claesgrufman 0 Posted September 2, 2008 Share Posted September 2, 2008 Hi folks,I've been writing arrangements for voices and small ensembles for a few years now, and I'm getting more and more interested in trying my hands at something larger. An upcoming project would allow me to write arrangements for a medium-sized pop orchestra (rhythm section, brass and strings), and I'm looking for good books on the subject. Ideally, they would feature both written and recorded examples, but any tips are greatly appreciated. I already have a basic understanding of music theory (keys, intervals, scales, notation etc.) so I don't really need that to be included.Many thanks for your suggestions!Regards,Claes Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe Brausam 214 Posted September 2, 2008 Share Posted September 2, 2008 You can't go wrong with Berlioz/Strauss' Treatise on Instrumentation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seth 67 Posted September 2, 2008 Share Posted September 2, 2008 In school we used the Kent Kennan/Donald Grantham book. It has some good examples from more contemporary music and is clear on ranges and things; I had issues with some of the things he said and I prefer Walter Piston's text. The Kennan has some recordings of exercises in the book (the Piston lacks exercises completely). The Piston does, however, give precise citations for the scores that are used, allowing easy cross-referencing with scores and recordings. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smeagol 0 Posted September 2, 2008 Share Posted September 2, 2008 I'm enjoying Adler's The Study of Orchestration quite a bit, mostly because of the great amount of recorded examples it has. I bought the second edition some time ago and the 6 cds that came with it and they are quite helpful. I went through the Kennan/Grantham book a year or so ago and also enjoyed reading a lot.Besides that I'm only familiar with Rimsky-Korsakov's Principles of Orchestration which, although doesn't have any recorded examples, does include a big amount of examples from RK's own scores. This one might seem a little dated though, and it focuses more on actual scoring, assuming you already now pretty much everything about range and other technical info on the individual instruments. So, based on what you said that written and recorded examples are a plus, (and if you can afford it) I'd go with the Adler and its Cd's. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Desplat13 1 Posted September 2, 2008 Share Posted September 2, 2008 If you have the money for it, the Adler book with the cds mentioned by Smeagol is indeed an excellent choice. Maybe your best.If not, this seems to be the best free option I have found.Good luck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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