Pentoloux Blog
Checking in!
Hey folks, it’s been a while! Life has been pretty hectic and I haven’t had too much time to update on here, so here’s a few things that have been going on here with Pentoloux –
Wispy Dragon has been updated to version 2.2 and sound phenomenal! I’ve freshened up a lot of the harmonies and added the missing “normal” parts (Oboe 2, Clarinet 3, Turmpet 3, Horns 3-4) to really liven and put the final polish on the piece. I’m waiting to update the SoundCloud listing until I have the updated parts ready to go, but I’ll have those live soon. This also includes a score follower video on YouTube, so be on the lookout for that!
Murmuring Bosk, a piece I wrote back in college, has been re-edited, re-engraved and finally recorded with the help of friend and UNCG colleague Isaac Pyatt. It’s a little jazz/Fleck-inspired duet for Banjo and Marimba that plays around with both instruments’ abilities to play both lead and back-up equally well. Bosk is available on this site for digital download and includes tablature for the banjo part. You can also view the performance video here!
Lastly, I’m working on a new percussion ensemble piece with a name that has become kind of an in-joke with my wife and an inspiration that matches it. I’ll be finishing up and unveiling the piece in the next month or so.
Until next time!
Music is ready to go!
Music is ready to go!
I’m incredibly happy to announce that both Wispy Dragon in a Cotton-Candy Sky and Yrro and Pthia are now available to purchase in their full band forms!
Monthly? Update!
Monthy? Update
Hey folks! It’s been a while since I’ve updated on here. A lot has happened in the past month, what with the election and COVID-conscious holiday, so here’s what I’ve been up to this past month:
Headshots!
A got together with my good friend Hayes Pierson and did a small photoshoot to get some pictures of me up on the site. Hayes mostly works on architectural photography, but he’s got great vision and skills to do personal photoshoots, too! Check out his work over at www.HayesTheHayes.com
New Instruments!
I’m finally branching out in the world of recorded music and have picked up both an electric guitar and electric bass to start learning and recording
Music for Sale!
Finally, I finally set up the storefront options to sell two of my pieces already listed on the site: Wispy Dragon (Flex) and Growing Ranks (Full and Flex) are now available for digital download! Wispy Flex includes the score and each part in an array of transpositions, plus a drum set part that covers the percussion (and could be played by multiple percussionists). Growing Ranks includes the scores for both the Full Band and Flex Band versions, parts for the Full Band version and the Flex Parts in the same array of transpositions, a piano reduction to fill in anything that’s missing, timpani and percussion parts for 3-4 players.
Still working on getting the Full Band version of Wispy Dragon ready for shipment, and I may also have Yrro and Pthia available in the next month or so.
So that’s what’s going on in Pentoloux-land. Take care and be safe!
Weekly Update 10/24
Oh wow, where to being for this week! I didn’t accomplish nearly as much on the site this week as I wanted to, because things went sideways real quick. Long story short, our cat Bento had to go to the ER for some surgery to remove some toy that he ate, among a lot of other crazy things that took away a lot of time and attention. So I don’t have purchases enabled quite yet. BUT I did get some other things done:
I have completed a new work for beginning band, in both full band and flexible/adaptable band forms. Growing Ranks is a simple march in the Sousa form that uses simple rhythms and only the first 5 notes of the Bb Major scale, perfect for a group of students brand new to their instruments and learning about how everything works. The piece was originally concepted in five parts: Soprano 1 (Piccolo/Flute/Oboe), Soprano 2 (Clarinet, Trumpet), Alto (Alto Sax, Horn in F), Tenor (Tenor Sax, Trombone, Euphonium) and Bass (Bassoon, Bass Clarinet, Baritone Sax, Tuba, String Bass), plus Percussion. This provides the usual doubling that you find in early band literature, as well as an easy way to convert it into a Flexible scoring version in SSATB+Percussion. The Flex Band version also includes a piano reduction to fill any voices that might be missing. Both the Full Band and Flexible Scoring version will be offered as a single digital download in the near future.
That’s all for this week!
Weekly Update 2!
Got a few new things to update on this week!
We’re delaying going live with the purchasing options this week to give me a little more time to figure that all out. I want to make sure it’s all working right before it goes live and I start advertising elsewhere. But some other cool things happened this week:
A Logo
Drew up a cool new logo and figured out how to digitize it!
And with a Logo comes…
Business Cards!
Got QR code links on the back for both the website and a digital version of the card.
Lastly,
Pentoloux is now registered through ASCAP
Getting everything all official, we also now have an email for people to send their programs for performances: Programs@Pentoloux.com
That’s about it for this week!
Weekly Update 1
The website has been live for a week! I haven’t made too many changes to it, but there are some exciting things in the works that I should get live soon.
Purchase Options
I’m currently working on the storefront elements of the website and should be able to sell scores and parts soon. For the larger concert band works, scores will be available in printed and bound 18×11 versions, either separately or bundled with sets of letter-sized parts. I’m still working on the printing and shipping so it may be another week before I have everything ready to go.
Wispy Dragon for Flex Band
Shortly I’ll have up another page for Wispy Dragon, but as a Flex Band piece! With the COVID-19 Pandemic, there’s been a push towards publishing pieces for smaller, adaptable ensembles. This mostly means stripping down full-size concert works to between four and six parts, plus percussion. In this case, Wispy Dragon will be available in SSATB + Optional Drumset. I’ll eventually publish it as a stand-alone piece for Wind Quintet, since the SSATB voicing fits that ensemble, and the piece’s nature and texture lends itself very well for it.
A New Work for Early Band
I’ve been working on sketching out a new piece for Early Band, around grade 0.5-1, which will be written largely in the same SSATB + Percussion style as Wispy Flex. Keep an eye out for it!