Hello, and welcome. Thanks for your interest in my arrangement of TAPS (FOR MAYNARD). People have asked for more information about the recording of TAPS (FOR MAYNARD) and about the availability of the sheet music. The chart is now available for purchase and below is some technical and historical information. Click here for the history of the bugle call "Taps" according to West Point.
I wrote and recorded TAPS (FOR MAYNARD) on September 14th, 2006, after reading Christian Jacob's account of Maynard's last notes; Maynard playing Taps at his home for the laying to rest of their dearly departed cat, only days before his own passing on August 23. Christian described how Maynard played slowly, with a full, beautiful tone, and faded out on the last note.
The score calls for 5 Trombones (1 Bass), 1 Flugelhorn (Trombone 1 double), and 7 Trumpets. Taps is sometimes played in the Concert key of Ab. This version was done in the key of Bb to honor the double C Maynard was so enamored with. It was written using Sibelius 4 music notation software which incorporates Kontakt Player and Garritan Personal Orchestra. The trombone parts (samples) were exported from Sibelius as .aif sound files and imported into a ProTools session. The trumpets and flugelhorn were recorded in my studio using a Neuman U-87 microphone, a Mac G5, and a DigiDesign Digi002R interface with ProTools LE 6.9 software. I played all the parts using different trumpet/ mouthpiece combinations to record each individual part. Here's a list of what I used:
- Yamaha 8310Z Bb Trumpet w/modified Bobby Shew lead MP
- Yamaha 8310Z BbTrumpet w/Monette Prana MFIII MP
- Yamaha 6310Z BbTrumpet w/ Bach 3C MP
- 6445HD Yamaha C w/ Bach 3D MP
- Bach 37 Stradivarius Bb w/Pilzuk lead pipe w/Bach 3D MP
- Yamaha 6310Z Flugel w/Yamaha 14F4 MP
The bugle call Taps has been a special part of my life since I was 3 years old. I first heard Taps played in the woods of Interlochen Michigan while a mascot with the Ferndale High School Band at Band Camp with my parents and siblings. It was the first tune I learned to play on my brothers Boy Scout Bugle when I was 5 and played it later as a Boy Scout and for lights-out as a camper at Interlochen National Music Camp in the Junior, Intermediate and High School Divisions.
Since then, I've been called on to play Taps for numerous official events, ceremonies, and at memorial services for friends, colleagues, and family, which, as any trumpet player can attest, is never easy. I had a hard time even playing for this recording!
Compositionally, I always thought it was a beautiful melody and have grown accustomed to playing it, like MF, slow, with a full sound and a long diminuendo on the last note. I added the high Maynard-esque part last, as a very conscious tribute to the man I called a mentor, friend, and inspiration./
Walter White
