First Arranging Project - Update 1

Hello everyone, and welcome to the beginning of my passion project. In MUS427, or Careers in Music, we have been given the task of doing something that would build our portfolio and still be something we have lots of fun with. So, join me on this journey, which will consist of 8 parts.

So, what exactly am I doing? To answer this question would require some background into what I do. Within the school of music at the University of Arizona, I am a flute major and a member of Flutefinity, the university’s flute ensemble. When thinking of a project, I realized that I have played a variety of instruments within the ensemble and produced as well, nothing to do with creating the music though. Composing a new work seems too difficult to start with. That answers the question of what I’ll be doing, arranging.

The title screen of “Halo: The Master Chief Collection” on the Steam Deck

The next question that comes up is with regards to the piece to arrange. For the entirety of my life, I have chosen video games as my hobby. They are great for picking up and relaxing or competing against others. Plenty games have soundtracks worthy of adapting to flute choir, including older Call of Duty’s, Cuphead, and Outer Wilds. Outer Wilds may just be my next project, however, the game that truly gets my brain tingling is Halo. I have played those games since just after Halo 3 launched, and the “Master Chief Collection” is downloaded on my Steam Deck for on-the-go play. The plan is finally set: a Halo medley arranged for flute choir.

This was a bit of a slow week in terms of all that happened. My primary goal was to get everything set up and ready to work. As this is my first time arranging, I expect things to not be as smooth or correct harmonies through my first draft of the arrangement. So, this week, I picked out the instrumentation of 1 piccolo, three C flutes, 1 alto, and 1 bass. The tempo, key, and beginning few bars of the melody and bass voice have been put together, but that’s the easy part. Alongside the arranging of this piece, I will continue to play the games to inspire and motivate me to continue the arrangement in the most efficient and accurate way possible.

Apple Music “Up Next” list, featuring pieces from the Halo soundtrack used to decide which to arrange.

The first steps to the actual arranging of the music.

Please join me next week for even more on the arrangement side to be worked on, perhaps more than the logistics of the project. More specifically, my goal is to finish the melodies and possibly bass voice for 2 of the songs to accelerate my productivity.