I am in the midst of composing a new work for band (and probably an orchestral version, as well) called Vermont State Fair. I wrote about the inspiration behind the piece back in April here. This picture shows a few of my "sketches" (that's a fancy way of saying "my notes and ideas"). At this stage, I am trying to come up with a several different motives that I can use and develop throughout the piece. Because the setting is a noisy and exciting fair (think people, rides, games, and horse racing), I anticipate moving between different melodies, motives, and sections frequently to give the piece a bombastic and fun feeling and give a sense of the exciting atmosphere. I have about ten motives/ideas/melodies so far and I hope to develop several more. I have also started planning out the progression of music - what order these things will happen in - and working on some orchestration in Finale.
This is a fun piece to write - a range of different kinds of music, but all fun and exciting. Stay tuned!