Explaining the lapse will be time- and bandwidth-consuming, so: if you really want to know where I’ve been in the interim, feel free to ask me elsewhere or in the comments section below, and I’ll try to fill in the gaps for you.
Two sets of circumstances have converged into a very good reason for picking up where I left off right now.
First, I have just launched a new Facebook Page:
Robert A.M. Ross Music is to be a clearinghouse page where I shall work to keep everyone interested abreast of what I’m up to as a composer, arranger, editor, etc.…if you’ve been following me to any extent, you know to some extent the breadth of my musical activity. And, I would think this sort of social media presence will be a little easier to maintain than this outlet has been.
I’m planning to make this page a repository of links to things I’ve done for the past few years so that everything is available in one centralized location. This will include past blog posts, links to Soundcloud.com recordings, the occasional stray YouTube video, and links to the few extant places where my music has been published and is still available. So, please visit and like the page! I will be sending out “Like” invitations via Facebook; maybe via Twitter, and, eventually, perhaps via Instagram (which I joined only recently & for which I am still in the learning phase).
Update: Yesterday (7/3/19), I created the page, calling it Ralamar Music. However, I received some swift and sage branding advice since putting the page up (that was fast, no?). I am changing the name of the page to Robert A.M. Ross Music as stated above. First: apparently I have to get past my reluctance to use my name as a brand. Second: I have to take Ralamar Music down and start all over with Robert A.M. Ross Music because for some arcane and algorithmic reason, Facebook won’t let me simply change the name of the existing page. So: please stay tuned and look for the new page (and new invites) later today.
Second: I have placed two arrangements with SMP Press, the relatively new publishing arm of sheetmusicplus.com, who, among many other things, holds copyright permissions on hundreds of pop tunes and “standards”—hence: if you are an arranger with a version of a tune for which they hold copyright permissions but never got direct permission to arrange, you can place it with SMP Press (as long as the 1st page prominently contains the sometimes-lengthy copyright notice in full exactly as they have worded it).
This is exactly what I did with two Barbershop Quartet arrangements that I wrote in 1998 for a professional Barbershop quartet named the Synchromatix with whom I sang Tenor (which is really countertenor under any other circumstances, contrary to what the Buffalo Bills sounded like in the movie version of The Music Man—the Barbershop sound paradigm has changed significantly since then).
The two arrangements—That’s Amore and Chattanooga Choo-Choo—were written for the Synchromatix for an outdoor wedding in Philadelphia. I remember absolutely nothing about the event, where it was, why (the groom, I think) wanted these two selections, or even why I was asked to write these arrangements. Nonetheless, this all happened, and now the arrangements are commercially available.
Here’s further background on That’s Amore…
…and on Chattanooga Choo-Choo.
I find it interesting that both of these were originally songs written for movies. Even more interesting is that Glenn Miller’s original recording of Chattanooga Choo-Choo was the 1st Gold Record winner ever, the 78 having sold c. 1.2 million copies.
The listings for both of these pieces include instrumental renditions (thank you, Finale®️ sound-files!) as well as score samplers. So: if you conduct or sing with a men’s choir or Barbershop group of any sort, please look these over and spread the word!
And: if any of the above links don’t work properly, please tell me yesterday so I can fix the problem!
And, once again: please visit and like Robert A.M. Ross Music!
No comments:
Post a Comment