Lesson with Nigel (Orchestration + Percussion)

Nigel would like me to guide him through the effective composition and orchestration of a piece of incidental music, with some extra focus on the role of percussion.

To get the most out of an exercise like this, I'm going to pick a relevant theme/mood for you to write about. Specifically, I want you to create a piece of music to describe and/or accompany the following scene:

The rainforest is impenetrably thick. The mists trapped beneath the canopy seem almost solid. The air is oppressively hot and sticky, and the cries of the forest's creatures sound muffled through the heavy air.

An echoing pulse makes its way to you; more through the ground than through the air. You can feel the beats reverberating in the pit of your stomach. The closer you get, the louder and more complex the beat seems to become.

Suddenly, poking your head over a small ridge, you get a clear view of a massive temple complex where an ancient ritual is apparently being performed. The tribal drums are like thunder and the chants of the natives are hypnotic. Overwhelmed, you begin to get closer...

Now, try to imagine that particular scene or sequence of events in your head before you even consider writing any music. Seriously. Sit down, close your eyes and do a little meditating. Just run through the scene in your head a few times and see if you can fill in the sensory information - the sights, the smells, and of course, the sounds.

Once you've done that, you're ready to start writing. Remember the things you envisioned in that little sleepy daydream you just did. Take those and start transforming them into music. Think in terms of Musical Metaphors - musical representations of other sounds or completely different sensory information. You know that smell of dank, humid undergrowth? Transfer it into your music. That chanting? Orchestrate it. You get the idea.

I want you to use ANY ensemble that you feel best conveys the imagery in the scene. The only exception is that I don't want you to use vocals. And you should probably consider having a fairly large percussion section, so that you can practise making good use of it - this particular scene lends itself well to some serious percussion work, so let loose.

Good luck!

Ok. I will work on it. But I will need some time before getting back to you.

Ok. Got it done. Here: lesson1 - eSnips, share anything

I won't say I did really well on the forest part, but I'd say the ritual was the hardest. Before this I did more on percussion, with snares and glockenspiels, but after adding all those It made the piece seem like a battle theme instead of ritual.

Ok let me explain the contents. At the start, some sustaining bass notes, picturing the darkness of the forest. Then the beat starts. The other sounds that surround the beat are sounds of creatures. I think the bassoon is a tad too soft. If you think so, I'll remake it.

After 50 seconds or so, I see the ritual, where the tempo increases. The cello playing same notes througout the ritual simulates the chanting. (Well that was what I had in mind. Imitating rituals without vocals is hard). The timpanis simulate the tribal drums. They fade away nearing the end and crossfade into a harp and bell chimes. Those simulate the temple complex.

Hope I did ok on this one.