Questions tagged [orchestra]
A sizable instrumental ensemble that contains sections of string, brass, woodwind, and percussion instruments.
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Are there historical or musical reasons to why the concertmaster of an orchestra is a violinist?
So far, I have found and read a number of articles about the role and duties of an orchestra concertmaster, or first violinist. There is also this possibly related question which discusses the spatial ...
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Why are time signatures not used in this score?
I was looking at this hand-written short score (to be completed by other arrangers):
The only thing that strikes me about it (maybe there should be others) is there is no written time signature. Why?
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What types of orchestra degrees are there
I am doing an Essay about careers we want to be and I am writing about being a musician. I had a question that I could not find anywhere on the internet: What type of degrees there are in music? I am ...
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How do composers get their works performed?
How do composers (professional or not) get their works performed by orchestras and soloists?
While we're at it, how and where do composers publish their music and where do orchestras/musicians/...
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Incorporating the piano into the orchestra - when and why?
Having heard a few orchestral works that incorporate a piano merely as accompaniment (see below for some examples), I'm now curious:
When (approximately), and under what circumstances, was the ...
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Could you say that in an orchestra some instruments talk to each other?
I'm asking this question in regards to a website project we're starting about a classical orchestra. I'd like to know if there's a sort of conversation between instruments/musicians in a symphony, for ...
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Identifying orchestral sounds
Following my previous question about new instruments in orchestras, I was listening to a few concerts and well, some write the instruments being used throughout the concert, others don't. Most don't. ...
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Have orchestras included any modern instrument lately?
Over the years orchestras have added various new instruments to their set and I'm thinking that there are quite many modern interesting instruments that might be included in an orchestra set.
Have ...
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Mahler Symphony 5: Notes say Db but recording says D
I've been practising Mahler's 5th Symphony for quite a while now on the piano (the transcription/arrangement by Otto Singer II) and I recently realized that I was playing a D instead of a D-flat, ...
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Limitations of String Instruments
Clarinet is my main instrument, but I also play the alto saxophone. I, a woodwind player, am attempting to compose a string quintet. My question is this: what are the physical limitations of the ...
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Orchestra notation and harmony
For instance I have 3 groups of violins and 3 instruments in each group. I want a clean C major chord from those 3 groups. What's my best choice? To have 1 group play a C, another one an E and the ...
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Tutti & Solo notation
So while practicing Chopin's Sonata no.2, I decided to study a bit of writing a Concerto. But there is this notation that always leaves me clueless, which is the "Tutti" and "Solo" notation. I ...
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Should low frequency players anticipate in orchestra?
"The bigger the instrument, the heavier the strings, the bigger the bow, the bigger the mouthpiece, the more you should anticipate." This concept is expressed occasionally by double bass players, ...
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Does First Chair Have To Be Smart and Know Everything? Can You Not Ask For Help?
I'm quite aware that being in first chair makes you both the leader and makes you known to be the best player in the Orchestra. But at the same time can even someone in first chair be at times ...
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Are instruments in a symphony grouped by the composer and are chords localized there?
I have been studying the score of an overture by Mozart in MuseScore and I noticed that the woodwind instruments and the one of the violins were playing the supertonic chord with the 6th degree ...
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Score for orchestra tuning
I was talking this monring about Cage's 4:33 and I mentioned that I'd love to see a score for an orchestra tuning. It's one of the most recognisable sounds in concerts and has many distinctive musical ...
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Why did Liszt change/add so much to his piano transcription of Danse Macabre?
I'm interested to hear if anything is known about the reasons why Liszt decided to introduce some pretty significant changes/additions to the piano transcription of Danse Macabre by Camille Saint-...
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The term for voice effect in orchestral music
What do we call those voices (it feels like lot of people singing together) in an orchestral music or epic music which make it more epic?
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Orchestra recordings only in piano concertos [duplicate]
I have been thinking about doing a piano recital on my party in July and planned on doing Bach harpsichord concerto no.1, but there aren't any recordings of the orchestra only. Do any of you know how ...
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does everyone in the orchestra (or ensemble) play in the same key?
Does everyone have to play in the same key or is the key accustomed to the instrument section? for example, clarinet would use Bb major?
What is a transposing instrument?
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Hearing a click track above an orchestra
The amateur orchestra I am in, the Cambridge Concert Orchestra, are involved in the Somme100 FILM project which means we'll be performing Laura Rossi's score alongside the silent film footage. To keep ...
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How Common Are the Trumpet in C and Clarinet in A?
In the wind/marching/concert band world, trumpets and soprano clarinets are always in Bb. The orchestra, however, uses trumpets in Bb, C, and D, and clarinets in Bb and A. I understand that clarinets ...
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Why is this conductor holding a toothpick?
I was watching a performance of Ravel's Bolero, conducted by Gergiev:
And I noticed that instead of a baton he was holding a toothpick:
Why is he holding it instead ...
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Is it common for an orchestra to have 5 string double basses?
I recently went to watch Mozart's The Magic Flute and saw at the orchestra that all the double bassists (I think there were 3 of them) had 5 string basses. I had never seen a 5 string double bass up ...
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How can a cello soloist practice projecting over orchestra?
How can a cello player practice to project over an orchestra as a soloist? I know that one must reset their perceived level of dynamics so that even a piano dynamic can be heard, but I was wondering ...
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Has there ever been an orchestra without a conductor?
I don't think I have ever seen an orchestra where there wasn't someone conducting.
Has there ever been such an example of an orchestra?
Edit: By conductor, I mean the guy swinging the baton:
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How to make music link together more naturally - composition
I have been composing some music recently for some orchestra's. I'm just using a simple virtual instrument at the moment, but I do plan on getting better.
I find that a lot of music I create feels as ...
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What is first chair?
I am under the impression that first chair is the seat reserved for the best player of a particular instrument. Second chair would be reserved for the second best.
Is that all there is to it? Or does ...
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What is an orchestra "reading session"?
On orchestra calendars I sometimes see events called "reading sessions", such as this one: Pittsburgh Symphony 11th Annual Reading Session
What is a "reading session" and how does it differ from a ...
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What techniques can be used to get a bigger, more resonant orchestral bass drum sound?
In college we had a conductor who really like deep, resonant bass drum sounds (think movie explosions). What are some ways to get more oomph out of a concert bass in a live setting?
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Do the violas often play the same parts as the violins in an orchestra?
Are violas always part of an orchestra? How are they typically used? Do they often play the same parts as the violins to create a richer texture?
I'm new to orchestration and have been wondering ...
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Why are conductors required at orchestra performances?
I am not a music expert and I have always wondered why orchestra performances require a conductor to play. The musicians are presumably professionals who have had much practice at this point, so why ...
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Arranging a piece for full Orchestra
I have recently finished writing an intermediate level piece for piano duet, and think it would sound pretty good when played by a full orchestra. Only problem is I don't know any one who can arrange ...
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What happened to the orchestral scores of Johann Strauss?
As far as I understand, Johann Strauss and his family attempted to burn many of his scores. For this reason, most of them are not to be found on IMSLP. Is this true? One reason I am confused is ...
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Difference between the string section and wind section
Something I noticed after playing in various orchestras: When a wind player in an orchestra finishes a tricky part or a solo well, the surrounding wind players honor this with a silent applause even ...
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Classical music vs March music relationship
What is the relationship between March music and Classical music? To the non-musician they seem to be interchangeable or at least largely overlapping.
But I find March songs much more enjoyable and ...
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How to use choirs in epic music
I'm relatively new to MIDI orchestration and would like to start using choirs and vocals in my tracks. I understand using them to emphasize hits and climaxes, but I would like to imitate songs like "...
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When to use a2 / unis / tutti in orchestral score?
So far from most of the sheet scores I've read, a2 is used mostly in wood and brass instrument staves, while unis. (and on rarer occasion, tutti) is in string instruments. It is even possible to see ...
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Why does the orchestra tune to the oboe?
Most of the time, an orchestra will tune to the oboe.
Why is that? What is the next instrument if, for some reason, there are no oboes?
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What greater possibilities allows playing late from the conductor
There's a lot of differences in the way conductors direct the tempi in orchestral representation, but one of them is the timing between when we're expected to play and the actual down movement of the ...
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Tuning hierarchy for orchestras
Several recent questions have been about tuning. Often an orchestra will tune to the oboe. One reason for this is that oboes are the only instruments that cannot be tuned. 1. What if the oboe was ...
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What's so off about the intro to Prokofiev's Dance of the Knights?
Now this question is by no means an attack on any conductor or orchestra, nor Prokofiev himself, but why does it seem that it's hard for everyone to get right into time with one another with this ...
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Are there any "etudes for the orchestra"?
Are there any "etudes for the orchestra"? Football teams don't practise just playing football all day long, but they do all kinds of "orchestrated" team exercises just like hockey players and ...
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Is there any specific reason to why are the instruments placed as they are in an orchestra?
What is the reason that instruments in an orchestra are placed the way they are placed?
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How do you count many bars of silence (rests)?
Playing in a jazz band there are often 5,6 or 8 bars of silence. This is no problem as I can count them on my fingers. But how do I count larger rests, for example 52, 112 or even longer rests, as in ...
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Where and how can a conductor require execution of orchestral pieces to a string player?
In Italy, up until the '80, conductors were allowed to ask a member of the orchestra to play a passage alone during rehersal. This led to some players being fired right away and their careers being ...
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German abbreviations for instrument names in score markings (Wagner - Tannhauser)
I'd like to know to which instruments are these signatures referring. I think "Pos" is a trombone but I may be wrong.
Please note these are from page 2 of Wagner's Tannhauser ouverture and, most ...
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What does one slash through a half note stem AND 4 dots above it mean? [duplicate]
In a version of "Overture to Lucio Silla" by Mozart, half of the viola part of the song has half notes with a SINGLE slash through it, but 4 dots on the base part of every not (The circular part). ...
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Orchestral strings disposition (numeration meaning)
It's going to be the first time I'll be trying to compose a piece to be played by an orchestra and I don't know much about orchestral strings numeration/disposition.
I just ran into this Composers ...
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How important is harmony theory?
In what way does matter for the overall sound of the orchestra that everyone is aware of how the chord is placed, more than just knowing their own part in it?
I play trombone in what I believe is ...
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