LESSON 1 (continued)
DOUBLINGS: UNISON AND OCTAVE
We will take a quick look at doubling woodwinds. Doubling of woodwinds should not be seen as a means to make music louder. You should be aware by now that two flutes do not sound twice as loud as one flute. Actually, the accoustic effect of the two instruments tends to blur the characteristic vibrations of each individual instrument, in effect creating a “new” instrument. This effect is more pronounced with certain woodwinds and less so with others. Of course, when you start to combine different woodwinds you have at your disposal a colouristic palette that has dramatically changed.
Here we have a brief melody, within a relatively confined range:
Range considerations will not allow us to have unison doublings of this melody for all possible woodwind combinations without some transposition being involved. For example, to have a flute and bassoon in unison the flute would need to be transposed down a 5th (the lowest we could do so without exiting the flute’s usable range), and this would place the melody in a “playable” (but only barely) range for the unison bassoon. It would be rather extreme. Likewise, if we remember our previous lesson, the flute in this lowest of ranges would also be in its weakest range as far as volume is concerned. Compare that to what we now know about the bassoon’s highest octave. So for this particular example, a flute/bassoon unison doubling is out of the question.
Likewise, a doubling of oboe and bassoon at the unison would require a transposition of the theme. This would place the bassoon in a very tense register, and the oboe in a rather loud and prominent register.
This does leave us with a few other doublings, however. Other than the obvious “two of each instrument” doublings, we could have
- flute and oboe
- flute and clarinet
- oboe and clarinet
- by transposing down one octave, we could double clarinet and bassoon
Listen to the recording of first the melody in the flute alone, then the above listed doublings.
Unison doublings in woodwinds
Notice how the unison doublings tend to blur the identity of the instruments that are playing together? Obviously, the effect as played here using sampled sounds is only an approximation. Each combination, however, is a new and unique colouristic possibility. When you start to use the differences in colour afforded the different registers of each instrument, and combine them to create new effects, your orchestration takes on an entirely new mantle. Orchestration is not only the act of laying out all the instruments of a large ensemble. It includes the important task of assigning instruments to melodies and counterpoints. There is absolutely no reason to limit the orchestral palette to solo instruments on melodies and divying up the balance of the harmony to the balance of the orchestra. Careful consideration should ALWAYS be taken to the combination of instruments for melodic material.
By doubling an octave apart we gain a great deal more flexibility in our choice of pairings. Keeping the melody itself in the same register precludes octave doubling of flute and oboe, but we may look at transposition for the effect of this pairing. By transposing up a 5th, the oboe can now be placed an octave below the flute.
Flute and oboe octave doubling
For the rest of the woodwinds, we can leave the melody as is and pair them as follows:
- flute and clarinet
- flute and bassoon
- oboe and clarinet
- oboe and bassoon
- clarinet and bassoon can be taken down an octave
woodwind octave doubling
Notice how some pairings create entirely new timbral qualities. In some cases, the octave doubling reinforces the quality of one or both of the instruments, while in other cases the two become a completely new, independent colour.
The composer’s job is to explore these possibilities and incorporate them into his musical vocabulary. They are a large part of what identifies a piece of music as belonging to this composer or that one. Barring issues of playability, there are no absolute wrong or right choices. There are colouristic effects that work, and others that are less successful.
Exercises will be posted later.