Abdulrahman
Active Member
If you are writing an orchestral piece and would like to introduce different ideas, how do you connect those ideas in a smooth way so that nothing sounds too random or sudden, especially if there will be a tempo change?
Ludwin's book is also excellent (at a much more basic level)
Developing Variation | musicnewapproach
www.musicnewapproach.com
Modulate.If you are writing an orchestral piece and would like to introduce different ideas, how do you connect those ideas in a smooth way so that nothing sounds too random or sudden, especially if there will be a tempo change?
If you are writing an orchestral piece and would like to introduce different ideas, how do you connect those ideas in a smooth way so that nothing sounds too random or sudden, especially if there will be a tempo change?
Look at what you are changing so you know what to continue to make it sound smooth.If you are writing an orchestral piece and would like to introduce different ideas, how do you connect those ideas in a smooth way so that nothing sounds too random or sudden, especially if there will be a tempo change?
This! I was going respond with something like this but hawpri said it much better than I would have. And I like the term "dovetailing". This can make a huge difference in making your transitions sound smooth and natural.For me, an answer (besides looking up something to study, like Mike Verta and development) is by dovetailing when and where it seems necessary. Though there's a lot more to be said about how to do it properly (and definitely not by me) I think even thinking of it this way could help.
Imagine walking on grass toward a gravel driveway. Next, picture a few feet of gravel and grass where grass has crept out in the driveway. For example, if you haven't had much or any brass part in the A section, but the B section of your piece will feature more prominent brass it may help to have a little brass toward the end of the A section. That way the transition going from listening to the A and suddenly hearing the B section won't be striking or jarring but instead a pleasantly interesting change that happens almost without the listener knowing.
Another idea to combine with the previous paragraph is to avoid jumps in the pitches of instruments and sections during a harmonic / structural change. If there's a significant difference between one (structural) part of the piece and another I think that keeping instrument voices around the pitches they were just playing during the preceding section will help smooth that sound out even with a tempo change. Similarly, you could go back a couple measures and change a few parts so that the pitches climb or descend to the pitch range you want an instrument section to play in for the next structural part of your piece.
I once went through a little piece of mine and wrote additional parts throughout it so that when a change (guitar) came to the front it wouldn't seem like it had come out of nowhere. In the end, I think homogenizing it that way really worked when the piece wasn't that great, and I didn't have to go back and do a ton of work. This is probably completely subjective but aside from stopping work to learn about theme development or committing a lot of time to rewrites, dovetailing is what I'd focus on if it were me.
Thank you!For me, an answer (besides looking up something to study, like Mike Verta and development) is by dovetailing when and where it seems necessary. Though there's a lot more to be said about how to do it properly (and definitely not by me) I think even thinking of it this way could help.
Imagine walking on grass toward a gravel driveway. Next, picture a few feet of gravel and grass where grass has crept out in the driveway. For example, if you haven't had much or any brass part in the A section, but the B section of your piece will feature more prominent brass it may help to have a little brass toward the end of the A section. That way the transition going from listening to the A and suddenly hearing the B section won't be striking or jarring but instead a pleasantly interesting change that happens almost without the listener knowing.
Another idea to combine with the previous paragraph is to avoid jumps in the pitches of instruments and sections during a harmonic / structural change. If there's a significant difference between one (structural) part of the piece and another I think that keeping instrument voices around the pitches they were just playing during the preceding section will help smooth that sound out even with a tempo change. Similarly, you could go back a couple measures and change a few parts so that the pitches climb or descend to the pitch range you want an instrument section to play in for the next structural part of your piece.
I once went through a little piece of mine and wrote additional parts throughout it so that when a change (guitar) came to the front it wouldn't seem like it had come out of nowhere. In the end, I think homogenizing it that way really worked when the piece wasn't that great, and I didn't have to go back and do a ton of work. This is probably completely subjective but aside from stopping work to learn about theme development or committing a lot of time to rewrites, dovetailing is what I'd focus on if it were me.
ohh yes .. spending less time in sample talk is a good thing - unless you really need to collect all of spitfires blips and blops ..Sometimes I wish people would talk more about this kind of stuff instead of all the sample talk...
I have Normans composition book - as well as his book about orchestration .. and I also bought his video course about composition .. his way of teaching is just awesome. Very practical and with a good sense of humor (video course)
If you are writing an orchestral piece and would like to introduce different ideas, how do you connect those ideas in a smooth way so that nothing sounds too random or sudden, especially if there will be a tempo change?