Creating The Most Engaging Orchestrations For Musicians

Leandro Gardini
strings orchestration heavy metal Save Me arrangement Area 55

Become a better orchestrator by creating meaningful inner lines.

There are many levels of ability to orchestrate. Usually, the academic syllabus teaches us that we should start orchestrating for small ensembles like string or woodwind quartets, and only after some experience should we proceed to larger groups. Even though it is a good strategy, with the advancement of technology and the facility it provides to get access to big ensembles, more and more young composers start orchestrating for big ensembles right from the beginning.

Be it the academic or the self-pursuant process, one of the most neglected forms of advanced orchestration is the one that creates engaging lines for all musicians.

There's nothing more uninteresting for a musician than playing beautiful music where they are requested to play no more than long inner notes.

Richard Strauss was one of the first to state that we composers and orchestrators should be concerned about writing engaging lines for every musician. By doing so, all musicians in the group will be more excited to play your orchestration or arrangement.

We all know that the most exciting part of music is the melody. Additionally, musicians tend to like more the arrangements where they are assigned to play the melodies. But, arrangers and orchestrators have to take care of other elements like harmony, bassline, and countermelody.

Then comes the question:
How can we give the entire group exciting things to do since not everyone will play the melody all the time?

There are many techniques we can use to achieve such a result. They will all be thoroughly discussed in the upcoming The Orchestrator course. For the moment, I want to share with you a simple exercise that, with little practice, can start shifting your mind to become a better orchestrator.

The following video is a string arrangement I've made for Save Me - one song of the new album of the metal band Area 55.

As the arranger, I was concerned about fitting the strings to the song's original meaning. On the other hand, writing long pads wouldn't be the best I could do as a professional orchestrator.

 Thus, I created engaging and meaningful inner lines for every string ensemble.
Now that you have watched the video, go back to the beginning and choose one string ensemble. Using your preferred instrument, play the lines along with the string ensemble from beginning to the end.

In none of those parts, none of the strings will be playing the original melody of the song. However, every inner line is more than just plain long notes that compose a static string pad.

How excited would you feel if you were one of the musicians playing this piece?

Now, go back and pick another ensemble. Repeat the same exercise until you have played with the five groups (VI, VII, violas, cellos, and basses).

This assignment is one of the most rewarding exercises for learning orchestration. Upon completion, you will have started the process of thinking as a better orchestrator.

For a more effective result, apply it regularly.

Check the Full Score

For more interesting free tutorials
CLICK HERE!

Create a free account on Gardini School and subcribe to my Youtube Channel to be the first to know about the next free tutorial.
Create a free account and be the first to know about the next open enrollment and promotion.
Produce like never before
Master the midi orchestration
Develop a professional orchestra in your home studio
Created with

This website uses cookies to ensure you get the best experience. Learn more or accept individual cookies.

Necessary

Necessary cookies (First Party Cookies) are sometimes called "strictly necessary" as without them we cannot provide the functionality that you need to use this website. For example, essential cookies help remember your preferences as you navigate through the online school.

Functional

During your interaction with this website, cookies are used to remember information you have entered or choices you make (such as your username or preferences for personalizing your account). These preferences are remembered, through the use of the persistent cookies, and the next time you use the Website you will not have to set them again.

Analytics

These cookies track information about visits to this Website so that we can make improvements and report our performance. For example: analyze User behavior so as to provide additional functionality or improve course contents. These cookies collect information about how visitors use the Website, which site or page they came from, the number of visits and how long a user stays on the Website.

Marketing

These cookies are used to deliver advertising materials relevant to you and your interests. They are also used to limit the number of times you see an advertisement as well as help measure the effectiveness of campaigns. They are usually placed by advertising networks we work with with our permission. They remember that you have visited a website and this information is shared with other organizations such as advertisers.