The most common tones are produced by initiating the vibration of the strings through either bowing or plucking. Below is a useful chart for the ranges of string instruments: All are tuned to fifths except for the double basses that are tuned to fourths.
The primary differences between the string instruments are their sizes, ranges, and tunings. The string section is made up of four different instruments: the violin, viola, cello, and double bass, each of which is constructed basically in the same fashion as shown in the diagram of a violin below: The orchestra can be broken down into 4 primary groups or families: strings, woodwinds, brass, and percussion.
When the student works alone he must try to avoid the pitfalls of the first three phases.īefore we begin learning how to incorporate each one of the instruments into our compositions, we must first learn as much as possible about each instrument so that we can make informed decisions when deciding which instrument should play a given part. The more advanced period, when he has come to recognize that the string group is the richest and most expressive of all.The stage during which he adores the woodwind and horns, using stopped notes in conjunction with strings, muted or pizzicato.The period when he acquires a passion for the harp, using it in every possible chord.The phase during which he puts his entire faith in percussion instruments, believing that beauty of sound emanates entirely from this branch of the orchestra-this is the earliest stage.The student will probably pass through the following phases: He continues to talk about the different stages that the beginning orchestrator will pass through in his/her journey towards becoming a master orchestrator: A work should be written for the size of the orchestra that is to perform it, not for some imaginary body as many composers persist in doing. Orchestral writing should be easy to play a composer's work stands the best chance when the parts are well written. In the orchestra there is no such thing as ugly quality of tone.
In addition, we will focus only on the traditional instruments of the classical orchestra, excluding later additions such as the saxophone and drumset.Īs you begin your journey into the art of orchestration, it is prudent to understand these three axioms set out by master orchestrator Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov in his definitive guide to orchestration, Principles of Orchestration: This article is meant to serve as a crash course in the basics of classical orchestration for beginner and intermediate game composers to enhance their use of orchestral sample libraries and in turn, increase their profitability as composers.įor the sake of brevity, this article assumes that the reader has a general understanding of music theory and is familiar with and has access to an orchestral sample library such as VSL, EastWest, or Garritan. However, in order to successfully utilize its power, one must first have a solid understanding of the general principles of orchestration. The symphony orchestra is one of the most versatile mediums of music performance, which is capable of producing an almost infinite number of different shades of expression.