Techniques Of Orchestration
Elly Garnand
Orchestration, the technique of composing for orchestra is something that everyone needs to eventually learn. But when you are just starting off, I liken it to treasure hunting on the beach. You walk around with a metal detector, (aka your ear), looking for a chest of buried gold from 200 years ago. Turns out, all you find are the occasional bottle cap, maybe a quarter, and a lot of wasted time.
Now there are many reasons for this, and we will talk about them in just a little while, but I think the main reason is, because there is just a lot of stuff you need to know, to orchestrate well. Certain things seem easier, especially with music notation software like Sibelius, but in reality, the art of orchestration is just as hard as it has ever been.
You need to know range, characteristic instrumental sounds, some acoustics, common and uncommon playing techniques, how players read their music, proper notation practices, how to layout your score, voicing techniques.
So, I thought in this episode, I would go over what I think is kind of like a test, you should give yourself, before you get deep into orchestration, and then some suggestions for attacking the problem that is the orchestra.
From there, start to write accompanied pieces for each instrument. Hindemith actually wrote sonatas for each of the main orchestral instruments. This is a great way to get comfortable with their capabilities.
I have personally spent a lot of time writing for just piano, and for a fair amount of solo instruments. Much of the music has not been fully engraved, and published, but I still got the benefits from it.
I think there is a misconception going around that in order to be a legitimate orchestral composer, you need to compose your work straight to an orchestral setting. Part of the problem are quotes like this from Principles of Orchestration by Nicholai Rimsky-Korsakov.
One of the greatest examples of this kind of exercise, is from Maurice Ravel. He took a series of compositions, called Pictures at an Exhibition, by Modest Mussorgsky, and he orchestrated them. The orchestration is outstanding, and the pieces are relatively short, self-contained compositional worlds. This means that you should study them. One of the hidden gems in this suite, is Promenade. Because Modest Mussorgksy basically took the same material and recomposed it several times throughout the suite, you can get a glimpse into creating contrast with both harmonic, melodic, and orchestrational means.
The most important things you learn in this environment, is how real players play music. You get to hear the intonation problems, the stamina issues, balance issues. You get to see how beginners shudder in fear when the conductor calls them out, or how the guy that really practiced his part, plays it about 3 dynamic markings too high, because he wants everyone to know that he knows how to play it.
You get to see what good parts look like, and bad parts look like. And most importantly, you learn how an ensemble really works together to create good music. You start to feel the form, the different colors, and the tonal interest created by the composer or arranger. Not to mention, you become intimately familiar with your own instrument.
Once we have a simple theme, we are going to orchestrate that line in a general way. At this point, we are not worried about what instruments will play specific elements. We are just figuring out what elements to use in the first place.
This is when it helps to start naming things. One of my teachers was a big fan of giving names to different kinds of textures, for instance, a primary element, is the main melody you hear. A secondary element, would be any supporting melody that goes with that primary element. A pad, is any chordal element. You can also change up that pad, making it a rhythmic pad.
Maybe in the second version, I want the primary element to drop down an octave, and become stronger and louder. I also want the pad to become a rhythmic pad. I want the bass instruments to come in and add gravitas to the piece. Finally, I want to add a secondary element, to counter the primary element.
Hopefully you can see what we are doing here, we are arranging the piece using words and descriptions. This means we are making decisions beforehand. I like to say often that composing is about making decisions. Every note you write, you are making a decision. It helps to split those decisions up and make them at different times. If you start with a blank score of twenty instruments, then you are making a lot of decisions all at once.
Note that I also wrote short transitions between the different sections. How you transition becomes more important as the orchestra becomes larger, because you can have huge differences in sound between one section to another.
Do I Really Understand How an Orchestra Works? Have you spent time listening to real orchestras play, and practice. Even better, have you played in one yourself. The experience is invaluable for a composer.
This method though, is extremely useful, and actually lends itself to hearing timbres and textures before actually figuring out how to create them. You can write down descriptions of the textures that give your mind clues as to how they will work, and then let them sit for a while.
very well presented. As someone that did a lot of arrangements for entertainers, singers mostly, on cruiseships casinos and theater. I would like to strongly suggest to make things as easy and as comfortable for the musicians as possible. Be friendly, remember a thank you goes a long way and never submit anything with putting either measure numbers (my preference) or rehearsal letters marked on score and parts. Please it is very un-fun to sight read up to point and always have to re start at the beginnning to simply hunt for a missing bar and do make sure all parts have the same amount of bars, or fix a mistransposed or unclear note or dynamic. bring if allowed a recorder for refeence.
In short measure number numbers/rehearsal show a respect for the players and the patience of all, I would go to far as to say without measure number or rehearsal letters you might even get to have your piece looked at let alone played through.
Nevertheless, thank you so much for what you provide. It is most appreciated and welcome. Orchestration is a time-consuming, frustrating and difficult subject to get to grips with, and I support what you are doing to enable others to understand and enjoy this and other musical concepts in a way that is easily-absorbed and with a highly practical focus. Long may it continue!
Thanks for the comments. As far as the mutes go, or doubling the winds, this ultimately was just used as an exercise and example of the possibilities for the system of sketching and orchestrating. If I were to have this performed, I would spend a lot more time on the details.
In my experience, even working with professionals, you still have to be very careful in the way you score things if you want to move quickly to a good performance. And nothing teaches like experience.
Jon, I am very happy to hear that you will add courses for orchestration and counterpoint. For me, continuity of instruction is very important: that makes things much easier to understand, and speeds things along. Just knowing that makes me want to devote 100% of my efforts into your other composition courses. Thanks, Allen
Allen, orchestration is definitely in the list of courses to create as soon as possible. I want to finish up the 201 course first, and then I am looking at either orchestration or an in depth harmony and counterpoint course.
Writing for the orchestra brings immense credibility in the musical world. Not only is this ability used to measure a composer's skill in concert, academic, and many other musical communities, a successful career in orchestration can afford significant financial rewards as well.
Building on the techniques presented in Orchestration 1, which primarily covers the individual orchestral instruments and families, Orchestration 2 equips students with advanced strategies and approaches to writing for full orchestra. Each of the weekly lessons addresses a common issue in orchestra music, from making orchestration choices based on the tone color of the various instruments, to voicing chords and progressions. The course also presents an in-depth look at orchestrating from single layer material such as solos and homophonic statements, to complex textures of four or more layers - music that is too complex to fit into a traditional melody/countermelody/harmony format.Examples are first presented as simplified sketches, allowing students to compare a passage for full orchestra with a simpler, piano-only version. This process allows students to see the process the composer took from start to finish. The musical examples from the first ten weeks of the course are pulled from classical literature, including Ludwig Van Beethoven, Igor Stravinsky, Bela Bartok, Gustav Holst, Peter Tchaikovsky, and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Examples from the final two weeks of the course are pulled from film score literature, including scores from John Williams, Aaron Zigman, and Marco Beltrami.The course materials are delivered in the form of reading assignments, musical examples, and interactive activities. The musical examples are framed in an engaging interactive interface, which combines the notation with the audio. All material is supplemented with hands on guidance from the professor.By the end of the course, students will be able to:
- Sequence and notate music for full orchestra
- Create a full-length piece for full orchestra
- Analyze full orchestral scores
- Demonstrate their understanding of traditional and contemporary orchestration techniques
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