Thanks!WGWTR180 wrote: Mon Jun 09, 2025 8:12 am Congratulations! I played the original National Tour in '97 when it hired locals. Fun show. Hoping they kept all off the great bass trombone parts!
Hope they left some of the good bass parts in the show. I'm assuming the tenor will take care of some missing french horn parts. Have a great time! Looks like you're coming to Hartford, CT next year? I live in W. Hartford and am the local music contractor for the theater you'll be in.Jhereg wrote: Mon Jun 09, 2025 2:55 pmThanks!WGWTR180 wrote: Mon Jun 09, 2025 8:12 am Congratulations! I played the original National Tour in '97 when it hired locals. Fun show. Hoping they kept all off the great bass trombone parts!
This is a new show with new costumes, choreo, and orchestration, so the parts are somewhat different. It is no longer a bass trombone/tuba book, but tenor/bass trombone, if that tells you anything.
Interestingly, I only seem to be a faux French horn a few times. The majority of the book is similar to the 90s version. Differences I've noticed are that they've cut Maison des Lunes, the Wolf Attacks are both completely different (those scenes are now done with a very cool high-tech screen), and the bigger dance numbers (Gaston, Be Our Guest) are significantly differently orchestrated. I think the rest of the part is much the same. I suspect I might be covering more cello and bass stuff. We're also performing with a thing called keycomp, which they also used on Frozen. Some kind of sample bank/instrument simulator and a keyboardist plays it along with us.Hope they left some of the good bass parts in the show. I'm assuming the tenor will take care of some missing french horn parts. Have a great time! Looks like you're coming to Hartford, CT next year? I live in W. Hartford and am the local music contractor for the theater you'll be in.
Ahhh yes I had forgotten that Disney is the Keycomp king. I just played my first National Tour that uses keycomp-Back to the Future. By itself it's a mushy sound-with "real" musicians added in it's a better sound but still sounds very processed. You'll get very familiar with keycomp in no time. Also the 90's version of Beauty and the Beast that I played in 1997 was the original orchestration from Broadway-Bass trombone and tuba. That was what was used on Broadway(Paul Faulise) and was the norm on the first National Tour. Not sure how long that tour lasted as I only did 5 weeks. Later versions changed as the tour went self-contained and went from a 24 piece orchestra to smaller, and smaller, and smaller.Jhereg wrote: Wed Jun 18, 2025 7:57 pmInterestingly, I only seem to be a faux French horn a few times. The majority of the book is similar to the 90s version. Differences I've noticed are that they've cut Maison des Lunes, the Wolf Attacks are both completely different (those scenes are now done with a very cool high-tech screen), and the bigger dance numbers (Gaston, Be Our Guest) are significantly differently orchestrated. I think the rest of the part is much the same. I suspect I might be covering more cello and bass stuff. We're also performing with a thing called keycomp, which they also used on Frozen. Some kind of sample bank/instrument simulator and a keyboardist plays it along with us.Hope they left some of the good bass parts in the show. I'm assuming the tenor will take care of some missing french horn parts. Have a great time! Looks like you're coming to Hartford, CT next year? I live in W. Hartford and am the local music contractor for the theater you'll be in.
Yes, we're doing Hartford, I'll try to remember that or remind me!
As we travel I'm really hoping to do some masterclasses as well, so will post here regarding that at some point. I did a few while on other tours and it was very rewarding. Wish that someone had done a "What's it like" Q&A when I was in school!
Anyway, hope to meet up in Hartford!
It's a split tenor/bass trombone book. Very tiring show to play-especially considering that our week began on Wednesday with a 5 hour rehearsal, 90 minute sound check, and then a performance followed by 2 shows Thursday, 1 show Friday, and 2 on Saturday ending with 2 on Sunday. Tenor trombone part is all over the instrument sometimes jumping over 2 octaves from one bar to the next. Meaty bass trombone part down to pedal F. One better know both instruments well on this one.bus2 wrote: Thu Jun 19, 2025 9:14 am What is the Back to the Future trombone part like? Fun to play?
For sure, for sure. I've worked with a similar program called Notion, on Elf the Musical, with NETworks. It was definitely less-than-fun.Schultz wrote: Thu Jun 19, 2025 2:18 am The keycomp was developed over here in Europe and is amazing for producers as it saves money on live musicians but is the bane of any musician that has to either play it or play with it. It’s no fun to work with in any way. It’s used mainly in Disney musicals. I know it’s currently used for versions of Aladdin, Lion King, Frozen, B&TB and probably more I can’t think of at present. One draw back is if the keyboardist playing it makes a mistake it sounds like half the orchestra did. My advice to you is turn it down in your mix!
I saw the National Tour of Frozen here in the states because a friend and colleague was in the orchestra. The overall sound of the orchestra with the key comp was muddy and the sound engineer was using lots of reverb. It kinda sounded like a bigger orchestra but not really. Obviously no one's fault who was actually in the pit performing. Leave it to Disney to use this technology.Rusty wrote: Fri Jun 27, 2025 7:36 am I’m just finishing up a season of BATB here in Adelaide, Australia. It’s a great book and a super fun show to play. About 50-50 tenor/bass, with some big bass moments especially.
The KeyComp hasn’t been too bad, in this show you kind of need it in your mix because it’s the rest of your section and actually gives a feeling of a bit more support. I played on Frozen as well and where that was 24 piece orchestration, this is I believe a 35 piece, with 3 or 4 more times the KeyComp inputs. From all accounts it sounds like a full orchestra out front, I’ve had many musician friends with good ears who have seen the show and been very impressed. In saying that I’m also nervous of what this means for live musicians long term!
The bone book isn’t necessarily marked with definite ‘tenor’ or ‘bass’ directions all the time, so there are some tunes and transitions where you could play them on either horn, especially if your tenor has a valve, (I’m playing a large bore Yamaha 882 tenor and 822g bass). The book has some pencil markings that suggest someone before me has played the tenor stuff on small bore, it’s possible but would require some seriously fast switches. The tenor stuff has a lot of low-mid range, quasi bass type playing, and doesn’t go higher than a lone high A and a handful of high Eb-Fs, so it really feels like a medium/large bore book to me.
I heard similar reports of Frozen from out front, and didn’t particularly like playing with the KeyComp through the cans, where I think this is certainly a level up, and sounds more like a studio recording out front. It also obviously depends on the theatre and sound system, and even where you’re sitting in some theatres. I’ve heard plenty of shows without KeyComp with very ordinary mixes that have been very underwhelming, especially when you know the musos are busting their arses down in the pit!WGWTR180 wrote: Fri Jun 27, 2025 1:19 pmI saw the National Tour of Frozen here in the states because a friend and colleague was in the orchestra. The overall sound of the orchestra with the key comp was muddy and the sound engineer was using lots of reverb. It kinda sounded like a bigger orchestra but not really. Obviously no one's fault who was actually in the pit performing. Leave it to Disney to use this technology.Rusty wrote: Fri Jun 27, 2025 7:36 am I’m just finishing up a season of BATB here in Adelaide, Australia. It’s a great book and a super fun show to play. About 50-50 tenor/bass, with some big bass moments especially.
The KeyComp hasn’t been too bad, in this show you kind of need it in your mix because it’s the rest of your section and actually gives a feeling of a bit more support. I played on Frozen as well and where that was 24 piece orchestration, this is I believe a 35 piece, with 3 or 4 more times the KeyComp inputs. From all accounts it sounds like a full orchestra out front, I’ve had many musician friends with good ears who have seen the show and been very impressed. In saying that I’m also nervous of what this means for live musicians long term!
The bone book isn’t necessarily marked with definite ‘tenor’ or ‘bass’ directions all the time, so there are some tunes and transitions where you could play them on either horn, especially if your tenor has a valve, (I’m playing a large bore Yamaha 882 tenor and 822g bass). The book has some pencil markings that suggest someone before me has played the tenor stuff on small bore, it’s possible but would require some seriously fast switches. The tenor stuff has a lot of low-mid range, quasi bass type playing, and doesn’t go higher than a lone high A and a handful of high Eb-Fs, so it really feels like a medium/large bore book to me.
Rusty wrote: Fri Jun 27, 2025 7:36 am I’m just finishing up a season of BATB here in Adelaide, Australia. It’s a great book and a super fun show to play. About 50-50 tenor/bass, with some big bass moments especially.
The KeyComp hasn’t been too bad, in this show you kind of need it in your mix because it’s the rest of your section and actually gives a feeling of a bit more support. I played on Frozen as well and where that was 24 piece orchestration, this is I believe a 35 piece, with 3 or 4 more times the KeyComp inputs. From all accounts it sounds like a full orchestra out front, I’ve had many musician friends with good ears who have seen the show and been very impressed. In saying that I’m also nervous of what this means for live musicians long term!
The bone book isn’t necessarily marked with definite ‘tenor’ or ‘bass’ directions all the time, so there are some tunes and transitions where you could play them on either horn, especially if your tenor has a valve, (I’m playing a large bore Yamaha 882 tenor and 822g bass). The book has some pencil markings that suggest someone before me has played the tenor stuff on small bore, it’s possible but would require some seriously fast switches. The tenor stuff has a lot of low-mid range, quasi bass type playing, and doesn’t go higher than a lone high A and a handful of high Eb-Fs, so it really feels like a medium/large bore book to me.
Love your comprehensive description of this book and how it fits with the section and keycomp.Rusty wrote: Fri Jun 27, 2025 7:36 am I’m just finishing up a season of BATB here in Adelaide, Australia. It’s a great book and a super fun show to play. About 50-50 tenor/bass, with some big bass moments especially.
The KeyComp hasn’t been too bad, in this show you kind of need it in your mix because it’s the rest of your section and actually gives a feeling of a bit more support. I played on Frozen as well and where that was 24 piece orchestration, this is I believe a 35 piece, with 3 or 4 more times the KeyComp inputs. From all accounts it sounds like a full orchestra out front, I’ve had many musician friends with good ears who have seen the show and been very impressed. In saying that I’m also nervous of what this means for live musicians long term!
The bone book isn’t necessarily marked with definite ‘tenor’ or ‘bass’ directions all the time, so there are some tunes and transitions where you could play them on either horn, especially if your tenor has a valve, (I’m playing a large bore Yamaha 882 tenor and 822g bass). The book has some pencil markings that suggest someone before me has played the tenor stuff on small bore, it’s possible but would require some seriously fast switches. The tenor stuff has a lot of low-mid range, quasi bass type playing, and doesn’t go higher than a lone high A and a handful of high Eb-Fs, so it really feels like a medium/large bore book to me.
