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Orchestration courses

Richard Wilkinson

Richard Wilkinson

Wilx
I'm keen on spending some time (and a bit of cash) on significantly furthering my knowledge of orchestration. I'm classically trained (grade 8 piano & cornet) and I've studied a bit of orchestration at uni (and I was pretty awful at it!).
Recently I've started to work through scores from Beltrami, John Williams & Stravinsky (and look through the northernsounds RK thing) - and it's really helping further my knowledge - but I'm wondering if it might benefit me to do something more interactive & 'structured'.

A Master's is out of the question, as I don't want to have to quit my job just to take on £20,000 more uni-debt, & I'm not interested in studying towards a certificate or degree. I just want to get to the point where I feel more in control with orchestral writing, rather than intimidated by it.

So my requirements would be:

Either online, or London-based.
Under £1,500 (preferably way under £1,500!)

Amazingly - I'm struggling to find short-course or one-on-one options in London, and the two possibles I've come up with are:

Berklee online orchestration course

Peter Alexander orchestration book/course (is it still being taught as a course?)


If anyone has experience of either, or any suggestions beyond them, I'd be grateful to hear your input. :)
Click to read more...
 
Peter's stuff is great. You should start by ordering his Professional Orchestration Book 1. Those are the most thorough orchestration books I've seen anywhere. You'll need the book if you take his class, and it's a great resource even if you don't.
 
The problem with Peter's book (and others) is that it doesn't include the kind of topics that are being taught in the Berklee course. Here are some examples of what I mean:

Lesson 5: Brass Writing II

* Brass Section Size and Subgrouping
* Chordal Voicings
* Using Brass for Harmonic Support
* Using Brass to Create a Climax
* Brass and String Combinations

Lesson 7: Woodwind Writing II

* Woodwind Doublings
* Woodwind Chordal Voicings
* Counterlines
* Textural Flourishes
* Runs
* Restating Material or Echoing
* Harmonic Arpeggiation
* Melody, Countermelody, and Harmony

Lesson 8: Percussion Writing

* Builds and Climaxes
* Solo Statements
* Doubling for Color

Lesson 9: Expansions of the Orchestral Sound

* Guitar and Saxophone
* Overdubbing Soloists
* Rules of MIDI Orchestration

These are the kinds of things I would really like to learn, but can't afford $1,000 to take a course.
 
The guys behind Music for the Media and Digital Musician are very close to completing their orchestration course and that should fulfill the OPs criteria.
 
billval3 @ Sat Mar 08 said:
The problem with Peter's book (and others) is that it doesn't include the kind of topics that are being taught in the Berklee course. Here are some examples of what I mean:

Lesson 5: Brass Writing II

* Brass Section Size and Subgrouping
* Chordal Voicings
* Using Brass for Harmonic Support
* Using Brass to Create a Climax
* Brass and String Combinations

Lesson 7: Woodwind Writing II

* Woodwind Doublings
* Woodwind Chordal Voicings
* Counterlines
* Textural Flourishes
* Runs
* Restating Material or Echoing
* Harmonic Arpeggiation
* Melody, Countermelody, and Harmony

Lesson 8: Percussion Writing

* Builds and Climaxes
* Solo Statements
* Doubling for Color

Lesson 9: Expansions of the Orchestral Sound

* Guitar and Saxophone
* Overdubbing Soloists
* Rules of MIDI Orchestration

These are the kinds of things I would really like to learn, but can't afford $1,000 to take a course.
Click to expand...

I'm sorry, but you're incorrect in your comparison. Professional Orchestration is a problem/solution SERIES.

Book 1, comparable to other first semester texts, goes beyond other books with full page/full score examples and a simple concept called the 8 Keys to Learning Professional Orchestration. Each of the 8 keys when applied to a score brings out all the points listed in the Berklee syllabus but within the context of the example, or score, you're studying.

Book 2A, Orchestrating the Melody Within the String Section, covers 63 techniques within the string orchestra for unison, octaves, etc. and has been endorsed by people like award winning game composer Garry Schyman, Peter Siedlaczek, and Jeff (synthetic) from Tascam.

Book 2B, Orchestrating the Melody Within the Woods and Brass picks up on the work done in the strings.

For MIDI mock-ups, when you get the Ultimate Learning Package, Professional Orchestration v1 comes with 13 + MIDI mock-ups for solo instrument with matching MP3 files courtesy Jay Bacal and the Vienna Symphonic Library.

The next follow up is our Advanced MIDI Mock-up course created by Andy Blaney.

If you want to gain an understanding of individual sectional writing, the time honored ways are to first study woodwind ensemble writing, brass ensemble, string ensemble, etc.

Or, you can select a few pieces and really get into them. Brass writing changed coming into the 20th century with the standardization of valves. Excluding the trombone, previous to that, you changed crooks which is why you see brass in so many different keys to transpose.

But if you focus on a few scores: Pictures At an Exhibition, The Planets, Vaughan Williams Symphony #1, Liberty Fanfare by John Williams, The Red Pony by Copland, Second Essay for Orchestra by Barber, these six scores would give you a good well rounded view for each section, and, just within this group, are many of the textures that make up what people keep calling the "Hollywood" sound.

What you have to realize is that it's not about memorizing formulas. It's about writing down what we hear in our inner ear.

Score study facilitates that because you're using the score to confirm what your mind is hearing and then examining the writing to see how that was achieved.

So keep those things in mind as you pursue your studies.
 
You must live in orchestration books from here on in. Kent Kennan's book which comes with a CD is great in that it shows you step by step how to actually do it (and how it's been done by the greats.) Very simple and friendly text.
 
The 8 Keys to Learning Professional Orchestration are all available and can be used now to study any score.

Several of the syllabus points really have to do with score study, analysis, and score reduction, which, along with lots of concert attendance, is what will help teach you orchestration, and mixing, along with learning to ask musicians questions.

Several of the points from the syllabus you posted are found in Professional Orchestration Volume 1.

But after that comes the ultimate lesson - applying what you've learned by writing and getting it performed.
 
Here are some other free online resources:

“Artistic Orchestration” by Alan Benkin
(broken link removed)

“Woodwind Tutorial” by Terry Dwyer
(broken link removed)

“Exploring Jazz Arranging” by Chuck Israels
https://www.northernsounds.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=107 (https://www.northernsounds.com/forum/for ... .php?f=107)

“Writing for the Harp” by Felice Pomeranz
(broken link removed)

"The Orchestra: A User's Manual" by Andrew Hugill
https://www.mti.dmu.ac.uk/~ahugill/manual/

That last one is put out by the Philharmonia Orchestra, which has a great website called "The Sound Exchange." Here's a link: https://www.philharmonia.co.uk/thesoundexchange/
 
Peter's books teach you how to study a score. Once you know the basics you can look at any score from Bach to Zimmer and figure out what's going on. For example, if I want to "use brass to create a climax" I'll look at my Raiders of the Lost Ark and Star Wars scores. I'll pick a section of the score, transpose and reduce it to short score, then I'll be able to see where the melody is, what dynamics everyone is playing at, figure out the chord voicings, etc. You get al this from the first book. The second book shows you examples of string doubling, which once you read it you'll see those techniques all over film scores.

Again, it's not an either/or proposition. Read every book you can on this stuff. I can't think of a composition or orchestration book I've read where I didn't learn something. The Jack Smalley book is very controversial and goes against things I've read in other books, but it's all useful info that I'll use later on. If these books are too expensive, look at some Dover editions (like Forsythe) and used bookstores.
 
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