Take Flight

Duration: 2' 42"

Dominic Sewell, orchestrator/arranger

Simon Passmore, orchestral programmer

Chris Rosser, mixing engineer/electric guitar/bass

John Elleson-Hartley, mastering engineer

River Guerguerian, drums/shakers

Maggie Medlin, vocals

Eric Turnnessen, vocals

Production Status

✅ Composition 2001

✅ Transcription Dec 2023

✅ Orchestration/Arranging May 2024

✅ Orchestral Programming Sep 2024

✅ Studio Recording Sep 2024

✅ Mixing Oct 2024

✅ Mastering Nov 2024

Recording in the Studio

I had a lot of fun going into the studio to record guitar, drum, voice and additional percussion parts. In the video below I share clips from the studio sessions along with the score.

Instrumentation

2 Flutes (2nd doubling Piccolo)

1 Oboe

2 Bb Clarinets

2 Bassoons

4 Horns in F

3 Trumpets in Bb

2 Trombones

Bass Trombone

Tuba

Timpani

Percussion (Marimba, Triangle, Wood block, Claves, Shaker, Sus. Cymbal, Mark Tree, Drum Set, Snare Drum, Cymbals, Tam-Tam)

Electric Guitar

Bass Guitar

Violin I (6)*

Violin II (6)*

Viola (5)*

Cello (5)*

Contrabass (3)*

*double string section with overdubs

Orchestral Programming

The orchestral programming for this piece was done by Simon Passmore. None of the orchestral instruments are played by real players, it's all performed and mocked up by Simon. If you're interested in learning more about this fascinating process I suggest watching the interview below.

Here's a recording of just the orchestral elements that Simon programmed.

Original Synth Mockup

This is the original composition that started it all. I performed all of this using a Roland XP-80 synthesizer. You'll notice it's about twice as long and that's because we cut the second repeat of the first section to arrive at the fanfare sooner and there's a whole darker, B section which we ended up cutting for this updated version.