Does anybody have any advice for orchestrating? Or any further reading on the subject?

• Aug 14, 2015 - 17:05

I have taken over the last number of months to try and compose as much as I can. However, being predominantly a pianist, I know little to nothing about orchestration, despite the fact I listen to orchestras nearly all the time. The last week, I've been trying to write for an orchestra. I *guess* you could say the tone of which is similar to Two Steps from Hell or Ivan Torrent etc. but that would probably be an insult to them. I'm satisfied with the melody I've developed (as in, for violin 1's), however, I am not satisfied with the accompaniment (double bass, cello, violin 2's. I'll worry about the rest of the instruments later, strings is just the opening part). It sounds cheap, or unprofessional, but I'm not exactly sure where the problem lies (it could also be musescore's not so great midi effects, but usually it's a decent indicator). On a technical level, what's written is chords just being played. What I did was write and play the melody on piano and transfer it across to orchestra, just assigning the parts to different instruments. I know this is how numerous composers function, so I don't think there's anything wrong on that front. I also know you can sort of have additional melodies played by violin 2's, but for the moment, that's not fully what I want.

What I'd really like to know, is if there are any tips on how properly orchestrate? I know this is something people can spend years studying, but I am literally approaching this with no no knowledge of how this works and I'm desperate to try and figure out what the best methods are to try and go about this. Also, is there any further reading on the subject at all in any regard? I was reading a few of them and the large majority of the books are very old or outdated. If any advice from any capacity could be given, I would seriously appreciate it. Also, if you would like to hear what I have written, I am more than willing to send the score on to you (it's only about thirty seconds and of course is on musescore).

Thanks for your time


Comments

The following books (classics all!) have been very helpful to me, and are relatively inexpensive at Amazon:
Principles of Orchestration/Rimsky-Korsakov
Treatise on Instrumentation/Berlioz & Strauss

Not strictly on orchestration, but very helpful anyway:
Practical Manual of Harmony/Rimsky-Korsakov
Guide to the Practical Study of Harmony/Tchaikovsky
The Jazz Theory Book/Mark Levine

Although I haven't read it, I have heard good things about Theory of Harmony/Schoenberg.

And, if transcribing the works of Bach et. al. was a good study method for Mozart, who am I to argue? MuseScore makes it *relatively* easy to copy the (public domain) works of composers that you respect, learning in the process.

As far as things not sounding great when played back in MuseScore, I would tend to look at the source material first. I have transcribed several opera/orchestral pieces into MuseScore, and it doesn't take much tweaking to get them to sound very realistic. (In some cases, as good as, or better than, older low-fidelity recordings.)

1. Consider MuseScore.com
You can join a group at:
https://musescore.com/groups
where scores are posted/discussed/critiqued.

Here are just a few listed:
https://musescore.com/groups/newcomposers
https://musescore.com/groups/amateurcomposers/sheetmusic
https://musescore.com/groups/musescore-composers
https://musescore.com/groups/composers---the-next-generation

Also:
2. MuseScore.org
You can post a score you create on this MuseScore.org forum:
https://musescore.org/en/forum/159

Regards.

In reply to by Jm6stringer

If you have enough knowledge to identify the instruments, the ranges they are occupying and the note names and durations, I highly recommend lifting some works. They do not have to be terribly complex, but this will aid your ear in so many ways. Music exists in the ear, not on the page.
Best regards,

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