# Online sheet music sites that offer ‘full’ orchestrations



## Delacey86 (May 4, 2020)

I’m looking for online sheet music sites that offer more than just piano/vocal/guitar. My aim is to learn more about Logic and my EW composer cloud subscription by mocking up pieces. As I read music, getting a fuller score (or even parts) would be useful. Any ideas?


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## bryla (May 4, 2020)

imslp.org has a lot of public domain scores. Otherwise you can search sheetmusicplus for full scores: https://www.sheetmusicplus.com/ensembles/orchestra/study-score/500121+600072


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## Gil (May 4, 2020)

Hello!
You can buy full film scores here: https://omnimusicpublishing.com
Hal Leonard has a collection of full scores (example: https://www.halleonard.com/product/4491291/the-missiongabriels-oboe).
Also are available the incredible John Williams Signature editions: http://www.johnwilliams.org/reference/sheet-music/conductor-scores


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## shomynik (May 4, 2020)

My two favourites:






IMSLP: Free Sheet Music PDF Download







imslp.org












Free-scores.com : World Free Sheet Music (PDF, MIDI, MP3)


Free sheet music for all instruments : winds, strings, choral, orchestra. Free scores for piano, violin, banjo, mandolin, accordion, classical guitar, bass, saxophone, cello, flute, clarinet, trumpet, trombone, lute, flamenco guitar, drum, percussion, choral, orchestra, harpschord, harp, didjeridoo




www.free-scores.com


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## ReelToLogic (May 4, 2020)

East Coast Music sells conductor scores for a lot of different music at pretty reasonable prices. Movie scores are fun if that's something that you like. Just search by name for something that interests you like "Lord of the Rings" or "John Williams". You'll want the "full orchestra conductor score", but don't need the parts. Don't forget that you will need to understand transposition for many of the orchestra instruments. Good luck!




East Coast Music - Sheet Music and other Music Products including Software, Hardware and Instruments.








A Tribute to John Williams : Deluxe Score : arr. Paul Lavender : Deluxe Score : # 4490460


Performance time - ca. 4:40 The Kennedy Center Honors program paid tribute in 2004 to America's favorite film composer, including a performance of several of Mr. Williams' classic scores. Paul Lavende



www.eastcoastmusic.com


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## bryla (May 4, 2020)

Keep in mind those scores are arrangements - not the originals.


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## shomynik (May 4, 2020)

bryla said:


> Keep in mind those scores are arrangements - not the originals.


Is there any source of originals - what's actually conducted/recorded for the soundtrack?


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## bryla (May 4, 2020)

imslp.org for public domain. John Williams Deluxe Score from Hal Leonard and Omni Music Publishing. All links that Gil posted above.


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## Gil (May 4, 2020)

shomynik said:


> Is there any source of originals - what's actually conducted/recorded for the soundtrack?


OmniMusicPublishing scores are original ones, and John Williams Deluxe scores from Hal Leonard are suites from original John Williams material that have been revised by John Williams himself: Star Wars Suite for example is very close to the original, I do believe even John Williams conducted the suite in concert.
I'll add that some composers are selling the score of some movies they worked on: Alain Mayrand (creator of the excellent https://scoreclub.net) sell The Legend of SilkBoy Orchestral Score (https://www.alainmayrand.com/product/the-legend-of-silkboy-orchestral-score/).


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## ChrisSiuMusic (May 6, 2020)

Imslp and Scribd are both great free sources. Otherwise, check out the websites mentioned above.


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## purple (May 6, 2020)

IMSLP is the place to go for classical. You can subscribe to scribd for pretty cheap and get access to a lot of scores, which is where you are more likely to find film scores than on imslp. That's how I got the star wars suite for example. If you're enrolled in a university check the library and sometimes the library can contact other libraries in its network to get scores. Also check local public libraries, although that is rare. Mine is really great and doesn't have much in the way of sheet music.

Also....You could transcribe things by ear... There is not a musical soul on the planet that wouldn't benefit from more ear training...


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## bryla (May 7, 2020)

Be aware that scribd is illegal file sharing.


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## shomynik (May 7, 2020)

bryla said:


> Be aware that scribd is illegal file sharing.


And crooks - they kept leaching my credit card for 14 months after I unsubscribed. Beware.


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## Gil (May 7, 2020)

It seems that Chris Siddall Music is about to release "Aliens" James Horner full score (http://www.chrissiddallmusic.com/store/c1/Featured_Products.html).


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## bryla (May 7, 2020)

Looks like arrangements as well.


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## purple (May 7, 2020)

I forgot to mention... There are a lot of score videos on youtube. Check out this channel. The scores posted are reductions, but usually have notes referencing the instruments in use. Much like an orchestral sketch you'd see from a pro composer, but much neater . It's not the same as a full score but is useful as a reference for a mockup. There's a lot of star wars on here but tons of other iconic scores as well.



This one has more scores on it but has a slightly different analysis format to the other.
Edit: I should add that this second channel gets more of its music from concert versions, which can still be quite useful as the score and music are matched. The first has more access to original sketches through some friend of the channel creator or something.



Sometimes classical scores not found on imslp have been uploaded to youtube as videos with the music.


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## bryla (May 7, 2020)

purple said:


> The scores posted are reductions, but usually have notes referencing the instruments in use. Much like an orchestral sketch you'd see from a pro composer, but much neater .


Yes but that's exactly what you should be doing yourself to learn. It's not enough to see someone that did it. Do the reductions yourself. Then it really doesn't matter whether it's Beethoven or the latest John Williams. By reducing just 4 bars you learn heaps more than watching one of those channels.


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## purple (May 7, 2020)

bryla said:


> Yes but that's exactly what you should be doing yourself to learn. It's not enough to see someone that did it. Do the reductions yourself. Then it really doesn't matter whether it's Beethoven or the latest John Williams. By reducing just 4 bars you learn heaps more than watching one of those channels.


I already said doing it by ear is good upthread. But if the goal is to get good at making realistic mockups, having a reference recording and an accurate score is the best thing for you. Even if you initially do transcribe it by ear, even the best listeners will miss things that simply don't stick out in the mix.


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## chrissiddall (Jul 2, 2020)

bryla said:


> Looks like arrangements as well.




Thanks for the "plug" Gil! It's really rather awesome that word is beginning to spread about Aliens and the other stuff we've been working on.

As for whether the film score items in our catalogue are arrangements or not, I can say for the most part they are in fact based on the original recording sheets. "Aliens" certainly is, and that's partly why it's taking so long to complete (it's a very complex score, compounded by not being desperately legible)!

In "final polish" at the moment are 3 suites (each containing 6 full cues - not arranged into a medley) based on the original scores/orchestrations: The Dark Crystal (Jones), Ben-Hur (Rózsa) and The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe (Gregson-Williams).

Scores which are currently available that were produced from original sheets are: Psycho (Prelude & Narrative Suite) (Herrmann), Lawrence of Arabia (Overture) (Jarre), Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (Hogwarts March) (Doyle), Mary Shelley's Frankenstein ("Please Wait!") (Doyle), Titanic (Nearer My God, To Thee) (arr. Horner), Pride & Prejudice (Dawn/Main Title) (Marianelli).

I also make mockups of some of my favourite cues "for fun" which you can view on my youtube channel. You won't be able to read the score clearly unless you run it full-screen on a large TV, but you should be able to follow the shape of what's going on, and I'm looking at ways to improve the visual element of these videos in the near future. I'll be live streaming some sessions too, so if you see we're live, please do pop your head in and say "hi" in the chat box!

Depending on whether we have a physical print license or digital only, products can be found either on our website or SMP. Links for these and our other social media pages below.







Chris Siddall Music Publishing Sheet Music And Music Books At Sheet Music Plus







www.sheetmusicplus.com












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www.chrissiddallmusic.com













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## chrissiddall (Jul 2, 2020)

...and a couple more pages - an exclusive preview for you!


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## bryla (Jul 2, 2020)

I took it that they were arrangements since none of the samples mention licensing or rights reserved. I see your Ben Hur suite has that.

PS: No bracket on timpani.


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## chrissiddall (Jul 2, 2020)

bryla said:


> I took it that they were arrangements since none of the samples mention licensing or rights reserved. I see your Ben Hur suite has that.
> 
> PS: No bracket on timpani.



Unless something curious is going on they all have copyright notices on. Everything is carefully (and expensively!) licensed unless it's in the public domain, like the Hely-Hutchinson (which coincidentally was _not_ when I engraved it, so was licensed from then MusicSalesClassical, now Wise Music).

Thanks for the note about the Timp. brace. Like I said - final spit and polish yet to happen, but good to note that one on the "to review" list!


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## ScoringArts (Jul 2, 2020)

David McCauley's YouTube channel and OmniPublishing are both terrific resources. 

We also offer scores, analyses, and lots of other info at www.scoringarts.com


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## Gene Pool (Jul 2, 2020)

chrissiddall said:


> ...and a couple more pages - an exclusive preview for you!



*Red Alert!—Red Alert!—Red Alert!*

The Ben Hur score > page 4 > Perc. 1: you wrote "cymbals."

This will cause major confusion in Los Angeles and surrounding counties. They'll have to shut down LAX, traffic will be rerouted, scoring stages will lower their flags to half staff, the FBI's Notation Division will be called in to investigate, and the perpetrator will have to wear sackcloth and ashes.

So-called "cymbals" is a mysterious word—unknown, ambiguous, cryptic, as it is the English plural for the word "cymbal," which could mean damn near anything in Southern California.

You _must_ use the Italian equivalent for "cymbals": *Piatti*—or its occasional variant: *Piatti a2* (so that all the three-handed percussionists will know how many cymbals piatti to hold.)

To review:

–English plural for "cymbal" = No.
–Italian plural for "cymbal" = Yes.

Your only saving grace here is that this rule only applies to the 90000 zip codes.

So long. Arrivederci.


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## bryla (Jul 2, 2020)

Agreed. Have noticed that in LA. Since my scores are played all around the world (where Piatti in itself doesn’t mean handheld) I use Piatti a2 for handheld and Susp. Cymbal for - well suspended. Not sus. as you wrote.


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## chrissiddall (Jul 2, 2020)

bryla said:


> Agreed. Have noticed that in LA. Since my scores are played all around the world (where Piatti in itself doesn’t mean handheld) I use Piatti a2 for handheld and Susp. Cymbal for - well suspended. Not sus. as you wrote.



I tend to defer to Gould on such things and yes, "susp. cym." is the recognised shorthand.
On the Piatti issue, I do use "Piatti" normally. As mentioned this is pre-proof and polish and proofing and was more to show that the full original orchestration was in play. tbh....thank goodness I can rely on that to cover for all sins on show as opposed to the sack cloth option. A+ for comedy critique though, thanks!!


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## bryla (Jul 2, 2020)

chrissiddall said:


> A+ for comedy critique though, thanks!!


?


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## nolotrippen (Jul 2, 2020)

shomynik said:


> My two favourites:
> 
> 
> 
> ...




Agreed!


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## Gene Pool (Jul 2, 2020)

Haha. Chris, I know you knew. I was just riffing on the odd bit of silliness and inconsistency we all come across from time to time depending on the region, score purpose, house style, individual musician, and the crap shoot game of "depends on who you ask."

As far as I'm concerned, "cymbals" _should be_ just fine. Anything other than a pair of handheld cymbals played one against the other should have its own nomenclature, since it's not the default ask. Some orchestral percussionists prefer "crash cymbals" (Girsberger and Cirone both recommend it). I've seen some scores use "hand cymbals," I suppose to clarify that "foot cymbals" are not intended (/sarc). I've also seen "clash cymbals," even.

LA may have long ago settled on "piatti" to differentiate from the drum set "crash cymbal," but that's pure speculation on my part. Who knows?

But again, what the heck is wrong with just "cymbals" in an orchestral context? A pair of cymbals does a heckuva lot more than just crash or clash, and, in addition to the suspended cymbal, it's the most common use of those pizza-shaped Turkish thingies you oughtn't drop on the floor.


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## Gene Pool (Jul 2, 2020)

bryla said:


> ?



Oh, he was referring to my previous bit of lighthearted sarcasm but just forgot to clarify.


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## bryla (Jul 2, 2020)

Ah okay. I See. 

But seriously the first scores I delivered to LA I simply wrote cymbals. Was kindly asked what the fudge I meant


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## Gene Pool (Jul 2, 2020)

bryla said:


> But seriously the first scores I delivered to LA I simply wrote cymbals. Was kindly asked what the fudge I meant



You are not alone.


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## chrissiddall (Jul 2, 2020)

Hehe yup it's a proverbial minefield! I did havd a score recently with (hem hem) _piatti_ doing a 2 plate roll which helpfully said exactly that; "2 plate roll" in the score.
Tomorrow I'm going to stream a bit of typesetting, and I've just been setting up a template so I can just follow the original reference score for ease and speed, but (amongst other fun things like unusual instruments....hello "transceleste" and "blaster beam"!) did have to wonder why an experienced orchestrator would bracket Timpani in with Percussion, as "Perc. 6". (Also Perc. 1&2 are tuned). Basically the layout is all topsy turvy. The same person has not done that in other scores I've seen so seems doubly weird. Anyway as I said, I've copied the original for ease of input. Don't shoot me if you "tune in" and see something janky like that!!


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