Category
Orchestration

As I keep pointing out, there is a lot of phrasing that will happen naturally. However, we often need to indicate when to swell. This article mainly deals with the notation and interpretation of swells in isolation. For a very detailed discussion of what happens out in the wild be sure to check out my Error Code 7 article. 1. Conventional wisdom is that in this case (Ex.1), they will go up one dynamic. I have found that more often than not, all sections…
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Trills and fingered/keyed tremolos are the same thing, an oscillation between two notes. If the interval is a half or whole step it is called a trill, and if the interval is larger it is called a tremolo. It is common for players to think of them all as trills, the tremolo description appears to be an academic one based upon the notation. Trill notation is easy in tonal music with key signatures. The default is to trill to the next note in the key.…
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Tremolo is a great effect that can be used to add tension and weight or a shimmering texture. Tremolo is a fast oscillation of the bow, unmeasured by default. Tremolo, like harmonics and pizzicato, is a technique where the use of samples in composition has given composers a false sense of reality. For some reason, just like sampled timpani rolls, sampled tremolo is performed way faster than I have ever heard it in the real world. In reality, the speed is related to the dynamic,…
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Make sure you have read dynamic relationships before this article. What information do we have here? Three things: a pitch, a duration, and a dynamic. Pitch is not important to this discussion so let's not worry about it; everything we talk about applies for any pitch that is considered to be in the standard range. If we give this information to a computer, it would give us a waveform that looks like this: A rectangle. But what does this really sound like when the violins…
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There are many cool French and Italian terms for different bowing techniques. The texts have explanations of each of the different bow strokes, but these explanations range from excellent to confusing to plain contradictory (just google détaché). These terms refer to things the section does 'under the hood.' As an orchestrator, it is important to understand these, as they are the rudiments of string playing. Remember that in the end, though, the important thing is to know how to notate your intent; the section will…
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I recently returned from Australia where I was recording my big band for my next album. I decided it would be cool to record half the album in Australia and half in Los Angeles. To tie it all together I have written a piece for double big band. A highlight of the trip was rehearsing the new piece with 2 big bands, only in Melbourne could I get a whole second band to show up for an hour just to run one piece. The sessions…
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The double stop is the most misunderstood (by orchestrators) and ignored (by players) orchestration device EVER! I know that is a bold statement, but after many years observing the orchestra from the podium and seeing what they play and what they don't, I can say it with assurance. Keep in mind, we are talking about writing for the orchestra here, not for soloists or chamber music. There are three things you need to think about before you decide that you need to write a double…
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Here we go with a new year. Last year was my best ever with lots of cool gigs and new people to work with. Jack Reacher, for which I was lead orchestrator for came out as did The Guilt Trip, which I conducted. Grammy nominations were announced recently and while I had no submissions of my own this year, I worked on 5 nominated projects. Best rap album, Life is Good, Nas, Best Urban Contemporary Album, Kaleidoscope Dreams, Miguel. Producer of the year, Salaam Remi,…
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There are five sections in the string orchestra, playing five parts, but quite often we need more than five notes at once. There are two ways to get the extra notes: use double stops, or divide sections (divisi). In 90% of situations you should choose to divide. There are issues with double stops that I will explain in the next article. So how does the string section divide? The default behavior is to divide 'on the stand.' Players sit in pairs and share a music…
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At last I have started proper work on a new big band Album. I finished the last piece a week ago and we run it for this first time on Friday. At the moment I am madly practicing, I seem to the writing harder drum parts as I get older...... We will be playing most of the new albums music at our next gig. I am also working on a Blog that will be about orchestration. The main focus will be on all the large…
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