Basic Orchestration
This chapter begins with an overview of common orchestral instruments and discusses idiomatic techniques and articulations for members of each instrument family before proceeding to an in-depth treatment of orchestration in both traditional and modern contexts. Topics include instrument transpositions, standard doubling/layering schemes, and MIDI orchestration techniques.
12.1 Orchestra guide
12.2 Slurred notes in Dvorak, New World Symphony, mvt. ii
12.3 Slurred staccato in Mozart, Clarinet Concerto in A Major, K. 622
12.4 Trills in Stravinsky, The Rite of Spring , mvt. i
12.5 Trombone glissandi
12.6 Brass Mutes
12.7 On-the-string bowing techniques
12.8 Off-the-string bowing techniques
12.9 Additional String effects
12.10 Cox/McIntyre, Hazard Suite, scordatura notation
12.11 Stacked, staggered, and surrounded voicings of a G major triad
12.12 Holst, Mercury, score analysis
12.13 Holst, Mars, score analysis
12.14 Holst, Mercury, octave down doubling
12.15 Holst, Neptune, staggered voicing
12.16 Slurred and legato phrases in Holst, “Neptune”
12.17 Spitfire BBC Symphony Orchestra
12.18 MIDI delay compensation in Logic Pro
12.19 Orchestration and the overtone series in Holst, “Mars”
Flashcards
Click on the word to get the definition
instruments that produce pitches at a consistent interval away from those that are written in notation.
a non-transposing score, meaning that all pitches for all instruments are written in concert pitch.
a non-transposing score, meaning that all pitches for all instruments are written in concert pitch.
a technique that wind performers use to create a temporary break in the airflow to the instrument in order to place a slight emphasis on each note within a passage and create separation between rhythmic values.
a technique that wind players use to perform passages featuring quicker rhythms that demand faster tongue movement than a series of repeating silent “tees” could produce; this is accomplished by tonguing the letters “d–k” or “t–k” in alternation.
a score marking that signifies the need for a rapid alternation of pitches.
a smooth, gliding pitch transition from one note to another that proceeds through all of the intermediate microtones.
a device placed on or inside an instrument to change its timbre, usually creating a muffled sound or wah-wah effect.
a score marking used to indicate that a passage is to be played with a mute.
a score marking used to indicate that a passage is to be played without a mute, thereby canceling any previous con sordino marking.
flute-like tones that are produced when performers lightly press on various locations that divide an open string’s length and correspond to points within the overtone series above the open string’s fundamental.
false harmonics that are created when the performer uses one finger to stop a string at some point within its length and then lightly presses a P4 above the stop in pitch with another finger while bowing or plucking. In doing so, the performer generates a harmonic that sounds two octaves above the stopped note.
a string technique that involves plucking or bowing two pitches simultaneously on two different strings.
a string technique that involves bowing or plucking three pitches simultaneously on three different strings.
a score marking that divides the total number of players within a single string section into two or more distinct parts.
a score marking indicating that a passage is to be played in an alternate tuning.
a score marking indicating a cancelation of scordatura and return to standard tuning, usually in a score for stringed instruments.
a composition technique involving indeterminacy or chance procedures that was popularized in the twentieth century by composers such as John Cage, Kryzstof Penderecki, and several others.
a chord voicing for multiple instruments that features pitches being distributed among instruments such that one group is exclusively given the relatively higher pitches while another group is given the lower pitches.
a chord voicing for multiple instruments that features pitches being distributed among instruments such that instruments of the same type do not play adjacent chord tones.
a chord voicing for multiple instruments that features pitches being distributed among instruments such that the inner chord tones are given to one instrument type, while the outer chord tones are given to others, which “surround” the timbre of the inner-voice instruments.
an orchestration technique that involves doubling lower register melodies an octave lower, usually with the double basses, to add weight and depth to the bottom of the ensemble.
samples that are added to legato patches within virtual instruments in order to create smooth transitions between overlapping MIDI events.
a combination patch that itself consists of multiple samples, often from different instruments to recreate full sections or ensembles within a single patch.
Press Enter or Space to flip the card
