Echelon Music Press

06/20/2025

How I write tunes. Titles-part B.

Titles from movie references:

Imminent Rueage: Twister (The first one). " He will rue the day he came up against the extreme. We are talking Imminent Rueage!"
In The Forest of the Happy Trees: A tribute to Bob Ross, Landscape artist extraordinaire.
Rhythmic Ceremonial Rituals: Back to the Future part 1. When Marty and Doc Brown go to the high school, they are discussing a way to get Marty's parents together. "The enchantment under the sea dance. Yes! Some kind of Rhythmic Ceremonial Ritual".
The Legend of the Loc-Naar: The evil force from the fantasy movie "Heavy Metal".
Necron 99: An assassin renamed "peace" in the Ralph Bakshi animated feature "Wizards".
Elinore, Fairy Princess of Montagar: From the movie "Wizards"
Blackwolf: The dark wizard from Ralph Bashki's "Wizards"

WWII:
Caravan to Midnight: Jews being transported to Auschwitz.
The Burned Earth: Russian destruction of Austria after the war.
Their Ashes Fell Like Snow: death camp crematoriums.
Escape from Sobibor: Escape from concentration camp.
Ghost Army

Titles from books:
The Songs of Distant Earth: sci-fi from Arthur C. Clarke
Revival: Stephen King
Do Penguins Have Knees?: David Feldman
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep: Stephen Dick short story which was the basis of "Blade Runner".
The Lorax: Dr. Suess

More to come!

06/20/2025

How I write tunes: Third installment.

People seem to find my titles of songs interesting, humorous and sometimes perplexing. So, I will give you a rundown of some of my catalog and what they mean and/or originate.

Many of the marches have military references or locations.

Fort Parker March: 1800's fort in Texas.
Gitmo: Guantanamo Bay, Cuba marine base
Hangar Nine: Was located at Brooks AFB, (San Antonio) during WWII.
Martindale National Guard Airfield: Training base in SE San Antonio during WWII.
Rattlesnake Junction: Abandoned AFB in Texas.
The Seventh Cavalry' Gen Custer's command until "Little Big Horn"
Stormin Norman: Nickname of Gen. Norman Schwartzkopf.

Historical Events or locations:

Black Sky, White Sands: Alamogordo, New Mexico
A Giant Under the Hill: Spindletop Oil Gusher, Beaumont, Texas
Memphis: Memphis, Egypt / Memphis, Tenn.
109 East Palace: Santa Fe, N. Mexico. (Manhattan Project)
Los Alamos: N. Mexico (Manhattan Project)
Castlegarde: Medieval French Castle.
Dunnotar: Castle in Scotland
Crosby Beach: Wales, UK.
Winslow: Winslow, AZ
Nowhere Arizona: Town in Arizona named "Nowhere"
Nazare: Large waves off the coast of Portugal.

Some more interesting titles:

Bring a Nickel, Tap Yer Feet: From the CCR song "Down on the Corner"
We Have Assumed Control: Last line of "2112" by Rush.
Juggernaut: An Unstoppable force. Title of 1982 album by Frank Marino. (great album)
Heavy Duty Judy: borrowed from Frank Zappa
Interstellar Overdrive: song title from Pink Floyd's first album "A Piper at the Gates of Dawn".
Does the Hunter Pity Its Prey?: A line from "Paradise Lost" by Symphony X.
Bedlam in the Badlands: Title of AC/DC tune fron "Flick of the Switch"

03/09/2025

Echelon Press will be exhibiting at the Midwest Band and Orchestra Clinic this December. Really excited about the opportunity to meet new folks and expand our brand.

02/26/2025

I have started a series on "How I compose". Your mileage may vary. Today's questions. How do you select a key? simple, playability. If you are writing for winds, flat keys are best. Writing for strings, sharp keys. Vocal, really doesn't matter unless you are constantly changing key. Next tip is that I decide what instrumentation and difficulty level I will be using. Learn the instruments, fingerings, ranges, timbre etc. Learn orchestration. I would not presume to teach anyone how to write a melody, but there are some great books on orchestration.

I tend to write melody first then figure out what progression to use.
Make melodies tuneful. Tuneful is a very vague description because what is tuneful to you may not be to someone else. Mozart wrote great melodies. Frank Zappa also wrote great melodies, but many people found these to be "ugly" or "harsh". Do your own thing.

If you want people to play your music, try to keep the musician in mind and keep all parts interesting. Sousa wrote great stuff but really didn't care much for interesting Horn parts. I am a horn player so if you know, you know. The music should be easy to understand on first playing, regardless of the difficulty level. Also make it interesting for the audience. Hopefully they can walk away with a catchy tune in their ear.

02/18/2025

After getting to visit with several new folks at 4 States Bandmasters and TMEA, I get a common question about composition. How do you write? Well, it really isn't that complicated. Just sit down and do it. Write anything. Write a lot. Write everyday...something, good or bad. It takes practice to come up with a good melody. And for me, melody comes first by far. I keep a music notebook handy to jot down any ideas that come up. Usually, the ideas happen when I am doing yard work, driving somewhere or just sitting doing nothing.

I am an improvisational writer, which means I start with and idea then see what works with that, then see what works with those two ideas, etc. Sometimes putting two or three melodies together with the same progression works out pretty cool. Claude Smith was really effective with this.

And, Stephen King says, "When writing anything, edit, edit, delete, correct, edit again until it is perfect for you". There really isn't any such thing as good or bad music because we all have our opinion on what we like as a listener. The real test is does it work? Does the music make sense? Does it flow, fit together and lead to a logical story and ending?

Also, when writing, make it fun for the player and listener. Some composers are just a little too full of themselves.

02/05/2025

FYI. our website (echelonmusicpress.org) is no longer available. We will be doing all sales directly through jwpepper.com. The page is obviously still here.

01/28/2025

New releases available through JW Pepper:

Concert Band:

Toom Suba: grade 3 / Scott Johnson
Bing a Nickle, Tap Yer Feet: grade 2 / Leon Steward
Idunno: grade 1 / Kelly Bennette

Strings:

The Dog is Not a Toy: grade 2 / string orch. / Steward
Symphony No. 24: grade 4 / full orchestra / Steward
Park N' Bark: grade 1 / string orch. / Burns
Wandering Souls: grade 2 / string orch. / Burns

Woodwind Choir: All titles by Steward

Appalachian Gothic: grade 2
Ground Chatter: grade 2
Divertimento #3: grade 3
Fractals: grade 2
Fuzz Aldrin/ Space Pirate: grade 2
Porter & Skittles: grade 2
Running With Scissors: grade 3
Tanzen Sie auf dem Grün: grade 2
Not Home Yet: grade 2

Brass Choir: all titles by Steward

Marching in Moonlight: grade 2
Bison Rouge: grade 2
Release the Fourth Horseman: grade 3
Revival: grade 2
Sometimes the Bull Wins: Brass Band / grade 3
The Gathering Storm: grade 2

Jazz Ensembles: all titles by Steward

What Be That Do?: grade 4
Doom Turtle: grade 4
Gimmie a Hot Minute: grade 4
Possum on the Half-Shell: grade 4
The Stink Pete Stomp: grade 3
What's the Skinny? grade 3

01/28/2025

TMEA is just around the corner. Come by and visit with us at booth 2407.

12/25/2024

I had no idea we had a golf club named after us..

12/17/2024

Excited to announce that Echelon Music will be exhibiting at 4 States Bandmasters in Texarkana, Texas, January 16, 17 & 18. Then on to TMEA convention on February 12-15 in San Antonio. And this summer see us at The Association of Concert Bands national convention June 4-8 in Ft. Smith, Arkansas.

08/31/2024

See our new ad in The September Southwestern Musician. (TMEA magazine).

02/18/2024

Some new tunes now available through JW Pepper.

"Be Still, And Know..." for Symphonic Band grade 3
https://www.jwpepper.com/Be-Still%2C-And-Know.../11562645.item

"Escape from Sobibor" concert band grade 2+
https://www.jwpepper.com/Escape-From-Sobibor/11562731.item

Buy Escape From Sobibor by Steward, Leon at jwpepper.com. Concert Band Sheet Music. On October 14, 1943, at the death camp of Sobibor, underground resista