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Orchestration 1: Compose Orchestral Music for Strings
8,736 students
What you'll learn
- Compose and orchestrate for the strings
- Make complex and well informed orchestration decisions
- Instrumentation, limitations, strengths and weaknesses of each stringed instrument and each string itself
- Understand in great detail string articulations and techniques
- How to analyse and dissect string works and pieces for study
- How to make a piano reduction from an orchestrated score
Explore related topics
Course content
9 sections • 98 lectures • 11h 0m total length
Requirements
- Basic composing knowledge
- Knowing how to read music is recommended but not essential
Description
It's time to learn orchestration and use the massive sound of the orchestra in your compositions, while fully knowing what you are doing!
Do you want to use the power of the orchestra in your compositions? Do you want that big and full orchestral sound, but aren't sure where to begin? Ever fiddled around with orchestral plugins, without truly knowing how to actually write for the instrument?
Orchestration is much more than just selecting a VST and blindly composing away. There are many things you need to consider as the orchestrator.
How do you make this line stand out? Which instrument should you select to play the melody, which technique for the chords and harmony? How do you make this section softer without actually writing pianissimo?
Orchestration is the art of blending instruments and their techniques together. It is about careful selection of techniques, taking into consideration the instrument's natural strengths and weaknesses, tone and timbre. Which string should be used to play a mellow part, what articulation will achieve the lightest accompaniment?
Orchestration often seems like a complicated and daunting topic, but it doesn't have to be. This course will simplify things down and take you by the hand in learning orchestration and instrumentation.
Orchestration and Instrumentation are two topics that go hand in hand, and we'll be studying both.
We will learn every articulation and technique available for the stringed instruments, with colourful examples to help you remember everything. You will hear audio samples and see the notation for each technique as we get fully acquainted with all the articulations the string family has to offer.
We will be studying real orchestral scores from the great composers so you can see the concepts and techniques in action, analyse and break them down.
Finally, in the practical section of the course we will go step-by-step and you will compose and orchestrate your own full composition for strings.
By the end of this course, you will understand the string family completely and be able to analyse string works, use any string articulation and technique in your compositions, know how to orchestrate for strings, all the while composing through an orchestrator's perspective.
At the end of the course series you will be able to fully write for orchestra and use each of the four families: Strings, Woodwinds, Brass and Percussion.
The Orchestra is a powerful tool, an essential tool in the arsenal of the composer or producer. Don't limit yourself by not being able to properly compose for orchestra.
Let's begin learning orchestration today, starting with the strings, and you will become a proficient orchestrator and orchestral music composer in no time.
Who this course is for:
- Anyone who wants to learn to compose orchestral music
- Anyone who wants to learn orchestration and instrumentation
- Composers and producers wanting to incorporate orchestral elements into their music
- Anyone interested in the string family and its capabilities