Contemporary Orchestration Techniques

Every so often, a piece of music comes along that changes musical tastes (or at least forecasts them) for years to come.  Arguably, this was the case in 1824 with Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 and again in 1913 with Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring.

With one such piece coming along every 90 years or so, could the next revolutionary piece be right around the corner?  Or could it already exist?  While predicting future musical tastes is a dangerous game, in this blog I will point out an existing piece that I hope becomes a musical revolution for the 21st century…

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I was recently asked for some tips for MIDI orchestrators.  Thought I’d share the thoughts with everyone…

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I’ve always found sets of six notes to be very interesting.  By definition, there exists an alternate set of six notes comprised of the remaining pitches from our 12-note chromatic system.  In many cases, these two sets can be used in conjunction with one another, alternating back and forth to create a logical harmonic movement.

One such example is the Petrushka chord and its “companion”, which I first blogged about here.

In this post, I will talk about another six-note set, its “companion set”, and use them in a musical example. (more…)

There’s no accounting for taste.  Or is there?

I recently embarked on what is probably a fool’s errand.  I thought I’d try to make a list of characteristics found in all the great orchestral music that I love.  The tricky part is…  I love a lot of orchestral music, from past classics like the Beethoven symphonies to recent compositions like the Rouse flute concerto.  Across that spectrum there are drastic differences in style, harmony, and compositional technique.  Yet, I thoroughly enjoy all of that music, so it would seem there has to be common characteristics that generate its appeal.

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In my last blog, I posed a question about marketing new concert music and solicited comments.  This blog reviews that question and aggregates the comments, with a few ideas of my own added.

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I recently attended the League of American Orchestras conference in Dallas.  Amidst many meetings and speeches, I noticed one recurring comment regarding new orchestral music.  That theme?  Tickets sales for concerts featuring living composers were consistently lower than those featuring composers of the past.  This statement was made as a matter of fact on multiple occasions by multiple managers and executives of orchestras, and I have no doubt it is backed up by empirical evidence.

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Hi Everyone!

Every so often, I post a blog on a chord or harmony that I think is interesting.  This blog will be about a series of three chords that I think are interesting, particularly when used as a group. (more…)

One question I often get is how to notate two parts on a single staff.  This is often necessary in orchestral scores, most commonly when placing multiple wind player parts (such as two oboes) on a single staff.  It is also necessary in divisi string passages when the divisi parts are on a single staff.  In this post, I thought I’d go through a few examples showing this notation.

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I recently read an interesting book called “How We Decide” by Jonah Lehrer.  In a nutshell, it broke down the human decision-making process into decisions made with our rational brain versus decisions made with our emotional brain.  The book was very interesting reading, going through various situations (from selecting strawberry jam to attempting to crash-land a plane) and talked about how decisions were made in those situations.

While reading, I began to think about how we listen to music and what parts of the brain we use while listening.  What strikes me most is how much that differs from person to person…

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