Diary of an Orchestrator, April 2

Diary of an Orchestrator, April 2

8:38 p.m. I’m sitting in the rehearsal room, typing this as unobtrusively as possible as the LA Doctor’s Symphony Orchestra works out on the Elgar Enigma Variations. The rehearsal for my piece is well finished by now, but I’m just waiting for the break so that a few players can talk to me about bits…
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Diary of an Orchestrator, April 1 (April 2 NZ calendar)

Diary of an Orchestrator, April 1 (April 2 NZ calendar)

6:30 A.M. The lights of Wellington glitter jewel-like in the velvety blackness outside, making a circle around the harbor. I’ve been up since ten past 6:00, which is average for me. As my career has gotten ever more focused on orchestration, I’ve found myself getting up earlier and earlier in the morning, sometimes as early…
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Orchestration – Horns and Winds Overlapping

Orchestration – Horns and Winds Overlapping

When overlapping a wind chord into a horn chord, try dropping some of the horn notes by an octave, especially if the wind chord had clarinets on top. The overtones from the horns will blend seamlessly into the timbre of the clarinets – but you have to balance the dynamics carefully!