ejr
10-02-2006, 03:12 PM
Here's something that I would find useful -- and might be helpful to everyone. Assuming that everyone here plays some type of instrument, it would help to get feedback on what types of scoring works best (and what doesn't) on those particular instruments.
There was a post from a piccolo player that I found very helpful (because I had been reading RK and other orchestration books that had said its range was poor in the lower register, that is was overly shrill, etc. and none of the versions in my sample libraries sound that bad.) I also find the comments from conductors helpful. I just wish there were more.
The only instrument I play is the piano ... and I'm far from a virtuoso. My pet peeve about contemporary scores (and most contemporary books about orchestration) is encouraging the use of chord symbols rather than writing out the part. A player can still embelish, improvise, simplify or otherwise improve what you have written if all the notes are there, but ifyou leave them out you run the risk of him not knowing what you want or not being as creative as you. If you can write music, you ought to be able to write a full piano part. I've always found that to be a much more inspiring starting point than a collection of chord symbols.
My other recommendation is that you write idiomatically for the piano. Don't be afraid to write a bassline. You can do stride piano stuff, arpeggios and chromatic runs with a keyboard much more easily than with just about any other bass instrument -- especially if it's fast moving. Use it. My left hand gets bored if you don't give it something interesting to do.
Finally, don't forget that the piano has a great range of pitch and dynamics, which composers forget to exploit when they have lots of other instruments in the ensemble. (It has a sustain pedal, too!)
There was a post from a piccolo player that I found very helpful (because I had been reading RK and other orchestration books that had said its range was poor in the lower register, that is was overly shrill, etc. and none of the versions in my sample libraries sound that bad.) I also find the comments from conductors helpful. I just wish there were more.
The only instrument I play is the piano ... and I'm far from a virtuoso. My pet peeve about contemporary scores (and most contemporary books about orchestration) is encouraging the use of chord symbols rather than writing out the part. A player can still embelish, improvise, simplify or otherwise improve what you have written if all the notes are there, but ifyou leave them out you run the risk of him not knowing what you want or not being as creative as you. If you can write music, you ought to be able to write a full piano part. I've always found that to be a much more inspiring starting point than a collection of chord symbols.
My other recommendation is that you write idiomatically for the piano. Don't be afraid to write a bassline. You can do stride piano stuff, arpeggios and chromatic runs with a keyboard much more easily than with just about any other bass instrument -- especially if it's fast moving. Use it. My left hand gets bored if you don't give it something interesting to do.
Finally, don't forget that the piano has a great range of pitch and dynamics, which composers forget to exploit when they have lots of other instruments in the ensemble. (It has a sustain pedal, too!)