Orchestration Topic

[FierceDeity]

Hey guys,

So it's come to my realization recently that not every composer here is necessarily entirely familiar with all of the instruments they'd like to write for, and I think that's a shame, because orchestration is really such an important aspect of composition. And I thought, hey, we all have different backgrounds here, and a lot of us could probably benefit from the experiences of others! I, for example, am still pretty foreign to a lot of techniques and writing conventions for piano; it's part of why I rarely write for it in any context other than arrangements for the site.

I am, however, pretty comfortable with the majority of orchestra-related instruments, particularly winds. I've been playing brass for 9 years, of which I played euphonium for all 9, (tenor) trombone for 4, tuba for 2, and trumpet for 2. (I also played percussion on and off for a total of about two years.) I have a lot of experience playing in wind band, big band, and chamber ensembles, and a decent amount of experience giving private lessons, directing rehearsals/sectionals for the aforementioned groups, and playing in orchestra. I've taken a couple years of practicums and orchestration classes for all four instrument families (strings, percussion, brass, and woodwinds), during which I dabbled in most instruments I didn't already have experience playing, hopefully enough to get a general feel for what works and what doesn't.

Now, the point of this autofellatio-in-paragraph-form isn't (just) to stroke my ego in front of you all, but to let you know, if you think this experience would be valuable to you, feel free to ask any orchestration-related questions you have that you think I might be able to answer.

I'm also far from the best musician on this site; if any of you who know something about your instrument(s) (or any others) that the rest of us might not (which, really, is most of you! Almost everybody who's worked with music has something to bring to the table), feel free to post here like I have, so that other people know what resources they have available to them. My hope is for this to become an open forum where we can all benefit from one another's unique experiences with music.

[Bloop]

Oooh this will help me so much I'm sure
I know quite a bit from piano sheet music (mainly classical), so I'll gladly help with any piano-related questions

A thing I've been doubting about is slurs in woodwinds and brass; How exactly do they work? I've read stuff about tonguing etc. but I'd like to know if there's any impossibilities or something for them. I think it isn't as restricted as in strings sheet music but yeah
how dey wurk

[FierceDeity]

Basically, the larger the interval you're trying to slur (as well as the faster you're trying to slur it), the harder it is to slur it. This is especially true on brass, just because the number of notes that we can potentially hit with the same fingering (commonly referred to as "partials") is much higher, and much closer together (double especially on french horn). On trombone, any actual slur is either going to be a lip slur (moving up or down to a different note while in the same position just using your air, aperture, etc.) or a glissando (which we can essentially do for up to a tritone, and that's assuming you're starting and ending on the optimal positions). There are more likely to be awkward fingering changes on woodwinds than on brass (with the exception of trombone), generally just going from a really high amount of keys pressed to a very low amount, or vice versa, but this is much more manageable than slurring larger intervals is on brass.

(If you want a more detailed explanation on partials and how close together they are at different registers, let me know.)

That's not to say that slurring is always more difficult than the alternative for brass; for particularly fast, unslurred notes, we're often required to draw upon the extended techniques of double or triple tonguing. For double tonguing, rather than tonguing just with a "tuh" or "duh" sound, for example, you would alternate between "tuh" and "kuh", or "duh" and "guh". For triple tonguing (typically used on fast triplet/compound meter figures), it's now "tuh kuh tuh, tuh kuh tuh" or "duh guh duh, duh guh duh". The sound quality isn't exactly consistent as we do it, but if it's fast enough to require double or triple tonguing, it'll mostly go unnoticed, and is generally better than the alternatives of either not being able to play them, or having a much higher intensity attack with rapid single tonguing. (Most woodwinds also have similar techniques, but it's a bit more difficult, to my understanding.) You can try it with your own tongue when you're writing something to see how manageable it might be; those who've practiced the technique on their instruments will likely be able to do it much faster than you are, even without any air resistance on your part, but it's still a decent measure of what it might be like, and whether it's physically possible.

Also, to most wind players, a slur marking with, say, staccato markings, for example, doesn't make much sense. We do get used to it because a lot of people tend to mistakenly write for us like strings, but the concept of bow direction doesn't really transfer over to us, and so the two markings are somewhat contradictory, at least to how most of us are first taught to treat slurs (no tongue).

[Bloop]

(finally got to answer decently) Thanks, that'll surely help! Maybe that detailed explanation could help me understand it a bit better ^^

[Lareome]

I look very much like very much.

[AwesomeYears]

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