BRASS BANDS A brass band is a musical ensemble consisting almost entirely of a standard range of brass instruments. The typical brass band sound comes from the set types and shapes of instruments used: the flugelhorn, soprano cornet and baritone horn, for example, help to create the bright, melodic sound of a brass band, very different from the dark and symphonic sound typical of orchestral brass.
Brass instrument: any of a group of wind instruments (such as a French horn, trombone, trumpet, or tuba) that is usually characterized by a long cylindrical or conical metal tube commonly curved two or more times and ending in a flared bell, that produces tones by the vibrations of the player’s lips against a usually cup-shaped mouthpiece, and that usually has valves or a slide by which the player may produce all the tones within the instrument’s range
Nathan Bingle New Orleans, United States
The first brass band was created in 1809 thanks to Mr.Turner, with the name of Coxlodge Band. Mr.Tuner was the owner of the homonimus company of coal industries, who decided to provide a hobby and some music to his employees. This idea was so appreciated that it spread through the whole England creating hundreds of industrial brass bands. The brass bands gained a lot of importance for the British musical and social life during the period between the 1860 and the 1930, providing enterteinement, not only for workers, but also in parks and in religious and political marches and shows. With time also the players progressed from being amatorials to professionals.
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The Joy of Film UK
1809
Sunyu KIm
Girlesque is an Italian Brass Band of Tuscany composed by only women players who dance while playing
Girls in bands
The brass bands were mainly a male hobby until the start of the 30’s. Thanks to the suffragette movement and the gain of social consciousness, women joined this field creating an alternative to only men bands.The inclusion of women in the bands was also helped by the start of World War II. This event emptied the industries and the bands of men left to fight the war.
European fanfares
The fanfare orchestras or concert bands were a phenomenum that was born in Europe taking inspiration from the British brass bands. This ensemble spread in Belgium, France, Spain, Luxemburg, Germany and Italy and included a group of woodwinds.The bands lost their first role to entertein the workers and were only focused on military, civil and religious events.
JAZZ
Funeral
The jazz funerals were dedicated excusively to black people and to important musicians of New Orleans. They were pretty common in the black part of New Orleans and every important jazz musician played in one of those. Among those players it is possible to find Louis Armostrong, Joe “King” Oliver, Buddy Bolden and more. Nico Bhlr New Orleans, United States
The structure of the funureals was pretty much always the same. The first part was the way to the graveyard that was usually accompanied by slow and sad african music on a 4/4 rythm. Leading the line was the coffin, followed by the brass band and by a march of people. After the mess the band led the people outside the graveyard with the rumble of a drum and after reaching the streets started to play again. The music played on the way back was jazz and ragtime on a joyfull 2/4 rythm and spread a feeling of party all around the city. The march of people followed the band dancing, eating and drinking. Two of the most famous songs were “Didn’t he ramble” and “When the Saints go marching in”. The songs were also open to improvisation since the players used to play without a partiture. The jazz funerals are still part of New Orleans’s everyday life and anyone can have it. If you pass nerby one of those you may join the march as long as you are respectfull
Morgan Petroski New Orleans, United States
Nico Marks New Orleans, United States
Let's Jazz it!
Now days the New Orleans’ brass bands are taken as an example from the bands of the whole world. The jazz bands are not anymore only part of the black culture, but they are an international phenomenon that changes and modifies itself with new type of sounds and styles.
The history of brass bands is mixed with the history of jazz. There are different stories on how and where it was born. Chicago, New York and many other cities try to gain the priviledge of being the crudle of jazz, but the most famous myths make New Orleans the winner of this fight. At the beginning of the 19th Century New Orleans was the forth biggest city of America and was full of etnies, religions, cultures and believes. The city was divided into 2 parts: uptown and downtown. Downtown was the rich part of the city, there lived the salves owners and the European. The only people who were allowed to live there were white people and creole people born from a relationship between the black slaves and their owners. The uptown was the poor part of the city and it was inhabitated by slaves. In this part of the town the European culture was not imposed and the main culture was the African one. The famous New Orleans brass band got created with the beginning of racial theories. The racial ideas forced the creole to move to uptown and live with the slaves. With the mix of the European culture, brought by the creole, and the African culture, strongly present in uptown, the jazz was born. This primitive form of jazz was the union between the drum and gospel music of the black African slaves with the ragtime and orchestras music of the European brass bands. The first to play this new kind of music were the brass bands created by both professional and ameteur players of the uptown.
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The brass bands are now famous all around the world. They have become an international phenomenon spread all over the developed countries and mixed with their social life. This allowed the creation of new and different styles of music and new way of thinking the band.
Back Prese
to the ent!
The music is not anymore the same. From a common starting point of jazz and marching music, the brass bands play Hip-pop, funk, pop, balkan music, techno and new styles of jazz. The different influences also helped to create new styles and new sounds that create a variation to the classic band music.
The band lost their original size and shape. A band can be just a group of 3 people or a big amount of players, it can have a strict dresscode or dressed casual. The bands are not anymore forced to play just in the streets but they also play in stadium, theaters, discos and pubs. Even the instruments are not always the classic ones and may include typical folkloristic instruments, different types of percussion and even a DJ set.
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marching band
Steffi Rettinger Official MEUTE’s photo
When the bass drops and the confetti blows up: MEUTE breaks the code. The Techno Marching Band combines hypnotic driving techno and expressive brass band music, freeing electronic music from the DJ desk and overhauling the image of marching bands.
Wh
ho They Are They started as an experiment and evolved to a world-acclaimed phenomenon in a minimum time. Just drums and brass, no computers involved, this is all they need to revolutionize techno music and bring it back to its roots at the same time. The eleven musicians in their iconic red jackets have managed to spread their love for hand-made electronic music all over the planet. The videos of their impromptu street gigs regularly attract millions of views.
German techno marching band takes to the streets At 9:45pm Tuesday, on the corner of Red River and Seventh, Meute introduced itself to Austin and SXSW.
The dozen-piece marching band from Hamburg wore regal red jackets with flair like smiley face rave buttons. A huge crowd formed, listeners even dancing their way into the center of the band. Despite a lack of synthesizers, they were clearly playing Germany’s greatest musical export – techno – and specifically, a cover of Ame’s 2005 classic “Rej.”
AUSTIN CHRONICLE AND SXSW’S MEUTE REVIEW
Sounds like an unlikely combination, but it works. A xylophone carries the synth leads, tuba supplies a pulsing bass, and a massive bass drum simulates an 808. The horn players cleverly use hand mutes to emulate the sound of a high pass filter, and there’s moments where the entire band slurs into a break, as if a DJ had added an echo effect.
Jennifer Schmid MUETE in Live
Then Meute a pair of con canons and erupted
e unleashed nfetti d the crowd The impromptu street performance proceeded their official 12:20am showcase at the Main II. Inside, engineers mic’d them admirably, showing that in addition to energy, these guys had tone. During their version of Laurent Garnier’s “The Man With the Red Face,” they knelt down to the floor and a packed house followed suit, crouching while a trumpet melody mimicking house synth stabs built into a massive drop. Then Meute unleashed a pair of confetti canons and the crowd erupted. The most interesting element of the performance was that people instinctively reacted to it like electronic dance music. People moved as if they were in a nightclub, rather than a New Orleans second line parade. Even without any technology, everyone could tell it was techno.
Wozniak MUETE in Live
Wozniak MUETE in Live
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interview
brass band
In short we just call it a hip-hop brass band Youngblood Brass Band originally started in Madison, Wisconsin, USA, in the late 1990's. We've been touring for about 20 years, and have released 8 albums.
We take direct inspiration from the brass bands of New Orleans, combined with a lot a hip-hop, punk, jazz, and afro-caribbean influences. In short we just call it a hip-hop brass band. Beth Skogen Photography Official Young Blood Brass Band photo
Born and raised Musicians Many of us first went to New Orleans when we were teenagers, because there was a band here called Mama Digdowns that was playing traditional New Orleans brass band music. This New Orleans music felt much heavier and more meaningful (for us) than the funk or ska bands of the time, because of the history of the culture. A number of us joined that band while we were still in high school, and they took us to New Orleans, where welearned so much about the music and the culture. The New Orleans Brass Band culture is different than in much of the world, because it is music that comes from the jazz funeral, and later became dance music that the entire city recognized as something special to New Orleans. This wasn't music that
was just for 'fun', even though it is very celebratory music. The joyfulness of the music was imbued with serious purpose, serious history, which is why it was so heavy, and why we have never music enjoyed a more 'comedic' approach to brass band music... it feels disrespectful, for us, to the music's roots.
Beth Skogen Photography Young Blood Brass Band in Live
Young Blood Brass Band Album Cover
Today's approach to Music There is so much more music available than ever before, which is great, but there are also fewer and fewer people (young people especially) interested in making live music an important part of their lives. We are all able to research and watch or listen to any music at any time, thanks to the internet, which means the breadth of our knowledge is vast, but the depth of our knowledge suffers, because one no longer has to really dig and work to find what one loves... and that 'old school' commitment to finding the source of the thing you love is part of how one develops a deep relationship to it. As far as the situation of brass bands... there has been a rise in the number of brass bands in recent years, which is obviously a cool thing, and we're happy to somehow have been a part of bringing brass band music to where it is today. One of the benefits of the aforementioned internet culture is that many people discover bands like us, so there's obviously pros and cons.
Key to Success
Study the history, study the grooves, study why the music exists,practice a lot, perform a lot, and don’t be afraid to be critical of yourself. Learn the music beyond just the notes, and then learn how to sound like yourself. Be truly invested.
credits
Free University of Bozen-Bolzano Faculty of Design and Art Bachelor in Design and Art – Major in Design WUP 19/20 | 1st-semester foundation course Project Module: Editorial Design
Fonts | Font Sizes & Leading: Body Text Geogrotesque 10/14 pt Caption Text Geogrotesque 7 pt
Design by: Matteo Falcone Magazine | Brass Play Loud
Title Text Geogrotesque 72/120 pt INTRO 72/90 pt
Supervision: Project leader: Prof. Antonino Benincasa Project assistants: Maximilian Boiger, Andreas Trenker
Subtitle Text Geogrotesque 32/36 pt INTRO 32/36 pt
Photography: Nathan Bringle (Page 1-2) The Joy of Film (Page 3) Sunyu Kim (Page 4) Nico Bhlr (Page 10) Morgan Petroski (Page 10) Nico Marks (Page 11) Steff Rettinger (page 18-19) Jennifer Schmid (Page 21) Wozniek (Page 24-25) Beth Skogen Photography (Page 29-31)
Layout Grid: 6 Column Grid
Illustartion: Paul Grelet (Page 8-9)
Printed: Bozen-Bolzano, January 2020 Inside pages – Digital Print | Canon Cover – Digital Print | Roland UV
Paper: Inside pages – Digital Paper, 120 g/m2 Cover – Courious Skin Black, 270 g/m2 Format: 190xy x 250xy mm
Module proportion: 1.316 : 1 CPL | Character per line - Body Text: 55 characters including spaces Binding: Saddle stitch binding