Tone Colour

"Jingle Bells" by James Morrison

The piece begins with an assortment of percussion instruments ranging in

sound from different-sized untuned drums, through the jingle of a

Tambourine to the dry rattle of the snare drum.

A Marimba joins with the main melody. This adds a crisp, wooden sound. The

Marimba is being played with hard mallets.

An acoustic Piano is added playing a Latin-style bass line and creating variety

of tone colour.

Double Bass is now added which changes the tone colour by adding its low,

dry, rumbling sound. The melody is now taken by muted Trumpet, doubled by

Trombone. The mute makes the Trumpet sound crisp and edgy.

The percussion stops briefly which entirely changes the tone colour. The

melody is taken by full brass before the percussion rejoins.

The next section features call and response between Bongos and brass, then

Drum kit and brass.

The final section features a Trumpet solo. The Trumpet is unmuted, loud,

bright and brassy

Tone Colour is used to create variety in this piece. There is a wide variety of

instruments used in this piece and the lead instrument changes during the excerpt.