Ossian

They are already playing divisi; two parts per stave - having four parts on the one stave would get really confusing. I tried doing it double stopped, and the same thing happened - the score got cluttered and it was difficult to read. I'm not asking anyone to write it for me - I just don't want to get tangled in the logistics or find I've written parts that aren't well suited to the instruments [edit] I think I've got round this by arranging the score so there are 2 staves for violin 1, and two staves for violin 2, each divisi, allowing me to get the full chord - which will hopefully mean not having to add extra violin sections

Then how're you supposed to get better at it? I'm gonna at least give it a go; there's a first time for everything!

Thank you all - I've found a book online about scoring for different instruments ( http://archive.org/s...ge/n18/mode/1up ), and I've been listening to the pieces on the site Ryan suggested; I'm starting to get an idea of how it could all work - thank you very much! [edit] Is it permissible to add a 3rd and 4th violin , so as to have four violin sections, each playing divisi for a total of eight parts? (I'm attempting a large cluster chord a la Eric Whitacre - one of my favourite composers) The lower strings (including viola) are already being used, so I guess in effect it will be a 12 part chord (the contrabass double stopping)

Thanks Phil! I agree; I've had past compositions where I've tried having counterpoint with every single instrument at once; quite frankly it was a mess! My main concern is with each of the instrument's capabilities - obviously most of the writing won't be idiomatic (I'm not sure anyone can claim to play EVERY orchestral instrument there is...) and so I want to avoid composing something too easy or, indeed, completely impossible for the musician!

I've been composing for a couple of years - I know quite a bit about the string section, and woodwind - brass stumps me a bit, and writing for harp feels very strange! I'm hoping to do 4 movements, for a total of 20-30 minutes, but if I can survive the first movement I reckon it'll be a lot easier from then!

OK, so I've been challenged by a friend with the task of writing a symphony... However, I personally have a bit of difficulty with writing for larger orchestras (I tend to stick to solo pieces or choral works) and a lot of the instruments end up unused. Has anyone got any advice on writing for larger groups, and particularly on avoiding simply moving in block chords (as I have had to resort to in previous attempts) or - the other extreme - sounding a mess because each instrument has it's own complex counterpoint? Also, I'm new here so: Hello everyone! :)