Save work.
Print score.
3. Change the following
Part placement, remove trills, change names on score, change bass clef to treble, raise bottom line an octave, and change time signature
Click on the “Selection Tool” button (second line, first button) and select the melody in the fourth line by clicking in the area between the flat and the time signature.
Copy the line and paste it into the top line of “Water Music- Trumpet Score”.
Continue copying and pasting the remaining lines into your new score. Make note of order of parts in score.
Change the remaining bass clef line into a treble clef line and transpose it up an octave (utilities at top, then transpose, then up an octave from box).
Play your score and see if it all fits. It should sound acceptable even though the bottom line is an octave higher than the original.
Remove trills- Trills can be a problem at this point and it will take time and careful editing to remove the midi executed trills. Take the trills out and replace the removed notes with a more basic note line. The trills will be replaced at a later time.
Change time signature from 8/8 to 4/4 by clicking on “Time Signature” button and them on the first measure of the top line. Change the 8/8 to 4/4.
4. Transpose to a better key and adjust range
This number is written in the key of F (one flat) and after viewing the score, I noticed that by changing the key from F to G, most of the notes in the bottom part could be played by the fourth trumpet so you now need to transpose the score up to the key of G. To do this, click on the key signature button, third from the left. Next, click in the middle of the first measure, top line in your score. This brings up the area you will be able to change keys in your score. Use the up button to change the key from F to G the click OK. Your score is now in a better key to perform.
Save work.
The top three parts are in good shape for range but the fourth part as in most cases must be altered to fit in the range of the instrument. When ever possible, try to keep the part as low as the instrument can perform which means lowering notes when ever possible and raising notes which are out of the range of the instrument.
Save work.
5. Shorten score
In most midi scores, there will be a lot of repeated material and in order to save time in editing, you need to find out what material is repeated and use repeat signs to save time.
Use your select tool and click in the first measure of the first line of your score. All of this line will be selected and now open a new window with an empty lead part window. Paste the first line into this page. Now you will more easily be able to see the repeated sections.
The basic form of this piece is an ABABDCD which means you can put in a repeat from the end of measure 36 back to the beginning, cut out measures 37- 62 and continue to the end. That will save a tremendous amount of duplication when editing. It also gives you the option of taking the repeat or cutting it shorter with no repeat.
Save work.
Stay tuned for the final episode of this program!
