Established expression for "As loudly/quietly as possible"?
I'm a hobbyist when it comes to writing music, and my only actual music experience is band classes in school. regardless, I try to take the music I write as seriously as I can. I imagine I'm not as well versed in music theory and general good-praxis as most other proper composers here. This all being said, Is there a well-known, accepted dynamic or expression meaning "As loudly as possible" and/or conversely "As quietly as possible"? I could just add an "ffffff" to the end of a crescendo hairpin, make the dynamic marker invisible, and write my previous explanation for the expression at the end of the pins to make the playback and actual sight-reading work; in fact, that's what I'm doing now. However, I feel that there must be a more elegant solution to this that I just don't know about.
Any answers to this question would be greatly appreciated, and I'm grateful for your time.
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Comments
ffffff and pppppp would be the way indeed. Or a velocity chage on the hairpin itself, of the max. possible value, along with a corresponding 'End text'
In reply to ffffff and pppppp would be… by Jojo-Schmitz
Thank you for your input, sir. I'm glad to know I was on the right track.
Normally using "pp" and "ff" is sufficient. And you can see "ppp" and "fff" much less than these.
If you use "fff" it can mean "sound quality doesn't matter make the very very loud" (Maybe that's what you mean). If you use "ppp" it can also mean start at a sound that is too low to be heard.
Using more than three "f" or "p" would be an exaggeration.
Also, MIDI velocity dynamics are limited to 127. no matter how many "f" you type, it cannot go above that.
You can write any textual-note you want on the score. If you want to write a long explanation, you can put an asterisk next to the dynamic or expression and write a footnote under the score.
An example: In my school years, I saw that the score of a horn piece had "schmettern" written under the "ff" dynamic. I consulted my teacher to understand how to play. He had told me to play "screechy, metallic like playing in a soulless marching band (that plays very forte and very bad), or badly like an "over-voiced loudspeaker"(*1). When I saw the ff dynamic, I knew I had to play fortissimo, but I didn't know how to play (ie style). For this reason, write the dynamic, if necessary, write the explanation below, next to it or as a footnote.
*1: I think my teacher may have (rightly) exaggerated a bit so that I could understand better.
In reply to Normally it is sufficient to… by Ziya Mete Demircan
I appreciate your Insight, Mr. Dermircan. You are right in that the purpose I'm trying to fulfill with this "as loudly as possible" thing is less 'musical' and more shocking; intended to convey something more 'powerful' than musically legible. I also appreciate you telling me about the infrequency of dynamics above "ff" and "pp". This is both something I didn't know, but also something I find myself writing into much of my other music. I find that if I want to make one instrument louder or be more prominently heard among the other instruments, I will just add an "f" to whatever dynamic it was playing previously in the piece. This lends itself to spiraling out of hand I find, leading to the music becoming excessively loud as a whole. Thank you for pointing it out to me.
In reply to I appreciate your Insight,… by LukeMcElroy
Just like with the Mixdown technique, instead of raising the sound of the instrument you want to be strong, you can also try to lower the dynamics of the accompaniment (Unless your goal is to use a special effect).
Keeping the accompaniment more stationary or repeating a rhythm (riff) is another technique used to bring the solo forward, compared to instruments playing solo.
It should also be taken into account that the outermost instruments are more pronounced (on soprano and bass).
Were you asking about the standard notation, or how to make MuseScore realize it? The standard notation would be "F [=forte] possibile," although you might want to add a couple of "F"s for emphasis. Note the spelling: since F is Italian, the adjective should be as well. But your all-English marking works just fine, especially with the non-visible FFFFFF.
Does MuseScore have an actual distinction in playback between these extreme dynamics? In general, dynamics beyond FFF and PPP are seldom used. Tchaikovsky used six "P"s in his 6th symphony, and Mahler five "F"s in his 7th. But six "F"s imply the possibility of a seventh, etc.
Spinal Tap had an amplifier which went to 11.
I've had experiences with musicians that were apparently so used to seeing "fff" or "ffff" that they held back a bit when I just wrote "ff". But that's a matter of communication - if you tell the musicians that "fff" means maximum volume, then they can adjust to that.
(Or you can go the Ustvolskaya way and write "fffffff sfz" and > to every single note. ;) That will definitely get the message across.)
In reply to I've had experiences with… by jundurg
The default velocity settings (range 0-127) for the dynamics are
ffffff : 127
fffff : 127
ffff : 127
fff : 126
ff : 112
f : 96
mf : 80 (als the default in absence of any dynamics)
mp : 64
p : 49
pp : 33
ppp : 16
pppp : 10
ppppp : 5
pppppp : 1
In reply to The default velocity… by Jojo-Schmitz
"As loudly as possible"
I have seen tutta la forza (Italian: full power, all the power possible, as loud as possible, with the utmost force). The example below is an instruction for the solo Violin part:
In reply to "As loudly as possible" I… by DanielR
This is precisely the sort of answer I was hoping to get! I'm going to be adding this to my score the second I finish this reply. Thank you, Mr.R, I greatly appreciate this!
In reply to "As loudly as possible" I… by DanielR
The interesting thing is that although there is a "tutta la forza" textual note, there is an additional accent on some notes. So some notes are even stronger. :)
In reply to The interesting thing is… by Ziya Mete Demircan
;-)