A hotel gig with a full horn section. A rehearsal combo running two horns. A workshop band that reshuffles every semester. No two bands are built the same way — so instead of locking each chart to one instrumentation, we engrave every part to double a shared set of voices. Buy once, cover whatever horns actually show up.
Our salsa arrangements are built on four horn voices. Every part beyond that core is written to shadow one of those same four lines, note for note — so any combination of players can cover the arrangement.
| Voice | Parts that play it |
|---|---|
| 1st (top) | Trumpet 1 · Flute |
| 2nd | Trumpet 2 · Alto Saxophone · Tenor Saxophone |
| 3rd | Trombone 1 |
| 4th (bottom) | Trombone 2 · Baritone Saxophone |
Full section: 2 trumpets, 2 trombones — play it exactly as written.
Standard American horn section: Trumpet, tenor sax, trombone — use the Trumpet 1, Tenor Saxophone, and Trombone 1 parts.
Trumpet, alto, trombone: Same idea, one octave of flavor different — Trumpet 1, Alto Saxophone, and Trombone 1.
Two saxes, no second trumpet: Trumpet, alto, tenor, trombone — Alto and Tenor both play the 2nd voice together, in unison.
Merengue transcriptions are engraved for a fuller six-piece horn section — 2 trumpets, 2 saxophones (alto and tenor), and 2 trombones — each with its own independent line, not a doubled voice. For a three-piece lineup of trumpet, alto sax, and trombone, use the Trumpet 1, Alto Saxophone, and Trombone 1 parts.
The guitar part carries the same information as the piano part, unless the original recording features its own distinct guitar line — in that case, we transcribe that real part instead.
Built for a pianist playing without a horn section. This part layers the piano's own comping with cues from the horn lines — not all of them, just the ones we judged most essential to carrying the arrangement's identity when there's no section there to play them.