Sorry if I'm derailing this thread (see it as a friendly bump
), but what exactly is the reasoning behind "uniform dynamics"? Is there any objective, technical reason against different dynamics in different instruments? (I would understand it if you used the entire range of dynamics scattered across the orchestra all the time as that would result in a rather "grey" sound, but that's obviously not the question here.)
Of course you shouldn't
just rely on dynamic markings to balance your orchestra, that certainly doesn't work. But it still seems logical to me to write every instrument in the dynamic you want for that instrument and not some weird "uniform dynamic". (Well, if you really want to write in a certain traditional "style" I understand it, but otherwise? Any concrete reasoning?)
Apart from seeing much more sense in a detailed, conscious choice of individual dynamics in contrast to uniformity, none of my teachers have ever argued for "uniform dynamics" and I've always only seen positive effects of very specific, individual dynamic markings in my own orchestrations. (The actual dynamics weren't always the best choices in every case of course, but I've never had the impression that the result would have been better with more uniform dynamics.)
(Not even to mention the
countless examples of excellently orchestrated music that very carefully indicates individual dynamics for every instrument.)