A Day In The Life

This was the best we have played this piece so far. That said, we still have a few things to fix. I shouldn't hear any key signature errors in the clarinets and flutes in the beginning, and I do. Listen and you'll hear them too. It's an easy fix. Just mark them with your pencil. Problem solved.
The shaker has to be perfect. You can't slow down or make any rhythmic error of any kind or it becomes glaringly obvious that you are not paying attention. A lot of drummers laugh at the shaker/ maracas/ other time keepers as "easy" percussion instruments. But, it's not easy to keep perfect time.
Victoria was absent today, so we had no alarm clok.
Watch the volume of the timpani in the John Lennon "Ahh" section.
On the dissonant orchestra swell, try not to play the 16th note C,B,C,B, pattern. It should be free of any rhythm (except for the drums).
On the big E major chord at the end, once you run out of air, do not come back in. Just let it fade out.

Sgt. Pepper Reprise

The only thing we need to fix in this is the little one-measure fills played by the flutes/ trumpets and mallets some are great, some a a little sloppy. Overall, the tune grooves great. The fills are not that hard, and they are short. We'll get them. I'm also a little concerned about the last note being in tune, but George Harrison didn't quite bend his lat note in tune on the recording, so we could just say we're being authentic. :-) Not.

Good Morning Good Morning

I'm happy with the aggressive sound we have on this piece. The only part I'm not happy with is the electric guitar/ flute/ clarinet solo in the middle. The blend of those instruments is a little... well... odd. I think we should try it again with either just guitar or just upper woodwinds on the solo. the background sounds great.

Lovely Rita

Today's rehearsal went well despite brass absences. With Rita, we need to amplify the acoustic guitar (which I will fix tomorrow). nad clean the shaker part. the part (after double checking) is correct. It's 4 measures starting at 16 on the words "In her cap" and on the repeat "Got the bill". This will reinforce the vocal part.
we need to clean the trumpet glissando parts at 10 and 19, and we have to bring out the bass clarinet/ bari sax line at the end of the solo (m 30).
When we reach measure 31, enter with confidence. We are jumping from m 22, but that shouldn't make a difference.
The 5 against 4 section is improving.
In the straight eighth note part (2 from the end, be sure you are on the right pitch. Concert Ab in the bass, then Eb and Gb on top.
For the last measure, the first note is long, then attack beat two, gliss down to beat three and you're done. beat one was a bit short.

When I'm Sixty-Four

This one is better. It's more relaxed, and the swing feel is not as bouncy. Also, the slurred triplets in the bass clarinet and saxes came out clearer.

Within You Without You

This came out well. We got a rough start with the tempo, but it did settle in nicely. I like the solo section very much. This tune required more rehearsal than any other tune on the album for us. For grins, scroll down and listen to our February performance of this piece. It's like night and day.

When I'm 64

We should be more gentle with this tune. It's not a rocker, it's a jazz piece. The phrasing will come together when we take the intensity down a few notches and relax with it. Sax parts at the end need cleaning, and there are still some stray accidentals in the upper woodwinds.

Being For The Benefit of Mr. Kite!

Today's rehearsal went well. We had a few absences, but we were able to get a fairly decent recording of Being for the benefit of Mr. Kite together. I like the timbre of the guitar synth, we just have to control it- it's not easy to play, and it's not an easy part. On this recording, the long notes that end the chromatic runs didn't come out, but the balance was good.
I would like to improve the intonation of the clarinet section on the short notes, smooth out the tenor sax sound and bring up the volume of the horn and trombone to match the trumpets. Finally, I'm still hearing a B flat and a C natural in the second measure of the intro in the flute section.
At the second ending (where the guitar synth plays), I'd like to not have the keyboard sounds play. Let's wait till after the guitar synth has played the line.
here's the file: