# The Cambridge Guide to Orchestration



## Kaan Guner (May 23, 2017)

Has anyone ever read this? I'm thinking on doing my first book on Orchestration and decided to go with this because it's cheap for me to get - around 15$

But there are better first books perhaps for first timers with a sluggish sight reading.

http://www.cambridge.org/catalogue/catalogue.asp?isbn=1107069726

http://www.amazon.com/Cambridge-Guide-Orchestration-Ertu-Sevsay/dp/1107025168 (www.amazon.com/Cambridge-Guide-Orchestration-Ertu-Sevsay/dp/1107025168)

Off-topic P.S: Congratulations to the admin. I've lost power creating this thread previous night. And now when I tried to create a thread with the same name my post was there)


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## d.healey (May 23, 2017)

I recommend you start here - http://northernsounds.com/forum/forumdisplay.php/77-Principles-of-Orchestration - it has score examples that playback in real time, very helpful.


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## MatFluor (May 23, 2017)

Never heard of - what do you except compared to Rimsky-Korsakoff's Principles of Orchestration?


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## Kaan Guner (May 23, 2017)

MatFluor said:


> Never heard of - what do you except compared to Rimsky-Korsakoff's Principles of Orchestration?



I don't have a single clue, to be honest. On either of the books - hence the thread. I can't evaluate what the book you suggest and this one emphasises on - as in more practical or theoretical approach.


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## Kaan Guner (May 23, 2017)

d.healey said:


> I recommend you start here - http://northernsounds.com/forum/forumdisplay.php/77-Principles-of-Orchestration - it has score examples that playback in real time, very helpful.



I remember this one going into my bookmark. But for some reason I just thought going with a book was a better idea - which was obviously not an act of logic. Perhaps I really should just start with this one.


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## bbunker (May 23, 2017)

The Cambridge Guide is unique - the first part is like pretty much any other Instrumentation book, but the bulk of the book is musical excerpts in reduction, that you're meant to orchestrate and then compare with the original. It's also got some notes after the fact for interesting notes about what the original composer did with the same material. The ordering of the material is very cool, going through the choirs of the orchestra beginning with the strings alone, and then moving from simple combined material to more complex situations. Kind of like our late Peter Alexander's Orchestration books in reverse, starting from actual pieces of music and dissolving the techniques that they used, rather than looking for pieces that fit the techniques.

As far as recommending it for someone with limited score reading...I don't know if it'd be the first book I'd think of. I really kind of think that the big second half of the book is really meant for someone with some orchestration experience already. It might be better to start with something simpler, especially with some audio materials like the latest Adler editions.


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## C-Wave (May 23, 2017)

$130 or so is not "cheap" in my book.


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## Kaan Guner (May 24, 2017)

C-Wave said:


> $130 or so is not "cheap" in my book.


I'll be buying this at 15 though.

@bbunker what do you think about principles of orchestration from the first post of the thread?


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## bbunker (May 24, 2017)

The Rimsky-Korsakov/Northern Sounds version is great. Lots of examples - using samples, if I remember right, rather than an actual orchestra, so it's not perfect, but it's hard to find the specific points in recordings of RK's lesser-known works that make up a big chunk of the examples half of his original book.

At 15 dollars, you should buy the Cambridge book immediately - because it's good, and you'd pay a lot more than that anywhere else. Also, because it's up to date and accurate on 20th century instruments. Alan Belkin's notes clear up some of the details that may not be up to date in RK, but the Cambridge would function as a good instrumentation reference.

They're all good, really...some are better than others at certain things, but that's kind of the point - you build up your orchestration chops by seeing how different composers approach material differently, and by how writers about orchestration write about it differently.


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