Here is a handpicked list showcasing my previous arrangements, compositions and productions. The initial ideas and work processes are all described in detail next to each piece or song.
Betsy is a latin rock tune I wrote for a jazz band that was looking to play something more appealing for a non-jazz audience. Therefore, I tried approaching this goal by choosing a more common musical form (the 12 bar blues form), keeping all within one key and adding a 2-3 salsa clave. The extra winds have the purpose of adding a novel layer to the song. The inspiration for this song were Tom Waits and Santana.
Gypsy Dresses (Rewinded) is an original middle eastern jazz fusion short piece composed for a specific student ensemble. It implied a standard wind quartet (flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon), a jazz rhythm section (drums, bass, guitar) and cello (as a solo instrument for the end part of the song). Having freedom over all the songwriting aspects allowed me to experiment with the form, ambiguous tonality and overall mood of the track. The end purpose was to showcase each instrument whilst allowing the themes to develop elegantly within the piece.
Deep Blue was written as a modern soul/pop ballad for a full band plus strings. The original includes only piano and voice, so I had to develop the lyrics into a theme and variate it across two different sections, variating the timing and the mood. I made full use of the string as both a melodic and harmonic device, and used the drums extensively to really drive each part of the song. The end result is a whole performance of all instruments, that not only showcases them but also lets the message of the track be eloquently expressed.
Mesopotamia is one of my biggest original pieces in terms of the size of the ensemble, implying a jazz big band plus a symphonic orchestra. Such a composition has yet to find a shape outside the score, since its size, but it showcases my capacity of theme development, stylistic choices and an overall understanding of relating effects to the capacity of instruments.
Invitation is an up-tempo swing big band arrangement of the same jazz standard written by Bronislaw Kaper in 1950. I took the time to showcase the sax section with a soli, the piano with a stride interlude and the trumpet with a solo after the first theme. It is a less common adaption of the standard, as the original is either played as a ballad or slow-tempo tune, but I saw great potential in playing with fast high energy stabs in the theme, so I wanted to give it a chance.
Valurile dunarii was a commission for an amateur student orchestra. They wanted to play an already existing arrangement for a string quintet, but they had a larger incomplete orchestra (9 violins, 1 cello, electric bass, piano, 2 brass, 3 winds), therefore my only job was to reorchestrate the pre-existing score. The lack of low end in the instrumentation made it more difficult to balance out the volumes but, in the end, I did manage to find ways of distributing the voices and making everything sound clear in the event of a performance.
Tartar Sonata is a modern/impressionist modal chamber piece written for solo clarinet and piano. This was commissioned for a friend of mine in preparation for his final bachelor recital, so there was a little more expectation in terms of virtuosity. I took inspiration from Ravel for the piano parts, and from Balkan folk tunes for the clarinet part, as I intended to create something that would fuse traditional and classical elements, to have a unique end result. The final piece ended up being loved by both listeners and the performers, which ultimately represents my goal.
Lateralus is perhaps one of the wildest arranging experiments I did. The original is a progressive metal song by the band Tool that always stood out for its complexity. In the process of transforming it into a big band piece, I had to take a different perspective on the use of guitar, brass and saxes. I figured the best way to resemble the strength of the distorted guitar was to use the trombones and saxes in identical closed voicings, thus giving it such a thick and heavy sound. I am so proud of this project and excited to try out similar gigs in the future.
