Orchestration

What is Orchestration?

     Orchestration is the study or practice of writing music for an orchestra or for any musical ensemble. An orchestrator have the entire orchestra in his head. He knows every single instrument, their ranges, how they blend with each other, and especially how to combine the instruments wisely so that they have the perfect balance in volume. Often, composers write a piano version or a small instrumentation of what is later going to be a full orchestra piece. They focus in the music, the art of creating it and the inspiration. Composers don't want do be thinking what blends well or if the orchestra is to loud. After the writing process is done, they start orchestrating the music. In film music they have orchestrators waiting for the composer to hand the original ideas. Studios often have several orchestrators so that the process can be fast. We have to keep in mind that in this business everything is about time.

Ennio Morricone (film composer) was asked at a seminar why he doesn't hire an orchestrator, his response was, "Did Beethoven need an orchestrator? Did Bach?"

Orchestration is a form of compositional art. One can orchestrate a piece a million different ways. Which is the right way???






    Great Orchestration Books

• Michael Praetorius (1619): Syntagma musicum volume two, De Organographia.
• Valentin Roeser (1764): Essai de l'instruction à l'usage de ceux, qui composent pour la clarinette et le cor.
• Hector Berlioz (1844): Grand traité d’instrumentation et d’orchestration modernes (Treatise on Instrumentation).
• François-Auguste Gevaert (1863): Traité general d’instrumentation.
• Charles-Marie Widor (1904) : Technique de l’orchestre moderne (Manual of Practical Instrumentation).
• Nikolay Rimsky-Korsakov (1912): Основы оркестровки (Principles of Orchestration).
• Cecil Forsyth (1914): Orchestration.
• Alfredo Casella: (1950) La Tecnica dell'Orchestra Contemporanea.
• Charles Koechlin (1954–9): Traité de l'Orchestration (4 vols).
• Walter Piston (1955): Orchestration.
• Samuel Adler (1982, 1989, 2002): The Study of Orchestration
• Alfred Blatter (1997) : Instrumentation and Orchestration (Second edition).

Classical Music vs. Film Music

Is Film Music the New Classical Music?

                    




                                  

VS.

         
          Some people know what a symphony orchestra is because they went to the movies and watched Star Wars or Lord of the Rings or some other major movie, and after the movie they googled how this amazing music was made. Then, they find out that it was recorded by a symphony orchestra! In our minds we make the connection (symphony orchestra-classical music) unconsciously, because we've seen so many ads and promotional signs were they are announcing a classical music concert with the picture of a symphony orchestra. General people (non-musicians) are more likely to hear a symphony sound in the theater than in a concert halls. This is why professional orchestras are taking the initiative to have pop concerts and program some film music in their season. They will reach more audiences and at the same time promote the classical concerts.

Valery Gergiev, Russian Conductor

I believe that film music is an art, like classical music. It is just a different process of thinking the music. A film composer writes his music with the picture in mind trying to serve the moving images, while the classical composer can work more with inspiration and doesn't have any "limitations". They use the same compositional techniques, they have to know all about orchestration, harmony, counterpoint, music forms, and other significant details to achieve the same goal. The creation of music.

 





"The job of a composer, whether in film or the classical genre, is to create music which fulfills its function....these functions can be and have been synonymous and interchangeable." 

                                                                                     -Anonymous






"If Richard Wagner had lived in this century, he would have been the number one film composer."

                                                                                    - Max Steiner

Links:

Film Music Magazine article no.1
Film Music Magazine article no. 2
Analyzing Classical Music and Film Music with Examples

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