Orchestration, Tips and Tricks for composers. Options

[jesshmusic]

Hello All!

I thought it would be good to have a topic devoted to the art of orchestration. Great things can be accomplished when composers put their brains together.

Especially in orchestration... certainly the most difficult aspect (and most rewarding) of composition.

Feel free to get it rolling. Here are a few tricks I have learned in my days:

1. Less is more. Don't be afraid to have smaller parts of the ensemble playing. I'm sure everyone know's this.. An orchestra playing with every instrument at full force the entire piece is boring.

2. Know instrument's limitations. The bassoons, for instance, will not be heard very well in loud sections of the orchestration with a lot of instruments playing, but they can still make for good filler. During the big choral part in Beethoven's Ninth, they are playing the fast ostinato pattern with the strings.

3. Listen to as much music as possible... especially modern. Analyze scores and see what the masters did. Research.

These are vague things. I hope many different composers will post specific tips and tricks they have picked up over the years. Instrumentalists can also use this topic to tell us composers what not to do. We sometimes can make life hard on you guys. (Especially Horn in F players!)


Jess Hendricks
Composer & Arranger

[toekneenose]

Your right about Garritan Personal Orchestra (GPO). It's a well done set of samples. I've only just installed them in my Mac. I've played with them a little, but I have yet to find the time to sit down and create a composition because I have yet to learn how to use Logic. I guess the term "newbie" applies, even though I've worked as a composer and arranger for years.

Still, from what I've heard so far, the GPO samples should do nicely. My challenge will be to learn how to use samples and thier dynamics to score rather than live musicians. I'm looking forward to the process.

I marvel at some of the music I hear that has been created with samples. Learning those tricks, I imagine, will be somewhat similar to learning how to write for a real orchestra. Learning how to do a new thing, or an old thing differently, is always the challenge.

Any composers out there who care to share some tips and tricks they've learned to create orchestral pieces using samples? Any suggestions for a really great sounding set of choir samples to go with GPO?