Members Stephen Quinn Posted March 24, 2012 Members Share Posted March 24, 2012 Hi Everyone. I've been playing guitar and writing music for a while now, and I have a growing interest in composition for orchestras, particularly string sections, and wish to incorporate orchestral arrangements in my future compositions. Could anyone offer me any advice in writing and arranging music for orchestras, e.g. notes of the chords divided between instruments, doubling up on main melody to give it a fuller sound etc. Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members rsadasiv Posted March 25, 2012 Members Share Posted March 25, 2012 Hi Everyone. I've been playing guitar and writing music for a while now, and I have a growing interest in composition for orchestras, particularly string sections, and wish to incorporate orchestral arrangements in my future compositions.Could anyone offer me any advice in writing and arranging music for orchestras, e.g. notes of the chords divided between instruments, doubling up on main melody to give it a fuller sound etc.Thanks! This is a great question. An orchestra is a huge instrument. I've tried some stuff for chamber groups (piano-cello-viola-violin) but I can't say I have any pearls of wisdom on that front. Lately I've been trying to write for a 4 piece horn section (baritone sax, tenor sax, 2 trumpets) - it has some similarities to the chamber trio as far as the pitch ranges of the instruments but again, much smaller than an orchestra. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members ido1957 Posted March 25, 2012 Members Share Posted March 25, 2012 http://www.amazon.com/Garritan-Personal-Orchestra/dp/B0002VC9JC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Stephen Quinn Posted March 25, 2012 Author Members Share Posted March 25, 2012 Thanks guys. The Garritan Personal Orchestra seems really impressive. I'll have to start saving though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members workstation M.I Posted March 30, 2012 Members Share Posted March 30, 2012 Thanks guys. The Garritan Personal Orchestra seems really impressive. I'll have to start saving though. Here's something MORE impressive: http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/QLSOSilvC You'd best place an order before the end of March because I believe that's when the price of this goes back up. Listen to Silver here: Be sure and hit the "more" tab below for even more examples of what Silver can do.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members LordBTY Posted March 30, 2012 Members Share Posted March 30, 2012 There're Cellos (lowest) Violas (Mids) Violins (Highs) and often second violins... They may sometimes be doubling up in octaves for a thickening of texture but the general chord voicing is really up to you. I'd suggest just doing it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members kurdy Posted March 31, 2012 Members Share Posted March 31, 2012 The best advice I've ever read regarding arranging string parts was from an interview with Beatles producer George Martin. He said a common mistake people make who don't have a solid background in string arranging is to bunch notes together...especially working with synths and MIDI (and perhaps guitar too), the tendency is to arrange chords as if they were being played on a keyboard, resulting in a synth-y sort of sound even when it's actually the real thing. Because the cello is in a very different range from the viola and the violin, the notes need to be spaced accordingly. I've found arranging the notes of the chord at least a fifth or sixth apart from each other result in a sound that's more authentic. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Stephen Quinn Posted April 5, 2012 Author Members Share Posted April 5, 2012 Thanks Kurdy. I'm really interested in learning more about string arranging. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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