Fireflies
Fireflies for Percussion Ensemble is an arrangement on the well-known song, Fireflies by Owl City. Adam Young, the founder of the American electronica project, Owl City, wrote about how much he enjoyed the fireflies in his hometown of Owatonna. The rest of the track includes lyrics about insomnia and summer with a catchy keyboard line underneath. Fireflies was released in 2009 and is the only hit on Owl City’s album Ocean eyes. The song topped the Billboard Hot 100 and reached the charts in many other countries. Owl City is an artist from the Myspace generation, as Myspace is where he gained many followers before signing with Universal Republic.The idea to play and write Fireflies for a Percussion Ensemble came from the Meerhout Percussion Orchestra. When I was the artistic leader for the ensemble, one of our players brought a free version of Fireflies that he found on the internet. Unfortunately, the arrangement could have been better, so I wrote my arrangement when I got home. The final version of Fireflies for Percussion Ensemble is for an intermediate ensemble and is noted for 9-14 players. It is played in the key of Eb, and the total length is about 4 minutes.
Fireflies for Percussion Ensemble:
Xylophone and Marimba 1 :
Apart from a few exceptions, the xylophone one and the marimba one part work closely together. Throughout the overall arrangement, both instruments have the same melody lines, and whenever they do have harmony lines, they complete each other by playing different notes from the chord. In the scores and parts, their loudness varies. That is only because of the various instruments, which should be on the same level in the final performance.
Xylophone and marimba 2:
The xylophone two and marimba two parts do the opposite of the xylophone and marimba one parts. Whenever team one is playing melodies, team two is high-likely playing harmonies. Whenever team one is playing harmonies, team two is probably playing melodies. Both the xylophone and marimba two parts are challenging to learn, although, if practised with some chord and scale knowledge, the parts are easier to study.
Vibraphone and Glockenspiel and Piano:
The vibraphone and glockenspiel parts mainly play the melodies or countermelodies. In general, all six mallet instruments should work well together and understand their significant bits and where it is not up to them to shine. Compared to what I’ve said above, the vibraphone and glockenspiel can be on a different level. The glockenspiel should stay in the background like a firefly flying around the room. The piano supports the ensemble with lots of chords and harmonies.
Drum set and Percussion:
The drum set and percussion parts are the beating hearts of the ensemble. These instruments push the music forward and clarify the song’s structure. As Fireflies is a pop song written in digital audio workstations, it is okay for both these players to sound like samples.
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