Intro to Orchestration Part 3: Personal Resources

[LeoSerna77]

Great Videos Mr. Thomas, I really appreciate all your help.

[bowiebeau]

Thanks for all of your vids, they're great!

[anisuthideyakoindu]

you're doing a great job here! just, personally, I do believe that musical sheet and pencil with arazor is still up to date. off course in combination with pc editing. thank you for this most valuable information. I am a professional composer myself and still I was picking up good ideas from you!

[conordoyle85]

Hi Thomas, I was just on your website but I can't seem to find the course notes, could you point me to them please?

[OrchestrationOnline]

@conordoyle85 Sorry, I'm still working on this issue...I might have to do a separate video of just the course notes. My webmaster resigned (he got his doctorate and had a baby), and I have to find someone else as cheap and good as he was.

[HOE68YEN]

Hi Thomas, do you know the differences between Sibelius software and Cakewalk Pro Audio? I use the latter. Yes, you are right, I have to be very careful to make sure it doesn't only sound good on Cakewalk, but on the real orchestra. Thanks!

[OrchestrationOnline]

@HOE68YEN Yes, indeed I do - I remember Cakewalk's first release in 1987. It has some notation applications, and is a good all-around sequencer with one of the first digital audio tracking options. That said, I think the program does not have the flexibility to create massive, meticulously notated scores with extractable parts and so on. It approaches certain functions of Sibelius and Finale, but is more of a recording tool. On the other hand, Sibelius is not much of a sequencer, either.

[lovesGenet]

I'm so glad u mentioned not relying completely on patches&samples. Thanks for mentioning Adler didn't know this resource. Korsakov is not up to date .the unconventional types of notation .I started writing piano music in high school and now I'm trying to write string quartets &choral music since I'm a string player-. But corAnglais,contrabassoon tamtam etc. To think those kind of colors is the challenge. More I read ,hear the better!

[CramOddu]

Hi Thomas, These are some really great videos, thank you for such great information. I have a question about score reading. When learning to read a score, should I listen to the piece as I am reading the score or should I try to hear it in my head first and then listen with the recording?

[OrchestrationOnline]

@CramOddu Marc - please view my series on Score-Reading. The segment titled "Techniques" deals with this in detail. Thanks for the ups!

[jordanpipermusic]

Good point about day dreaming. Often times when I'm caught up in a strict routine of practicing or I try to set a schedule for myself for composing I get less done than if I go take a walk and work on things organically. I think it depends on the person though, because I heard that Stravinsky was extremely regimented with his composition: waking up early every day to work for a few uninterrupted hours.

[DaveHealey1]

Wonderful and very informative series of videos, I look forward to watching the rest :)

[MikeyIV]

Hi could you tell me the pieces you use at the start of each video? I want to download them but I don't know the names of some of them :D

[OrchestrationOnline]

@MikeyIV I usually mention each one by showing scores on the videos which bear the names of the pieces, except for the first video which is Capriccio Espagnol by Rimsky-Korsakov.

[vox4pax]

The help you offer is invaluable. So helpful and straightforward. Thank you!

[risingsorrow]

i just wanna thank u so much for these tutorial,i m just an average guitar player trying do do something beyond guitar music,i don t know if i will be able to do it properly,but your hints are welcome

[cchalfant]

I'm a composer also and just wanted to say thanks for what you're doing here.

One never knows everything and it's always nice to hear another perspective.

Keep up the good work if time permits.

[e5acf4]

I'm happy to find out about the Adler book :o)

[remedyz0802]

Thank you so much for the IMSPL link. I am planning on abusing that :)

These videos have all been very excellent, your channel is proving to be an invaluable resource. I will be referring people to this channel.

[ColinMitchellMusic]

Wow! Nice job! Excellent!

[LONGWINDING]

Very nice, glad to find someone speaking, teaching and feeling about orchestral music. I´m German, and so I listen to your video 2 or 3 times to get it,lol. 5*****

Best wishes, Frank

[OrchestrationOnline]

So THAT explains my 300+ views! I knew I didn't deserve that many lolz...

Danke sehr für die nette Anmerkung, Frank.

[LONGWINDING]

Haha, I know what you mean! No...you deserve it! It´s great, cause most so called composers just play with sounds on the keyboard, or nice chord-voicings on the guitar, which is not a "real" composition for me. So, once again, thank you.

Frank

BTW: I studied some years Musikwissenschaften (what´s it in English?)

[OrchestrationOnline]

Musikwissenschaften = Music theory or Musicianship.

Zappa used to say, "any music you make and put a frame around and call it yours is a composition." But pro composers who get paid usually need a higher level of craft to survive. So all composing is valid to me, but obviously know-how is a must if you're moving up to the big leagues of concert music and film scores.

[Burgundia1980]

About not orchestrating to the sound you hear...I fall into this trap all the time, and it's resulted in me trashing some of my better song ideas out of frustration. How do you learn to hear the individual parts in your head more clearly so that what goes down on "paper" doesn't sound so different when you listen to computer playback?

[OrchestrationOnline]

Jennifer - you simply have to listen to bucketloads of orchestral music, score in hand. See what the instruments actually do on the page, compare it to what your ear is hearing. Also do this with chamber music, especially sonatas with a featured soloist (flute with piano acc, etc.), string quartets, and mixed chamber.

I'll have a series of segments in a couple of weeks about just this topic.

[Burgundia1980]

Ok, thanks, I'll start browsing the IMSLP site.  By the way great choice of music for the "practical musical skills" section. :-)

[OrchestrationOnline]

Heh, good ol' Saint Säens...the Professor Schickele of the 19th century!

[ljovadotcom]

very entertaining, thanks Thomas! :)

best,

Ljova

[OrchestrationOnline]

Dream? Or premonition? mwah ha ha ha...

[DjTechSymphonic]

lol I just had a dream, of me trying to figure parts in my 4 composition in my head lol