May 29, 2002
Timm transforms rock tune
CHS orchestra performs student's arrangement of AC/DC song
By Carol South
Herald contributing writer
An AC/DC tune is not the kind of music you expect to hear played by an orchestra.
But at the Traverse City Central High School Orchestra concert Thursday evening at the Dennos Museum, expect to hear some heavy metal courtesy of AC/DC's "Back in Black." Arranged by Jon Timm, a senior at the school and member of the orchestra, this tune's screaming guitars and raucous lyrics will be rendered by the violins, violas and cellos.
"I've always wanted to do something with guitar and orchestra," said Timm, who plays violin, guitar and bass guitar. "There's so much music out there that I thought would blend well and the orchestra would sound fuller with a guitar."
Timm began his foray into translating rock and roll songs into orchestral arrangements last year when he scored Ted Nugent's song "Fred Bear." A member of a local punk rock band, Stand Alone, Timm said that rock 'n' roll music is not his favorite genre and that these songs are "OK." But he believed these classic rock tunes would evoke audience reaction when they heard them played by an orchestra.
And he was right.
"Last year, 'Fred Bear' was wildly received at the Music Boosters concert, people liked it a lot," Timm recalled. "At the end we usually get a standing ovation for it."
Ellen Boyer, Central High School orchestra teacher, said that the students, too, really enjoy playing these songs.
"It's a blast, the students just eat it up," she said. "It's just one more avenue and we don't get to do that type of music very often. You talk about expressive, they are just instantly into it."
Timm transcribed the songs by listening to them, over and over. Musician friends also helped him with the guitar and drum parts. Timm gave the singer's melody to the first violins and eventually worked out the rest of the parts played by members of the rock 'n' roll bands.
"On a guitar, you'd normally play power chords so I'll give the root note to the cellos," said Timm, who will study next year at Northwestern Michigan College and hopes one day to be a composer. "The violas are a step up, a fifth, and the second violins are an octave above the root note."
Timm was helped in his endeavors when Boyer purchased a computer, stand-alone server, keyboard, software and a scanner specifically for composing music. She received the go ahead to buy this equipment a year ago as part of Governor John Engler's initiative to give a laptop to every teacher in the state. Boyer, who splits her time with East Junior High, said her life was saturated with computers and she decided this system would be more helpful to her students.
"Since I have access to computers everywhere I go and at home, I requested to get this equipment instead," she said. "It is a really useful tool for education."
Timm is not the only student enthusiastically using it, although he was instrumental in getting it running. Another senior, Aaron Cook, a trumpet player in the orchestra, has been using it daily to compose pieces, Boyer noted.
"They transpose parts for me if needed," Boyer said. "I feel like this has just been a real accessible tool for them to sit down and say, 'Wow, I can do this.' They can tell right away if rhythms are what they want, for example; it is truly a tutorial, giving instant feedback."
Although he will be graduating soon and moving on to study at Northwestern Michigan College, Timm said he has some ideas for future songs he wants to arrange for orchestra. He has found translating popular music a great way to practice his composition skills.
"This exercise definitely helps with my speed in writing on the computer," he said. "The music program here at Central has given me a lot of opportunity and I just thought it was awesome that Mrs. Boyer was open to me doing this."