Witch Doctor (Bagdasarian)

General Info

Composer: Ross Bagdasarian
Arranger: Alan Keown
Publisher: Tapspace Publications
Year of Published: 2018
Difficulty: Elementary
Duration: 00:02:20
Cost: $40.00

Instrumentation

Player 1: Glockenspiel
Player 2: Xylophone
Player 3: Vibraphone
Player 4: Marimba 1
Player 5: Marimba 2
Player 6: Timpani
Player 7: Snare Drum
Player 8: Bass Drum
Player 9: 4 Concert Tom Toms & Cowbell & Bulb Horn & Siren Whistle
Player 10: Temple Blocks & Ride Cymbal & Opera Gong
Player 11: HI Hat & Police Whistle & Slide Whistle & Duck Call & Vibraslap & Siren Whistle & Tom Tom (Shared)

Description

This humorous arrangement of the "Alvin and the Chipmunks" classic gives beginning percussion students a great opportunity to let their hair down and have a blast! The piece incorporates an array of nontraditional percussion instruments like a duck call, a siren whistle, a slide whistle and a police whistle. These instruments are engaging for the students as well as the audience and can provide a welcome relief from studying the more traditional instruments.

Justin Bunting's Reviews

Alan Keown’s arrangement of Ross Bagdasarian’s “Witch Doctor,” as heard on Alvin and the Chipmunks, is sure to be a crowd-pleaser. The arrangement is full of energy, variety, and creativity. At the beginning of the score, Keown includes program notes as well as very helpful performance considerations about such things as mallet choice and how parts can be doubled (hence 9–11 players). A very clean and detailed suggested setup diagram is included with the score.

The music is the tune as we know it with a percussion break in the middle. The snare drum and bass drum players often emulate a drumset “boom-chick” part, marimba is the bass line, and the glockenspiel and xylophone players carry the melody. What is particularly fun about this arrangement is the arranger’s use of sound effect interjections (whistles, blocks, etc.) and his decision to pass solos around the ensemble.

Where the arrangement really comes alive is the percussion break in the middle. It is essentially a trap solo passed around six players. Cowbell, whistles, and sirens are featured as well as a snare and tom solo. However, as Keown mentions in the performance notes, the duck call player shines here.

I would recommend this arrangement with the highest enthusiasm for a middle school or high school percussion ensemble that is looking for something challenging, yet fun and exciting. This one is guaranteed to get laughter and robust applause from the audience.